Climate Day 2026 at Natural Products Expo West

Climate Day Keynote Speakers

Dr. Samuel Ramsey

Climate Day will begin with an opening keynote from Dr. Samuel Ramsey, who will set the tone for the day by inspiring a sense of wonder about the incredible potential of nature. In his keynote, Dr. Ramsey will explore the intersection of nature and climate, using pollinators as a lens for understanding how ecological health, food systems, and climate resilience are deeply interconnected. 

Dr. Ramsey received his B.S. in entomology from Cornell University and his Ph.D. in entomology from the University of Maryland College Park. He completed his post-doctoral training with Dr. Jay Evans, Steve Cook, and Daniel Sonenshine at USDA-ARS Bee Research Laboratory and now serves as Endowed Professor of Entomology at CU Boulder’s BioFrontiers Institute and the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department. Featured on Hulu’s Docuseries: Your Attention Please as well as in the Washington Post, on NPR, CNN, Wired, CBS This Morning, Khan Academy, Seeker, The Today Show and several local news segments, Ramsey is celebrated as an engaging science communicator. He uses this talent to make science more accessible to a broad audience. His nonprofit, The Ramsey Research Foundation, works to remove barriers that slow the progress of and decrease access to science by developing novel pathways for scientific funding and by removing paywalls that keep the public from engaging with published scientific work. Learn more about Dr. Samuel Ramsey here
 

Sam Kass

The morning will close with a fireside chat featuring Sam Kass, a culinary entrepreneur and former White House chef, in conversation with Julia Collins, Founder and CEO of Planet FWD. Grounded in emerging research on crop vulnerability, the discussion will explore how climate change is reshaping food and agricultural supply chains, why climate risk must be treated as a core business issue, and what it will take to build greater food systems resilience.

Sam Kass is the former Senior Policy Advisor for Nutrition in the Obama administration, Executive Director of Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! Campaign and the Obama family chef. He is a Partner in Acre Venture Partners. 

After cooking for the Obamas in Chicago for two years, Sam joined the White House kitchen staff in 2009. During his White House tenure, he took on several additional roles including Executive Director of First Lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move!” campaign and Senior White House Policy Advisor for Nutrition. Sam is the first person in the history of the White House to have a position in the Executive Office of the President and the Residence. As one of the First Lady’s longest-serving advisors, he helped the First Lady create the first major vegetable garden at the White House since Eleanor Roosevelt’s victory garden.  

Sam is the author of Eat a Little Better: Great Flavor, Good Health, Better World, which was published by Clarkson Potter on April 17, 2018 and The Last Supper: How to Overcome the Coming Food Crisis published by The Crown Publishing Group. Learn more about Sam Kass here

Paul Lightfoot

The Climate Leaders Luncheon will be keynoted by Paul Lightfoot, the General Manager of Sausalito, CA-based Patagonia Provisions, the food and beverage division of Patagonia. Founded in 2012 by Patagonia founder & owner Yvon Chouinard, Patagonia Provisions offers a variety of regeneratively sourced organic foods to help fight the environmental crisis.

Prior to joining Patagonia Provisions, Paul was the founder and president of BrightFarms, which builds and operates high-tech greenhouse farms that greatly reduce the produce supply chain. Before BrightFarms, he was CEO of BSG, dual software businesses that improved retailer and distributor productivity. Paul was also the founder and CEO of Foodline, a venture-backed software company providing customer and reservation information technology to restaurants. However, he started his career as a transactional attorney at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft.

Fast Company has featured Paul on its list of “100 Most Creative People” and his 2012 TEDxManhattan talk, A Produce Supply Chain Revolution, has been viewed 85,000 times. Paul is the chair of the board of directors of the Regenerative Organic Alliance, the non-profit that administers Regenerative Organic Certified®.

For several years prior to joining Patagonia Provisions, Paul authored the Negative Foods Newsletter, which covered carbon-neutral and carbon-negative foods, plus the technologies, people, and companies that bring these foods to market. 

