Dior St. Hillaire is a Hip Hop MC who uses the arts to inspire residents to establish a more sustainable relationship with the materials management industry. As a worker-owner at GreenFeen OrganiX, chairs the Bronx Solid Waste Advisory Board (SWAB), is Director of Strategic Partnerships at BK ROT, and an Urban Design Forum Forefront Fellow. Dior has a long history of composting, coalition building, and Environmental Justice advocacy and adds a unique approach to reimagining New York City’s waste management system. She believes that through arts, activism, and local organizing we can truly reimagine circular systems that benefit the world and future generations.

Antonio Reynoso was elected as the first Latino Brooklyn Borough President. He is a native Brooklynite born in South Williamsburg to Dominican immigrants. He is the former City Council member for District 34, representing portions of Bushwick, Greenpoint, and Williamsburg in Brooklyn, and Ridgewood, Queens.
Antonio Reynoso demonstrated his commitment to advocating for the residents he represented and the thousands more throughout the city by focusing his energy on quality-of-life issues, including waste management, policing, tenant safety, transportation, and land use, where he took the lead in advocating for the rezoning of Bushwick, Brooklyn.
As two-time Chair of the Sanitation Committee, he had a resounding impact on a major concern that affected both the environment and health of New Yorkers, as he led the charge to reduce the tonnage of trash in Northern Brooklyn by 50 percent.
Now, Reynoso is serving Brooklyn to make the borough the progressive capital of the world by building on his extensive record in the City Council. Reynoso’s twin guiding principles throughout his life have always been the concepts of justice and equity, and he has vowed to fight every day to give all Brooklynites the opportunity to thrive and succeed.
Antonio Reynoso lives in Williamsburg with his wife and two sons.

Bridget Anderson worked at the NYC Department of Sanitation (DSNY) from 2007 to 2023, holding various roles, most recently as Deputy Commissioner for Recycling and Sustainability, during which she oversaw waste characterization studies, recycling and composting contract development, local and state policy development, household hazardous waste and textile recovery programming, and sustainable waste management training programs for schools, businesses, institutions, and multi-unit residential buildings. She oversaw the rollout of NYC’s curbside composting program from 2013-2023, including procurements, contracts, operations, outreach, education, training, and data collection.

Currently, Bridget is a Special Advisor for Implementation at US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the Office of Policy. In this position, she focuses on plastics policy and the Climate Pollution Reduction Grant Program.

Bridget lives in Brooklyn, NY, with her family and holds a 2004 Master of Public Administration (MPA) in Sustainable Development, Policy Analysis at Columbia University—School of International and Public Affairs. She was an Adjunct Professor at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY, from 2013 to 2024 in its Sustainable Environmental Systems Masters program. Bridget is a participant in Session 4 at the Conference.

Sashti Balasundaram  began his career as a community composter in Brooklyn, NY and expanded his skills in academia, non-profit, and government sectors with over 15 years of experience in organics waste management, recycling, and composting.

He became an entrepreneur to develop technology improving operations with efficiencies in digital data collection and remote monitoring of composting piles. WeRadiate also strategizes with local governments to initiate or expand organics recycling programs. Sashti is participating in Session 4 at the Conference.

Lily Baum Pollans is an Associate Professor of Urban Policy and Planning at Hunter College in New York City. She studies garbage and uses her research to show how cities can use their control over waste management to be bolder actors in climate and environmental justice. She is the author of Resisting Garbage: The Politics of Waste Management in American Cities (University of Texas Press, 2021) and numerous articles and book chapters on municipal waste management.

Prior to becoming an academic, Pollans worked as an urban planner in municipal and institutional settings on public transportation, public space design, and brownfield redevelopment. She has a Master’s and a PhD in City Planning from MIT and lives with her family in Brooklyn. Lily will join Samantha as moderator during the Conference.

Michaela Boren-Kapadia is the Manager for Green Programs at 32BJ Training Fund, a joint labor-management partnership that offers free training to eligible 32BJ building service union members. She is also a life-long learner and educator. Her role at 32BJ includes managing more than 25 green courses, teaching the LEED Green Associate course, and working with property managers and building operators in creating courses that give 32BJ members the tools and training they need to meet green-related challenges and grow in a quickly changing building industry.

