DETAILS
DATE: Wednesday, March 13
TIME: 5:30 PM Check in | 6:10 PM Panel | 7:15 PM Networking | 7:45 PM Program Concludes
LOCATION: Latham & Watkins LLP, 1271 6th Ave, New York, NY 10020
COST: $10.00
ABOUT THIS EVENT
Corporate sustainability professionals and their accountant, investors and CFO colleagues may view value differently. What if a big component of value is being missed for all of these stakeholders? In this session, learn how values have quantifiable benefits and how to re-think your approach to calculating the value of sustainability.
Our speakers, author Daniel Aronson and corporate sustainability executive Karen Coyne, and our moderator, Austin Pierce, will illustrate how an innovative approach, through a real case study and other data, demonstrates sustainability programs are 4-10 times greater in value than often considered.
MODERATOR
Austin Pierce,
Senior Associate
Latham & Watkins
Austin Pierce is a senior associate at Latham & Watkins. He helps clients across industries to navigate ESG matters – including climate change, biodiversity and natural capital, human rights, Indigenous rights, and corporate culture – both individually and where such matters intersect with each other or other topics.
Austin regularly works with public and private companies, funds, and their boards on issues regarding:
– Voluntary and required reporting and disclosure
– ESG policy development and implementation
– Board and management education
– Sustainable finance and fund formation, including cross-jurisdictional offerings
– Development and execution of strategic initiatives
Austin serves on the international human rights committees for several bar associations. He regularly speaks and authors articles on ESG-related topics for a variety of publications.
SPEAKERS
Daniel Aronson,
Founder
Valutus
Daniel Aronson is the founder of Valutus, which specializes in creating value through sustainability and responsibility, the creator of the Value of Values™ Model, and the author of the book The Value of Values (MIT Press, 2024). He has helped leading companies identify and quantify over $2 billion in sustainability-driven business value.
Daniel coined the term “submerged value” and is the author of He is also the creator of Impact Science™, True Plastic Impact™, Materiality Science™, and Customer Science™. He has guest lectured at Harvard Business School and MIT Sloan’s Sustainability Lab, has written or been featured in over 100 articles and publications, and is an Executive in Residence at NYU’s Stern School of Business.
Daniel holds an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management, and a BA with High Honors from UC Berkeley. He lives in the New York City area. And if you’ve read this far in his bio, let him know and he’ll buy you a drink.
Karen L. Coyne,
Vice President
WomenExecs on Boards
Karen L. Coyne
Karen is a Fortune 200 Global VP of Sustainability, Board Director, and Certified Professional Environmental Auditor (CPEA). She is experienced in navigating the operational complexities of sustainability in dynamic, multifaceted business, regulatory, and stakeholder environments. She has delivered meaningful positive business impact and value creation, ultimately helping companies progress from ‘measuring what matters’ to ‘moving what matters.’
Karen’s last industry role was as Vice President, Global Head of Environment at Novartis AG where she pioneered the role of Chief Sustainability Officer, now a formalized position. She has nearly three decades of global leadership and operations experience, with functional expertise in corporate sustainability, environment, health & safety (EHS), and enterprise risk management (ERM). Her sector proficiency extends beyond life sciences from prior jobs working in, or with clients in, energy, industrials, automotive, consumer goods, defense, and professional services.
With the scope, scale, and variety of leadership roles she has held, ranging from a large-cap, global public company (Novartis (NYSE: NVS)), an academic institute (New York University) and a consulting and engineering firm (AECOM (NYSE: ACM)), Karen possesses a broad set of hands-on experiences and unique points of view. She is known and recognized for her ability to combine her functional expertise with sound business judgement, strategic foresight, and inclusive collaboration to achieve a vision or mission successfully and collectively.
Karen serves as a Vice President of WomenExecs on Boards, an international network of women prepared for board service at Harvard Business School, where she focuses on strategic partnerships, governance excellence, and advancing board opportunities. She has held prior corporate and non-profit governance and board roles, most recently serving on the Sustainability Advisory Council at Terrascope, a Singapore-based climate tech startup. She is currently focused on additional corporate governance service as a private company board director.
Karen is a native New Englander who has lived and worked internationally with her family, and is back living outside Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
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.