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UNC Kenan-Flagler’s Net Impact Chapter’s mission is to build upon the UNC Kenan-Flagler tradition of leadership in sustainable business practices by providing students with education, opportunity, and inspiration to drive social, financial, and environmental change. Since 2001, we have hosted the annual Career With Impact Forum to support students in their professional journeys.

Navigating Career With Impact Workshop by Katie Kross

 

Katie Kross

Managing Director, EDGE, Duke University

Katie Kross is an MBA educator, writer, speaker, and strategist passionate about changing the world by inspiring a new generation of leaders to envision and act on a different path forward in business – one that is diverse, equitable, sustainable, and inclusive of stakeholders. She is a UNC Kenan-Flagler alum with over two decades of experience advancing sustainability agenda in corporate and academic worlds. Katie is also a co-founder and advisor of the major MBA Climate Conference ClimateCAP, as well as a managing director of the Center for Energy, Development, and the Global Environment (EDGE) at Duke Fuqua Business School.

Clean Tech Panel

 

Jackson Naftel

Jackson Naftel is the Director of Project Development at Sonder Energy, where he focuses on clean energy projects and sustainability solutions. With a background in energy infrastructure and development, Jackson has contributed to numerous renewable energy projects aimed at reducing carbon footprints and promoting sustainability. His work involves strategic planning, project management, and advancing the use of clean technologies in energy production, positioning him as a leader in the transition to sustainable energy solutions.

 

Brian Severson

Brian Severson is a Senior Product Manager at FlexGen. He supports HybridOS, FlexGen’s industry-leading Energy Management Software for grid-scale batteries. He began his career in the Army, leading teams in IT management and cybersecurity. He recently completed his MBA (‘23) at UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School as part of a career transition into clean energy. He enjoys working on challenges related to incorporating new technology into the electrical grid.

 

Doug Legge

Darren Legge is the Senior Marketing Manager at Ndustrial. Darren has worked in energy efficiency and renewable energy for over 20 years in a wide variety of roles and organizations, from the Peace Corps to the Fortune 100. He holds an MBA from the UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School and a Masters in Environmental Economics and Policy from Duke University.

 

 

 

Manoj Bhatia

Manoj Bhatia is a Senior Director Analyst at Gartner and seasoned leader in digital transformation, business growth, and innovation with over two decades of experience. Manoj has held leadership roles at major companies like Verizon, Cisco, and GE, where his expertise in developing strategic partnerships and go-to-market strategies has been pivotal in increasing sales and scaling business ecosystems.

His key focus areas include driving digital transformation, building and scaling partner programs, leveraging AI and data solutions to improve customer service, and crafting market expansion strategies across industries like healthcare, financial services, energy, and the public sector.

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Neha Chandrachud – moderator

MBA 2025 Candidate

Neha Chandrachud is a second-year MBA student at UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School, specializing in Sustainability and Consulting. She is actively involved in venture capital, gaining hands-on experience by interning with a VC firm in Virginia. Neha has also completed a course on Climate Tech Investing, further enhancing her understanding of the intersection between climate tech and impact investing. Over the summer, she worked at Ecolab to assess the global opportunity of a resource optimizer for manufacturers.

Real Estate Sustainability

 

Huade Tan

Huade Tan is the co-founder of Plantd, a company developing sustainable building materials made from fast-growing biomass that capture and store atmospheric carbon. Their work transforms carbon into a valuable resource for the construction industry, helping to combat climate change.

With prior engineering leadership experience at SpaceX, Huade brings a systems-driven approach to real estate sustainability.

 

Lindsey Thompson

Lindsey Thompson is a Senior Interior Designer and serves as the Design Resilience Leader for Gensler’s Raleigh office. Lindsey is a passionate advocate for creating a better world through the power of design, embodying Gensler’s mission of a carbon-neutral 2030.

Lindsey has experience with LEED BD+C and ID+C, the Living Building Challenge Full and Core, and countless other certifications, developing sustainability frameworks that focus on and meet our client’s sustainability goals. She works across disciplines to improve the built environment with a focus on improving occupant health and well-being, paying particular interest to material selection practices and specifications development. Lindsey utilizes research and develops thoughtful solutions for each project, helping clients understand both the internal and external challenges impacting their strategies. Lindsey is a NCIDQ licensed interior designer, a LEED ID+C accredited professional. She graduated with honors from Virginia Tech with a Bachelors of Science in Interior Design.