Michaela’s experience includes training unemployed adults and helping them enter the “green” industry through grant-funded workforce development programs at LaGuardia Community College and managing energy training courses for city building operators under NYC Department of Citywide Administrative Services through EMI at CUNY SPS. Before returning to 32BJ Training Fund, she was part of EN-POWER Group’s lighting team as a project manager. She is part of LEED v5 Existing Buildings Consensus Committee. She received her BS in Environmental Science from Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines and her Master’s in Environmental Studies from the University of Pennsylvania. Michaela is participating in Session 3 at the Conference.

Keair E. Brown is a graduate student in the MALS -Master’s in Liberal Studies program at CUNY-College of Staten Island, member of Alpha Kappa Delta- International Honor Society of Sociology, Alumni of Verrazzano Honors program, and received her B.A. in Sociology/Anthropology also from the College of Staten Island.

Her passion for sustainability grew when she began her Federal Work Study position as a Compost Ambassador/Intern with the Office of Sustainable and Community Planning as an undergraduate in January 2023.

She quickly learned the role because of her interest in food and how to be more
sustainable with food waste. Each month during the composting workshop with the oversight of Nora Santiago, Sustainability Program Manager, she processes over 400 lbs. of the Dining Services’ food waste, and she also hosts weekly Compost Drop Offs.

Close to two years now, Keair has also helped with various sustainability initiatives on and off campus, like the eradication of the invasive Japanese Knotweed, managing the building 6S greenhouse with over 600 plants on a daily basis with watering, transplanting, and hosting workshops. When she is not working, she volunteers with campus and community clean-ups, campus beautification projects and the Willowbrook Project. Keair is participating in Session 1.

Tria Case has served for more than a decade as the University Executive Director of Sustainability and Energy Conservation and launched Sustainable CUNY to support the adoption of renewable energy, energy efficiency practices, innovations in clean technology and behavioral changes on CUNY’s campuses and in NYC.
In addition to working with faculty, staff, and students on research and in traditional sustainability areas, Ms. Case directs the CUNY Conserves Energy Efficiency Operations and Maintenance (O&M) Program and secures and manages multi-millions in funding for O&M projects, including the Sustainable Investment Revolving Loan Fund, which supports energy savings projects on CUNY campuses.
Ms. Case formed the Smart Distributed Generation (DG) Hub, with City, State, and Federal participation, to integrate storage and distributed renewable energy resources into emergency power and resiliency deployment. As a result of these efforts, her office is responsible for the NYC Solar and Storage Ombudsman program established in partnership with NYC. Tria is participating in Session 1.

Zhongqi (Joshua) Cheng is a professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences and a faculty member for the Earth and Environmental Sciences Ph. D. Program at CUNY Graduate Center. Dr. Cheng is also the director of the Urban Soils Lab at Brooklyn College—which integrates research, teaching, and public outreach and provides soil testing services to the community.

He served on the Board of Trustees for the Mid Atlantic Biosolids Association and Scientific Committee on the 9th and 10th International SUITMA Conferences. He also chaired the Research and Urban Soils committees for the NRCS Soil Sciences NE Division. Trained as a geochemist, Dr. Cheng’s current research focuses on urban soils, green infrastructure, and urban sustainability. Together with NYC DEP, his group recently characterized the biosolids cake materials to inform its beneficial use. Josh is participating in Session 2 during the Conference.

Matthew Civello’s dedication to environmental causes began in his youth on Long Island’s North Shore, mentored by environmentalists Dr. Robert Cushman Murphy and Albert Hostek (The New York Times, 1972). He currently serves as Treasurer of the Board of Sure We Can and Chair of the Manhattan Solid Waste Advisory Board.

Previously, he was Treasurer of Earth Matter. Matt has held executive roles in banking and brokerage, including VP at Deutsche Bank and Regional Senior VP for TD Bank. Currently, he is CEO of ScanScraps, Inc., a company focused on increasing participation in municipal organics programs. Matthew has studied at the City University of New York and Harvard University, and traveled extensively in the Middle East and Europe. Matthew is participating in Session 3.

