2014 Conference

Dan Bena currently heads the Sustainable Development and Operations Outreach agenda for PepsiCo Global Operations, the world’s second largest food and beverage company, which serves consumers in more countries and territories than the United Nations has members. Bena believes in using the power of the private sector to create shared value partnerships where business and society can flourish. He serves on the Public Health Committee of the Safe Water Network, dedicated to market-based, sustainable community-level solutions to provide safe drinking water in developing economies; the Leadership Group of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD); and Steering Board of the International Finance Corporation’s 2030 Water Resources Group Initiative. He formerly served on the Steering Committee of the United Nations CEO Mandate, where he was active in the Human Right to Water and Policy Engagement work streams; the Global Agenda Council on Water Security of the World Economic Forum; and the Board of the International Society of Beverage Technologists. Most recently, Bena was elected to the Boards of the Washington-based US Water Alliance, and the Creative Visions Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to using media and the arts to develop agents of positive social change. One of Creative Visions’ signature programs, called Rock Your World, engages middle and high school students in the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and provides them the tools with which to become creative activists. Bena also serves on the Advisory Board of Artistic Circles, which produced the 2012 documentary, Water Pressures. In 2014, he was invited to serve on the Advisory Board of the Environmental Leader publications group, as well as the America’s Water Initiative of the Earth Institute at Columbia University. He represented PepsiCo as one of only three invitees by the Federal Ministries of Germany to speak about the Food:Water:Energy Nexus in preparation for Bonn 2011. He was honored to deliver the keynote address at the Farm to Fork Royal Gala in the presence of TRH Princess Madeleine and Prince Daniel of Sweden, and has spoken at over 100 venues which span the business, government, academic, and non-profit worlds. In 2013, he was honored to represent PepsiCo while speaking at the Our Food, Our Future Summit, in Dublin, Ireland, hosted by the Irish Food Board, and attended by the Prime Minister of Ireland and the Minister of Agriculture. In July, 2012, he was one of four witnesses invited to provide testimony to the US Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. In 2013, he was honored to provide opening remarks at the United Nations Youth Assembly to over 1,000 youth delegates from over 100 countries. He was invited by the mayor of his city to serve on their inaugural Sustainability Advisory Board to develop a forward-looking sustainability plan for the city, one of only three nationwide selected to pilot a new sustainability planning tool kit based on the successful PlaNYC for the City of New York. He recently published his first book, Sustain-Ability: How a Corporate Conscience Sustains a Company’s Ability to Win, specifically to help other companies along their sustainability journeys. He lives in New York, USA with his wife, Diane.

Alex Eaton comes to us from Mexico, where he spent nearly a decade operating a company that worked with small farmers in Latin America on agricultural, energy and health issues. He’s overseeing our  Pipeline program to ensure that water projects supported by charity: water continue to provide clean water to communities long after they are installed.

Oliver Libby is a founding partner and Managing Director of Hatzimemos / Libby, a global growth catalyst firm based in New York City. Founded in 2009, the firm is dedicated to enhancing and accelerating companies ranging in size from international corporations to new ventures in key growth industries. Sectors of focus for the firm include energy, infrastructure, data, life sciences, and other advanced technologies. Hatzimemos / Libby’s investment of strategic support, its unique partnership development platform, and the deep relationship formed with partners helps these organizations achieve the next stage of their success.

From 2003 to early 2009, Mr. Libby was a consultant at Giuliani Partners LLC, a management consulting firm founded by former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. At Giuliani Partners, Mr. Libby served as Chief of Staff to Eric Hatzimemos, the firm’s Executive Managing Director. Mr. Libby joined the firm as an Analyst, receiving early promotions to Senior Analyst in 2004 and Vice President in 2006. In addition to his client-facing responsibilities, Mr. Libby managed Giuliani Partners’ Analyst recruiting and training program. In addition to his private sector work, Mr. Libby served as volunteer Deputy Director of Energy Policy for the Giuliani for President Campaign in 2007-2008. During that time, he and Mr. Hatzimemos met with a large advisory group of thought leaders in the energy sector, including business executives, academic experts, policy and media analysts, and government personnel. This process culminated in the drafting of a comprehensive, nonpartisan national energy policy for the United States of America.

Mr. Libby chairs the Growth Strategy Group of The Harvard Club of New York City, serving also as a member of the Club’s Admissions Committee, which he previously chaired for three years. He also serves as a Trustee of the Club’s charitable Foundation and a Harvard College interviewer.

