XchangeInnovation Week 2023

April is Earth Month and IW is bringing together some of Pittsburgh's best minds in sustainability for our Cafe IW at AlphaLab Gear in East Liberty. Together, we'll explore the importance of a sustainable focus in tech with a panel discussion moderated by Dr. Aurora Sharrard, the Executive Director of Sustainability at the University of Pittsburgh. Our panelists include Daniela Osio of Kloopify, Brian Scott of PittMoss, and Steve Moritz of Encentiv Energy. In this discussion, we will explore what sustainability means to each of these three founds. 

About the Panel: 
Dr. Aurora Sharrard is the Executive Director of Sustainability at the University of Pittsburgh, leading Pitt’s Office of Sustainability, cross-departmental sustainability staff, and University-wide sustainability strategy, activities, policies, collaborations, and partnerships. Prior to joining the University, Dr. Sharrard worked at Green Building Alliance (GBA) for 11 years, ultimately serving as its Executive Director. She led the nonprofit in advancing innovation in the built environment by empowering people to create environmentally, economically, and socially vibrant places. In her time at GBA, Dr. Sharrard most notably co-founded the Pittsburgh 2030 District, which now boasts 550+ buildings aspiring towards measured high performance of 50% reductions in energy use, water consumption, and transportation emissions by the year 2030. 
Dr. Sharrard holds a Master’s and PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering with an emphasis in Green Design from Carnegie Mellon University, as well as a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from Tulane University. She serves on a number of boards and committees, including the Higher Education Climate Consortium, Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, Fair Shake Environmental Legal Services’ Board of Directors, and Will Allen Foundation’s Board of Directors.

Daniela Osio is the CEO & Founder of Kloopify, the climate action platform for the commodities companies buy. Daniela is a procurement and supply chain executive with years of experience working closely with CEOs, CPOs, Business Unit Leaders, and other senior leaders in the chemical industry to transform and digitize global supply chains. During the pandemic, procurement departments were identified as the drivers of sustainability within companies yet they lacked the data, technology, and skillset to achieve the company’s goals. From her experience in managing supplier sustainability data in spreadsheets, Daniela saw procurement’s need for innovation. Daniela and her cofounder began building Kloopify to empower procurement. Daniela's work with Kloopify established her as an innovator in the field, where she recently won 'The Innovation Award' from the Future Insights Network. In 2023, she was named a 30 under 30 
Formerly at DuPont, Daniela was the Global Risk Management Leader who created, developed, and implemented a Risk Management organization for the $4.0 billion Electronics and Imaging (E&I) Business Unit. She led the warehousing, barge, tank & transloading categories through the second largest merger in history, the DOW and DuPont merger, and in 2019 was named a 30 under 30 Supply Chain Star by the Institute of Supply Chain Management.

Brian Scott is the CEO of PittMoss, a sustainability-focused company that makes soils from recycled paper and cardboard instead of carbon-emitting peat moss. Brian is a 14-year angel investor and PittMoss is his seventh startup or turnaround. He helped take his first company public on the NYSE and started the Tall Ships Erie Festival among many other for- and non-profit projects. He also currently serves on the board of Aurochs Brewing (and IW company).

Steve Moritz is the Founder and CEO of Encentiv Energy, a technology company dedicated to expanding access to utility incentives through software and data solutions. Encentiv Energy’s vision is to accelerate decarbonization by connecting customers and communities with energy and carbon saving innovations. Steve’s background as a lawyer and an entrepreneur in the energy industry over the last 30 years gives him a unique perspective on how new ideas can help solve the daunting energy and climate challenges we face. For the last four years he has proudly served as a volunteer mentor to dozens of energy efficiency and sustainability technology start-ups. He also is a participant in the Wexner Climate Change Summit, a group of 54 global leaders selected to advance their work on climate change mitigation, adaptation and preparedness.