Vasil Diyamandoglu received his PhD in Civil/Environmental Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley and subsequently joined the Civil Engineering Department at the City College of New York where he teaches courses and carries out research in drinking water and residential wastewater purification, water reclamation and reuse, as well as solid waste management, reuse and recycling.
Under funding from DSNY, he spearheaded the establishment of the New York City Center for Materials Reuse (NYCCMR) at the City College of New York. During its active years, NYCCMR provided various services to the not-for-profit reuse sector of New York City.  This included NY WasteMatch as the only publicly funded, membership-driven, and staff-assisted materials exchange program of New York City promoting materials exchange activities while investigating the environmental, social, and economic benefits of secondhand product diversion in the not-for-profit and later the for-profit reuse sectors of New York City. The “calculator” developed as part of the activities of NYCCMR to evaluate the environmental benefits of reuse continues to be in use today. Vasil is participating in Session 4 of the Conference.

S. Perl Egendorf, PhD is an Earth and Environmental Scientist who uses systems approaches to study urban soils and their intersections with food,  environmental and climate justice. Perl earned a MS from Brooklyn College in 2016 and a Ph.D. from the CUNY Graduate Center in 2020, where her research focused on limiting exposure to contaminants in soil, particularly through conducting pilot studies of the NYC Mayor’s Office of Environmental Remediation’s Clean Soil Bank. This program is the only free clean soil distribution system in the US.

From 2021-2023, Perl was a participatory researcher with the NYC Compost Project Hosted by Earth Matter, co-creating research with urban growers city-wide on the use of small-scale composts for growing crops. In September 2023, Perl started as an Assistant Professor at Pace University, where she is continuing to use the tools and resources of science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM) to contribute to various scales of environmental justice. Perl is participating in Session 2.

Chelsea Encababian, M.S., is a full-time lecturer in the Sustainable Urban Agriculture Program at LaGuardia Community College. She brings extensive experience in community composting and sustainability, having managed the NYC Compost Project at Queens Botanical Garden. In this role, Chelsea provided leadership and technical assistance to community gardens and green spaces across NYC, focusing on closed-loop systems and soil health. Her work helped foster sustainable practices in urban agriculture throughout the city.

At LaGuardia, Chelsea leads the Sustainable Urban Agriculture Track, where she uses the college’s urban farm as a hands-on classroom for teaching soil science and sustainable vegetable production. A Bronx-native and first-generation Filipina-Armenian, she is dedicated to making urban agriculture accessible to diverse communities. Chelsea is participating in Session 2.

Nora Goldstein is Editor and Publisher of BioCycle CONNECT®  and  BioCycle.net, the Organics Recycling Authority. Nora is in her 5th decade of working at BioCycle. She received the US Composting Council’s Hi Kellogg Award for Outstanding Service to the Composting Industry, and the American Biogas Council’s Biogas Visionary Award.

Nora serves on the Board of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance and on the ReFED Advisory Council. Nora will be participating in Session 4 at the Conference.

MZ Goodman is the Chief Experience Officer at Chomp, a manufacturer of compact Anaerobic Digestion systems that transform organic waste at the source into renewable energy. MZ has over 20 years of experience leading teams and building businesses with high-growth, nationally renowned consumer brands and innovative start-ups such as The New York Times, Glossier, and charity:water, an organization that has brought clean water to 15 million people in rural communities in developing countries.

MZ splits her time between New York City and Vermont, where she volunteers at a community farm during the growing season. MZ is participating in Session 2.

Adrian Hamblin, CEO of Integrated Organic Solutions (IOS), is a change-maker in organic waste recycling.  His innovative approach to waste management was influenced by his parents’ farming roots and their deep understanding of how people impact natural cycles.

This early exposure to sustainable practices and an understanding of the natural connections between urban and rural environments is a perspective that drives IOS’s mission to transform food waste into valuable agricultural resources.

