Harvard Business School ESG series event: leveraging AI & technology for sustainability

KEY ESG is co-hosting a panel event in New York with Harvard Business School's Womens Association for our partners, clients and prospects.

When: 14th May 2024, 5pm ET

Where: Mid-town New York, location will be finalised on application

Who: C-suite commercial leaders interested in ESG and Sustainability best-practice

The panel will discuss some of today's most pressing ESG-related challenges such as: How can advancements in technology, particularly AI, revolutionize the way companies approach sustainability initiatives? What is the future trajectory of tech integration in sustainability efforts, and what opportunities and challenges lie ahead?

‍Join us for an engaging discussion with leading experts in the field of AI, technology and sustainability. Together, we'll delve into topics such as:

• Exploring Cutting-Edge Technology Solutions for ESG Integration
• Showcasing Success Stories: AI's Role in Enhancing Sustainability
• Discussing Risks and Opportunities Around Generative AI and its Environmental Impacts
• Using Machine Learning and Generative AI to Solve Climate Challenges
• The Role of Governance around Data and AI
• Navigating Challenges and Seizing Opportunities: Integrating ESG in Tech Companies
• Charting the Future: Tech Integration in Sustainability and the Road Ahead

About the speakers:

Heleen Van Poecke‍

Heleen is Co-Founder and CEO of KEY ESG, a UK-based software platform which helps private equity firms, fund managers and companies to collect, report and improve their ESG data and performance. She started her career as a Private Equity professional for AlpInvest before gaining tech industry experience for a rapidly scaling SaaS business, Collibra; she then spent five years at AtlasInvest before co-founding KEY ESG. Heleen combines her PE and software experience as CEO of KEY ESG to address the challenges posed by evolving regulation and historic data collection methods with an automated, tech-enabled ESG management tool. Heleen holds a Masters in Economics from Erasmus University Rotterdam and an MBA from Harvard Business School.‍
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Seth Forman‍

Seth is an accomplished leader and influential figure in the field of sustainability and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices with a wealth of experience in the technology industry. He currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer at Socialsuite, a SaaS sustainability and impact technology company specializing in sustainability and materiality reporting software for mid-market companies and non-profits. Backed by Salesforce Ventures and Pixiu Investments, Socialsuite is headquartered out of Austin, Texas.‍

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Pooja Khosla‍

Pooja Khosla Ph.D., Executive Vice President Client Development at Entelligent. Dr. Khosla is an economist, econometrician, mathematician and a thought leader in the sustainability and climate finance space. Khosla has deep knowledge to build sustainable investing solutions. She has extensive experience in predictive modeling, Microfinance and designing impact investment tools. Khosla has been working on impact solutions since 2003 both nationally and internationally. Khosla has been working with Entelligent since 2016 developing Entelligent’s Smart Climate technology and business, Smart Climate Indices as well as additional climate risk related products with partners such as Societe Generale and UBS. She is one of the inventors of patented Smart Climate technology. Khosla has several publications in economics, impact investing and microfinance. Her publications footprint include lead journals such as FT and P&I.Besides designing sustainability products Khosla has a teaching career training student in economic applications and data science. Khosla holds a Ph.D in economics, and master degrees/diploma in four disciplines including economics, statistics, climate finance and public relations.

‍Amanda Gardiner‍

Amanda Gardiner is the Head of ESG at Meta, leading the company's ESG strategy, governance, engagement and reporting. Before joining Meta, Amanda led corporate responsibility at both Verizon and Pearson, collaborating with board and executive teams to integrate sustainability into business practices, set ambitious public goals and targets, and report on progress. At Pearson, she also founded and led Pearson’s social innovation programs--including their 'Tomorrow's Markets Incubator' and 'Pearson Affordable Learning Fund'--and was twice elected to represent the private sector on the Board of the World Bank’s Global Partnership for Education. Previously, Amanda spent three years at the United Nations leading the 'Business Call to Action', an initiative of 300+ corporations innovating to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals. She was also a Program Director at the Prince of Wales’ International Business Leaders Forum in London. Amanda is a 2023 Presidential Leadership Scholar. She co-founded and serves on the board of Children in Conflict, a global non-profit supporting children impacted by war, and serves as a mentor for Ceresa (closing the leadership gap for women) and Unreasonable Group (supporting growth-stage entrepreneurs of purpose-driven businesses).

‍Matthew Sekol‍

Matt is a Sustainability Global Black Belt at Microsoft, where he advises companies and partners on ESG issues and trends. He has over 20 years of experience enhancing technology and operations by creating cutting-edge products across industries. He serves on the LP Advisory Committee of Morgan Stanley’s Next Level Fund, which supports diverse-led and founded startups. He speaks, writes, and was recognized by Onalytica as 'Who's Who in ESG.’ In addition, Matt has participated in whitepapers on ESG, including biodiversity and data quality, and regularly speaks on the connections between ESG and technology. He has written a book called “ESG Mindset,” which makes the concept accessible from the board to individual contributors. He also writes a weekly newsletter called The ESG Advocate at esgadvocate.substack.com.

Session moderated by Board member, Nidhi Chadda (’07)