 

Alex Binnie – moderator

MBA 2025 Candidate

Alex, UNC Kenan-Flagler MBA 2025 candidate, is the current president of the Real Estate Club.

Alex graduated from the University of Virginia in 2019 with a major in History and a minor in Architecture. Following graduation from UVA, Alex joined Jones Lang LaSalle in its Project Development Services sector in New York City, serving on the JP Morgan Chase client team for nearly four years. In her most recent role as Associate Project Manager, Alex worked with the team that is building out Chase Sapphire Airport Lounges. This past summer, Alex interned with the Commercial Development team at Crescent Communities in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Sustainability Consulting Panel

 

Theodora Tran

Theo Tran is the Sustainable Operations Offer Sr. Manager at BCG where she leads the commercialization and go-to-market strategy for the company’s Scope 1, 2, 3, and Circularity offers globally and across all industries. No two days are the same in her role and she can be found doing everything from managing internal investment vehicles, working with the company’s experts to build IP, developing AR/VR experiences for expos, and presenting on offer performance to senior leadership.

Theo holds a Master of Business Administration from UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School and a Master of Environmental Management from Duke University

 

Frank Nelms

Frank Nelms is a Director at ScottMadden, Inc., where he specializes in change management, accountability model design, and operations improvements for utilities and merchant power generators within the firm’s Energy Practice. Frank has led projects with utilities throughout the U.S., Canada, and the Caribbean, helping clients enhance operational efficiency and pursue the growth and sustainability of zero carbon energy assets, such as nuclear and battery storage. He also brings experience in IT transformation and cost-saving strategies from previous roles across various industries.

Frank is also a fellow Tarheel with an MBA from Kenan-Flagler as well as a BA from Vanderbilt University.

 

 

Ben Hill

Ben currently works in Strategy with Cox Communications, the 3rd largest Cable internet provider in the US. His previous experience includes owning a $25M P&L with Rubicon, serving as  Strategy and Customer Success for an appliance recycler and 10+ years with Deloitte in their Strategy & Sustainability practices. Ben has consulted with multiple Fortune 500 companies and new ESG focused start-ups.

Ben holds a BA and MBA from UNC. When not at work, he can be found coaching his two boys football and baseball teams.

 

Arya Ambardekar – moderator

MBA 2025 Candidate

Arya Ambardekar is a second-year MBA candidate at UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School with around four years of consulting experience across technology and social impact sectors. During her social impact stint, Arya has worked with clients in the social, government, and private sectors to advance their sustainability strategies and initiatives. Over the summer, she developed a marketing strategy for sustainable product offerings at a specialty chemicals company. As one of the leads of the Net Impact Club at UNC, Arya is passionate about integrating sustainable practices into business and everyday life.

 

Impact Investing Panel

 

Brent Callinicos

Brent Callinicos was most recently the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer of Virgin Hyperloop. Prior to this, he served as Chief Financial Officer of Uber from September 2013 until March 2015. Prior to Uber, Callinicos served as Vice President, Treasurer, and Chief Accountant at Google from 2007-2013, where he was also responsible for Tax, Internal Audit, and M&A Finance. He also ran Google’s Green Energy Investing and Google Financial Services. From 1992-2007, Callinicos served in a variety of increasingly senior roles at Microsoft. He is a fellow Tarheel and is on the Board of Advisors at UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School.

 

Anagha Kalvade

Anagha Kalvade is an Associate at Total Impact Capital. She focuses on developing Total Impact Capital’s impact measurement and monitoring systems and creating a proactive pipeline for new projects. Anagha is also the Vice President of FOODiversity, a non-profit dedicated to lessening the burden of food insecurity for those with food allergies. Anagha worked as an Electrical Engineer with 24+ years of experience in the semiconductor industry. She decided to pivot her career from tech to sustainability because she has a genuine concern for social and environmental sustainability and wants to make a real difference in the next phase of her career. Anagha is also a fellow Tarheel with an MBA from Kenan-Flagler Business School with concentration in Entrepreneurship and Sustainability.