Adrian’s vision goes beyond waste management.  He envisions creating resilient, sustainable communities where waste is not a problem but an opportunity.  His experiments with various composting methods, mainly black soldier fly larvae, have paved the way for this vision, marking his journey from a backyard composter to the CEO of Integrated Organic Solutions.

At IOS, Adrian is dedicated to creating a circular economy where waste becomes a valuable resource.  He aims to revolutionize waste management while supporting local food systems and creating green jobs in urban and rural communities. Adrian is conducting a demonstration on Day 1 of the conference.

Brendan Hannon grew up drinking New York City tap water and has been working at NYCDEP since 2019. He has an undergraduate degree in geology from Columbia University, a masters of environmental management from Duke University, and a passion for integrating natural solutions (broadly defined to include anaerobic digestion) into the built environment. In his spare time, he enjoys exploring local parks, cycling and reading.

Gang He’s research focuses on energy systems, energy and climate policy, and energy transition. His work advances data-driven, evidence-based energy and climate policy research and offers policy insights into energy decisions and climate actions to achieve carbon neutrality. His leading and collaborative work has appeared in high-impact interdisciplinary and field journals such as Nature, Nature Communications, Nature Energy, Nature Water, One Earth, Environmental Science & Technology, and Energy Policy. His research has been reported by Nature, Scientific American, Carbon Brief, National Geographic, E&E News, among others.

His work has informed policy processes. He testified for the New York State Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act and has advised the New York State Climate Action Council’s Scoping Plan. He has also been involved in the U.S.- China collaboration on energy and climate change. He received his Ph.D. in Energy and Resources from the University of California, Berkeley. He also holds an M.A. in Climate and Society from Columbia University and a B.S. and M.S. in Geography from Peking University. Gang is participating in Session 2.

Johnson is an industry professional with over two decades of expertise in waste management, Currently, he serves as the Program Manager at the DC Department of Public Works’ Office of Waste Diversion. Previously, he co-founded the Inner-City Green Team in New York City, where he designed and implemented a comprehensive recycling initiative at the New York City Housing Authority. Before this, he worked as a Recycling Coordinator with GrowNYC’s Zero Waste Programs, leading initiatives to boost recycling rates through waste prevention, reuse, and expanded composting.

He holds an M.S. in Urban Policy Analysis and Management from the New School for Social Research and a B.S. in Urban Studies from Macalester College. John is deeply committed to advancing waste diversion, equity in recycling access, and environmental education for all communities

James Kaznosky has worked for more than 20 years as an Environmental Health and Safety Specialist.  His experiences include managing hazardous waste programs, assisting in the creation of laboratory safety programs at Columbia University Medical Center, performing air monitoring at post 9/11 Lower Manhattan,  managing environmental work at the Manhattanville Campus as it was being created, managing all Environmental and Occupational Safety Programs at all Columbia University campuses.

He is currently the Director of Environmental Health, Safety, and Risk Management at Baruch College CUNY. James will be speaking during Session 1.

William Klimpert is the Director of Analytics at WATS, a decarbonization software startup aimed at driving waste reduction and cost savings for businesses. He moved to New York City in 2019 as a food scrap micro-hauler and waste consultant, and he learned early on how many gaps exist in waste data. Over the past six years, William has devoted himself to helping people gather the data they don’t have and find new ways to use the data they do have.
As a TRUE Zero Waste Advisor and NYC Master Composter, he strives to derive quantified insights to create meaningful change in waste management. William graduated from Brown University with a degree in Biophysics. William is a participant in Session 4 of the Conference.

I have been doing regulatory compliance at Colleges and Universities in NYC for nearly my entire career. Once I came to Lehman College, I became involved in sustainability, especially in recycling and composting. Although I took on this task with trepidation, I quickly learned how to make the composting process efficient on a large scale. I had the advantage of working directly with the composting experts of the NYC Compost Project in the Bronx. I have been active in all aspects of sustainability throughout my time at Lehman College and continue to do so, with the aim of inspiring others to become involved. Being involved in sustainability has inspired me to incorporate sustainability into all aspects of my work and life.