In 2007, Mr. Libby co-founded The Resolution Project, Inc., a non-profit organization based in New York City, of which he is currently Chair of the Board. Resolution empowers young leaders around the world through collaborative social entrepreneurship. Resolution Social Venture Challenges have been held around the world, and Resolution Fellows are working in many American states and over thirty countries across all six inhabited continents.

Mr. Libby graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College, completing significant coursework at the graduate and undergraduate levels in government, with a focus on national security, defense, foreign relations, and public policy.

Rohini Nilekani is Founder-Chairperson, Arghyam, a foundation she has personally endowed to fund initiatives in ‘safe, sustainable water for all’. Since 2005, Arghyam has supported projects in water and sanitation all around India. Arghyam also facilitates the India Water Portal, which has become a singular resource for the sector. In 2004, she co-founded and funded Pratham Books, a non-profit children’s publisher, which aims to democratize the joy of reading with ‘A book in every child’s hands’. By the time she retired as Chairperson on December 31^st, 2013, Pratham Books had reached millions of children with indigenous, attractive books in multiple languages. She has served on several boards including ATREE- Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment, and SRFS – Sanghamithra Rural Financial Services. She is on the Eminent Persons Advisory Group of the Competition Commission of India. Until recently, she was a member of the Audit Advisory Board of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India. Earlier, she spent several years as a journalist, and has worked or written for many leading publications such as Bombay Magazine, India Today, Sunday and the Times of India. Her first novel, Stillborn, a medical thriller, was published by Penguin Books. In 2008, she anchored a television show called Uncommon Ground for NDTV, which created a rare dialogue between top leaders of the corporate and social sectors. A book based on the show was published by Penguin Books India in 2011.  Under the pseudo name ‘Noni’, she has also authored several books for young children, including the popular Sringeri Srinivas series, published by Pratham Books. As a committed philanthropist, she continues to fund work in areas such as governance and accountability, independent media, education and research and environmental sustainability. Rohini Nilekani is an active advocate for Indian philanthropy.

Bill Staby is Founder and CEO of Boston-based Resolute Marine Energy, Inc. (RME) which, since 2007, has been developing a technology that harnesses the energy of ocean waves to provide clean water and electricity for remote and off-grid communities. Earlier in his career, Bill was an investment banker at First Boston Corporation where he was a member of the Electric Utility Corporate Finance Group and later he was co-head of the North American mergers & acquisitions team at Rabobank International. RME is Chairman of the Board of the Ocean Renewable Energy Coalition (OREC), the trade association of the marine renewable energy industry based in Washington, D.C. As Head of the U.S. delegation to IEC TC-114 in Geneva, Switzerland, Bill is a leader in the development of technical standards and certification processes for the marine renewable energy industry. Bill also serves on the Advisory Board of the University of North Carolina-Coastal Studies Institute. In 2010 Bill was a featured speaker at TEDx Boston and in 2013 he was a featured presenter at the 8^th annual International Forum for Sustainable Development held at UNESCO headquarters in Paris. Bill received his MBA from New York University in 1988 and he has completed executive education programs at Harvard Business School, MIT Sloan School and the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Jenifer Willig is the founder of WHOLE WORLD Water, a social enterprise uniting the hospitality & tourism industry to raise money for clean and safe water projects around the world (www.wholeworldwater.co). WHOLE WORLD Water works to engage the hospitality and tourism industry to filter, bottle, and sell its own water, and contribute 10% of the proceeds to the WHOLE WORLD Water Fund. Jenifer is also the co-founder of motive, a social innovation consultancy (the-motive.com) working with large companies to position and scale their social investments. Clients include Morgan Stanley, Gap Foundation, Old Navy and the New York Stock Exchange. Prior to starting motive, Jenifer led the (RED) organization founded by Bono and Bobby Shriver to fight AIDS in Africa. During her four year tenure (RED) raised $185 million by partnering with iconic brands including Nike, Apple, Dell, Microsoft, and Starbucks and became a global brand with a social following of over 2.5 million advocates. Jenifer began her career in advertising on global brands including AT&T, Levi Strauss & Co, British Airways, The Financial Times. She ran the New York office of M&C Saatchi and developed the dot com business at TBWA/Chiat/Day San Francisco during the tech boom of the late 1990′s. In 2013 she was named one of the 10 Most Generous Marketing Geniuses by Catch a Fire’s Generosity Series featured in Fast Company and recognized as one of the 40 women to watch over 40.