This is the final episode in a special three part series live from the PowerCast stage at CLEANPOWER 2025 in Phoenix, Arizona where Consensus in Conversation host Conor Gaughan sat down with Kevin Doffing, Founder and CEO of Project Vanguard, to discuss how veterans are uniquely positioned to drive America's energy transition. Former Army Infantry Officer turned clean energy advocate, Kevin Doffing shares how Project Vanguard is empowering veterans in the renewable energy sector through cutting ...
Jun 27, 2025•24 min•Season 4Ep. 3
In this special episode of Consensus in Conversation live from the PowerCast stage at CLEANPOWER 2025, host Conor Gaughan talks with Miguel Prado, CEO of energyRe, and Frank Macchiarola, Chief Advocacy Officer at American Clean Power about the urgency of strengthening America's grid infrastructure to meet our growing energy demands. Miguel and Frank discuss critical investments in renewable energy, from utility-scale solar and underground transmission to offshore wind, laying out the powerful ec...
Jun 27, 2025•26 min•Season 4Ep. 2
This episode kicks off a special three part series live from the PowerCast stage at CLEANPOWER 2025 in Phoenix, Arizona where host Conor Gaughan interviewed two of clean energy’s most influential leaders—Sandhya Ganapathy, CEO of EDP Renewables North America, and Tristan Grimbert, President and CEO of EDF Power Solutions North America. Join us for an insightful and fast-moving conversation that takes a high-level look at the future of sustainable energy including: What it takes to scale clean en...
Jun 27, 2025•26 min•Season 4Ep. 1
2024 brought us 38 new guests, 2,091 minutes of conversation, and an immeasurable wealth of new ideas and narratives about how to use business to make the world a better place. The challenges we face are great, but with every challenge comes opportunity, and it’s never been more important for impact businesses to tell a compelling, mission-centric story. Join Conor Gaughan as he revisits the best storytelling advice from this year’s expert guests, sharing key insights, analysis, and takeaways. W...
Dec 12, 2024•53 min•Season 3Ep. 43
Rinaldo Brutoco has dedicated his life to harnessing the awesome potential of business to create positive change in the world. As a pioneer in impact entrepreneurship, Rinaldo has spent more than thirty years building successful businesses ahead of the curve, and today, his eyes are on the green hydrogen space as a potential game-changer for the future of clean energy. In this second part of our two-part conversation with Rinaldo – the founding president of nonprofit think (and do!) tank the Wor...
Dec 05, 2024•49 min•Season 3Ep. 42
How can business solve humanity’s most significant challenges? Why is business the best vehicle to solve them? For the last 35 years, Rinaldo Brutoco has devoted himself to asking – and answering – these crucial questions. The founding president of nonprofit think (and do!) tank the World Business Academy (WBA) and founder and CEO of green hydrogen transportation firm H2 Clipper (H2C), Rinaldo is a trailblazer in both the theory and practice of sustainable business solutions. Rinaldo graduated f...
Nov 21, 2024•54 min•Season 3Ep. 41
Agrovision, a global leader in superfruits, is on a mission to make the healthiest snacks the most enjoyable, by utilizing a cutting edge blend of genetic research, freshness technology, and – most importantly – perfectly-suited agricultural locations to supply more consistent, nutritious, and incredible tasting berries year-round through their Fruitist label. That “vision,” in Agrovision, comes in part from co-founder and executive chairman Steve Magami, who grew up in a health-conscious family...
Nov 14, 2024•47 min•Season 3Ep. 40
Agriculture is poised for a regenerative revolution, and Mad Capital wants to finance it. Led by co-founder and CEO Brandon Welch, the firm provides customized, long-term financing for farmers transitioning to regenerative practices, bridging a gap that traditional banks have been hesitant to meet and accelerating the next generation of land stewardship and ecological restoration. Prior to Mad Capital, Brandon studied Environmental Science at the University of Vermont. An avid outdoorsman, cycli...
Oct 31, 2024•54 min•Season 3Ep. 39
Dr. Bryan Staley knows a thing or two about waste. In fact, the president and CEO of the Environmental Research and Education Foundation (EREF) is one of the world’s leading experts on sustainable waste management and landfill emissions, and he’s on a lifelong mission to help scientists, corporations, and individuals alike better understand the impact of what we throw away. For many of us, waste is one of the most immediate climate-adjacent issues, and one of the few that we can significantly in...
Oct 24, 2024•58 min•Season 3Ep. 38
Data is one of the most critical, and underused, tools for combating climate change – the more information we have about our impact, the better decisions we can make towards managing it. Lauren Dunford, co-founder of revolutionary startup Guidewheel, is on a mission to place that tool in the hands of manufacturers, offering a unique, data-driven system for monitoring factory operations, reducing energy costs, and improving efficiency. CEO Lauren launched the startup in 2018 with co-founder and c...