Samantha MacBride, PhD, teaches urban environmentalism, public management, and program evaluation at Baruch College’s Marxe School of Public and International Affairs and has worked on the New York City Department of Sanitation’s curbside recycling and organics programs for over two decades.

She retired from the New York City Department of Environmental Protection’s Bureau of Wastewater Treatment, where she managed process engineering research, development, and training. She currently serves as pro bono Advisor to Earth Matter, a leading organization in composting. Samantha will serve as the Conference facilitator and moderator to ensure an engaging experience for all participants.

Clare Miflin is the founder and executive director of the non-profit Center for Zero Waste Design and principal of the design consultancy ThinkWoven, both of which emerged from the development of the Zero Waste Design Guidelines in 2017. Through grant-funded research as well as design consulting work, Clare’s goal is to support designers, communities, and policymakers by making zero waste strategies accessible and actionable to improve buildings, neighborhoods, and cities.

Positing waste as a design flaw, Clare works to deepen the knowledge and further the reach of the Guidelines, envisioning a future without garbage, where urban systems are woven into ecosystems. Clare is certified as an architect, passive house designer and biomimicry professional, and is LEED accredited. She is actively involved in the AIANY Committee on the Environment, Alliance for Public Space Leadership, and Save our Compost Coalition. Clare is a participant in Session 3.

Jason has worked in the energy services industry as a project manager, design engineer, commissioning agent, and construction manager. His experience encompasses a wide array of industries and applications, including power generation, healthcare, institutional, commercial, industrial, education, grocery, and pharmaceutical facilities. Jason is an accomplished engineer with a detailed knowledge of mechanical systems and implementation strategies for energy efficiency and greenhouse gas reduction measures.

His breadth of experience and attention to detail have helped him design and deliver millions of dollars in successful projects on time and under budget. Jason has also managed and provided engineering support for projects ranging in value from $2 million to $20 billion and has performed energy modeling for diverse entities, including the Bonneville Power Association, Pacific Gas & Electric, and the NYC Department of Education. Jason is participating in Session 2.

Tanya Prochet, an administrative and project management professional with sixteen years of experience, is the Program Manager for Sustainability Initiatives and Facilities Capital Grants in the Facilities Planning & Operations Division at Queens College. She is responsible for developing strategic plans for campus operations and executing these plans to ensure the proper implementation of sustainability initiatives are compliant with environmental laws and regulations. Her work helps reduce Queens College’s environmental impact and supports CUNY’s commitment to environmental stewardship.
Prior to joining Facilities, Tanya worked for five years in the Office of the Vice President for Finance & Administration as a Confidential Executive Assistant. In this role, she managed the Vice President’s project portfolio for administrative departments, including Information Technology, Human Resources, Public Safety, and Buildings & Grounds.
Tanya earned an M.A. in Urban Studies from Queens College, a B.A. in Sociology from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and an A.A. in Sociology from the College of Southern Nevada. A self-proclaimed “Urbanologist,” she enjoys sharing facts about New York City’s landscape, including its transportation systems, diverse cultures of Queens, and neighborhoods in Brooklyn. In her spare time, she enjoys cooking, traveling, listening to music, genealogy, and playing The Sims 4. Tanya will be speaking during Session 1.

Nora Santiago is the Sustainability Project Manager at the College of Staten Island,  her office is responsible for advancing the College’s sustainability initiatives.  Through various initiatives, her office is committed to creating a “greener” campus  in line with the institutions’ mission, that is mindful of how conservation can improve  its future. Her events focused on raising awareness on sustainability initiatives  highlighted in the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Four years in a  row CSI received a ranking from The Princeton Review Guide to Green Colleges.  Furthermore, her mission is to promote livable communities through  community education and public outreach, and to spur initiatives between  academic/administrative departments and the Staten Island community. Her  goal is to increase student/faculty/staff engagement in sustainability activities and programming to develop a sustainability mindset as a global social responsibility.

