Vatsal Bhatt
Vatsal Bhatt is a sustainability leader and urban resilience specialist. At the US Green Building Council, he led the development of the LEED for Cities and Communities framework, providing municipalities with measurable standards for environmental performance and sustainable development. His work has helped cities across the United States integrate climate resilience, resource efficiency, and sustainability […]
Shalini Vajjhala
Shalini Vajjhala is an environmental policy expert and entrepreneur. She founded Re:Focus Partners to develop innovative financing models that help American communities invest in climate resilience infrastructure, particularly in underserved areas. Her work has expanded how cities prepare for flooding, extreme weather, and other climate risks by combining environmental policy with public finance and long-term […]
Rajwant Singh
Rajwant Singh is a Sikh leader and environmental advocate. He co-founded EcoSikh in Washington, D.C., launching a global movement that integrates Sikh teachings with environmental stewardship. Through initiatives promoting sustainable gurdwaras, tree planting, biodiversity conservation, and environmentally conscious community practices, he has demonstrated how faith-based institutions can play a leading role in addressing climate change […]
Jigar Shah
Jigar Shah is an energy entrepreneur and clean technology leader. In 2003, he founded SunEdison and introduced the solar power purchase agreement, an innovative financing model that removed the upfront cost of installing solar energy systems. The approach accelerated renewable energy adoption across the United States and became a standard financing mechanism for the solar […]
Subhankar Banerjee
Subhankar Banerjee is an environmental photographer, writer, and conservation advocate. His photographs of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge became central to the national debate over oil drilling, demonstrating the power of visual storytelling in environmental policymaking. Through exhibitions, books, and public scholarship, Banerjee has documented fragile ecosystems while highlighting the connections between biodiversity, Indigenous communities, […]
Kamal Bawa
Kamal Bawa is a conservation biologist whose pioneering research transformed the study of tropical forest ecology and biodiversity conservation. Through decades of scholarship, he helped establish conservation biology as a scientific discipline and advanced strategies to protect threatened ecosystems around the world. Recipient of the Gunnerus Prize for Sustainability, Bawa has shaped environmental research, policy, […]
Rattan Lal
Rattan Lal is a soil scientist whose research established healthy soils as a powerful tool for combating climate change while improving agricultural productivity. At Ohio State University, he demonstrated how sustainable land management could restore degraded soils, increase food security, and sequester carbon at scale. Awarded the 2020 World Food Prize, Lal has influenced agricultural, […]
Veerabhadran “Ram” Ramanathan
Veerabhadran “Ram” Ramanathan is an atmospheric scientist whose research transformed modern climate science. His pioneering work demonstrated the powerful warming effects of chlorofluorocarbons and other short-lived climate pollutants, broadening scientific understanding of global warming beyond carbon dioxide alone. A Distinguished Professor at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Ramanathan has helped shape international climate policy through […]
Aman Sanger
Aman Sanger is an American entrepreneur and software executive, known for co-founding Anysphere in 2022. An MIT graduate, he serves as the company’s Chief Operating Officer. Sanger helped develop Cursor, an AI-assisted code editor that gained significant market adoption among software engineers. Raised in New York, he began coding at 14 and later studied at […]
Aravind Srinivas
Aravind Srinivas is the CEO and co-founder of the AI-powered search startup Perplexity. Originally from Chennai, India, he earned a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree from IIT Madras before completing his Ph.D. at UC Berkeley. Before launching Perplexity in August 2022 alongside Andy Konwinski, Denis Yarats, and Johnny Ho, he honed his expertise as a researcher […]