Oct 17, 2024•56 min•Season 3Ep. 37
In the more than a century since humans first took to the skies with powered flight, still only about 20% of the world’s population has actually flown on an airplane. But that demand is on the rise, and air travel’s CO2 emissions are set to triple by 2050. So Benjamin Stabler and Heart Aerospace have a groundbreaking solution: decarbonize and democratize flight for all. Ben, who joined Heart as CTO earlier this year, has been leading technical work on the ES-30, an innovative, battery-electric h...
Oct 03, 2024•51 min•Season 3Ep. 36
Marine biologist, policy expert, writer, and teacher Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson is in love with climate solutions, and her new book, What If We Get It Right? Visions of Climate Futures, offers a refreshing, inspiring look at what our best possible climate future could look like through contributions and conversations with leading voices in art, poetry, economics and science. Ayana studied environmental science and public policy at Harvard University, where she also forged a lifelong friendship ...
Sep 26, 2024•55 min•Season 3Ep. 35
Knowing whether or not to invest in a startup isn’t easy – it’s a skill that makes VCs like Zal Bilimoria extremely valuable. And Zal, the co-founder and solo GP of seed-stage VC firm Refactor Capital, is leveraging his knowledge to build a portfolio of human and planetary health-focused startups merging profits, sustainability, and technology. Zal honed his skills and eye for the market working for tech industry giants like Microsoft and Google through pivotal moments in their history, and even...
Sep 19, 2024•58 min•Season 3Ep. 34
Soli Organic grows approximately 120,000,000 units of fresh herbs and greens every year, making it the number one grower of fresh, organic, culinary herbs in the U.S. That’s an impressive agriculture story on its own, but Soli has an even more amazing twist – they grow it all indoors! Led by CEO Matt Ryan, former head of brand management at Disney and chief marketing officer at Starbucks, the company is taking the indoor agriculture sector by storm (or rather, soil) with its commercial-grade org...
Sep 12, 2024•41 min•Season 3Ep. 33
60 billion board feet of wood products are used in the U.S. every year, a majority produced by fresh logging and shipped from across the globe, while simultaneously, millions of tons of local wood waste ends up in landfills off-gassing carbon as it rots. But that inefficiency could rapidly change thanks to Cambium and its CEO and co-founder, Ben Christensen, who are revolutionizing lumber supply chains with their Carbon Smart Wood™ and Traece operating system. Cambium reclaims fallen or removed ...
Aug 29, 2024•54 min•Season 3Ep. 32
C-Zero and Zach Jones, its co-founder and CEO, are using innovative thermocatalysis technology to convert natural gas into zero-emission hydrogen, offering the tantalizing potential to decarbonize major industries while scaling the fuel of the future. Hydrogen is one of the most promising sources of clean energy in existence, and a key component in alternative fuels capable of decarbonizing hard-to-electrify industries like heavy shipping. But there’s a catch: the current processes used to extra...
Aug 22, 2024•55 min•Season 3Ep. 31
A favorite soda can be a huge part of people’s identity – roughly half of the American population drinks at least one soda on a daily basis – which is why OLIPOP is completely reimagining the soda industry with its healthier, prebiotic, low sugar alternative that tastes as good – if not better – than its traditional counterparts. Ben Goodwin has spent his entire career building the beverage industry and business skills needed to conjure great tasting flavors from great-for-you ingredients. Ben i...
Aug 15, 2024•55 min•Season 3Ep. 30
The world currently removes less than .0001% of the carbon required to meet the IPCC’s 2050 goal – so there’s A LOT of work to be done – which is what makes Graphyte’s ready-to-go solution all the more valuable. Barclay Rogers, a former environmental lawyer, mechanical engineer, and multi-time founder, is bringing his unique set of experiences and leadership skills to making scalable, affordable CO2 removal an immediate reality with his new startup, Graphyte. Rather than rely on energy-intensive...
Aug 08, 2024•50 min•Season 3Ep. 29
Tom Neyhart founded PosiGen in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina to help the families and communities most impacted by the disaster rebuild their homes, save money, and boost energy resilience through solar power. He not only succeeded, but created an entirely new market by providing affordable solar and energy efficiency to low and middle income families. Tom, who moved from CEO to Executive Chairman of the Board last year, pioneered a new era of solar development years ahead of other firms, p...
Aug 01, 2024•53 min•Season 3Ep. 28
Goodr has a simple but powerful mission: feed more and waste less. The sustainable waste management firm’s founder and CEO, Jasmine Crowe-Houston, believes that hunger in America is not a scarcity issue– it’s a problem of logistics. Which is actually good news, because that’s an issue technology can solve! By leveraging detailed inventory management, predictive analytics and advanced supply chain logistics, Goodr is helping businesses reduce waste, cut carbon emissions and harness tax credits, a...
