WHEN AND WHERE
DATE: Thursday, September 19
SCHEDULE:
– 5:30 Registration Check-in and networking
– 6:15 Panel presentation
– 7:30 Close of program
LOCATION: Ropes & Gray, LLP – Host sponsor
1211 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10036-8704
COST: $10.00
ABOUT THIS PROGRAM
As the fashion industry rapidly evolves, consumers may be increasingly drawn to recycled and reused materials. Yet many brands continue to introduce new products, despite fast fashion’s significant environmental and social cost, prompting essential questions about sustainability. How are companies today identifying supply chains that source materials—whether it’s organic cotton or 100% recycled plastic—in ways that protect human health, human rights, and minimize environmental impact?
We’re excited to offer insights from major designers and retailers, a major fashion retailer, a forward-thinking sustainable fashion collaboration, and an innovative startup, all of whom are at the forefront of this movement. Together, they’ll share how they choose suppliers, manage supply chains, and navigate the complex, yet critical, future of sustainable fashion and fashion-adjacent products – to be trendsetting and transformational.
MODERATOR
Nidhi Chadda
CEO
Enzo Advisors
Nidhi Chadda is a generalist growth investor and advisor across public and private markets. She is the Founder and CEO of Enzo Advisors, a female and minority-led sustainability consulting practice she founded that focuses on helping private, small and mid-cap companies build best-in-class sustainable business models and works closely with institutional investors to integrate environmental, social and governance (ESG) policies and frameworks across their investment processes. Enzo Advisors is at the nexus of finance, strategy and technology, taking a holistic qualitative and quantitative approach advising corporate and investor clients on how to integrate sustainability initiatives to mitigate risk and unlock value creation. She is also the Chief Impact Officer for Richmond Global Sciences, where she focuses on developing and executing business strategies aligned with market and customer insights with a keen focus on RGS’ portfolio construction investment solutions linking financial criteria to various environmental and social impact drivers. Prior to launching Enzo Advisors, Nidhi was a portfolio manager at RBC Global Asset Management, where she spearheaded the initiative to drive ESG integration across investment processes for her team managing $3 billion in assets under management in aggregate across 3 funds. Nidhi also serves on several advisory boards and investment committees at angel associations and venture funds. Nidhi has hosted numerous webinars related to ESG / impact / climate – related topics and has been featured across a number of media engagements including CNBC, the Women in Asset Management Summit, ESG Clarity magazine, Women’s Wear Daily (WWD), ESG Today, and Venture Capital Journal. Nidhi is also an instructor for the Southern Gas Association where she teaches courses on ESG / sustainability; decarbonization and the pathway to net zero; emerging climate technologies; and climate risk modeling. She also spearheaded the launch of the quarterly ESG Series on behalf of the Board of the Harvard Business School Women’s Association, which has hosted sold out events since inception. Nidhi has 20+ years of experience as an investment banker, strategic consultant, and investor. She earned her MBA from the Harvard Business School and a BS in Economics from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania where she was a Benjamin Franklin and Joseph Wharton Scholar, as well as the recipient of the Dean’s Award for Innovation. She is the recipient of the Impact Investment and Advisory Award (June 2024, NRI Achiever Awards) as well as the recipient of the Outstanding Leadership in Finance Award (July 2023, MORE 2.0 Conference.) Nidhi has also received numerous accolades including being named one of Aspiring Women Leaders for 2022 by Aspioneer Magazine, was a finalist for the Next Generation Leader Award in 2021 and a finalist for the Women in Asset Management Award for US Small / Mid-cap Equities in 2019.
SPEAKERS
Alexandra Baylis
CEO
Hen
Alexandra Baylis is an accomplished fashion designer, having collaborated with iconic brands like Christian Dior, Oscar De La Renta and Carolina Herrera. In 2021, she co-founded Welles, a pioneering company dedicated to sustainable material science with innovative uniform design. With over fifteen years of experience in crafting garments and textiles focused on sustainability, Alexandra has gained deep insights into the challenges of developing eco-friendly products. Her expertise has illuminated critical gaps in a fragmented and opaque supply chain. To tackle these issues, she founded Hen, a global platform that unites brands, manufacturers and innovators, streamlining the creation of sustainable apparel and fostering collaboration across the apparel industry.
Meagan Downey
CEO
Shiki Wrap
Meagan Downey is the Founder and CEO of Shiki Wrap, a startup on a mission to change gift giving for good by eliminating the waste and hassle of paper gift wrap with reusable gift packaging made from sustainable materials. Since its founding in 2021, Shiki Wrap has garnered a New England Innovation Award (The Eddies) and notable press in the Style section of The New York Times, Forbes, Business Insider and Poosh by Kourtney Kardashian.
Prior to founding Shiki Wrap, Meagan served mission-driven organizations. As a consultant, she worked as Senior Vice President at Ter Molen Watkins & Brandt, a nationwide consulting firm, and as project lead for the UMass Donahue Institute, where clients included the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, YMCA of Metropolitan Washington, Vermont College of Fine Arts, Landmark College and the North Carolina Partnership for Children.
Earlier in her career, she served as Director of Communications and Research Dissemination for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Teenage Pregnancy Prevention Program, Senior Vice President for 2 large Planned Parenthood affiliates, and Director of External Affairs for Chicago’s largest homelessness prevention provider now known as All Chicago. Meagan graduated with an M.B.A. from Champlain College in 2016 and a B.A. from DePaul University in 2001. She was appointed by Vermont Governor Phil Scott to serve on the statewide commission for the blind and visually impaired in 2017.
Ulrika Leverenz
Head of Green Investment
H&M Group
With over two decades of experience in finance, Ulrika offers a wealth of knowledge to her role as the head of the Green Investment Function at H&M Group, a critical role dedicated to advancing the Group’s sustainability objectives through an investment strategy. Essentially, she leads an investment arm dedicated to advancing sustainability within the organization.
Drawing from her extensive financial and operational background, which includes positions as CFO in well-established sales markets like Germany and in dynamic startup markets such as Australia, Ulrika brings a unique blend of experience to her current role. Her career has also encompassed successful ventures in business startups.
Ulrika’s ability to bridge climate ambitions with business objectives underscores her leadership. She firmly understands that climate interventions can deliver substantial long-term business value, and she is committed to aligning environmental goals with corporate strategies.
Amina Razvi
Former CEO
Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC)
Amina is a trailblazer in the global apparel and textile industry, known for driving the adoption of the Higg Index and tools at more than 24,000 organizations around the world and cultivating an unprecedented level of industry collaboration and change. She earned accolades for her sustainability leadership including a spot on the San Francisco Business Times 2023 list of Influential Women and a feature in British Vogue’s 2020 Women Leaders in Fashion’s Sustainable Revolution. As the CEO of the SAC, Amina redirected its mission to transform business beyond the apparel industry, scaling the organization and orchestrating a strategic spin-oW and rebranding to Cascale.
Previously, Amina served as the SAC’s Executive Director and Vice President of Membership, doubling membership and expanding the organization’s industry influence and impact. At Gap Inc., Amina combined her commitment to sustainability and her architectural training, developing the company’s environmental strategy across brands and leading sustainable design practices for over 100 Old Navy stores.
Amina holds a Master’s in Architecture from MIT and a Bachelor’s in Architecture from the University of Illinois – Urbana-Champaign. Based in Oakland, California, Amina lives with her two daughters and their cat.
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.