John Andersen is founder and President of Greenleaf Advisors, LLC, where he advises businesses, institutions, and communities on strategies that advance their sustainable development. John’s thirty-plus years of experience, serving businesses, capital clients, nonprofits, governments and institutions, demonstrates that it takes effective engagement across these sectors to achieve sustainable growth and solve complex problems.

His current clients include regional governmental entities seeking to protect water resources, renewable-energy companies, private-equity investment firms, nonprofits, energy research institutions, and industrial-materials recycling and waste-energy recovery companies.

Previously, John was an International and Managing Director at Jones Lang LaSalle, where he managed the company’s national land business and its strategic expansion into China. He was also the Great Lakes Director of The Nature Conservancy, where he worked across the region’s scientific, business, and government sectors to advance biodiversity conservation. John is a faculty member at DePaul University, where he teaches Sustainable Value Creation in the Kellstadt Business School.

Additionally, John is President of Greenleaf Communities, a nonprofit research entity that recruits and organizes multi-disciplinary teams of scientists to investigate environmental influences on health and apply that knowledge to improve industrial practices and public policies. John holds an AB in Economics from Brown University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Tom Bagley founded Pfingsten Partners, a private equity firm that invests in middle-market manufacturing, distribution and business-service companies focused on building better businesses. Tom has been involved in all aspects of the firm’s activities with an expanding global presence of operations.

Read more about Pfingsten Partners

Dr. Ali Fatemi is Editor-in-Chief for Global Finance Journal and is the Emeritus Chairman and Professor of the Finance Department at DePaul University, Driehaus College of Business. Dr. Fatemi taught sustainable value creation and is a leader in DePaul’s advancement of sustainability. His research deals with issues related to socially responsible investing, mergers and acquisitions, executive compensation, dividend policy and corporate governance.

Patrick Hunt retired at the end of 2022 following a 40-year career in commercial real estate investment management which included serving as President and Chief Operating Officer of a publicly traded Real Estate Investment Trust and President and Chief Operating Officer of a privately held firm. Pat earlier had a 14-year career at LaSalle Investment Management, one of the world’s leading managers of private and public property equity investments, where he served as a Managing Director. He began his business career as a loan officer at BMO Harris Bank in the commercial lending department. Pat has served on Boards of both public and private firms. He has a BS from Northwestern University and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Richard (Dick) Munson is the author of Tesla: Inventor of the Modern and Tech to Table: 25 Innovators Reimagining Food on food and farm innovators. He has been a senior director, focused on advancing clean energy in the Midwest, at the Environmental Defense Fund. He was senior vice president for Recycled Energy Development, a company that captured wasted energy and turned it into clean electricity and heat. Dick also served as executive director of the Northeast-Midwest Institute, which focused on brownfields redevelopment, Great Lakes water quality, and pollution prevention.

Hugh Reams was a Senior Advisor at Shannon Advisors, which raises institutional capital from pension funds, endowments, foundations and high net worth family offices for buyout and venture capital funds. Prior to Shannon, Hugh was a Managing Director at Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette (DLJ), Credit Suisse, and LaSalle Investment Management. Raising more than $12 billion from institutional investors for buyout and venture capital clients including cleantech funds.

Hugh graduated with an economics degree from Denison University and an M.B.A. from Indiana University

Brian Richter has been a global leader in water science and conservation for more than 30 years. He is the president of Sustainable Waters, a global water education organization, where he promotes sustainable water use and management with governments, corporations, universities, and local communities. He previously served as Chief Scientist for the Global Water Program of The Nature Conservancy, an international conservation organization.

Read more about Sustainable Waters.

Read Brian’s blog.

Dr. Sabina Shaikh is a part of the faculty at the University of Chicago in the Program on Global Environment, where she directs the Environment, Agriculture and Food group. She was previously a Senior Consultant at CardnoENTRIX focusing on the economic valuation and development of mechanisms for the provision of ecosystem services in both the private and public sectors.

Read more about the Environment, Agriculture and Food group.

Robert (Bob) Spoerri is President of Beneficial Reuse Management (BRM), a firm that creates partnerships between industrial companies that generate materials suitable for beneficial reuse. Land owners and others use these materials in projects and products. BRM is the parent company of GYPSOIL, a byproduct gypsum supplier. Prior to BRM, Bob was President of Jones Lang LaSalle.

Read more about Beneficial Reuse Management.

George S. Stone has developed Hill & Stone, a 100-plus year old family-owned business, into one of the largest independent insurance agencies in the Midwest. Several thousand clients benefit from Hill & Stone’s unyielding commitment to meeting their personal and corporate insurance needs. George brings valuable insight into sales, marketing, and client service to assist Greenleaf Advisors in serving its clients and growing its business. George also owns and manages a family tree farm business, Swimming Bear Corporation, which has been committed to Silvaculture since 1923. George brings valuable insight into sales, marketing, and client service to assist Greenleaf Communities in serving its clients and growing its business.

Read more about George and Hill & Stone.