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SILC’s 2026 Master Class Course 4:
Carbon Accounting
DATE: Wednesday, April 8, 2026
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
Chair of the Board, SILC
Rebecca Craft has over 25 years of experience in the energy sector and is a leader in the design of non-wires alternatives, energy efficiency, demand management programs, and clean energy strategies. Rebecca has worked as the Head of Strategy at Kevala, Inc., Director, Sustainability Electrification at Sidewalk Labs, and as chief customer officer at Essess , Inc. Rebecca spent 13 years at Consolidated Edison where she ran the Energy Efficiency and Demand Management Department. She serves on the board of directors of the Building Energy Exchange and the Sustainability Investment Leadership Council, which she chairs. Rebecca is also an Entrepreneur in Residence for NYSERDA. Rebecca earned a B.A. in economics from Wellesley College and a J.D. from Indiana University Mauer School of Law and is a member of the Pennsylvania Bar.
Andrea Schmitz
President SILC
Andrea has over 30 years’ experience as an energy, environment, and safety professional. She is Partner and Head of Sustainability Strategy at Knickerbocker Financial Group (KFG). Prior to joining KFG, she was Vice President of Environment, Health, and Safety at Con Edison Company of New York, Inc. During her 25-year tenure with Con Ed, Andrea worked in a variety of positions including Environmental Manager for Gas Operations, General Manager of Electric Construction, Assistant to the CEO, and Deputy Ombudsman.
While at Con Edison, Andrea co-chaired the Safety, Environment, Operations and Sustainability Board of Directors for Con Edison. She was a Member of the Board of the Education Fund for the New York City League of Conservation Voters. She was also Chair of the Chief EH&S Officer’s Council of the Conference Board Executive Committee.
Prior to Con Edison, Andrea worked at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in the Underground Storage Tank Program and as Program Manager for EPA’s Natural Gas STAR Program, where she worked with U.S. and Russian natural gas companies to voluntarily reduce methane emissions.
Andrea holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Columbia University, a BA from UC San Diego and was Adjunct Professor at Columbia University’s MPA Program in Environmental Science and Policy from 2005 - 2009.
Nidhi Chadda
Board Member SILC
Nidhi is a generalist growth investor and advisor across public and private markets. She is the Founder and CEO of Enzo Advisors, a global sustainability consultancy at the nexus of finance, strategy and technology, taking a holistic qualitative and quantitative approach advising corporates and investors on how to integrate sustainability initiatives to mitigate risk and unlock value creation. She also wears a dual hat as the Chief Impact Officer for Richmond Global Sciences (RGS), an AI intelligence platform focused on impact measurement and valuation for public and private markets aligned with global industry standards. Previously, she was a portfolio manager at RBC Global Asset Management, where she spearheaded ESG integration for her team managing $3 billion in assets under management. She has 20+ years of experience as an investment banker, strategic consultant and investor. She is a thought leader across sustainability and climate - related topics, having spoken at multiple conferences, webinars and panels including broadcast media such as CNBC. She is also on the Boards of Sustainability Investment Leadership Council (SILC), the Harvard Business School Women's Association and the Mariano Rivera Foundation.
Jeffrey Yin currently serves as the Chief Financial Officer and General Counsel of Artsy (www.artsy.net), an online fine art marketplace. He previously served as the General Counsel of XO Group (The Knot) and has also served in executive management at a boutique investment bank and family office as well as a publicly traded specialty finance business. Jeffrey started his career as a business and technology lawyer. Jeffrey received a B.A. in Economics and Rhetoric from the University of California at Berkeley and a J.D. from the New York University School of Law.
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.
She is the Board Chair of the Lower East Side Ecology Center, a nonprofit advancing circular economy and urban sustainability through composting, recycling, stewardship, and food justice programs.
Mohita holds climate risk certifications from the Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP) in Sustainability and Climate Risk, the CSRD Institute, and the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). She earned an MBA in Business Economics and a BBA in Finance and Economics.
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.
Beyond corporate leadership, Jessica leads the SOLAR@PS11 Initiative, bringing together diverse stakeholders to create a demonstration site for sustainable schools. This advocacy work demonstrates her ability to create frameworks that align educational, environmental, and community benefits while navigating complex public-private partnerships—skills that enhance the practical insights she brings to SILC's educational programming. A GRI Certified Sustainability Professional with certificates from Yale School of Management in Corporate Sustainability Management, GHG Protocol, and recent NYC Trash Academy training, Jessica combines theoretical knowledge with practical implementation expertise. An avid reader, she continuously draws on diverse perspectives to inform her systems-based approach to sustainability challenges.
