WHEN AND WHERE
DATE: Thursday, September 24
TIME: 9:00 AM – 8:30 PM
LOCATION: NYC – Registrants will be sent address once attendance is confirmed
COST: $20.00
ABOUT THIS PROGRAM
Join SILC and friends in Midtown Manhattan for Impact State of Mind 2026: Investor Day, a full day of programming created for investors, funders, business leaders, and other adjacent stakeholders.
Impact State of Mind is a groundbreaking initiative of Impact Hub New York Metropolitan Area with leading partners Princeton University’s Julis-Rabinowitz Center for Public Policy & Finance, Finpublica, Sustainable Investment Leadership Council (SILC), and XPRIZE. Thanks to our venue AES Events NYC and conference app sponsor Jotto.
Throughout the day you’ll hear from leaders in sustainable finance, impact investing, and development economics as well as engage and trade notes with peer practitioners.
This year’s content themes will explore sustainable finance, the economy of climate adaptation, carbon markets, AI and emerging technology, energy transition, infrastructure in emerging economies, and global investment trends.
AGENDA
9:00 AM — Doors Open, and breakfast is served!
9:30 – 10:30 AM — Impact for Breakfast with XPRIZE
- Audrey Selian, Founder, Impact for Breakfast & Co-Founder, Artha Networks Inc.
- Andrew Tauhert, Chief Impact Officer, XPRIZE
10:30 – 11:00 AM — World Café Sessions
- Governors Island as a Living Laboratory: What Would It Take to Finance the Coastal City of the Future? with Lauren Wang, Director of Climate Programs, The Trust for Governors Island
- Investing in the Future beyond 2030 SDGs with Lisa Kurbiel, Head of Secretariat, UN Joint SDG Fund
11:00 AM – 12:00 PM — Panel: Risk, Resilience, and Adaptation: Finance for a Climate-Ready World – Presented by Princeton University’s Julis-Rabinowitz Center for Public Policy & Finance
- Moderated by: Pallavi Nuka, Associate Director, Julis-Rabinowitz Center for Public Policy & Finance
- Margot Brandenburg, Senior Program Officer, Mission Investments, Ford Foundation
- Caroline Hays, Senior Advisor, Climate & Housing, NYC Mayor’s Office of Climate & Environmental Justice
- Darius Nassiry, Senior Fellow, Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
12:15 – 1:10 PM — Lunch provided & Networking Circles
1:15 – 1:45 PM — Connecting Capital, Ideas & Ecosystems for Impact (Fireside Chat)
- Audrey Selian – Co-Founder, Artha Networks, Founder of Impact for Breakfast
- Azadeh Tajdar – Associate Professor, University of Maryland Global Campus & Lecturer, Unity Sustainability University, Maine
1:45 – 2:30 PM — The Missing Layer: Diaspora Capital and the Architecture of Financing Development (Fireside Chat)
- Nicholas Bassey, Chief Operations and Programs Officer, African Diaspora Network
- Liv Varghese, Co-Chair, Impact State of Mind, Founder, Legacy Returns
2:30 – 3:00 PM — Investing in Green Growth in a Multipolar World: Geopolitics, Infrastructure, and the Global South.
- Khalid Ali – Managing Director, The Proximate Fund Sudan
- John-Paul Parmigiani – CEO & Co-Founder, Impact Hub New York Metropolitan Area, Co-Founder, Impact Hub Accra, Ghana.
3:00 – 3:20 PM — Talk and Film Screening: Resilient Innovation for Energy and AI: From Alienation to Indigenous Intelligence Systems.
- Indrani Pal-Chaudhuri – Multidisciplinary Artist, Entrepreneur, UN Convener, Founder of OpenOrigin & Shakti Regeneration Institute
3:20 – 3:30 PM — From the Forest to the Future: A Visualization Experience. Take a short, immersive pause to reconnect with what all this work is ultimately for.
