Meet the 2025 Net Zero Conference Trailblazer Award Nominees

Mayor Karen Bass

Mayor Karen Bass has led the nation’s second largest city with unprecedented urgency that has delivered results for all Angelenos.

Thousands more unhoused Angelenos have come inside in her first year than the year before, leading to a reported drop in homelessness for the first time in years.  

Under the Mayor’s leadership, LAPD received record numbers of applicants while homicides and violent crime decreased. One hundred thousand more city services like pothole repair and graffiti removal have been provided. Thousands of businesses opened. Hundreds of millions of dollars were secured through locking arms with state and federal partners as Los Angeles continues to urgently lead on climate. 

Mayor Bass was elected to make change for the people of Los Angeles by breaking with the status quo to deliver for the people of Los Angeles.

Kyle Thomas

Kyle Thomas is a presenter, animal advocate and the U.K.’s most followed TikTok creator, with over 34 million followers. In 2024, at just 19 years old, Thomas was named one of Forbes’ 30 Under 30, cementing his place as one of the U.K.’s most influential young creators. He has also built a loyal fanbase on Instagram, with over 1.3 million followers. Outside of content creation, Kyle has also walked for fashion brands like Dsquared. 

This summer, following his BBC Three documentary We Built a Zoo, he returns with two investigative documentaries yet to be announced—one for BBC Three and the other for Channel 4’s In Too Deep digital-first strand on YouTube. Thomas was recently named UK Roots & Shoots Ambassador by the Jane Goodall Institute and is working at Jimmy’s Farm and Wildlife Park in Suffolk where he has joined the team of animal conservationists. He continues to use his platform to champion conservation, promote responsible pet care, and inspire a new generation of animal lovers.

Greg Curtis

Greg Curtis is the Executive Director of Holdfast Collective, Patagonia’s new non-profit shareholder. Previously, Greg served as Deputy General Counsel for Patagonia for more than 8 years and led the company through its recent ownership transition.

Prior to Patagonia, Curtis was in-house counsel at a large multinational corporation and worked for a number of years in private practice as a corporate lawyer. He serves as a board member for 1% for the Planet and Circ and is a graduate of Brown University and University of Connecticut School of Law.

Sierra Quitiquit

Sierra Quitiquit is a professional athlete, climate activist, speaker, philanthropist and eco-entrepreneur. Born and raised in the mountains of Park City, Utah, Quitiquit developed a deep connection with the natural world from a young age. As Quitiquit’s passion for skiing led her to a career as a professional freeskier, she also aligned her platform for advocacy of Mother Nature.

As an ambassador, Quitiquit advocates on behalf of non-profits including NATO, Protect Our Winters, Climate Power, The Fossil Fuel Treaty, Oceanic and the American Conservation Coalition. Because of her love for surfing and the oceans, she cofounded an environmental organization to help reduce single-use plastic consumption, Plastic Free Fridays. Quitiquit is the founder and CEO of Time for Better, a creative climate communications agency that works with organizations on their digital campaign strategies and experiential events. Time for Better has worked with clients such as The Climate Pledge, Breitling, Nature Conservancy, Good Meat, Amazon Watch and On.

Quitiquit is now the executive director of BETTER Earth, a philanthropic initiative that directly funds youth and indigenous climate activists. The mission of BETTER Earth is to support change makers and storytellers to create a better world by expanding global awareness, education and action on climate.

Peter Templeton

Peter Templeton has worked for more than 25 years to accelerate global adoption of practices that enhance human health, environmental wellbeing and quality of life for all. As president and CEO of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI), he directs organization-wide efforts to increase the reach and impact of green building and green business market transformation activities around the world. He leads the execution of strategic plans and partnerships that expand local capacity and deliver new tools for advancing smart, healthy, socially responsible and environmentally sustainable buildings and communities. Over Templeton’s tenure at USGBC, LEED has become the most widely used and respected green building program in the world.

