Our keynote speaker this year is Michel Gelobter.

Dr. Gelobter will be speaking on climate change and social justice.

Michel Gelobter is one of the country's leading climate strategists, having worked for more than 25 years as a regulator, policy-maker, researcher, and thought leader on environmental and social policy. Most recently, Michel was President of Redefining Progress, the U.S.'s leading domestic sustainability policy institute. During Michel's tenure, Redefining Progress helped design the world's most aggressive climate legislation which was signed into California law in August of 2006, formed the Climate Justice Corps to train thousands of U.S. youth in climate activism, became the worldwide home of the Ecological Footprint (the world's best known measure of sustainability), and created MyFootprint.org, a website serving over 2 million unique visitors a month.

Prior to joining RP and founding Cooler, Michel founded and directed the Environmental Policy Program at Columbia University, worked as a Congressional Black Caucus Fellow and for the U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee, was Director of Environmental Quality for the City of New York, and served as an Assistant Commissioner for its Department of Environmental Protection (with over 6,000 employees and a combined budget of over $2 billion/year).

Michel earned his B.S., M.S. and a Ph.D. from U.C. Berkeley in Energy and Resources. He serves as a member of the Clinton Global Initiative, the Advisory Board of Vice-President Al Gore's Alliance for Climate Protection, and the Boards of the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Environmental Leadership Program, the Center for Race, Poverty, and the Environment, and CERES, among others.