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Rachel Payne is a technology executive, entrepreneur and philanthropist. Throughout her career, Rachel has focused on opportunities to utilize technology to create a positive impact. She is the founder of Tree Pledge. Rachel is Managing Director and Head of Innovation and Technology at FullCycle, a Private Equity fund focused on scaling climate solutions.

Rachel is a serial entrepreneur, founding or joining the early teams of multiple startups, including Billpoint (acquired by eBay), Hotwire (acquired by IAC Expedia), inDplay (acquired by Discovery Media Holding Group) and most recently Prizma (acquired by Nielsen Gracenote). Rachel is the CEO and co-founder of FEM Inc., a mission-driven holding company. In 2015, FEM Inc. launched Prizma, a SaaS AI platform for media, entertainment, telecom and tech companies.

Rachel received her MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business, studying public management and international development, working in Mexico City and Kampala for microfinance organizations providing financial services for low-income individuals in Latin America and Africa.

Rachel was on the founding team of Google.org, the philanthropic arm of Google, focused on Poverty Alleviation and Climate Change. Rachel and the early Google.org executives created the first hybrid corporate philanthropy and investment vehicle. While at Google, Rachel also led International Business Operations in Emerging Markets, spending several years living and working in sub-Saharan Africa, with the goal of building the foundation for an Internet Economy. Her team’s work was recognized in 2010, where she accepted Google’s first award at Mobile World Congress for “Best Mobile Apps for Economic and Social Development” in agriculture, trade and health that serve people in poor, rural areas. She later became Principal, Global Strategic Alliances, managing Google’s strategic partnerships in M&E.

Rachel served on the Board of Directors for BRAC USA (BRAC is ranked the #1 NGO in the world), Credo Mobile / Working Assets, and KCET / Link. She teaches “Emerging Technology and Social Impact” at the U.C. Berkeley Sutardja Center. She is a startup mentor for Techstars and the University of California Berkeley Blockchain Xcelerator.


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Alex Kotran is the co-founder and President of the American AI Forum, an education nonprofit working to prepare Americans for the economy of the future. In addition to his work at the helm of the AI Forum, Alex also leads Strategic Initiatives for H5, a legal technology company specializing in high-stakes litigation for Fortune 500 companies. H5 was a pioneer in deploying AI in the legal industry.

Prior to launching the AI Forum, Alex managed policy and communications strategy for an array of technology companies, including HP, Airbnb, SAP, and Adobe. He has a background in climate and energy policy, having worked for the Department of Energy’s Office of Congressional & Intergovernmental Affairs, and later on Opower, an AI-powered cleantech company which was acquired for $500 million by Oracle in 2015—in addition to being part of the core team of Hillary Clinton’s Energy & Environment Working Group in the 2016 campaign. 


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Gayatri Roshan (co-founder, CEO) brings 20 years of experience working in multiple aspects of ecology and environment across non-profit and for-profit sectors. Specializing in film and communications her work has spanned solutions across a diverse range of topics including; the mass extinction, agriculture, architecture, water, and the climate crisis. As a producer and director, she has made three feature films (and numerous short form) working with grassroots and indigenous communities in 40 countries as well as environmental luminaries such as Prince Charles, Paul Hawken & Vandana Shiva. The New York Times called her film ELEMENTAL "A Last Stand for Nature Against Mighty Odds”

She started her career in London where she produced over 50 television and radio commercial campaigns for Sony BMG, Universal Music and Virgin Music. In 2005 she wrote and produced her first documentary feature CALL OF LIFE which explores the mass extinction of species. She went on to write and produce two television half hours: A THOUSAND SUNS (PBS/ABC Australia) on the resistance to the ‘new green revolution’ in Africa and PEACE WANTED ALIVE (Link TV) on Kenya’s grassroots rebuilding after the nations most violent election. She was the producer and executive producer of HARMONY (NBC), a feature-length documentary on deep ecology, inspired by and in collaboration with the Prince of Wales that opened NBC’s Green Week. Gayatri directed her first documentary film ELEMENTAL a verité feature shot over two years on three continents following three people all obsessed with the natural world. The Village Voice called it “Fascinating... Insightful… Stunningly shot” The Film Stage noted the film's "alarming intimacy," saying "Elemental is a rare, fresh look at environmental issues and sustainability that does not shy away from the personal impact the decisions to dedicate one's life to a cause entails.” In the past 20 years Gayatri has filmed in twenty countries across four continents.


