Speaker

Joel Makower is chairman and executive editor of GreenBiz Group, Inc., creator of GreenBiz.com along with research and events on sustainable business and clean technology. He hosts GreenBiz.com’s annual GreenBiz forums as well as the VERGE conferences produced around the world by his company, and is principal author of the annual “State of Green Business” report. For more than 25 years, Joel has been a well-respected voice on business, sustainability and innovation. As a writer, speaker, and entrepreneur on corporate sustainability practices, he has helped a wide range of companies align sustainability goals with business strategy. A former nationally syndicated columnist, Joel is author or co-author of more than a dozen books, including most recently, The New Grand Strategy: Restoring America’s Prosperity, Security and Sustainability in the 21st Century (St. Martin’s Press), a business and investment strategy for America, born at the Pentagon, that embeds sustainability as a national strategic imperative. Previous books include Strategies for the Green Economy (2008), The E-Factor (1992) and Beyond the Bottom Line (1994), all of them among the earliest works framing the business opportunities found in corporate environmental and social responsibility. The Associated Press has called Joel "The guru of green business practices." In 2012, he was awarded the Hutchens Medal by the American Society for Quality, which cited “his ability to tell compelling stories that both inform and inspire business leaders toward profitable action.” In 2014 he was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the International Institute of Sustainability Professionals. Joel regularly keynotes corporate events, business associations, and regional business and economic development events, and is frequently quoted in major news media, including Fortune, Forbes, the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, USA Today, Time, and public radio’s “Marketplace.”