Agenda

8:00 – 8:05 AM: Welcome to Climate Day (Grand Ballroom)

• Courtney Pineau, Climate Collaborative
• Corinne Shindelar, All Natural Strategies

8:05 – 8:30 AM: What Pollinators Reveal at the Intersection of Nature and Climate (Grand Ballroom)

• Dr. Samuel Ramsey, Ramsey Research Foundation

8:30 – 9:15 AM: Unlocking a Constellation of Regeneration: Innovative Partnerships Enabling Regenerative Transition (Grand Ballroom)

• Adam Kotin, SCI (Moderator)
• Emily Lafferty, Seven Sundays
• Berklee Welsh, Simple Mills
• John Strohfus, Field Theory Foods

9:15 – 9:55 AM: Centering Short-Lived Climate Pollutants in Climate Action Strategy (Grand Ballroom)

• Courtney Pineau, Climate Collaborative (Moderator)
• Kiff Gallagher, Global Heat Reduction Initiative, SCS Global Services
• Caitlin Leibert, Whole Foods
• Claire Loudis, Lotus Foods

9:55 – 10:40 AM: Lightning Round: Critical Updates and Innovations Shaping Climate Action (Grand Ballroom)

• Sherry Frey, NIQ
• Matthew Dillon, The Organic Trade Association
• Beatriz Daim, Tradin Organic
• Taylor Clayton, Adams Group
• Omar de Kok-Mercado, Mad Agriculture
• Morgan Drummond, Misfits Markets
• Alex Schulze, 4ocean
• Karen Lickteig, B Corp

10:40 – 11:25 AM: Leading with Conviction: How Strong Climate Values Can Drive Connection and Growth(Grand Ballroom)

• Courtney Pineau, Climate Collaborative (Moderator)
• Brad Liski, Tru Earth
• Kate Williams, 1% for the Planet
• Keith Bearden, Alter Eco
• Lisa Curtis, Kuli Kuli

11:25 – 11:55 AM: Keynote - From Risk to Resilience: Rethinking Supply Chains for a Changing Climate (Grand Ballroom)

• Sam Kass
• Julia Collins, Planet FWD

11:55 – 12:00 PM: Closing (Grand Ballroom)

12:00 - 12:30: Resource Fair open (see list of participants below)

Climate Leaders Awards Luncheon

12:30 – 1:50 PM: Climate Leaders Awards Luncheon (Grand Ballroom)

This event requires a purchased ticket. Luncheon tickets can be purchased here.

Event includes:

• Keynote: Paul Lightfoot, Patagonia Provisions

• Announcement of the Climate Leaders Awards recipients

• A curated selection of photographs by Robert Dash, recently featured in National Geographic

• A beautiful Mediterranean-style lunch

Afternoon Workshops

2:15 – 3:00 PM: Workshop: Navigating Climate Risk with Open-Source Tools (OC 3 & 4)

• Sheila Ongie, thinkParallax
• Emma Stein, Vita Coco

3:10 – 4:00 PM: Workshop: Developing a Corporate Climate Transition Action Plan (CTAP) (OC 3 & 4)

• Ariella Sela, Pure Strategies
• Christina O'Keefe, Kerry

4:10 – 5:00 PM: Unlocking Capital for Regenerative Agriculture: Financing Solutions for Smallholder Farmers(OC 3 & 4)

• Mike Wenrick, PCC (Moderator)
• Andy Thornton, Silvan Ingredient Ecosystem
• Amanda Hartt, Sol Organica
• Christopher Gergen, Regenerative Organic Alliance
  
  

Resource Fair & Reception

5:00 – 6:30 PM: Resource Fair & Reception (Platinum 6)
Connect with a wide range of service providers, nonprofit partners, and initiatives advancing climate action across the food and grocery sector.

Resource Fair Participants

• 1% for the Planet
• 4ocean
• A Greener World
• A Growing Culture / Right to Seed Campaign
• BITE
• B Lab
• Climate Collaborative
• Climate Positive Consulting
• The Farmlink Project
• Food Integrity Collective
• Global Heat Reduction Initiative
• GreenWave
• HowGood
• Mad Agriculture
• NSF
• OSC
• Packaging Collaborative
• Planet FWD
• Purpose Pledge
• Regenerative Organic Alliance
• Soil & Climate Initiative
• Tradin Organic
• Upcycled Food Association