Jul 25, 2024•47 min•Season 3Ep. 27
With climate change causing unprecedented extreme weather, fluctuating temperatures, and rising sea levels, only one thing is certain: the future isn’t going to look like the past. And yet, all of our risk analysis models are based on past data from historical patterns that no longer hold true. How can businesses make intelligent decisions on building for that future while protecting themselves from tomorrow’s risks? That’s the question that motivated Rich Sorkin to found Jupiter Intelligence, a...
Jul 18, 2024•52 min•Season 3Ep. 26
Alfred Johnson returns to the pod to give us the update on tax credit transferability and clean energy markets, just over a year after launching Crux Climate. As co-founder and CEO of Crux, Alfred has the startup’s revolutionary management software poised to capitalize on a multi-billion (if not trillion) dollar opportunity in clean energy tax credits. After graduating Stanford in 2008, Alfred worked for the U.S. Treasury Department, BlackRock, and Clara Lending before co-founding his first soft...
Jul 11, 2024•48 min•Season 3Ep. 25
85% of used clothing ends up in landfills, but textile recycling and rewards platform Trashie is out to save our castaway garments from becoming mountains of waste. Launched only a few months ago, Trashie is taking the fashion industry by storm with its instantly recognizable Take Back Bag and viral closet cleanup videos, and the mind behind this magic is Trashie founder and CEO, Kristy Caylor. Kristy earned a BS in Industrial Engineering and her MBA from USC’s Marshall School of Business before...
Jun 27, 2024•49 min•Season 3Ep. 24
Dr. BJ Johnson knows that if you want to make the biggest climate impact in the least amount of time, you start by improving upon an existing technology. And he’s doing exactly that as the co-founder and CEO of ClearFlame, a startup modifying diesel engines to run on decarbonized liquid fuels. Before co-launching ClearFlame, BJ studied mechanical engineering and energy systems at Stanford University, earning three (3!) degrees: undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral. He was also a world-class ath...
Jun 20, 2024•45 min•Season 3Ep. 23
Father’s Day is this Sunday, June 16, and we’re celebrating in our own, special way… today’s episode features Mike Gaughan: missile launch officer, successful businessman, sports coach, and, most importantly, Conor’s dad! Hear the stories that Conor grew up on, including Mike’s time from paperboy to the Air Force Academy and beyond, the three phone phone calls you should make every day, and what it takes to be a true leader in business, and in life. Episode Highlights 00:00 Mike Gaughan on why t...
Jun 13, 2024•48 min•Season 3Ep. 22
Internet ads – you probably see hundreds, maybe thousands a day without thinking about them. But it turns out the process for serving those ads involves a highly complex digital supply chain that generates 7.2 million tons of carbon emissions annually. That’s why ad-tech veteran Anne Coghlan is on a mission to decarbonize media and advertising with Scope3. A lifelong lover of logic and problem-solving, Anne earned her Master’s at University College London in the Philosophy of Mathematics, later ...
Jun 06, 2024•53 min•Season 3Ep. 21
Just popping into the feed for a quick hello from Consensus in Conversation host, Conor Gaughan, to update you on the coming weeks. We’ve been hard at work with some great shows planned for this summer, including a few special episodes that may look and sound a little different than our regular programming. We think you’ll really enjoy them. So, no episode for today, but we’ll be back in June with some great new conversations. See you next week! Connect with Conor Gaughan on linkedin.com/in/ckgo...
May 30, 2024•1 min•Season 3Ep. 20
Just over one year ago, the IRS published its final rules and guidance on the transferability of clean energy tax credits. Not only did transferability solve a major flaw in the Inflation Reduction Act’s plan to support clean energy infrastructure development, but, as many founders correctly foresaw, it was about to create an entirely new financial market. This week, we’re re-releasing our conversation with one of those visionary founders: Alfred Johnson, CEO and Co-Founder of Crux Climate, afte...
May 23, 2024•47 min•Season 3Ep. 19
HVAC is one of the most important quality of life utilities that we never think about– at least, until it stops working. It’s also energy inefficient and expensive, responsible for almost 20% of global GHG emissions, with decades-old infrastructure way behind the design innovation curve. But Dr. Vince Romanin has a solution: reimagine HVAC as we know it by combining personal heating and cooling in one, easy-to-install electrified heat pump that reduces emissions by 95% – the Gradient system. Aft...
May 16, 2024•51 min•Season 3Ep. 18
Pavle Jeremic wants to end resource scarcity by literally rearranging atoms. Inspired to build a better, more abundant future after witnessing violent conflict in his parents’ native Yugoslavia, Pavle launched Aether Biomachines in 2017 at just 21 years old. Since then, he’s successfully led the protein engineering startup to the cutting edge of nanotechnology, working to solve our planet’s resource scarcity problem. Today, Pavle and Aether are combining protein synthesis, machine learning, and ...
May 09, 2024•55 min•Season 3Ep. 17
