Jacklyn Beebe currently works at Kahn, Litwin, Renza, an accounting firm in the northeast US. She is an accounting professional with a passion for environmental sustainability. She has a Masters in Environmental Science from the University of Melbourne, Australia and a Masters in Accounting from UMass - Amherst. Her professional dream is to help organizations integrate environmental sustainability metrics into core decision-making processes as well as reporting those metrics with the same confidence and rigor as traditional financial statements. She was excited to see the recent creation of the International Sustainability Standards Board which was a major step towards this integration. In her spare time, she enjoys relaxing with her three dogs and two cats and listening to podcasts, such as Freakonomics, GreenBiz 350, ESG Insider and Heart Wisdom. She practices meditation and mindfulness, which guides her to leading a life of service to our planet with patience and hope.

Kat Compton, PhD, is currently a Pollution Prevention Program Coordinator for EPA.

Jessica Counts-Arnold is currently a Pollution Prevention and Sustainable Materials Coordinator in the Office of Pollution Prevention & Solid Waste at EPA Region 9. She has championed waste and toxics reduction work in the nail and hair salon industry, tribal casinos, and graffiti abatement sector and small businesses, while also addressing the environmental justice issues linked to these areas. Jessica’s current work also involves working with local government, states, tribes, and non-profit organizations to identify pollution prevention and source reduction opportunities in their operations, and to help reduce their environmental footprint. In addition, Jessica coordinates EPA Pollution Prevention Grant for States program for Region 9. Jessica strives to identify emerging problems, develop strong partnerships, and actively listens to stakeholder concerns to find and work on solutions to ensure everyone has a healthy and safe environment in which to live, learn, work, and play. Jessica has over 38 years of federal service and has broad experience working with multiple federal agencies. Jessica holds an MBA from Champlain University, and a Bachelor of Science in Business Management.

Anca Enache is passionate about sustainability and corporate responsibility. She holds certifications from most widely used sustainability standards and frameworks (GRI/IFRS/TCFD) and an MBA from California State University Northridge. For the past few years Anca has been working with small and medium size businesses to add a sustainability lens to their business model.

Stacey Foreman manages the City of Portland’s Sustainable Procurement Program, driving change for more sustainable products and services through public contracting. Stacey is active in a variety of regional and national efforts to build sustainable procurement resources, and has served on related advisory committees and boards for the Sustainable Purchasing Leadership Council, the Sweatfree Purchasing Consortium, and the Green Electronics Council’s EPEAT program. Stacey is a LEED Accredited Professional and has presented to national and international audiences on the topic of sustainability in public procurement.

Before working at the EPA, Al worked at a local municipality and has significant experience providing regulatory control to industrial and commercial facilities, including sampling, inspections, permit writing, compliance evaluation and enforcement. Al was hired in 2008 as the Pretreatment Coordinator for EPA Region 8 where he currently amuses fellow co-workers with his taste in humor, music and fashion. Al has direct implementation of the Pretreatment program in Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana. He also oversees state authorized Pretreatment programs in Utah, North Dakota, and South Dakota as well as oversight of the Colorado NPDES permitting program.

Enrique Gonzalez is a Racial Equity Planner who has been a social justice advocate for many years. For the past two and a half years he has worked at the Seattle Office of Police Accountability as a Community Engagement Specialist where he focused on developing relationships with community members and facilitated access to the police accountability process. Before that he worked as a Community Advocate and Commissioner on the Seattle Community Police Commission. Enrique traces his roots to the peaceful occupation of El Centro de la Raza, an organization dedicated to race and social justice through advocacy and programing, which his grandmother and father were a part of and where he grew up and worked for 11 years. Enrique has a degree in American Ethnic Studies (Chicano Studies) from the University of Washington and he speaks Spanish fluently. He also grew up training in Hung Gar Kung Fu which he continues to practice. In his spare time, he enjoys working on his car which he takes to the track from time to time.

im Hamlin is Director of EPA Region 10’s Land, Chemicals and Redevelopment Division. Tim has been a member of Senior Executive Service since June 2016. In his 28-year career in Region 10, Tim has served in a variety of management positions including seven years as the Associate Director of the Office of Management Programs, Tim began his EPA career as an assistant regional counsel. He graduated summa cum laude from Arizona State University with a B.A. in History, earned his law degree from the University of California, Berkeley and clerked for Chief Justice Warren Matthews of the Alaska Supreme Court.