- ChiehYu Liao – Creative Experience Associate, Impact Hub New York Metropolitan Area
- Barbara Ann Michaels – Founder & Artistic Director, HumorVille with Jester Of The Peace
3:30 – 4:00 PM — Keynote Conversation: AI and Climate – Presented by Princeton University’s Julis-Rabinowitz Center for Public Policy & Finance
- Colby Fisher, Co-Founder and Chief Research Officer, Hydronos Labs
- Moderated by: Annette Nazareth, Chair of the Board, The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market
- Shelley Goldberg, Chief Green Officer with The Green Impact Exchange (GIX)
- Darren Wolfberg, Chairman and CEO of Triangle Systems Inc.
4:00 – 4:45 PM — Tokenization and the New Economy – Presented by Finpublica and SILC (Fireside Chat)
- Erika Karp, President, Next Economy Investments
- Maria Mähl, EVP and Chief Product Officer at the new SEC-registered stock exchange GIX
4:45 – 5:30 PM — Panel: Carbon Markets: What’s Working, What’s Not, What’s Next – Presented by Finpublica and SILC
- Moderated by: Annette Nazareth, Chair of the Board, The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market
- Shelley Goldberg, Chief Green Officer with The Green Impact Exchange (GIX)
- Wilson Ervin, Trustee Environmental Defense Fund, Board Member Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, former climate counselor, US Treasury
- Darren Wolfberg, Chairman and CEO of Triangle Systems Inc.
5:30 – 6:30 PM — Breakout Circles on Timely Topics – Presented by Finpublica, SILC, and Impact Hub
These are small, practitioner-led discussions where you can ask your own questions and end the day with new connections.
- Sustainable Investing
- ESG Reporting
- Carbon Markets
- Supply Chains
- Data Centers
- AI for Sustainability
Breakout session leaders include Heather Burns (Founder, Upside ESG), Darren Wolfberg (Chairman and CEO of Triangle Systems Inc.), Vlada Gurvich (Senior Business Development Executive, Global Relay), Marc Rotter (Counsel, Ropes & Gray), Julie Ryan (Managing Partner, ImpactGC), Scott Ryan (CEO, Investature), Kyle Matthys (Founder, TRIIBE), Julie Thibault-Dury and Benjamin Thibault-Dury (Co-Founders, Clozist), and Chris Wimmer (Senior Trade Commissioner, Canadian Consulate General)
6:30 – 6:45 PM — Toast: Honoring Our Sponsors and Partners
6:45 – 8:30 PM — Open Networking, Food & Drinks provided
The world is changing; now is the time to have discussions and forge meaningful connections that advance efforts to deploy capital effectively.
Bring the spirit of collaboration and we’ll bring outstanding content, inspiring speakers, and food & beverages throughout the day!
Thanks to collaborators: Impact for Breakfast, Trust for Governors Island, NYC Economic Development Corporation, Clozist, Marketplace of the Future, Triibe, Humorville, Story Joy, Creaturae, One Rise, Born Global, SwissNex, StartOut, Photos Enforced and many more!
Stanley Goldstein, one of the founders of the Sustainability Investment Leadership Council, launched the accounting firm Goldstein Golub & Kessler (now part of RSM). After the firm was bought, Stanley became a private equity investor and is now the Chairman of Knickerbocker Financial Group. Mr. Goldstein has served on numerous corporate boards and is the founder of American Friends of James Joyce, The New York Hedge Alternative Investment Roundtable and Donors' Forum (a philanthropic roundtable).
Rebecca Craft
Andrea Schmitz
Nidhi Chadda
Jeffrey Yin currently serves as the Chief Financial Officer and General Counsel of Artsy (
Sarah Tomolonius is the Vice President of Investor Relations at M13, a consumer tech-focused full-service venture capital engine. Ms. Tomolonius is the co-founder of the Sustainability Investment Leadership Council. Ms. Tomolonius served as Vice President, Marketing and Investor Relations for Arlon Group, a food and agriculture investment firm, from December 2012 to June 2018, and served as Senior Professional, Management Reporting & Analytics from December 2010 to December 2012. From October 2008 to December 2010, Ms. Tomolonius served as Associate, Investor Relations for Citi Private Equity, a private equity group that was acquired by StepStone Group in October 2010. From October 2005 to September 2007, Ms. Tomolonius served as Research Analyst, Corporate & Public Affairs Group of Edelman, a global public relations firm. Ms. Tomolonius served as Program Assistant, Water & Coastal Program of Natural Resources Defense Council, a non-profit international environmental advocacy group, from October 2002 to September 2005. Ms. Tomolonius has served as a Director on the Board of Quest Resource Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: QRHC) since 2016 and is a member of the Audit and Nominations & Governance Committees. Ms. Tomolonius also served in numerous board capacities for non-profit organizations, including Chair of the Sustainability Committee for the New York Alternative Investment Roundtable and President of the Board of HeARTs Speak, a nonprofit organization, from February 2014 to February 2017, and she remains a board member for the organization.
