Climate Tech LaunchPad

David Gory, our CEO, brings a wealth of experience with a mechanical engineering degree, an MBA, and 7+ years in sales. His blend of technical expertise and business acumen is vital for project oversight and commercialization. With a background in sales engineering and team management, David has led full sales cycles for engineered solutions.

I am an immigrant from Chicago, originally hailing from Ghana, West Africa. Growing up in the vibrant Bronzeville neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois, I developed a deep connection to my community, which has been instrumental in shaping my life and inspiring my dedication to using Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM) as a catalyst for positive change and innovation.

My journey took an unexpected turn just before graduating from high school when I was tragically wounded by gunfire, a life-altering experience that further fueled my determination to give back to my community and leverage my engineering skills to make a difference.

As a board member of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE - Chicago Chapter), I am the lead ambassador for a pilot program aimed at supporting start-ups in advancing their technology at Chicago's largest hardtech incubator, mHUB. Additionally, I serve as a mentor for high school students aspiring to become engineers through NSBE Chicago's robotics program, known as the "Brogrammers."

For over five years, I have dedicated myself to teaching and mentoring children in underserved communities, serving as the Director of IT and establishing Makerspaces where they can safely explore, design, and create their visions for the future.

My experiences have ignited my passion for using technology and engineering to make a positive impact on my community. As a result, I am committed to continuing my efforts to create a brighter future for all.

Emil is a dynamic individual who has made his mark in the world as an accomplished artist, inspiring speaker, prolific author, innovative inventor, devoted husband, proud father, savvy serial entrepreneur, and a devout believer. With an entrepreneurial spirit that was evident from a young age, Emil took the business world by storm when he launched his first venture at just 17 years old. His tenacity and vision led him to achieve his first million in sales by the impressive age of 22. As a true visionary, Emil has continued to blaze new trails in the world of business, most recently as the founder of Boaz Bikes. His groundbreaking electric scooter and E-Bike MaaS platform has transformed the landscape of urban transportation by solving first and last-mile transportation problems for cities in the US. Emil's unwavering commitment to innovation and his tireless work ethic make him a force to be reckoned with in the business world and a true inspiration to all who aspire to make their dreams a reality.

I believe everything in life outside of math and science was once made up by a fellow human. This means you can choose to be bound to the limitations of others' imagination or you can bring your own thoughts to the physical world. No mistaking which route I choose! Our company is developing carbon negative concrete and concrete products. Our lead product aims to turn concrete into the leading carbon sequestering product AND solid waste removal product, SIMULTANEOUSLY. Prior to forming Carbon Negative Solutions, I founded Immerse Underwater Safari and became the first black submersible pilot. I own a real estate company, worked 11 years in banking, and have a Master's Degree in Sustainable Development & Finance from New York University.

Techie turned climate activist. While experiencing homelessness in Nigeria as a boy, he gained first-hand experience with the social, economic, and environmental challenges faced by billions globally. He has his geared his career towards 'Climate Productivity' working with various initiatives to build solutions that empower communities, organizations, and households to prevent and prepare for climate change.

Mar Velasco is the co-founder of NetaCarbon. Before founding NetaCarbon, Mar worked at Komaza, a Kenyan based forestry company, where she experienced firsthand the struggles businesses face in navigating the complexities of carbon projects. She has extensive experience in corporate finance, investor relations and carbon management. Mar graduated from her MBA at MIT Sloan School of Management. She was born in New York and grew up in Mexico. In her free time, you can find her sailing or running a marathon around the world.

Brittany McGee, Wayne State University graduate and the Founder and CEO of OptimizeEV, defines herself as a visionary, disruptor, and playmaker. With a strong background in real estate development, Brittany has successfully raised, developed, and managed millions of dollars in projects across the United States, including retail development. Her experience in planning EV charging infrastructure during these projects inspired her to start OptimizeEV. Brittany is excited to transform OptimizeEV into a significant changemaker in the EV industry.

Destenie Nock, PhD, has expertise in data analytics for energy justice. She has over ten years of experience in the energy sector and proven experience in start-ups including during IPO.