Facilitator John Katz is a Pollution Prevention Coordinator in EPA Region 9, focused on business sustainability, chemical policy, national and international standards, environmentally preferrable purchasing, and designing and promoting voluntary programs. Prior to EPA he worked in state land use planning, public interest law, and environmental advocacy.

Megan Luo is a Life Scientist at the US EPA, serving as a Pollution Prevention and Sustainable Materials Management Coordinator in Region 9. She is a recent graduate from UC Berkeley with a BS in Molecular Environmental Biology. Megan has experience in zero waste and climate action through her undergraduate career and Pathways Internship with the EPA.

Roger McFadden is President and Chief Science Officer at McFadden and Associates. Roger previously served as Vice President and Senior Scientist at Staples. As the creator of Staples’ exclusive line of Sustainable Earth cleaning products, he has developed the commercial cleaning industry’s most stringent standard for evaluating environmental, health, and safety impacts of cleaning products. He has held product development, sustainability and innovation leadership positions at Coastwide Laboratories, Dynamic Research and Atlas Chemical. In addition, he was Chief Science Officer at Corporate Express. Roger is a sustainability and green chemistry professional with more than 25 years of industry experience innovating and formulating a broad portfolio of consumer and professional cleaning products for brands and retailers. Roger is a charter member of the Green Chemistry Commerce Council (GC3) and currently chairs a committee to advance Green Chemistry and the EPA Design for the Environment Formulator Initiatives.

Jennie Romer is the Deputy Assistant Administrator for Pollution Prevention at EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP). In this role, Jennie oversees the Environmentally Preferable Purchasing (EPP) and Safer Choice programs, P2 Grants, and Green Chemistry awards. Jennie also works to integrate pollution prevention considerations into OCSPP’s environmental justice work and OCSPP’s contributions toward addressing the marine litter crisis. Prior to her appointment at EPA, Jennie was a Legal Associate at the Surfrider Foundation, a nonprofit environmental organization, where she led the Plastic Pollution Initiative. She is the author of Can I Recycle This?: A Guide to Better Recycling and How to Reduce Single-Use Plastics and has more than a decade of experience in plastic pollution prevention policy and recycling. Her advocacy began by founding plasticbaglaws.org in 2010, by which she established herself as a national expert on single-use plastic reduction policy. She was instrumental in passing landmark bills at the state and local levels in California and New York that have since become the model for plastics-reduction policies nationwide. An attorney by training, she is a member of the state bars of both California and New York and earned her J.D. from Golden Gate University School of Law. She also holds bachelor’s degrees in zoology, environmental studies, and Black studies from University of California, Santa Barbara.

Gregg Semler, CEO and founder of InPipe Energy (www.inpipeenergy.com). Gregg is a veteran entrepreneur with extensive experience in the water and clean energy sectors. Since 2000, he’s been leading efforts to pilot innovative "pressure reuse" products into the energy and water markets. Gregg founded InPipe Energy in 2016 based on seeing an untapped opportunity to create a new source of renewable energy from existing water pipeline infrastructure to benefit the industry in the fight against climate change, pressure management and water loss. He has significant experience bringing innovative, clean energy products to the market and leading teams. Gregg earned his BA from Columbia University in NY and his MBA from Dartmouth’s Tuck School.

Rebecca Taylor is Outreach Manager for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Sustainability and Pollution Prevention Branch. Overseeing outreach for Pollution Prevention, Environmental Preferable Purchasing, and the Green Chemistry Awards. Previously Rebecca worked in renewable energy for the EPA and consulted for the private and public sectors on CSR communications. Rebecca received her undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Masters of Corporate Marketing and Communication from IE University.

