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Terry Tamminen

Terry is the Special Advisor to the Governor on Energy and the Environment. Mr. Tamminen assisted the West African nation of Nigeria with the creation of their first solid waste recycling program. In 1993, Mr. Tamminen founded the Santa Monica BayKeeper and served as its Executive Director for six years. He co-founded Waterkeeper programs in San Diego, Orange County, Ventura, and Santa Barbara and serves on the Board of the National Waterkeeper Alliance. From 1999-2003, Mr. Tamminen was the Executive Director of Environment Now in Santa Monica. He has served on numerous civic and charitable Boards and Commissions, including as Chair of the Public Advisory Committee to the Southern California Wetlands Recovery Project, the U.S. Navy Pt. Mugu Naval Air Station Restoration Advisory Board, the Los Angeles/Long Beach Harbor Safety Committee, and on the Board of the Wishtoyo Foundation, a group that preserves natural resources through Chumash Indian traditional teachings. Mr. Tamminen was appointed as the Secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2003, was appointed as Cabinet Secretary in December of 2004 and as of January 1, 2006, serves as a Special Advisor to the Governor for Energy and Environmental policy.

Eiko Risch

Eiko is the Division Manager of the Sustainability Promotion Division REI Strategic Office for Ricoh Electronics, Inc. Ms. Risch was project leader for the Ricoh Electronics, Inc. Zero Waste to Landfill (ZWTL) initiative. She has been the organization lead from concept development through design and implementation of this initiative. Through the process of introducing this new concept to the Ricoh organization, involving the entire organization, and adapting and practicing these concepts in real life, her entire team has experienced many valuable lessons which have contributed towards making Ricoh Electronics, Inc. a lean and sustainable company. Today Ms. Risch shares the extraordinary experiences she encountered while implementing sustainable practices at her company with their business partners and their community in hopes of making additional contributions toward creating a sustainable society. The step by step method applied at Ricoh Electronics, Inc can be easily deployed in any type of business environment.

Thomas Kiser

Thomas is Chairman, CEO and founder of Professional Supply Inc. (PSI), an international leader in the innovation, design and application of the most advanced heating, ventilating and energy systems in the world. Mr. Kiser, an aeronautical engineer, is a pioneer in the field of energy and has developed many revolutionary patents that have changed the way industries integrate and utilize HVAC. He is famous for the “Kiser Concept,” which was installed in the Ford Motor Company and received an ASHRAE National Energy Savings Award. Mr. Kiser is known throughout the industrial world as America’s Energy Coach. His concepts and leadership are in high demand as the world struggles to meet the intense energy demands today and in the future. Mr. Kiser’s energy systems and energy answers will continue to change the lives of millions of people and radically alter the way companies use energy. Mr. Kiser is also the creator of a training concept known as Corporate Coaching, which specializes in helping business executives, medical professionals, and athletes sustain high performance. He believes that managing energy, not time, is the key to the most innovative training and learning.

Evan C. Henry

Evan is the Senior Vice President and Manager of the Environmental Services Department of Bank of America, who is responsible for the assessment and management of environmental credit risks across the spectrum of business activities of BankAmerica Corporation worldwide. His responsibilities and expertise cover assessment of corporate environmental compliance, liability and third party issues with an emphasis on integration of the environmental, legal and business components of lending and related transactions. He also serves on Bank of America’s Environmental Commitment Advisory Committee. Mr. Henry has a Bachelor of Science degree in geology and a Master of Science degree in hydrology and has been a Registered Geologist and Registered Environmental Assessor in the state of California. He has been a frequent speaker and panelist at state, local, national and international conventions and seminars, authoring multiple papers on environmental risk management, brownfields financing, and sustainability issues for banks. He developed the Environmental Risk Management for Bankers training program for the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and taught similar programs in conjunction with the US Agency for International Development through South and Southeast Asia.

James Kaz Inouye

James has been with American Honda Motor Inc., Co. (AHM) for over 25 years. In his current position as Records Center Coordinator, Mr. Inouye is responsible for managing the day-to-day operations pertaining to company records/information. In addition, he is responsible for the daily operations of materials recycling, reduction, and reuse within the company. His efforts and expertise have been instrumental in helping the company-wide recycling program receive a variety of local and statewide awards for seven consecutive years. One award was the “WRAP of The Year” award, which AHM received in 2005 from the State of California’s Integrated Waste Management Board for efforts in diverting solid waste from landfills. Furthermore, Mr. Inouye regularly donates office supplies and equipment collected during the daily recycling activities to local nonprofit organizations, such as local schools and disabled organizations. His vision and dedication in the area of recycling and waste reduction has helped AHM develop successful environmental programs.

