Danielle Jezienicki (nee Ginach) is an Impact / ESG Manager at Sonen Capital, a dedicated impact investment firm. She joined Sonen in 2013, and is responsible for analyzing the social and environmental impact of the firm’s investments across asset classes, as well as developing impact reporting for the firm’s clients and prospects. Danielle founded and leads the firm’s shareholder engagement and advocacy activities.
Danielle’s career focus has been integrating financial and impact reporting. Prior to joining Sonen, Danielle was an Investor Relations Associate at the technology focused IR firm, the Blueshirt Group, where she supported several clean tech company management teams in managing financial communications. Her previous experience focused on corporate reputation management at leading strategic and crisis communications firms, Brunswick Group and RLM Finsbury.
Danielle earned a B.A. in political science (honors) from Brown University, with a certificate in War Studies from Kings College, London. She is a graduate of Presidio Graduate School, with an M.B.A. in Sustainable Management and focus in Social Finance. Her work in impact investing and sustainability includes projects with BlackRock’s Corporate Governance & Responsible Investment team, Acumen Fund, IDEO.org and News Corporations Global Energy Initiative through EDF Climate Corps.
Darcy Ellsworth Yow has been a teacher for over twenty five years and has been teaching Spanish and directing Service Learning programs for the students, families, faculty and staff at her alma mater Marin Country Day School for twenty four of those years, with an emphasis on community engagement that is reciprocal, meaningful and sustainable. She is also the mother of identical twin thirteen year old daughters who she regularly embarrasses when she won’t let them accept plastic straws in restaurants.
Robert is a student who is skeptical of the industry-sponsored pro-GMO claims espoused by his school, Cornell University in upstate Ithaca, NY. He decided to host his own course on GMO agriculture, in response to Cornell’s starkly pro-GMO version called “The GMO Debate”. The entirety of his course, plus much more, is available for free on his website, gmowtf.com, which will be continually updated to reflect the latest findings and news on this incredibly complex, nuanced, and important topic.
Robert is interested in the non-corrupted future of science than our current GMO paradigm, particularly: human nutrition with respect to plant-based diets, ending the crisis of chronic human disease, actually ending world hunger with agroecology, authentically mitigating climate change, appropriate uses of technology (including some biotechnologies), and generally, a more nuanced, critical use of science as a tool to benefit humanity.
On a deeper level, he feels that his main mission in life goes beyond quibbling over the troubled state of science in today’s world. He is here to assist both in the ending the global abuse and exploitation of animals, and ending world hunger.
Chance was an original team member for the launch and positioning of the contemporary retail furniture company Design Within Reach. Prior to that she co-launched Pentimento, an architectural series of ceramics, and has been a merchandising and marketing consultant for start-up companies. After the birth of her daughter in 2003, she became increasingly concerned about the environment, so she partnered with her good friend to create a product line that would educate families about the importance of ‘reuse’ and reduce the staggering amount of trash that was headed to our landfills.
Wendy is known as somewhat of a green ambassador in her community as she advocates for living sustainably and encourages others to find ways to reduce their impact on the earth. In 2009 she transferred this passion to her work at U Konserve, a pioneer provider of reusable lunch-packing and food-storage products. Her design and marketing expertise and her motivation to protect the environment have been important assets to help develop and communicate their message. Wendy’s primary focus is graphic design, marketing planning, brand strategy, product development and photography. Before U Konserve, Wendy took eight years off to raise her kids, and before that she spent several years as a Creative Services manager at Barclays Global Investors in San Francisco. Wendy has a BA in Communications from UC Santa Barbara and lives in Marin County.
Tracey currently works as the Assistant Manager of SNAP Outreach for the Greater Boston Food Bank. In this role, she helps Massachusetts residents access SNAP benefits, furthering the food bank’s mission to end hunger in Eastern Massachusetts. She graduated from Skidmore College in 2018 with a BA in Environmental Studies and a minor in Intergroup Relations. During college, Tracey developed a passion for sustainable agriculture and its potential to mitigate climate change after studying food systems in Cuba, Alaska, and New York. In her free time, Tracey enjoys visiting farmers markets, trying new FLOSN recipes and hanging out with her two-year-old niece. Tracey was a PGC Finalist in 2015 and has been honored to support PGC in different capacities since then as a challenge reader, ambassador and judge.
Madeleine Welsch (she/her) is a Bay Area-based illustrator and art director. Madeleine’s illustration practice includes clients like The Washington Post, Spotify, Anchor, Gimlet Media, and Resy. Currently, Madeleine can be found directing animated educational content at Flocabulary & Nearpod. Madeleine has been an artist-in-residence at The Center at Eagle Hill in Hardwick, Massachusetts, The Sitka Fellows Program in Sitka, Alaska, and the Kala Art Institute in Berkeley, California. She is excited to welcome the next class of PGC to the Turning Green family, which she has been a part of since 2013.
Dr. Michael Antoniou is the Head of the Gene Expression and Therapy group at King’s College London (UK), which is part of the Department of Medical and Molecular Genetics. Historically, the main focus of research within his group is the study of the molecular mechanisms of the regulation of gene function. He has also used these discoveries to develop efficient gene expression systems for efficacious and safe biotechnological, including gene therapy, applications. Dr. Antoniou holds inventor status on a number of patents with industrial partners in this area. More recently, Dr. Antoniou has expanded his research program to include using molecular profiling “omics” methods (transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics) in evaluating the safety of foods derived from GMO crops, low dose exposure from their associated pesticides and other chemical pollutants. Dr. Antoniou has been a critic of GMO crops highlighting their potential and realized dangers for more than 20 years. At the same time as promoting “efficacious and safe biotechnologies”, Dr. Antoniou, in his personal capacity, is one of 313 scientists who in signed the European Network of Scientists for Social and Environmental Responsibility (ENSSER) statement “No scientific consensus on GMO safety”. Dr. Antoniou is also a co-author of Earth Open Source publication “GMO Myths and Truths, an evidence-based examination of the claims made for the safety and efficacy of genetically modified crops and foods.” He is also one of the official expert witnesses who supported the State of Vermont in the case brought against them by the Grocery Manufacturers Association challenging the State’s GMO food labeling law.
Brandy Wilson is the Director of Operations at Farmhouse Investment Management. Farmhouse is a boutique investment firm in Marin, and she is responsible the client experience and firm operations. Prior to Farmhouse, Brandy was the former Head of Client Service for Sonen Capital, a dedicated impact investment management firm. Earlier in her career, Brandy served as Associate Director of Client Management at Abbot Downing with the primary responsibility of coordination of private banking, investment management, financial planning and financial administration for family offices and foundations. Brandy is currently working towards her Masters in Sustainability at Arizona State University.
