Green Champions
From energy to agriculture, retail to tech — Green Champions tells the stories of real people building sustainable solutions across every industry.
Hosted by Dominique Hadad and Christy Cook, each episode provides that progress is already happening and environmental work takes many forms. New episodes every Tuesday.
Episodes
119 episodes
Regina Harmon - Who is Running America's Largest Food Recovery Movement?
Regina Harmon is the CEO of Food Recovery Network, the largest student-led movement fighting food waste and hunger in the US. Before she was leading a national nonprofit, she was a kid in Maine with a cloth lunch bag, a working poor family, and...
Mason McNeill - Rerouting America's Food Waste, One Grocery Store at a Time
Most people don't think much about what happens to the food that doesn't get sold. Mason McNeill does. As Chief Commercial Officer at Denali, the nation's largest organics recycler, he's spent his career building the systems that catch that mat...
Mason McNeill - The Banker Who Bet on Waste
Mason McNeill is the Chief Commercial Officer at Denali, the nation's largest organics recycler. But before he was thinking about food waste and circular supply chains, he was a young investment banker in Little Rock, learning how to tell the s...
Elizabeth & Marissa - Community-Centered Strategy for a Changing World
Elizabeth Schuster and Marissa Ferrari are the co-founders of Sustainable Economies, a research-driven consulting firm working at the intersection of nature and community. They're back together on the podcast to share how they built a business ...
Marissa Ferrari - From Ms. Magazine to Mission-Driven Work
Marissa Ferrari is Partner and Creative Director at Sustainable Economies, where she works with mission-driven organizations at the intersection of nature and communities. Her winding path that took her from a childhood in rural Michigan to a c...
Elizabeth Schuster - From Peace Corps to Environmental Economist
Elizabeth Schuster is the founder of Sustainable Economies, a strategic planning, branding, and communications firm, and a partner in environmental economics. Her sustainability journey started from building forts in the New Hampshire woods to ...
RE-RELEASE: Joseph Klatt - Closing the Loop on Plastic Waste
Did you know that plastics are as different from each other as paper is from metal? Joseph Klatt, founder of Marble Plastics, dives into the complex world of polymer types and how they impact our efforts to recycle plastic waste.Joseph’s...
Angela Huffman - Fighting for the Future of the Family Farms
Angela Huffman is the President and co-founder of Farm Action, a nonpartisan, farmer-led watchdog that holds government and corporate power accountable in food and agriculture. She's back to talk about sustainability as it relates to agricultur...
Angela Huffman - Why Are Food Prices Rising While Farmers Struggle?
Angela Huffman is the co-founder and president of Farm Action, a watchdog organization working to dismantle corporate consolidation across the U.S. food supply chain. In this conversation, she unpacks how a handful of corporations came to shape...
Andrew Shakman - Building Leanpath and Changing Kitchen Culture
Up to a third of all food produced globally is lost or wasted, and up to 10% of greenhouse gas emissions are tied to it. The opportunity to fix that sits largely inside professional kitchens, and most of them have no system for even measuring t...
Andrew Shakman - The Four-Layer Cake of Food Waste Prevention
Andrew Shakman is the CEO of Leanpath, a company on a mission to make food waste prevention everyday practice in professional kitchens worldwide. Before any of that, he was a child actor, a film school graduate, and a digital marketer selling C...
Nancy Zavada - Designing Events That Leave an Impression, Not a Footprint
Nancy Zavada returns for part two of her Green Champions conversation, this time pulling back the curtain on the actual work behind sustainable events. As president of MeetGreen, Nancy has saved clients $7.8 million in sustainability-driven dec...
Nancy Zavada - The Accidental Founder Who Changed the Events Industry
Nancy Zavada is the founder and president of MeetGreen, a sustainable event agency that has spent over 30 years helping organizations design and deliver events that are both environmentally responsible and genuinely exceptional.Nancy gre...
Karimah Hudda - What if Trade was Actually Fair?
Karimah Hudda, founder of Illumine Earth, returns for part two of her conversation with Dominique and Christy. After exploring her roots, Karimah dives into her "champion story." From the mountains of Indonesia to the boardrooms of global giant...
Karimah Hudda - Bringing Grassroots Equity Into Global Corporations
Karimah Hudda, founder of Illumine Earth, has spent two decades working where sustainability, leadership, and global systems meet. She discuss how her multicultural upbringing and work across 50 countries shaped her approach to equity. Karimah ...
Season 5 Intro - A New Co-Host!?
Season 5 is here, and we have some exciting news. Christy Cook is officially joining Green Champions as co-host! You may already know Christy from her previous guest appearance, and now she's here to stay. If you're missing the voice of former ...
Lauren Koch - How Change Actually Shows Up in Patient Rooms
Lauren Koch, Sustainability Senior Program Manager at Mars Veterinary Health, is a passionate advocate for purpose-driven work and a champion for sustainability in the healthcare sector. She delves into her impactful work, sharing how she has s...
Lauren Koch - What Healthcare Can Teach Us About Sustainability at Scale
Lauren Koch, Sustainability Senior Program Manager at Mars Veterinary Health, is a passionate advocate for purpose-driven work and a champion for sustainability in the healthcare sector. Lauren shares the story of how a viewing of Al Gor...
Brody Olson - The Empathy Economy of Junk Removal
Brody Olson, the Sales Development Manager at Two Men and a Junk Truck, is here to prove that "junk removal" is about much more than just a trip to the dump. It's about empathy, community, and finding a second, third, or even fourth life...
Brody Olson - One Man's Trash Is Another Man's Career
Brody Olson, Sales Development Manager at Two Men and a Junk Truck, may not have dreamed of a career in junk removal, but his journey is a powerful testament to the value of service, adaptability, and finding purpose in unexpected places. Brody...
RE-RELEASE: Lisa Goldsand - The Hyperlocal Advantage for Thrifting
Can a neighborhood thrifting initiative make a dent in the massive problem of fashion waste?Lisa Goldsand, the founder of Circular Thrift, shares her mission to valorize post-consumer textile waste and scale the reuse of clothing...
John Seryak - Go Sustainable Energy and the People Behind the Power
John Seryak, the founder of Go Sustainable Energy, believes that real change in the energy sector starts with listening to the people on the ground. In this episode, he shares the origin story of his company, the evolution of its mission, and t...
John Seryak - Building an Energy Firm to Be Bold
John Seryak, founder of Go Sustainable Energy, believes the biggest hang-ups in sustainable energy aren't about technology or money, they're about listening. In this deeply honest conversation, John explores his journey into the world of sustai...
Danna Lotz - School Recycling Programs That Actually Work
Danna Lotz, a lifelong educator with 18 years of experience, is now the School Programs Administrator at the Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio (SWACO). Her story is an example of how a passion for teaching and a commitment to resourc...
Danna Lotz - Second Graders, Cereal Boxes, and Landfill Tours
Danna Lotz, a lifelong educator with 18 years of experience, is now the School Programs Administrator at the Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio (SWACO). Her story is a powerful example of how a passion for teaching and a commitment to...