Templeton served as president and CEO of the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute (C2CPII) from 2018 to 2021, working to scale Cradle to Cradle Certified as the globally recognized mark of materials and products optimized for human and environmental health, circularity, and social fairness.

Prior to C2CPII, Templeton served in senior leadership roles at USGBC leading global market development, establishing strategic partnerships and directing the annual Greenbuild International Conference and Expo, LEED training and professional credentialing programs, and USGBC’s green building research initiatives.

Jerome Foster II

Jerome Foster II is an environmental justice activist, social entrepreneur, and renowned public speaker. At 18, he made history becoming the youngest person ever to advise the White House by joining the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council to advise the United States President on how best to advance environmental justice. This was made possible by his founding of OneMillionOfUs, a charity that mobilized one million young people to vote in the 2020 Presidential Elections. From being one of the major organizers of the School Strike for Climate Movement, holding weekly climate strikes outside the White House for 80 weeks, Foster II is now the cofounder and Executive Director of Waic Up, an extension of OneMillionOfUs that uses art, journalism, and civic engagement to drive climate justice advocacy alongside his advisory work to the President of the United States of America.

Named TIME Magazine‘s Next Generation Leader and recognized as a modern historical figure in the curricula of Cambridge University, Foster II has a long history of political advocacy. Growing up in Washington, D.C., he began his journey at 14 by serving on the DC State Board of Education’s Student Advisory Committee, where he worked to modernize high school graduation requirements. At 16, he became one of the youngest-ever Congressional interns for Civil Rights icon Congressman John Lewis. At 18, he made history as the youngest person appointed to a White House Federal Advisory Committee in U.S. history.

Foster II also has a background in tech, having run a virtual reality development company that was featured nationally on ABC, CBS, NBC, and FOX.

Genesis Butler

Genesis Butler is an 18 year old Afro Indigenous climate and animal rights activist who began her activism at the age of 6. She became one of the youngest people to give a TEDx talk when she gave a talk entitled “A Ten Year Old’s Vision for Healing the Planet”, which was inspired by her great uncle, Cesar Chavez. 

Butler is the founder of Youth Climate Save, which is the first global youth-led climate movement to focus on the connection between animal agriculture and climate change. She is also the lead plaintiff in Genesis V. EPA. along with 17 other plaintiffs who are suing the EPA for intentionally allowing discriminatory life-threatening climate pollution, which is emitted by the fossil fuel sources of greenhouse gases it regulates, harming children’s health and welfare.

Nimay Ndolo

Nimay Ndolo is a Nigerian-American content creator known for her unique storytelling and ability to blend fashion with comedy. She began her career as a software developer before transitioning to full-time content creation, where she’s worked with brands like Truly, Victoria’s Secret, and Fashion Brand Co.

Whether she’s talking about skincare, fashion, politics, mental health, or everyday life, she’s always sure to make her audience laugh while forcing them to truly examine the inner workings of the topic at hand. In addition to running environment non profit, City Aesthetica, Nimay was most recently named one of TIME Magazine’s TIME100 Creators 25 Most Influential Creators of 2024 by Rolling Stone Magazine.

Summer Dean

Summer Dean, aka Climate Diva, is a celebrated environmental creative, slow fashion advocate, and climate educator dedicated to healing our broken relationship with the Earth. With a background in environmental science and experience spanning renewable energy, climate science, policy advocacy, air quality science, and zero-emissions mobility, she merges expertise with storytelling to inspire action.

Through Climate Diva Media, she produces interdisciplinary creative content and consulting services that weave sustainability into fashion, wellness, and climate. Dean’s work spans creative direction, film production, and social media, making sustainability accessible and engaging across industries, and she was named one of Harvard’s Climate Creators to Watch and Bustle’s Eco It Girl in 2025.