John PicardJohn is a leading environmental consultant that started his career as an architect, builder, entrepreneur and a sought- after building efficiency expert. A chance meeting with, Sam LaBudde, the famed eco-warrior who chronicled the slaughter of dolphins and changed the fishing practices of the tuna industry, sparked a conversion and John’s lifelong dedication to eco-consciousness. From that moment, John began using his knowledge of engineering, design and building to apply the complex principles of sustainability to new and existing structures. John began walking his “green” path in 1991 by building his own solar powered, sustainable residence. His success inspired a re-imagined world where building structures were humane and existed at minimal cost to the environment. John was convinced that if other homebuilders were to follow this vision, they would need an iconic example in the most famous house in the United States. The “Greening of the White House” initiative was conceived and spearheaded by John. Vice President Al Gore and President Bill Clinton embraced the project and augmented it by creating the U.S. Green Building Council. John has also helped The Gap formulate and execute an environmental and energy efficiency policy in all of their retail stores, introduced Paul Hawkens’ principle of closed loop products of service to the Southern California Gas Company’s new Energy Resource Center and brought success, profitability, and good will to innovative companies such as Virgin, Compaq, Sony, Sempra Energy and the production of Ashes and Snow.

Martin DiedrichMartin grew up in Guatemala where his family owned a small coffee farm. In 1983, Martin left behind a blossoming career in Mayan archeology and came to Costa Mesa to help his parents with their small custom coffee roastery. He founded the first Diedrich Coffee coffeehouse in Costa Mesa in 1984. Under Martin’s direction, Diedrich Coffee grew to nearly a dozen locations over the next ten years and earned the reputation as “The Best Coffeehouses in Orange County.” Today there are more than 30 Diedrich Coffeehouses in California, Colorado and Texas. Martin Diedrich is now considered one of the pioneers of the coffeehouse phenomenon. Martin has been a Master Roaster for 21 years and is an internationally recognized coffee expert. In 2005 Martin was presented with the Specialty Coffee Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award. In June of 2004, Martin resigned his position at Diedrich Coffee, and began to manifest a new vision: a state-of-the-art, cutting edge coffeehouse that would bring back the community feeling, coffee connoisseurship, and cultural atmosphere of his early Diedrich coffeehouses, as well as embrace his ideal that businesses should model community and global responsibility and awareness, both environmental and cultural. In December of 2005, Martin and his wife Karen opened the doors of Kean Coffee in Newport Beach, California named for their only son, Kean. Kean Coffee has already developed a loyal following of customers with its high quality artisan coffees fresh roasted onsite daily by Martin himself, in a world-class roaster built and manufactured by his brother Stephan Diedrich in Sandpoint Idaho. Through Kean Coffee, Martin Diedrich is taking his community coffeehouse vision to the next level.

Rosalie Mulé

Rosalie was appointed as a full-time member of the California Integrated Waste Management Board on April 22, 2004, by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to the position reserved for a person with experience in the private sector waste industry. Prior to this appointment, Ms. Mulé worked for Waste Management Inc. from 1998-2004. She served as municipal marketing director for Waste Management of the Inland Empire and government affairs/municipal marketing director for Waste Management of Florida. Ms. Mulé previously worked for Browning-Ferris Industries (BFI) from 1990-1998 where she held positions in recycling, municipal marketing and government and community affairs in both Florida and Hawaii. She began her career as an environmental planner, serving as public participation coordinator for several water resources/waste water treatment planning programs in both Atlantic County, New Jersey and San Diego, California. Ms. Mulé has served with numerous organizations including Keep American Beautiful affiliates in Hawaii and Florida, the Hawaii State Solid Waste Task Force, the NSWMA Florida Chapter, and Riverside County Illegal Dumping Task Force. She co-founded the Kauai Resource Conservation and Development Council and served on the Board of Directors until 1995. She currently is a member of the Solid Waste Association of North America.