Her role moved beyond the College’s boundaries, creating  partnerships outside agencies on Staten Island, NYC, and within CUNY.  Nora contributed to a number of college/community initiatives such as Soft  Sites/Staten Island Land Use Catalog, Willowbrook Mile, SI Imagines, Special  Needs Fair, St.George Campus, 30,000 Degrees, SI Fair Share and the  Superstorm Sandy Forum: A Serious Conversation about the Future of Staten  Island.

Over the years she served at various committees at the college such as  Transportation Task Force; Sustainability Committee; Willowbrook Mile; CSI
Alcohol & Drug Prevention Program; Community Organizations Active in Disaster;  Single Use Plastic Reduction (CUNY and CSI Dining Services); and Disability  Justice Working Group. Nora is participating in Session 1 during the Conference.

Alex currently serves as Vice President of Real Estate at Kasirer, supporting clients on a variety of development, urban design, and regulatory matters. He previously worked in project management RXR on both vertical and horizontal development in New York and Colorado. Working from acquisition to lease-up, he managed ground-up multifamily projects accounting for 1.5 million SF, including 11,000 SF of ground floor retail and over 1,200 units. Alex also conducted diligence and investigation to add value to parcels prior to their entitlement or disposition.

Alex previously served as the Assistant Vice President of Policy and Planning at the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY), where he advised industry senior leadership on regulatory changes impacting commercial and residential ownership, management, and development. While there, he focused particularly on sustainability matters, including commercial and residential waste management. He was also a Forefront Fellow at the Urban Design Forum, partnering with NYC DSNY in researching the city’s waste ecosystem and actionable strategies for a cleaner, more circular waste management system.

Alex currently serves on the Westchester Parks Foundation Emerging Leaders Council and previously held positions on the Business Council of Westchester Development Working Group and the City of New Rochelle Retail Task Force. Alex holds a Bachelor of Arts in Comparative History from Duke University and a Master of Science in City Design and Social Science from the London School of Economics and Political Science. Alex is participating in Session 3.

Kelli Stephens is the sustainability and energy specialist for Hunter College, where she works to lead the long-term direction and day-to-day activities of the college’s sustainability planning agenda. In this role, Kelli manages the development and implementation of the campus’ 10-Year Sustainability Action Plan and coordinates with stakeholders to track, monitor, and communicate campus progress at the institutional level and improve performance across the College’s sustainability portfolio.
As a specialist in both strategy and operations, Kelli brings years of involvement in impact assessment, communications, and stakeholder engagement, with content experience and knowledge in cross-collaborative areas, including environmental, social, and governance (ESG) metrics and reporting, waste management, and sustainable development goals (SDGs).
Prior to joining Hunter, Kelli held engagements with Capalino+Company, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), and the Columbia University SUMA Alumni Board. She has worked and developed a demonstrated and close familiarity with strategy development, advocacy, and research on building energy benchmarking and systems integration of sustainability processes and controls.
Kelli received her M.S. in Sustainability Management from Columbia University and her bachelor’s from Wellesley College. Kelli is participating in Session 1.

Dr. Monica Trujillo was born and raised in Montevideo, Uruguay. She studied at the Universidad de la Republica. She earned her PhD in Biology through a collaboration with the University of California at San Francisco, where she did her experimental work.

She worked at a biotech company in the Bay Area before moving to New York. In 2005 she joined the Queensborough Community Biology department, and she is currently a Biology Professor.

During the COVID pandemic, she was part of a CUNY team that worked with the NYC Department of Environmental Protection to develop a wastewater surveillance program for the city of NY. Their group continues to collaborate with the city through a wastewater surveillance program for NYC H +H. She has incorporated wastewater surveillance training in her microbiology classes. Additionally, she is very interested in exploring more sustainable and equitable practices regarding managing wastewater. Monica is participating in Session 2.

Jane has worked as a data-driven waste management consultant to municipalities and private clients all over the U.S., helping clients understand their waste tonnage and logistics data and develop strategies to improve their diversion and climate goals over time. She is most proud of her role as the consultant project manager for NYC’s Commercial Waste Zones program, which she worked on from 2017 to early 2024.

She has an M.S. from Columbia University in Earth & Environmental Engineering and a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania in Environmental Science. Jane is participating in Session 4 during the Conference.