The Cornell University Social Impact Conference (CUSIC) is open to the public and features a keynote speaker, and a panel session and networking reception with local business people, staff, faculty, and graduate and undergraduate students from local schools. The focus of the event will be on the many ways to make a positive social impact, no matter your industry or interests.
Panelists will be announced below.
Registration begins at 1:00 pm and the programming will start promptly at 1:30 pm.
The networking reception will run from 4:00-5:30 pm and will have light refreshments.
We request that attendees wear business casual attire.
Kunal Mehta is a former Investment Banker, author of DISRUPTORS, the founder of Unfold (a mobile application) and a former financial strategy associate at charity: water. For Disruptors, Kunal has spoken with the founders and key business leads of several game-changing companies such as Pinterest, Foursquare, Venture for America, FEED Projects, charity: water and Dwolla to reveal the early failures or heartbreaks entrepreneurs face.
Scott Morris is the founder and CEO of Ithacash, a successor program to the Ithaca HOURs local currency. His prior work piloting a volunteerism-empowering system in Iowa was featured in the documentary “Money & Life” and now he works to spread the good word about the power and potential of complementary currencies. He is the US fellow of the Amsterdam based agency for community currencies, “Qoin", and hopes to see a robust community of practice in the US come to life around using these systems to make the world a better place.
Susan is an undergraduate studying environmental engineering. She has been a member of the Green Revolving Fund for three years, implementing energy efficiency projects in Cornell buildings. On campus, Susan is the president of Take Back the Tap, a student organization dedicated to reducing the use of plastic water bottles. She is also a leader of the Engineers Without Borders project team, working to construct a footbridge and provide access to clean water for a rural community in Bolivia, where she will be spending most of this summer. Her past work experience includes an engineering internship at Shoals Marine Laboratory, where she worked with their self-sufficient energy and water systems. Her long-term interests are sustainability and clean water infrastructure.
Mr. Graham is responsible for community partnerships & programs and manages relationships with community organizations, and develops opportunities to expand services and membership in the target market. He is a thirty one year employee of the credit union. Mr. Graham currently serves as Board President of the Village at Ithaca, which advocates for educational equity and is a board member of the Ithaca Urban Renewal Agency.
Marshall McCormick is President and Wealth Manamegent Advisor at Fingerlakes Wealth Managenent, a Certified B Corp in Ithaca, NY. Marshall joined Fingerlakes Wealth Management to provide clients a way to invest in socially responsible and ESG screened securities. Prior to Fingerlakes Wealth Management, Marshall worked in Microfinance in Chiapas, Mexico and was a Peace Corps volunteer in Madagascar and Zambia, working to increase economic freedom through skills acquisitions, organizational management, and improved farming practices. Marshall graduated from Cornell with a degree in City and Regional Planning in 2013. During his tenure at Cornell, Marshall worked with the SGE Center in researching the viability of crowdfunding for solar installations with Yingli Solar.
Peter is the Founder of Life Changing Labs, a summer incubator and mentorship network for Cornell entrepreneurs, and Life Changing Summer, a program teaching entrepreneurship and programming to high school students from across the world. He also works at Entrepreneurship at Cornell and serves on the Advisory Council. Previously, Peter managed the Cornell University eLab accelerator.
Peter currently leads StartupTree as its CEO to help fuel the growth of university entrepreneurship globally. His first venture was a philanthropic apparel brand, Life Changing Apparel, which established its own non-profit arm, Life Changing Foundation, in Haiti.
Sarah combines 10 years of multi-perspective fashion industry experience with Master’s Degree in Fashion from Ryerson University. As a scholar Portway has earned many awards and opportunities to publicly speak and teach climate justice issues as they pertain to the apparel industry. Portway has also developed sustainability educational programming for elementary level students with the non-profit organization Fashion Takes Action.
Wendy Skinner is the founder and director of SewGreen, a not-for-profit reuse program for sewing materials, with a retail store in downtown Ithaca, NY. SewGreen recently expanded to include gently used apparel from Eileen Fisher and has a partner store, Thrive, that sells only ethically made fashions. Skinner has organized many reuse and refashioning shows in the Ithaca area. She has cast a critical eye at the fast fashion industry and has written articles and served on panels on the topic, with a focus on personal responsibility.
Draya Koschmann, Cornell Arts and Sciences '00, is a socially conscious entrepreneur. Most recently she is the founder and proprietor of Thrive Ethical Fashion in Downtown Ithaca. Her store is a haven for handcrafted and American-made labels, as well as gently used leather and designer clothing. Thrive has also hosted events celebrating local designers, performers, and artists invested in a variety of social movements.
Rafael Aponte has a deep commitment to education, food justice, and sovereignty. Born and raised in the South Bronx, he has over twelve years of experience working as a community activist, advocate, and educator in NYC. In 2012, Rafael relocated to Tompkins County and established Rocky Acres Community Farm in Freeville, NY to promote equity in both urban and rural food systems. Rocky Acres combines the spirit of social justice with the transformative healing aspects of nature and agriculture. The 10-acre farm focuses on education and the sustainable production of local vegetables, herbs, meat and eggs for low-income communities.
Martha is the current Green Team Leader at Wegmans for the lthaca, NY store. She has worked in Prepared Foods and the Produce Dept. Veggie Market helping to direct waste and compost. Prior to joining Wegmans five years ago, Martha was the Executive Director of NY Farms! - a small not for profit connecting farmers and consumers. She and her husband operate a small diversified farm in Candor, NY.