Kobby Osei-Kusi is the founder & CEO of Pirl Technology. Before founding Pirl, he developed power plants at the AES Corporation, and before AES, he was an investment banker at Credit Suisse. He holds a BA in Economics from St. Lawrence University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He enjoys running and writing, and he serves on the boards of D+R International, and the State of Maryland’s Clean Energy Center Advisory Council. He’s the executive director of the Osei Kusi Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit providing educational assistance to disabled students in Africa.

Danielle Pascoli is a science entrepreneur and the founder of VERDE Nanomaterials, a startup that will enable sustainable and high-performing materials in the circular bioeconomy. Danielle is a Biochemical Engineer from Brazil who is passionate about creating value, solving problems, and making an impact. Years of research at the University of Washington, culminating in a MS and PhD degrees in Bioresource Science and Engineering, sharpened her expertise in converting agricultural waste feedstocks into valuable bioproducts, including nanomaterials, fuels, and chemicals. During her doctoral studies, Danielle developed a cost-effective conversion process to produce valuable nanofibers from waste resources, which became the foundation of VERDE Nanomaterials technology.

Kristeen Reynolds is a Texas certified public accountant and the CEO and cofounder of DrinKicks. DrinKicks is a CPG company that repurposes food waste and recycled materials into sustainable shoes. DrinKicks also has a strong emphasis on educating consumers about the power of the circular economy. She is active in her community and serves as a Port Arthur Chamber Ambassador, the Professional Development Chair of the SETX Young Professionals Organization, and a member of the Port Arthur Young Emerging Leaders. Kristeen earned a Bachelors and Masters of Accounting from Lamar University. She serves on the Lamar University College of Business Young Professionals Board, the Reaud Honors College Alumni Advisory Board, and the Ron Brown National Leaders Network Council. She was a 2022 SETX 40 under 40 honoree and 2022 YEL Heavy Hitter award recipient. Kristeen also owns a sports marketing company, real estate investment company, and serves as an advisor to various startups.

Nicole Toole is the CEO and founder of ECGO. Nicole graduated from Georgia State University with a bachelor's in Computer Information Systems. She's spent the last 5-years researching student and consumer behaviors around recycling which led to the development of ECGO. Nicole believes that everyone has the power to make a positive impact in the world if you have the courage to do so.

Ryan Walden is the CTO and co-founder of ECGO. Ryan graduated from Georgia State University with a bachelor's in Computer Science and has a background in Artificial Intelligence Research and Development. He's spent the past two and a half years transforming companies through work in big data and machine learning. He has always been passionate about technology that makes our world a better place.

Monica De La Rosa, the visionary CEO and founder behind ECO RESCUE, LLC, a groundbreaking startup on a mission to revolutionize food waste. With an impressive track record in sales and technology implementation spanning two decades, Monica has consistently demonstrated her exceptional skills in conflict resolution and customer relations.

Monica's unwavering dedication to the economics and business aspects of renewable solutions and sustainable projects has been honed over 12 years. Now, she has set her sights on a pioneering of Black Soldier Fly Insect breeding. This pioneering endeavor holds immense potential to transform the way we approach ecological preservation and resource management.

Thomas Hunter is a seasoned entrepreneur with over a decade of experience starting and growing businesses in the financial, software development, and consulting sectors. He has a track record of developing and implementing innovative solutions to tackle some of the world's most pressing problems. One of Thomas's most notable accomplishments is growing a financial agency from a single agent to a team of 50, while managing over $70 million in assets. In recent years, he has focused his efforts on climate tech solutions that have a direct impact on the built environment. Thomas is highly skilled in predictive analytics and has earned accreditations in LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). He is also an innovator at IMPEL, a Department of Energy tech-to-market program aimed at advancing building technologies. Funded by the Building Technologies Office and implemented by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, IMPEL helps bring innovative ideas to market. In addition to his professional pursuits, Thomas holds a degree in Engineering Technology with a specialization in Renewable Energy from DeVry University. Throughout his studies and career, he has demonstrated a passion for finding ways to address the challenges of sustainability and environmental conservation.

Dr. Kala Fleming is an innovator and engineer on a mission to reduce the costs of climate to vulnerable populations while connecting more doers to the green economy. She launched Frontline Gig to empower new climate and environmental justice leaders with labor and data to reduce vulnerability across frontline communities. In the process, Frontline Gig is creating new entry-level, flexible work opportunities for non-traditional blue-collar workers such as students and small business owners.