Donna Walden is President of the greenUP! Board, an organization that provides environmental education for businesses helping Nevada cut down on waste, reduce valuable resource consumption and fight climate change. Ms. Walden is founder and director for Nevada Green Business Program and Network. For 5 years, Walden was the Regional Coordinator for the Western Sustainability & Pollution Prevention Network where she helped develop programs for P2 TAPs in Region 9 and helped organize their regional roundtable. Walden has 25 years’ experience in global marketing and managing not-for-profit organizations.

Brittney directs PPRC’s projects in Oregon, including the statewide EcoBiz Certification Program. She is passionate about facilitating the shift to sustainable business models and increasing accessibility to pollution prevention tools. She has over a decade of experience guiding industries above and beyond environmental compliance and is certified as a TRUE Advisor in Zero Waste. She holds a B.S. in Conservation and Resource Studies from University of California, Berkeley. Outside of PPRC, Brittney consults on sustainability efforts at a gourmet mushroom company, serves as President of the Board of Directors for an environmental nonprofit, and enjoys birdwatching and being in the desert.

Cassie Carroll is the Coordinator for the Green Business Engagement National Network (GBENN), a network of over 25 unique local, state-wide and national green business programs from across the United States with a mission is to facilitate sharing and relationship-building among green and/or sustainable business engagement programs across the U.S. in order to advance the national interests of such locally-focused approaches and spread effective practices. She is the co-founder of the Illinois Green Business Association and runs the Illinois Green Business Program.She also serves as the Marketing and Outreach Director for the Smart Energy Design Assistance Center, or SEDAC, at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, working across the organization’s programs to engage Illinois’ public and private sectors in a variety of energy efficiency and sustainability programs, helping clients overcome barriers to implementation. She also fosters new partnerships and collaborations at SEDAC to advance a variety of sustainability initiatives forward in Illinois.

Angel Contreras Cruz was born and raised in Oaxaca, Oaxaca, Mexico in 1981. He received his B.S (2004) and M.S. (2015) degrees in industrial engineering and regional development from the Institute of Technology of Oaxaca, Mexico. In 2019, he joined the Ph.D. program in Engineering in Technology Management (ETM) at Portland State University, Oregon, USA. Angel was part of the 2020 Oregon Applied Sustainability Experience cohort working on a Safer Choice certification project. He joined PPRC in July 2022 and has been working since then with Hispanic groups. Angel's community engagement focuses on educating people about the acquisition of safer products in the cleaning industry.

Lisa is a nationally recognized environmental professional, artist and passionate professional who works at the Oregon DEQ as their Sr. toxics reduction analyst. She implements projects that protect human health and the environment by reducing the use of toxic chemicals through many partnerships with businesses, nonprofits and educators. She focuses on administering a statewide intern program, funding toxic reduction research, supporting EPA’s Safer Choice program, conducting training and building community partnerships. Lisa has worked in Washington State, Kansas and Missouri in various environmental roles in water quality, air toxics and solid waste management. She aims to engage a variety of experts from fields such as green chemistry, manufacturing, public policy, engineering, toxicology, behavior change, higher education and more to solve complex problems with innovative solutions.

Cheryle Faye B. Llanes holds the position of Environmental Compliance Inspector at Public Works, Sanitation and Environment in the City of Los Angeles for five years. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree with a concentration in Chemical Engineering and a Post Baccalaureate degree in Special Education. For her contribution to the creation of the Environmental Compliance Inspector Training Manual, she was given a Certificate of Appreciation. She is the leader of LA Industry's Food Sector Champion, a team of experts who undertake outreach programs for companies in Los Angeles City, focusing mainly on underserved and disadvantaged neighborhoods. In her other job as a chemist, she formulates skin care and personal care products for Sephora, Ulta, Costco, and other retailers.