David Gottfried

David Gottfried is widely recognized as a father of the global green building movement. He founded both the U.S. Green Building Council and the World Green Building Council, which now includes Green Building Councils (GBCs) in over 80 countries. His pioneering efforts catalyzed a global sustainable building movement, resulting in billions of square feet of certified projects across more than 186 countries and hundreds of thousands of accredited professionals.

Gottfried currently serves as Founder & CEO of Regen360, a startup company with the vision of accelerating the next evolution of green building through a collaborative digital infrastructure for the global GBC network. His pilot initiative is underway with USGBC California.

Previously, he was Chief Commercial Officer of Blue Planet Systems, which develops synthetic limestone aggregate by mineralizing industrial CO₂—paving the way for carbon-neutral and carbon-negative concrete.

He spent two decades as CEO of Regenerative Ventures and its RegenNetwork, and earlier held senior leadership roles in real estate, including Senior Vice President at Thomas Properties Group and Managing Director of its Green Building Fund.

Anthony Brower

Anthony Brower designs with physics and feeling. That throughline drives his work, where performance and comfort share the same blueprint. His goal is simple to say and hard to achieve: creating places that work for people and the planet at the same time.

For him, sustainable design begins before the building takes shape. It starts with quiet choices that few will ever see—shading that teaches light to behave, materials selected for both health and strength. He works at the intersection of science and experience: energy analytics, passive solutions, embodied carbon, resilience, material chemistry, and human comfort. The models matter, but for Brower, the true measure of success is how a space feels when you step inside.

Much of his practice lives in translation. He turns carbon math into stories people can use and converts technical constraints into design opportunities that feel intuitive once revealed. Along the way, he has taught, mentored, and learned beside a generation of emerging designers who want to build with purpose. He also writes to make the work accessible to a broader public and is currently at work on a book about climate-first architecture that aims to be practical, clear, and human.

Serious about design. Intentional with impact. Unexpectedly human.

Saloni Agrawal

Saloni Agrawal is a supply chain and materials engineering leader at Lucid Motors, where she drives sustainable innovation in the automotive and energy sectors. With expertise in plastics engineering, electric vehicle powertrains, and global supplier development, she focuses on reducing carbon footprints through lightweight material solutions and resilient, ESG-aligned supply chains.

Agrawal is passionate about creating scalable strategies that promote climate resilience, equity, and circularity in manufacturing. Her work integrates technical excellence with a mission-driven approach to sustainability and operational impact. Through mentoring, speaking, and industry leadership, she empowers the next generation of innovators to advance sustainable solutions in high-impact industries.

Julia Marsh

Julia Marsh is the CEO and cofounder of Sway, a material innovation company scaling compostable packaging made with seaweed. Marsh spent over a decade designing brand and packaging systems for consumer goods companies, technology startups, and design studios around the world. Her work is driven by a deep passion for regenerative design and biological circularity. Sway’s patented products match the vital performance attributes of conventional plastics and are designed to plug into existing infrastructure, enabling scale and massive impact. Unlike plastic, however, their materials integrate abundant, regenerative resources and decompose into healthy soil after use.

Sway was named a Fast Company World Changing Idea in 2024, won first place in the TOM FORD Plastic Innovation Prize in 2023, and won the Beyond the Bag Challenge in 2021 sponsored by Closed Loop Partners and a consortium of major retailers. Sway’s solutions have also garnered recognition from Vogue, Forbes, Business Insider, and Fast Company.

Evelyn Lee

Evelyn M. Lee, FAIA, is an architect turned tech entrepreneur who blends her design background with a passion for innovation. As an angel investor, startup advisor, and fractional COO, she helps drive growth for architecture firms, embracing new ways of practicing.

Lee is the founder of Practice of Architecture and hosts the Practice Disrupted podcast with over 65,000 listeners globally. A sought-after speaker and Architizer columnist, she provides insights on integrating technology, leadership development, and better business operations within the architecture practice. Lee also champions inclusivity as an advisor for Women Defining AI, inspiring women to close the gender gap within the tech industry.