Curt Smith

Curt is the manager of refuse, recycling, and Intex for Vons A Safeway Company. He is responsible for one of the largest and most innovative supermarket recycling programs in the country. Mr. Smith oversees the receiving and redistribution of more than a quarter million tons of recyclable and reusable material each year. Furthermore, he is responsible for Vons 360,000 square foot overflow and holiday facility. Mr. Smith is currently enjoying his 30th year with Vons.

Greg ReitzGreg is the Green Building Advisor for the City of Santa Monica. In his position, Mr. Reitz is responsible for promoting green building practices in the city. Since coming to the City, Mr. Reitz has started several new initiatives to promote green building practices including the Green Building Resource Center, LEED training for City staff, green building education for residents, grants to promote private sector green building, and a city-wide green building tour. Mr. Reitz is a LEED Accredited Professional and currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Los Angeles Chapter of the US Green Building Council. He is also the founding chairman of the Southern California Green Building Public Agency Council. Prior to working for the city, Mr. Reitz worked as a green building consultant for E2. Before entering the world of green building, his early professional experience was in management consulting for Andersen Consulting. Mr. Reitz has a BS in Cybernetics from UCLA.

Marialyce PedersenMarialyce is the Senior Waste Minimization Representative for The Walt Disney Company. She has been active in the waste prevention/resource conservation field since 1990. She has worked on Pasadena’s Earth Day Festivals and on developing municipally sponsored home composting programs. She is the co-author of the best-selling book, Backyard Composting. In 1995, Ms. Pedersen began her municipal recycling career, serving as Compost Program Assistant for the City of Ventura, then became the Oil Recycling Assistant for the City of Thousand Oaks. She was a Program Specialist for Santa Barbara County and has worked for the Ventura County Environmental & Energy Resources Department. Ms. Pedersen was involved in electronics recycling legislation development in the mid-1990s. Additionally, she was involved in the implementation of a CIWMB Green Building Grant in Ventura County, which resulted in the construction of Ventura County’s first fully permitted straw bale building at The Ojai Foundation retreat center. She has been a CRRA member since 1990 and served as The Reuse Council’s Co-Chair for many years, producing the “Reuse on the Internet” CD. Ms. Pedersen currently oversees waste minimization initiatives at Disney that conserve natural resources and maximize cost savings. She manages systems to track and report Companywide waste prevention, reuse, recycling and disposal data, provides new program ideas and helps encourage networking among departments. She is also involved in promoting recycled-content and other environmentally preferred products.

Bert Ball

Bert is the founder and Executive Director of L.A. SHARES, the world’s largest non-profit materials reuse program. L.A. SHARES takes business donations of reusable materials and makes them available free of charge to the thousands of non-profit organizations and schools located through-out Los Angeles County. Since 1994, L.A. SHARES has given away more than $75,000,000 worth of materials (for more information please visit the website: www.lashares.org). Mr. Ball has received numerous commendations for his work with L.A. SHARES. Recently, the EPA honored him with an “Outstanding Environmental Achievement” Award and L.A. SHARES was named as a “the model program for America.” Locally, Los Angeles Magazine awarded Mr. Ball and L.A. SHARES its “Environmental Pride Award for Community Partnership” and the Mayor of Los Angeles honored him with a “Mayor’s Certificate of Commendation.” Mr. Ball has served as an advisor to the State of Hawaii, the Cities of Atlanta, Las Vegas, Phoenix and San Francisco, in support of their efforts to create similar materials reuse programs.

Charles Moore

Charles founded Algalita Marine Research Foundation in 1994. Since then, Captain Moore has dedicated his time and research vessel, Alguita, to understanding and remediating the ocean's plastic load. Along with collaborators from the Southern California Coastal Water Research Project, he has developed protocols for monitoring marine and beach micro-plastics. These protocols are now used from the remote beaches of Polynesia to the United Nations Environmental Programme in Europe. He is also the lead author of two scientific papers published in the Marine Pollution Bulletin. Captain Moore has now sampled over twenty thousand miles of the North Pacific Ocean, across 22 degrees of latitude and 50 degrees of longitude for plastic fragments. His latest 7,500 mile voyage was featured in the Nov. 4 issue of US News and World Report. Captain Moore's work has been highlighted on the Dec. 24 edition of the Osgood File, on KGO TV- ABC San Francisco's Assignment 7 report of Nov. 12 and on Hawaii Public Radio.