Kayla is a fourth year environmental engineering student from Oregon State University. At OSU, she works in a research lab that focuses on the transport of pathogens and antibiotic-resistant bacteria from wastewater into the environment and has been working there since 2019. She loves learning about different methods and technologies that promote proper handling of hazardous chemicals. With her career, she hopes to help urban areas maintain a safe place where humans and the environment are protected from harmful contaminants.

Frances is an experienced program manager and team builder. She is passionate about bringing together individuals and organizations around common goals to work together toward resource conservation, environmental preservation, and equity. She has over 30 years of experience in program development, pollution prevention and green business. She holds a Bachelor of Environmental Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, cooking, reading mysteries, and spending time with family and friends.

Ken joined PPRC after working extensively in the manufacturing sector. His jobs have included serving as Paint Foremen, Environmental, Health and Safety Manager, Human Resources Manager and Facility Manager. This experience and expertise has been invaluable when working with public agencies, business and industry. Ken has served a number of roles at PPRC. Included is IT support, environmental results measurement and as one of the chief trainers for programs like spray efficiency and fats, oils and grease abatement. A psychology major in college, Ken enjoys a variety of activities with friends and family. His hobbies include fishing, hiking, and motorcycle riding, cooking and baking. He is returning to the pre-pandemic tradition of neighborhood soup nights on Fridays and has a locally legendary array of homemade goodies at the annual Christmas party hosted by the Grimm family.

Ben Jarvis has worked as the Pollution Prevention and Continuous Improvement Lead at the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality since 2011. Prior to joining DEQ, he worked as an analyst for a regional economic development non-profit assisting small communities with financing for infrastructure projects. Ben has a B.A. in International Political Economy from The College of Idaho, and an M.P.A. from Boise State University. When he isn’t working to protect Idaho’s environment from pollution, you can usually find him recreating in it with his wife and daughter.

Greg Lester has been an Environmental Compliance Inspector at LASAN and Environment for 10 years where he has inspected a wide variety of facilities involved in the metal finishing, plating, electric utility, pharmaceutical, food production and brewing industries. As an Environmental Specialist, he assisted in establishing inspection programs at solid waste landfills, material recovery facilities, transfer stations and composting operations for LASAN’s new solid waste collection program. He has a wide base of environmental audit experience at petroleum production and aerospace manufacturing facilities as well as consortium multimedia environmental compliance audits of solvent and metal recycling facilities throughout the U.S. As a US Public Health Service Engineer, he prepared Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasure Plans and Contingency Plans for National Institute of Health facilities in Maryland and conducted environmental compliance audits in conjunction with ISO 14001 audits at medical research facilities in Montana and North Carolina. Additionally, he has conducted due diligence environmental assessments at hundreds of industrial and commercial properties across the US. He has a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Engineering from the Montana College of Mineral Science and Technology (Montana Tech).

Chris Lynch is a nationally recognized expert on small business environmental and energy issues. Prior to joining UNR’s BEP in January 2011, he launched and managed a similar program for 13 years at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He has served as an adviser to organizations including the Center for the Small Business and the Environment, Environmental Defense Fund, and the Pew Center on Global Climate Change. Chris also worked at the National Defense Center for Environmental Excellence where he educated defense facilities and contractors on environmental compliance requirements and pollution prevention strategies for meeting those requirements. Chris provides overall management direction for the Business Environmental Program and its pollution prevention activities.

Minal Mistry is an advocate for enhancing wellbeing and the varied connections needed to help life thrive. His work applies systems thinking to develop concepts, scope research and demonstration projects, and to build capacity for advancing Oregon’s 2050 Vision for Materials Management. His current efforts focus on ways to center people and places in the materials life cycles to enhance wellbeing writ large. Minal is a biologist and an artist with experience in business, non-profit and government.

Nathan Rudolph was our intern for the Harborview WASI project and is a newly minted graduate of the University of Washington where he got his bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science and Natural Resource Management. Nathan hopes to translate his degree and experience working in the environmental field here in the Pacific Northwest. But first he’ll take a little break and travel through Ecuador and Peru this month!