Ryan Gilliam

Dr. Ryan Gilliam is a serial entrepreneur leading the charge in decarbonizing hard-to-abate industries like cement, energy, and petrochemicals. In 2019, he cofounded Fortera, where he serves as CEO, championing innovations like ReCarb® and ReAct™ to enable commercially scalable, zero CO₂ cement manufacturing. His leadership was further recognized through a strategic global partnership with Graymont to scale deployment of Fortera’s low carbon technology.

Dr. Gilliam has also founded Verdagy, developing green hydrogen technology via its first gigafactory in California; and Chemetry, which focuses on reducing the energy consumption and CO₂ footprint of producing essential chemicals. Additionally, he served as a Venture Partner at 1955 Capital, investing in breakthrough technologies in energy, food safety, health, and sustainable manufacturing

In September 2024, he delivered the TED Talk “A concrete plan for sustainable cement”, spotlighting the importance and future of low-carbon cement in the global fight against climate change.

Parker Cohn

Parker Cohn is a visionary leader and owner of Performance Resource Management, a cutting-edge company at the forefront of sustainable agriculture and environmental conservation. As a distinguished soil engineering expert, Cohn specializes in empowering farms, golf courses, and sports fields to enhance both the quality, quantity, and security of crop yields while simultaneously minimizing water, energy, chemical, and labor usage.

Under Cohn’s guidance, Performance Resource Management employs a groundbreaking approach that leverages the synergy of biological processes and remote sensing technologies. This unique combination plays a pivotal role in revitalizing soil on farms and golf courses, with profound implications for global environmental conservation. The results speak volumes, encompassing a healthier food supply, increased carbon cycling to combat climate change, a cleaner water supply by reducing toxic chemicals and runoff, and an overall reduction in carbon footprint.

Cohn’s commitment extends beyond mere business success; he understands the critical role that water and energy infrastructure play in agriculture, especially in the western regions. Recognizing these challenges as significant threats to global health and food security, Cohn’s innovative systems emerge as powerful solutions that support soil carbon sequestration and contribute to addressing the urgent climate crisis. In addition to these environmental benefits, businesses adopting Parker’s methodologies experience substantial cost savings alongside improved crop health and yields.

Sophie Pennetier

Sophie Pennetier is a structural engineer with expertise in façades and sustainability. She founded Digne in 2024 to support manufacturers’ and nonprofits’ decarbonization in the built environment. Digne projects include glass recycling research and innovation, carbon-informed design and procurement support to manufacturers including Enclos, and other circularity projects. Her 17 years’ experience spans from consulting (with RFR, GNA, SHoP Construction, Arup) to contracting with Enclos, where she has lead Sustainability efforts until 2024.

Adjunct Faculty with SCI-Arc since 2021, Pennetier teaches Structures, Facades Tectonics and Embodied Carbon. Serving on the Board of Directors of the Façade Tectonics Institute, she has developed the FTI Carbon group research and grown its educational content. In 2023 she was awarded, in the individual category, the US Glass Sustainability Award for her contributions to industry research and education.

Serena Overhoff

Serena Overhoff has over 25 years of experience advising innovative early-stage, mid-size companies and non-profits in the areas of strategic business development and ESG (Social Impact) market positioning; particularly, in the industries of commercial real estate; sustainable architectural design; media + digital commerce; academia and the arts. Overhoff’s mission is to establish ‘impact’ investment partnerships that specifically aim to strengthen communities across the globe. Overhoff’s motto is ‘doing good for humanity and the earth.’

Overhoff received her B.A. from the University of Southern California (USC) Annenberg School for Communications and earned a Certificate of Professional Studies from the University of Oxford, England. She is President of The Jacques Overhoff Foundation, advisor to Tack & Gybe, a privately owned global strategic business development advisory firm, immediate Past President of the USC Trojan League of LA and, and member of the US Green Building Council in California.