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LeRoy West has had successful careers in construction, aviation, computers and software development. He currently manages New West Homes, a leading modular home designer and builder in Northern Los Angeles, and Butterfly Power, an innovative solar and wind energy company providing mobile systems for events, disaster relief and community development. He has also been a leader of the Red Lightning Theme Camp at Burning Man and is involved with Black Rock Labs plans to convert Burning Man to renewable energy.  LeRoy has lived in Switzerland, Nigeria, and Peru and speaks Spanish. He has traveled to 41 countries and worked extensively in Europe, Asia, and South America.

LeRoy’s mission is to accelerate the development of regenerative communities and contribute to building the more beautiful world we know in our hearts is possible. LeRoy is enthusiastic about The Tree Pledge because it gives every individual and community a path to participate in healing our world.


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Marta Voda brings 15 years of inspirational leadership and process to our organization. She is a remote workforce culture enthusiast who builds high-performing workplaces that attract, engage, and retain top talent; creating collaborative people practices with a focus on inclusion, diversity, and learning. Marta is Founder of SaintMaven, a consulting practice that advises high growth disruptors on employee experience, recruiting and social impact. She is passionate about hiking, health, coaching and mentoring. You can find Marta in various community leader roles as well, problem-solving and collaborating on issues related to education, arts, neurodiversity, empowering girls in STEM, and now regenerative solutions to climate change and pandemic pivoting. She is a mom to two aspiring teen climate change champions and resides among the trees in Lake Oswego, Oregon. 


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Bobbie Breckenridge is an actor, screenwriter and lifelong environmentalist. Over the last decade, Bobbie has worked with Greenpeace, Rainforest Action Network, Stand.Earth, and Burning Man on environmental initiatives to protect forests, promote renewable energy, and stop climate change. Most recently, she starred in the YouTube viral hit Aeranger about an alien who crash lands into Earth on a mission to save her dying people by planting trees on a new surrogate planet.


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Nadine Apelian Dobbs is a mission-driven executive with over 15 years experience translating some of the world’s most complex policy and social issues—from Middle East politics to the global water crisis and human rights technology—into concrete strategies and solutions for a global audience. Adept at advising federal and foreign government officials, C-suite officers, and heads of think tanks, Apelian Dobbs most recently led Chicago Ideas, a programming platform that is open to the public at a nominal cost in order to educate, inspire, connect, and activate the community. She relied on her extensive experience in media strategy, policy analysis, and organizational management in order to transition Chicago Ideas from startup to growth-stage phase.


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Raina Kumra most recently led strategy and investments for the Tech Ethics portfolio at Omidyar Network where she funded Loris.ai, Tristan Harris and originated the Should This Exist podcast. She is also the CEO of Juggernaut, a brand movement agency and also a partner at Subculture, an organizational change bureau. Just before joining Omidyar, Raina co-founded Mavin, a mobile startup focused on affordable internet access with an alternative ad model. She previously served as Co-Director of Innovation at the BBG, the world's largest international media organization under the Obama Administration and served at the U.S. Department of State. Prior to that Raina led the conversion of Wieden+Kennedy New York to a full-service digital agency in her role as Director of Digital Strategies & spent over a decade in digital advertising working with brands such as Match.com, Axe, Nike, Nokia, Levi's, Unilever & ESPN. Raina holds degrees from Boston University, NYU’s ITP program and the Harvard Graduate School of Design. She is one of Fast Company’s Most Creative People in Business. She resides in Santa Monica and focuses on early stage investments. She is also a Member of the Ad Council’s Issue Advisory Board and a mentor at Techstars. She’s currently working on her improv skills. 