Mohita Sinha serves as the Co-Chair of SILC’s Education Committee. With extensive experience leading complex finance and risk regulatory reporting transformations at global financial institutions, Mohita helps organizations evolve from voluntary action to regulatory compliance to true value creation. Her current focus is on climate risk integration, guiding companies to understand, operationalize, and embed risk considerations into business strategy while meeting compliance requirements.
Jessica Moon, Education Co-Chair, is a strategic leader at the Sustainable Investment Leadership Council (SILC), where she champions the integration of sustainability into core business and investment strategies. She designs and leads convenings that unite leading cross-sector professionals in critical dialogues focused on unlocking sustainable financial returns through innovative solutions. With over two decades of experience, Jessica brings a unique perspective, combining her legal acumen with deep sustainability expertise and a holistic understanding of the interconnectedness of business functions. Her leadership at Scholastic Inc., where she pioneered their ESG & Sustainability function, demonstrates her ability to develop and implement strategies that drive both environmental and financial value. Jessica empowers leaders to see sustainability as a key driver of strategic advantage and long-term financial success, fostering a future where impact and returns are intrinsically linked.
Dr. Michael Kraten is an executive management consultant and business educator. He maintains specialties in entrepreneurship, business modeling, decision analysis, sustainability and resilience, educational gaming, strategic planning, valuation, risk management, and forensic analysis.
Sophia Shahabadi
As a Managing Director at Silver Leaf Partners and sustainable finance subject matter expert, Marc Tannous established the Sustainable Finance Practice as a service organization to represent managers and companies seeking alpha by scaling sustainability / impact solutions. The Practice provides capital introduction, customer referral, and advisory consulting. 
Sydney Improta
As a coach, facilitator and consultant, Deborah Goldstein works with NY, U.S. and international organizations and individuals who are motivated to thrive in the 21stcentury workplace environment.
Jason Dodier is an American international business professional at Schneider Electric, which is the global specialist in energy management. Since commencing his career with Schneider Electric, Jason has lived in the United States, Middle East and Europe, while performing a variety of functions on behalf of the company in operations, business development, marketing and sales management. Jason is currently a Corporate Ambassador for electrical distribution, communications technology, sustainability, and innovation, activity on social media and delivering speeches on these topics worldwide.
Fitzgerald Angrand is a transactional attorney specializing in debt finance and alternative investments in the cannabis industry, representing investors, private equity funds, private debt funds, family offices, distressed debt funds, lenders and operating companies.
Matthew Levy is a Manager with PKF O’Connor Davies in the Not-for-Profit Services Group. He is a CPA and has been with PKFOD since 2012. He graduated from Lehigh University with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting. He currently serves as the treasurer of the Sustainability Investment Leadership Council.
Heather Loebner leads Sustainability and ESG strategy at CircleIT, a B Corporation in the IT Asset Disposition (ITAD) industry. Sustainability plays a critical role at CircleIT, focused on repurposing IT devices at end-of-life and eliminating e-waste aligned with a circular economy model. Loebner leads an internal and client-facing ESG strategy that increases transparency, establishes a path to carbon neutrality and net zero, and builds social and environmental impact through strong governance aligned with B Corporate values and certification.
J. Michael Kirkland, CPA, CGMA is a veteran financial executive with over 30 years of experience in accounting, industry, consulting, and business development. He also serves the CPA profession with distinction, lending strong and visible leadership to professional and student groups.