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.
Dr. Kraten has more than forty years of management consulting experience and has been registered or licensed as a Certified Public Accountant throughout that time. He currently serves as Director of Intellectual Content for the Sustainability Investment Leadership Council (SILC) and as Technical Expert for Sustainability and Resilience at PKF O’Connor Davies.
In academia, he has more than twenty five years of higher education experience. He recently completed a two year term as Director of Accounting Program Initiatives at the University of Houston, where he focused on developing innovative approaches to sustainability, entrepreneurship, Artificial Intelligence, and attracting students to the accounting profession.
In 2025, he received TXCPA Houston’s Outstanding CPA of the Year and Presidential Citation Awards. The prior year, he received the TXCPA’s state-wide Outstanding Accounting Educator Award for large universities. He serves on the Board of Directors and Advisory Boards of several major nonprofit entities, including the TXCPA and TXCPA Houston, the Sustainability Investment Leadership Council, American Accounting Researchers and Educators (AARE), SolPods, the CPA Journal of the New York Society of CPAs, and the Center for Professional Accounting Practices at Fordham University.
He began his career in the assurance and consulting practices of Deloitte. After serving as a Consulting Partner at BDO, then the seventh largest global accounting firm, he co-founded a series of boutique consulting practices. His consulting work has taken him to Bolivia, Canada, Great Britain, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Japan, the Middle East, the Netherlands, South Africa, and Vietnam, including corporate training activities with the national energy companies of Bolivia, Iraq, and Vietnam.
Earlier in his academic career, he served on the faculty of the Universities of Connecticut and Massachusetts in the U.S., Maastricht University in the Netherlands, and elsewhere. He has also presented his work at Dartmouth College, Deloitte University, Harvard Law School, Johns Hopkins University, Texas A&M Law School, and Yale University.
He has authored or co-authored more than thirty peer reviewed articles in academic and practitioner journals. In addition, he has authored numerous podcasts, newsletters, and book chapters for Wiley, Routledge, Henry Stewart, Kaplan, and others. He also authored a book on Business Planning and Entrepreneurship for Business Expert Press.
For ten years, the Social Science Research Network ranked him in the All-Time Top 10% of global researchers. His top-ranked article “Libor Manipulation" was published in the Journal of Banking and Finance several months before the global banking scandal exploded in the public business press.
He earned a PhD in Behavioral Accounting from the University of Connecticut and a MPPM in Public and Private Management from Yale University. He also earned a BBA in Public Accounting from Baruch College, CUNY.
Sophia Shahabadi
Chair, Sustainability Programs and Events
Sophia is a sustainability professional with 7+ years of experience across the non-profit, energy, and transportation sectors. She holds a Master of Science in Sustainability Management and brings expertise in ESG strategy, regulatory compliance, and stakeholder engagement.
Her experience includes leading ISO 14001 certification processes, supporting Environmental Justice initiatives, and integrating sustainability practices into major infrastructure and energy projects across North America. She is passionate about driving measurable environmental and social impact, fostering collaboration across sectors, and embedding sustainability into organizational decision-making.
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.
In addition, Marc supports the development of the sustainable finance ecosystem through policy development, networking, and educational initiatives.
He and the Sustainable Finance Practice Team maintain a deep understanding of the sustainable finance context, including the regulatory environment, sustainability accounting standardization and frameworks, and systems level drivers.
Marc has served in a range of financial, entrepreneurial, and leadership roles during the last two decades, including over 10 years in commercial banking, credit underwriting, and portfolio management at BB&T (now Truist). Prior to joining Silver Leaf Partners in January 2020, Marc completed his MPA in 2019 in International Finance and Economic Policy at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. Marc earned his MBA in 2005.
He is a SASB FSA Credential Holder and holds FINRA Series 7 and 63 licenses.
Sydney Improta
SILC Social Media Chair
Sydney Improta is an economics student at Barnard College of Columbia University with a strong focus on environmental impact and value-driven decision making. She began her career as a Sustainable Finance Intern at Silver Leaf Partners, where she developed a passion for aligning financial services with environmental stewardship—an interest that led her to connect with SILC.
Currently, Sydney is gaining practical experience in wealth management as an intern at Mariner, where she supports the development of comprehensive financial plans and investment strategies. She recently accepted a summer analyst offer at Barclays, where she looks forward to deepening her financial expertise and exploring innovative approaches to sustainability in global finance.
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.
Deborah focuses on two areas essential for the new workplace environment: creating psychological safety in the workplace, and DRIVEN’s signature programming in Intentional Productivity – which allows for thoughtful efficiency at work, and space for wellness and focus in order to appreciate a full presence in life.