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Monica Alexander brings 15 years of experience in government and public affairs consulting with expertise in legislative and regulatory strategy, political communications, coalition building and issue advocacy. Her focus areas are economic development, transportation, financial services, tax, energy, cyber security, technology, defense, disaster relief, homeland security, appropriations/ budget, education, health and housing policy. Alexander served as Special Assistant to Sec. Thomas Perez at United States Department of Labor (USDOL).

Before joining the Obama Administration, Alexander was a Principal with Integral Group, LLC, a boutique government relations and public affairs firm specializing in matters related to energy, health, technology and education. There, Alexander directed all client issue campaigns, corporate positioning, coalition building, eminence building and B2B marketing efforts. Internal to the firm, Alexander also managed the firm’s day-to-day operations and managed all business portfolios.

Prior to Integral, Alexander was Director of Government Relations at MWW Group, where she serviced and managed higher education, health, energy, local government, tax, cyber security and technology client teams.

Previous to the MWW Group, Alexander was Senior Vice President at the National Prostate Cancer Coalition as Chief Lobbyist for the Coalition, establishing their first in-house Office of Public Policy directly responsible for legislative operations nationwide to increase federal funding for prostate cancer research through the NIH/NCI and DOD. She also co-managed operations for a cutting edge new media firm where she honed her skills as a communications professional during the 2000 presidential election cycle.  She is also an alumna to the Clinton White House Advance Team (1996-2000) and remains active today in political communications through her work with the Women’s Specialty Media Team at the 2008, 2012 and 2016 Democratic National Committee Conventions. She studied at Northwestern University and was a Coro Fellow at Coro Southern California.


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Leah Lamb lives in story, it resonates in her being – as a teller, as a writer/thinker, as an activist/world changer, as a contemporary artist rooted in the ancient. She knows the alchemy of myth and the miracle of life, and the tangible magic of language performed.

She works on the cutting edge of creative and dynamic storytelling that instigates positive social change and inspires the masses. I have accumulated experience in all areas of film and television production, developing and implementing strategy for engagement campaigns for films, content creation and distribution of online media, and the creation of out-of-the-box innovative online engagement events and AV/VR media production.

Specialties include: mulit-platform storytelling, using story as a tool for social change, writing & producing for the purpose of mobilizing audiences, community engagement, developing collaborations with artists/creatives with social good organizations, social innovation, strategic design, extensive knowledge about the systems required to implement effective campaigns, telling bad jokes and having fun while getting the job done.


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Karin Bauer is the program manager for the Berkeley Haas Blockchain Initiative, where she oversees a 5-year, multi-million-dollar partnership with Ripple to advance academic research and student engagement, technical development and innovation in blockchain, cryptocurrency and digital payments.  In June 2018 Berkeley Haas became a founding member of the Ripple University Blockchain Research Initiative (UBRI), a network that has since expanded to 29 prestigious universities worldwide. In her role, Karin works closely with the directors of the Institute for Business and Social Impact and the faculty research committee of the Berkeley Haas Blockchain Initiative to allocate research funds, set strategy and coordinate all aspects of programming to advance the Ripple partnership.  She engages with a broad range of campus stakeholders in the blockchain space including diverse faculty, departments and schools across UC Berkeley.  

Karin previously spent twenty years in marketing and international business development roles with leading technology companies including eBay, Oracle, Broderbund, and GMFanuc Robotics.  In 2016 she earned a doctorate in Philosophy and Religion with a concentration in Asian Comparative Studies from the California Institute of Integral Studies. Her dissertation research examined Interconnectedness in Vedic and Buddhist Thought and Implications for Stakeholder Theory.  Karin holds an MBA from Berkeley Haas, and a BA in International Relations from Pomona College.   She serves on the Founding Advisory Council of the Berkeley Haas Center for Equity, Gender and Leadership (EGAL).  Karin is board chair emeritus of WiserEarth, founded by Paul Hawken. She has been an investor and advisor to the Acumen Fund, Dasra-Social Impact International, the Global Social Venture Competition at UC Berkeley, and the Maddox Jolie-Pitt  (MJP) Asia Foundation. She resides in San Francisco.