Emily Shelton is the Director of Education + Outreach at BRING Recycling in Eugene, Oregon, and the Network Administrator of the Oregon Rethink Business Network which launched just this year. Formerly BRING’s K-12 educator, Emily brings her thirst for environmental justice and waste prevention hierarchy-awareness to the Oregon business community. She is also an avid outdoorswoman, lover of sour beer, and mother of one adorable, rescued poodle-terrier mix pup.

Kendra Tyler serves on the Materials Management and Stewardship Team at EPA's Region 10 office, supporting EPA’s mission within Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington, and 271 tribes. With a focus on collaboration, Kendra oversees the creation and implementation of outreach strategies, technical assistance, policy advocacy, educational campaigns, messaging, and media relations for both the Regional Safer Choice Program and the School Food Share Program. Kendra holds a B.A. in Political Science from Duke University.

David earned a dual major BA in Biology and Chemistry in 2009 from the University of Cincinnati and a PhD in Biochemistry in 2014 from the University of Oregon. After graduation, he took an R&D position with Aurora Innovations, a manufacturer of organic fertilizers and potting soil working on organic fertilizer formulations. David always had a passion for entrepreneurship and in 2016, he branched out on his own, launching a research consultancy providing soil testing, toxicity testing, and the development of safer formulations for skin care. David is also a hobby soap maker and enjoys knowing exactly what goes into a product and the sustainability and safety of those ingredients. In 2018, David joined Defunkify, a “Better for You” cleaning product company, based in Eugene Oregon, where he combines his passions for soap making, safer formulating, green chemistry, and entrepreneurship; helping create a line cleaning product that are both safer AND work better than leading eco and traditional brands. As an avid kayaker and outdoor enthusiast, David is motivated in this work to preserve the health of our river ecosystems, and he is proud of his contributions in this area by developing a growing number of product formulations that have received the EPA Safer Choice Certification.

David Widawsky is the Director of the Data Gathering and Analysis Division, in the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention at EPA. He provides leadership for the EPA's mission focus on chemical safety and sustainability in the implementation of the Toxic Substances Control Act, the Pollution Prevention Act, and the Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act. The multi-disciplinary staff under his leadership provide expertise, analysis, method development, and innovation for several pollution prevention programs at EPA, including grants to states and tribes for working with businesses to promote source reduction and an environmentally preferable purchasing program for federal procurement. He also leads programs in sustainability through safer and sustainable chemistry and chemical products, including EPA’s Green Chemistry Challenge Awards and EPA’s Safer Choice labeling program for safer chemical products. Passage of both the Infrastructure Invesment and Jobs Act (in 2021) and the Inflation Reduction Act (in 2022) have greatly expanded opportunities to support new pollution prevention initiatives. David received undegraduate degrees from the University of California, Berkeley; his masters degree from Colorado State University; and earned his Ph.D. in Applied Economics at Stanford University. He has worked at the U.S. EPA since 1998, where he has served in a number of leadership roles in four different EPA program offices. Prior to joining EPA, he lived and worked in the Philippines, China, India, the Netherlands, and Scotland.

Christy is an Associate at Cascadia Consulting Group and a member of the Washington EnviroStars program administration team. In addition to her role on EnviroStars, Christy works on projects at Cascadia that focus on recycling and waste prevention, reuse systems and circular economies, and all things engagement. She is a graduate of Santa Clara University (BA/BS) and the University of Denver (MS). She loves to take her little black cat, Abed, hiking.

Corona is a bilingual sustainability professional with social media marketing, design, and environmental justice expertise. She oversees social media marketing and the Equity Committee for the California Green Business Network and is the City of Watsonville Program Director where she works with English and Spanish-speaking businesses. She is also the recycling coordinator at CSU Monterey Bay. Before joining EI, Corona was part of a team at Ecology Action working with underrepresented communities.

Alicia Culver is a nationally-known expert in the field of sustainable procurement who has over 30 years of experience advancing green purchasing policies, programs, and practices. As Executive Director of the Responsible Purchasing Network, she has provided technical support relating to environmentally preferable purchasing to numerous public entities at the federal, state and local level and has co-authored dozens of publications in collaboration with her project partners. For this session, she will highlight several best practices that are integral to an effective green purchasing program, drawing from RPN's report called "The Buck Starts Here: A Sustainable Procurement Playbook for Cities."