Deborah considers herself to be DRIVEN’s best student, embracing a fluid work-life rhythm that allows for continual growth and gratitude.
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.
In addition to his work at Schneider, Jason has been established as a bedrock of millennial leadership within the international IT and ESG communities having held positions on The Green Grid Executive Committee, French American Chamber of Commerce in Washington DC, Sustainability Investment Leadership Council of New York, FountainHead Rhode Island and the Strengthening Rhode Island Advisory Committee led by Congressman Jim Langevin.
He is currently based in New York City where he is the Commercial Leader for Schneider Electrics Electrical Distribution and Industrial Automation businesses across New York and New Jersey.
Jason is passionate about learning languages, advising non-profits on their business models, and visiting other countries.
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.
Prior to her role at CircleIT, Loebner held a number of leadership roles in nonprofit, consulting, and corporate. As inaugural Executive Director, Palisades Parks Conservancy, she implemented the organization’s first strategic plan and delivered transformational partnerships that increased impact for millions of the park’s visitors and historical and cultural resources. Loebner served as lead advisor and consultant to private philanthropists and government collaboratives focused on strong climate impact agendas related to toxics, the built environment, parks, energy, and the agricultural sector. Loebner’s corporate experience includes leading ESG / Corporate Responsibility, Americas, ArcelorMittal where she also served as Executive Director, ArcelorMittal USA Foundation. Partnering cross-functionally, her role encompassed strategy for more than 50 steel production and mining facilities and 40,000 employees. In her global CR team role, she developed the company’s first global policies for 310,000 employees, creating strategic delivery of energy, water and waste reductions, human rights policies and responsible sourcing protocols. She conceived a stakeholder engagement process, developed the company’s first reporting framework and drove supply chain management strategy. Loebner guided the USA company to five consecutive Energy Star Partner of the Year awards and conceived and directed an award-winning bi-national public-private partnership, Sustain Our Great Lakes, that achieved $64 million dollars in on-the-ground conservation impact during her tenure. At HSBC, Loebner led business group philanthropy where she launched employee engagement, educational scholarships and DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) strategies through a comprehensive grants portfolio. Loebner began her career in marketing, achieving millions of dollars of growth at PricewaterhouseCoopers through healthcare and succession planning thought-leadership initiatives, business, marketing and communications strategy.
Loebner has served on the Council on Foundations Advisor Network and Corporate Committee, the Blue Green Alliance’s Corporate Council and WBCSD. She co-founded a sustainability working group accelerating Chicago’s climate action plan. Heather is a frequent conference speaker, to include Ethical Corporation, the Conference Board, and others on topics such as environmental stewardship, governance models, and social impact partnerships. She graduated with a Bachelors in Business from St. Louis University and a Masters in Political Science from University of Illinois.
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.
J. Michael is the founder of JMK Consulting, where he currently serves as a strategic and technical advisor to executive management clients. Before starting the firm, he held senior executive positions at Deutsche Bank AG. Prior to joining Deutsche Bank, J. Michael worked at the Bankers Trust Company and JPMorgan Chase in New York and London. He began his accounting career at Arthur Andersen & Company in New York.
Throughout his career, J. Michael has been a driving force in the CPA profession, globally, nationally, and locally. He is a member of, and has held leadership positions in, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AIPCA), Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants (NYSSCPA), National Association of Black Accountants (NABA), the Association of Latino Professionals in Finance and Accounting (ALPFA) and Ascend, and the Accountants Club of America.
Currently, Mr. Kirkland is a member of the American Arbitration Association (AAA) International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR) Board of Directors and Council member and serves on the Audit Committee, Budget & Finance Committee, Grants Committee, and Environment, Social & Governance Subcommittee. Mr. Kirkland is on the Board of Directors of Sustainability Investment Leadership Council and previously served as President.
Mr. Kirkland is the recipient of the National Association of Black Accountants 2013 National Achievement - Public Accounting Award. He was also awarded the NYSSCPA’s 2011 Outstanding CPA in Industry Award and was awarded the NYSSCPA’s 2019 Distinguished Service Award. In 2014, he received a Maryland General Assembly Official Citation from the Baltimore City Legislature in recognition of his accounting leadership, and dedication.
Among his writings, he has frequently been published in The Trusted Professional, the newspaper of the NYSSCPA, and the New Accountant – High School Edition, for which he wrote “CPA: Career for a Lifetime” and co-authored “State of The profession 2018: Views on Practice Management” in The CPA Journal.