Previously, she held strategy and research roles at IBM, working with clients to establish differentiated market positions through the use of emerging technologies such as IoT, AI and blockchain.  Her seminal TED talk in 2015 on creating digital aquifers inspired a range of forward-thinking water management projects, from Kenya to California, that seek to use more granular water activity data to reduce water scarcity risks.

Dr. Fleming holds a PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  She has lived and worked in the US, Caribbean, Kenya, Ghana and the Philippines and is a frequent speaker at entrepreneurship, international development and innovation-related events. 

G.L. grew up near a waste transfer station in Jamaica, Queens, NYC before moving to Long Island with his Trinidadian-Italian family. Seeing the health impacts of the waste station on his community motivated him to found Generation Conscious. His mission is to create sustained change by radically rejecting the systems and structures perpetuating racial and economic injustice; carbon, plastic, water-waste and pollution—replacing these infrastructures and their consequences with systems and structures that generate true sustainability, equity and accessibility! By utilizing ecosystemic design principles to build circular economy infrastructures, he is eliminating single-use plastic while securing the hygiene needs of everyday citizens. G.L.’s passion away from work is soccer. He won the Under 18 Youth National Soccer Championship and went on to captain the men’s team at Amherst College. G.L. still loves the game, although a little slower than he was, he enjoys the competition and being part of a team.

Manuela Zoninsein is the CEO and Founder of Kadeya. Previously, she worked at Palantir Technologies in international business development focused on CPG, introducing the company to five new markets. As a serial climate entrepreneur, she has launched two businesses in the agritech space, one a data service in China, which was acquired by a partner, and one in Brazil, now that country’s largest online marketplace for smallholder farmers.  

Before going into business, Manuela served as a correspondent in China, where she lived for eight years. She moved to Beijing with a Princeton-in-Asia Fellowship in 2007 and reported for Newsweek and The Engineering News-Record, covering environment, technology, infrastructure, and transportation during the cleantech revolution. She was also the dining editor of Time Out Beijing.

As an angel, Manuela has invested in over 30 women-led companies focused on sustainability through Love Zero Ventures. Until returning to Chicago in the summer of 2021 with her husband and son, she was involved in tech and entrepreneurship training for underrepresented communities in New York City.

Manuela holds an MBA from MIT-Sloan, an MSc from the University of Oxford, and a BA from Harvard University. She attended Evanston Township High School and is a proud Brazilian immigrant fluent in Mandarin-Chinese, Spanish, and Portuguese.

As CEO of Olokun Minerals, Lacey is responsible for the global operations of the company. She holds a dual degree in Math and Civil Engineering with a concentration in Water Resources and Environmental Engineering from Spelman College and Columbia University, respectively. Since starting her career 10 years ago, she has worked in both the public and private sectors across industries including power utilities, oil & gas, commercial design-build construction, watershed management, and transportation infrastructure management.

Ciara Imani May, Founder, and CEO of Rebundle, is creating space for Black women in clean beauty with the first U.S -made plant-based hair extensions brand. Ciara's combined passion for sustainability and understanding of health disparities in personal care products inspired the vision for Rebundle's first product, braidbetter. Before launching Rebundle, Ciara earned her bachelor's in business management from the University of Missouri-Columbia and her master's in social entrepreneurship from the University of Southern California. Ciara is committed to providing women with more comfort and less waste through eco-friendly and non-toxic hair extensions that we deserve. 

Ciara's passion for sustainability and experience as a Black woman wearing braids led her to create a non-toxic, eco-friendly hair extension alternative.

Chris Oates, Founder and CEO of WAJU Water, is at the forefront of beverage industry innovation with his groundbreaking idea of utilizing water naturally sourced from fruit, offering a more sustainable solution to traditional water sourcing methods. With nearly a decade of experience at PepsiCo, where he led the Emerging Beverage Innovation team, Chris pairs keen trend forecasting with a commitment to sustainability and health-focused products. His academic prowess, demonstrated by an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management and a Bachelor's from UNC-Chapel Hill, further bolsters his practical expertise, steering WAJU Water's mission to tackle water scarcity and redefine the beverage landscape.