Jo has over 30 years experience in the environmental realm in a wide breadth of scientific research, environmental remediation, commercial/industrial pollution prevention, environmental outcome data and community-based social marketing programs to address the environmental problems of our time. She has a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science and a Minor in Spanish. She has worked to establish numerous Green Business Programs, green hundreds of businesses, and serves as the Executive Director of the California Green Business Network. Originally from Australia, Jo has lived and worked all over the world.

Michelle is PPRC’s Industrial Engineer. She has over 25 years of experience in pollution prevention, and has contributed to a broad range of pollution prevention successes, outreach, and implementation. Michelle has conducted and/or supported over 30 P2 assessments, a few virtually, answered hundreds of P2 rapid response inquiries, and serves as technical expert in projects such as stormwater P2 outreach in the Duwamish, Safer Choice assistance to EPA, formulators and purchasers, and P2 factsheet and guidance development. She holds a B.S. in Industrial Engineering (UW) and an M.S in Environmental Science (WSU). In her free time, she enjoys gardening, home improvement, weight training, and spending time with family.

Ed has over 20 years of experience developing programs and working collaboratively with a multitude of environmental organizations throughout the nation. These programs include developing and sharing information resources, technical training, and promoting time-tested pollution prevention approaches designed to reduce or prevent the generation of industrial hazardous and non-hazardous waste from companies. Whether its partnering with industrial extensions, state agencies, universities, or other non-profit organizations, developing programs to ensure a safer and cleaner environment for everyone is his life’s passion. Ed holds a BA in Political Science from the University of Texas at El Paso and, outside of PPRC, Ed enjoys fishing, camping, hiking, and cooking delicious southwestern dishes.

Seungbum Ha is a Program Supervisor in the Technology Demonstration group at South Coast AQMD. He received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, specializing in electro-chemistry for Li-ion battery and fuel cell. He has worked at Argonne National Laboratory in Chemical Science and Engineering Department, where he researched for Li-ion battery development and techno-economic modeling. He works on zero and near-zero emission medium/heavy duty truck demonstration projects including the DOE ZECT II, Volvo LIGHTS and CEC zero-emission drayage truck projects, as well as EPA projects on zero-emission airport shuttles, along with numerous freight and energy management strategies.

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Minty LongEarth works for King County as the Racial Equity Manager for the Hazardous Waste Management program. Prior to that, Minty was on staff since June of 2015 as the Senior Community Engagement Specialist for the Seattle Community Police Commission (CPC) and is a certified practitioner in the civilian oversight of law enforcement. She previously served as Executive Director for South King Council of Human Services and as interim Executive Director at United Indians of All Tribes Foundation. A longtime member of the South King County Community, Minty (Santee/Mvskoke Creek/Choctaw) has nearly three decades of experience in facilitation, coalition building, development and community outreach and engagement, with a focus on inclusion and equity. Minty is the Vice Chair of the University of Washington’s Native American Advisory Board (UW-NAAB); a proud member of Gamma Alpha Omega Sorority, Inc.; and a member of Huy Advisory Board, which advocates for Indigenous people impacted by incarceration in Washington State and beyond; and co-host of the podcast Breakdances with Wolves: Indigenous Pirate Radio.

Kevin Masterson has over 34 years of experience developing, implementing, and evaluating pollution management and reduction programs for public agencies. He’s currently Senior Environmental Consultant for Stony Creek Consulting. In this position Kevin is working on behalf of the Oregon Association of Clean Water Agencies to advance multiple priority initiatives and strategies to reduce wastewater and stormwater pollutants. He also provides consulting services to other non-governmental organizations on safer chemicals policies and water quality protection. Previously, Kevin worked for the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality for 27 years in several roles, including coordinating agency toxics reduction, stormwater and pollution prevention programs. The first 7 years of his career were spent working for local and regional environmental agencies in Southwest Washington. In all of these positions, Kevin gained extensive experience in applying environmental regulations, finding policy and technical solutions to complex environmental challenges, and communicating and collaborating with a wide range of stakeholders.