 

Andrew Cousins

Andrew Cousins is a Principal at SustainVC. Prior to Sustain he was an Investment Manager at Investors’ Circle, where he managed deal flow, facilitated due diligence, and syndicated investments across a network of 200+ angel investors, family offices, foundations, and venture funds.  In his time at Investors’ Circle, he was involved in over 100 early-stage impact deals representing over $30 million in impact investments.  Andrew began his career in the insurance industry, working with offshore teams in India to help facilitate a BPO. He later went to Latin America, where he worked as a field consultant with an Ashoka fellow, incubating social innovations and testing last mile distribution models for energy and healthcare products

 

Shrey Singhal  – moderator

MBA 2025 Candidate

Shrey has prior experience for about 9 years as a startup founder, investment banker, market intelligence expert and, most recently, as an impact-focused venture capital investor. He is passionate about everything the overlaps with business, innovation, finance, and sustainability. Over the summer, Shrey interned at Honeywell in their Strategy and M&A team

Corporate Sustainability Panel

 

Bennett Wetch

Senior Director, Global Sustainability Data & Analytics, Nike

Bennett is a Senior Director of Global Sustainability Data and Analytics at Nike. For almost a decade and a half Bennett has been leading strategy, operations, and technology to implement programs which empower companies to increase environmental sustainability and socioeconomic resiliency in their operations and global supply chains.

He currently leads Global Sustainability Analytics at Nike where he partners with leaders across the company to develop and scale sustainability strategies spanning materials innovation, product design, manufacturing methods, shipping practices, packaging procurement, and facilities management. Prior to this role Bennett was the Chief Innovation Officer at Fair Trade Certified where he led strategy development, program management, technology implementation, and impact measurement across a range of industries and supply chains.

Bennett also volunteers his time as an inaugural member of the Validation Council at SBTi Services Limited, as a founding member of the Leadership Council for the Ackerman Center for Excellence in Sustainability at the Kenan-Flagler business school at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, and as an inaugural member of the Advisory Council for the Open for Good Initiative at the Anderson School of Management at the University of California, Los Angeles.

 

Jessica Langley

VP of Sales at Athian, in partnership with The Dairy Alliance

Jessica connects food and agricultural supply chains to maximize climate solution efforts and outcomes. She has substantial experience in greenhouse gas emissions, particularly in the food, beverage, and agricultural space.

At Athian, we are technology experts with farming in our genes. We believe in being good stewards of the economic and environmental health of farms and the communities surrounding them. We use software to aggregate, certify, and fund greenhouse gas reduction plans throughout the entire livestock value- chain to enable environmental sustainability for animal agriculture.

Jessica earned her Master of Science in Agriculture Economics from Texas A&M University, and her Bachelor of Science in Animal Science and Management from University of California, Davis.

 

Justina Nixon-Saintil

Vice President and Chief Impact Officer at IBM

Justina Nixon-Saintil drives the initiatives that enable IBM and its employees to transform their altruism into reality for communities and the planet, with a focus on career readiness and environmental sustainability.

As IBM’s Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) focal point, Justina also spearheads corporate practices that underpin the company’s tradition of uncompromising ethics and transparency in its operations and environmental footprint. Previously, as director of Corporate Social Responsibility at Verizon, Justina created and led programs to make education more inclusive. She was also an Engineer for the U.S. Department of Energy.

Justina earned her Master of Business Administration from New York University’s Leonard N. Stern School of Business and her bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the State University of New York at Buffalo.

 

Dima Zlenko – moderator

MEM/MBA 2025 Candidate

Dima Zlenko, Environmental Management/MBA student at UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School and Duke Nicholas School of the Environment, president of the UNC Kenan-Flagler Net Impact Chapter. His primary academic interest is guiding corporate and academic institutions through their low-carbon transitions, considering large-scale ramifications, including energy interdependence in war-affected regions like Ukraine, where he’s originally from. Currently, Dmytro is continuing his summer internship work on launching an applied learning program with the Duke Office of Climate and Sustainability. Besides English and native Ukrainian, Dmytro speaks Spanish, Polish, and Russian. In his free time, he likes to kayak around numerous scenic lakes and rivers in North Carolina.

The Real Estate Panel is arranged to highlight the construction of a new UNC Kenan-Flagler home – Steven D. Bell Hall building next to the existing McColl building.

On the left: rising the beam. On the right: Frank Sutton (BSBA ’82), Dave Moore, director of facilities; Interim Chancellor Lee Roberts; Dean Mary Margaret Frank (BSBA ’92, MAC ’92, PhD ’99); and Leo Horey (MBA ’90) celebrate the next phase of Bell Hall. Sutton and Horey served on the new building committee (Source).