Lizzi is an Executive Director of Anabel’s Grocery, previously serving as the group's marketing director. On campus, she is a Guide in Training for Outdoor Odyssey, a TA for HORT1101, a writer for the Daily Sun dining section, the previous volunteer coordinator for the Farmers' Market @ Cornell, and an active member of her social sorority. She has extensive experience in engaging children in sustainable food systems through work at the Ithaca Children's Garden and at a summer camp/dairy farm in central Pennsylvania. This summer Lizzi is planning to do consulting work at a food-focused nonprofit in Philadelphia and travel. Her long term interests are at the intersection of sustainability, food, and community development.
Adam is a Policy Analysis and Management major. Adam is the Executive Director of Anabel’s Grocery. On campus, he is the Executive Vice President of the Interfraternity Council, a Co-Chairperson for Cornell United Way, an active member of his social fraternity, and an active member of his professional fraternity. His previous work experience includes operations and process development at an MIT-spinout clean energy start-up and project management in the manufacturing sector. His long-term professional interests are in community and population health, as well as health policy.
Since 2008, Kaltman has been active with several local initiatives that address food security and childhood obesity. Kaltman founded Ithaca Community Harvest (ICH), a collaboration of farmers, school gardeners and other community leaders to create a model system to provide access to local organic produce for youth and families in Ithaca's public schools. In 2012, Kaltman co-developed and piloted a new volunteer leadership development program, Community Chef, that aims to support residents to empower themselves to be change agents for healthier food in their community. In 2013, Kaltman began overseeing the agency's flourishing partnership with local farms, Healthy Food for All, to provide subsidized CSA shares to income-eligible families in Tompkins County. Although her work now spans across an 11-county region, Kaltman continues to support local grassroots activities, student interns and faculty research projects to ensure an inclusive, just, democratic, sustainable and local food system in Tompkins County.
Professor Giannelis's research interests include polymer nanocomposites, nanobiohybrids, nanoparticle fluids and flexible electronics. His group is internationally recognized as one of the leading groups in polymer nanocomposites. He is the author or co-author of ~150 papers and 10 patents. He is a member of several professional organizations and a corresponding member of the European Academy of Sciences.
Erika is an undergraduate in Environmental Science and Sustainability at Cornell. She is a Public Relations representative for the AguaClara engineering project team on campus, previously doing research with the team for their study on Village Supply Systems in India. She has previously worked for Green Mountain Energy, an energy supply company that aims to sell solar and wind powered electricity to both residential and commercial customers. Erika’s long term professional goals are to work with purification and sustainability for water resources.
Sarah Zemanick is Director of the Campus Sustainability Office at Cornell University. The CSO facilitates the President’s Sustainable Campus Committee, leads campus sustainability engagement and capacity building efforts, develops and leads implementation of the campus Sustainability Plan and Climate Action Plan, advocates for sustainability in campus operations, and is responsible for institutional sustainability reporting. Sarah has managed the negotiation and implementation of several large scale renewable energy power purchase agreements, and is active in NY’s Reforming the Energy Vision initiative through demonstration projects and advocacy with state agencies.
Adam Kirsch is a 2015 graduate of the ILR School and an MBA candidate at the Johnson Graduate School of Management Class of 2016. He is a two-time entrepreneur, having launched both Yorango and Beacon Records (now Daily Beat Media), and invests in early-stage companies with BR Venture Fund.
An advocate for entrepreneurship education, he has spoken on the subject to high school and college audiences. As a high school student, Adam launched the Bergen County Technical High School Global Awareness Symposium, educating high schoolers on human rights, public health, environmental sustainability and social enterprise. He has also raised over $75,000 for educational nonprofits as a grant writer. Outside of these endeavors, Adam enjoys fencing, writing and witty repartee.
Joshua Glasser, is a sophomore Urban and Regional Studies Major within the College of Architecture, Art, and Planning. As one of the youngest LEED Accredited Professionals in the country, Josh is passionate about enacting sustainable design decisions in real estate design and development in conjunction with consumer friendly marketing and decipherability. Josh currently serves as Cornell University Sustainable Design's Executive Strategy director, leading the procurement of political and financial capital to bring existing projects to life and sourcing future projects for the organization. Josh has previously worked as an assistant project manager at an affordable, market rate, and luxury residential real estate developer, as well as with multiple tech start-ups. Also on campus, Josh serves as the Treasurer of the Zeta Psi Fraternity and Financial Chair of the Resident Student Congress (RSC). In his spare time, Josh is an avid New York Rangers fan and retired member of the Screen Actors Guild.
Lauren is an undergraduate in Fiber Science and Apparel Design at Cornell University. Her focus is in management with a concentration in marketing. Lauren is currently the publicity chair for Slope Studio, a member of the Cornell Environmental Collaborative events team, and an active member of her social sorority. She organized Ecouture, Cornell’s annual sustainable fashion show and also designed upcycled outfits for the event. Recently, she went to India with a group of students from Cornell to tour the textile industry from fibers, to traditional textile production, to examples of best practices in apparel and textile manufacturing operations. Lauren’s long term professional goals include merging sustainability and apparel production.
Alexa is currently a first year MBA student at the Johnson School. Prior to Johnson, Alexa was a founding member of a new luxury boutique inn and hotel in Greater Boston. After working on developing the property for 2 years, she spent another year post-opening managing various aspects of the property. Alexa thrived in this highly entrepreneurial environment and her efforts helped garner numerous accolades for the property, including membership in Relais & Châtaux and features in Travel+Leisure magazine.
At Johnson, Alexa is Student Council Co-Chair and a Park Fellow. She is focused on brand management and sustainable food and agriculture. Her goal is to inspire and empower people to enjoy food with family and friends that is better for themselves and for the environment.