Hugh leads a team of P2 technical assistant providers focused on reducing toxic chemical use, waste and emissions at Washington State businesses. He collaborates with valued partners such as: Impact Washington (Manufacturing Extension), Pollution Prevention Resource Center, Cascade Energy Engineering, US EPA and others to provide integrated efficiency services to help businesses reduce waste, risks, costs and pollution. Hugh has over 30 years of experience developing strategic partnerships and providing environmental consulting to organizations in the private, public and non-profit sectors. Hugh earned a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science from Binghamton University in NY and a Masters in Environmental Studies from Evergreen State College in WA.

Kristina Schmidt is in her fourth year at Oregon State University majoring in Environmental Science with an option in Sustainability, Conservation, and Natural Resources and minoring in Spanish. She hopes to use her Costa Rican background and her appreciation for nature to connect natural resource conservation with human needs. In her spare time, Kristina enjoys long walks on the beach, reading, and taking care of her houseplants.

Michael Simpson has over 20 years of experience in managing large scale environmental projects and program. Michael Simpson is currently the Division Manager for the Industrial Waste Management Division (IWMD) and has ushered in a new culture for the Division of 140 staff members primarily engaged in regulations of industrial discharge to the sewer system. One highlight of his new philosophy in the Division is the creation of “L.A. Industry”. L.A. Industry is a partnership collaborative effort for not only restoring the Los Angeles manufacturing business base, but also to work to develop new manufacturing opportunities for local and regional partners. L.A. Industry had its first event and was able to pair forty (40) manufacturers with over 100 incentives for efficiency projects. Over the last ten years of his career, Michael has been the Program Manager for the City of Los Angeles Pretreatment Program. In this position, he has been a “change agent” for the agency, and by his work, he has received many local and national awards. He has been a leader in bringing a project management culture to over 4000 employees in the Department of Public Works Engineering Bureau and LA Sanitation in the City of Los Angeles. He has led many initiatives for the Department and is most proud that he assisted in creating a Project Management Guidelines handbook for LA Sanitation with collaborative web based tools. A couple of years ago he was selected as the “Pollution Prevention Person of the Year” by the California Water Environment Association because of his ability to “think out of the box” and bring professionals together to discuss challenges in the clean water industry. Mr. Simpson is a past board member of the National Pollution Prevention Roundtable (NPPR). As an NPPR Board member, Michael has led a national group of experts in creating a guide for industry professionals to learn the principles of Green Chemistry and how to apply the principles in promoting cleaner processes and products.

Jon is an engineer with the Minnesota Technical Assistance Program at the University of Minnesota. He has partnered with businesses on projects related to energy efficiency, water conservation, waste reduction, air quality, and Lean. His current focus area is in energy efficiency and achieving better nutrient treatment with the wastewater treatment sector. Jon has also mentored over 15 interns in his time at MnTAP at businesses such as IBM, Seagate, GE Osmonics, Kerry Ingredients, and Carley Foundry.

Jean has more than 25 years of experience assisting businesses in pollution prevention and sustainability, helping them increase energy efficiency and eliminate waste at the source. She enjoys collaborating with others to reduce our impact on the environment. She facilitates/manages meetings, projects, and trainings that help people think about the sources of pollution and how changes can be made to prevent it. Technical solutions are part of the answer but it takes more than a new technology or cost savings to get people to change. ​Jean has an M.S. in Chemical Engineering from Kansas State University and is a life-long Wildcat fan. Outside of PPRC, Jean is the communications person for a Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia Mission (BURM) network, she is a member of a Philanthropic Educational Organization (PEO) that funds higher education assistance for women and is a member of the Mountain Area Land Trust (MALT). Jean enjoys hiking, creative menu planning, and most of all – playing with the grandbabies.