Climate Ride brings together a community of influential thinkers, expert speakers, and emerging leaders. Many of the speakers also ride or hike with us which leads to the cross-pollination of ideas that inspire action and partnerships that endure well after participants pack their bags to head home.

As a participant in a Climate Ride event, you will meet, learn from, and network with individuals doing remarkable work to advance sustainability, clean energy, climate change solutions, and active transportation.

2023 Speakers

Green Fondo SoCal 2023

2022 Speakers

2021 Speakers

2020 Speakers

2019 Speakers

2018 Speakers

Past Speakers

Members of Congress and Dignitaries

Congressman Earl Blumenauer
U.S. Representative from Oregon
Congressman Edward Markey
U.S. Representative from Massachusetts
Congressman Lloyd Doggett
U.S. Representative from Texas
Congresswoman Donna Edwards
U.S. Representative from Maryland
Dr. Klaus Scharioth
Former Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to the United States
Former Congressman Dennis Kucinich
Former U.S. Senator from Ohio
Former Senator Brian Frosh
Attorney General for the State of Maryland; Former Maryland State Senator
Friis Arne Petersen
Former Ambassador of Denmark to the United States (now Danish Ambassador to China)
Maylor Chris Cabaldon
Mayor of West Sacramento
Mayor Joe Krovoza
Mayor of Davis, California
Senator Benjamin Cardin
U.S. Senator from Maryland
Senator Bernie Sanders
U.S. Senator from Vermont
Bernie Sanders is a U.S. Senator from Vermont and candidate...
Senator Jeanne Shaheen
U.S. Senator from New Hampshire
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse
U.S. Senator from Rhode Island
State Representative Robyn Gabel
Illinois 18th District

Non-Profit and Thought Leaders

Adam Garcia
Policy Researcher, Greenbelt Alliance
Alex Clark
Founder, Prime-Ability
Alex Clark is a high school physical education teacher at...
Alisa Gravitz
President, Green America
Alison Riley
Adventure Cycling Association
Alvin Lin
China Climate and Energy Policy Director at Natural Resources Defense Council, Beijing
Alyssa Proudfoot Siegel
Membership & Program Coordinator at The League of American Bicyclists & Founder of Radical Joy Riding
Alyssa Proudfoot Siegel is the Membership & Program Coordinator at...
Amanda Eaken
Deputy Director of Sustainable Communities with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
Amanda Podmore
National Parks Conservation Association Contractor
Amanda Podmore works in southeast Utah as a contractor for...
Andy Clarke
President, League of American Bicyclists
AshEL Eldridge
Lead Educator, Alliance for Climate Education
Ben Strauss
Executive Director, Climate Central, Princeton University
Betsy Taylor
President, 1Sky, Founder, Center for the New American Dream
Bracken Hendricks
Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress
Brad Heavner
Director of Development, Climate Protection Campaign
Brian von Herzen
Executive Director, Climate Foundation
Briana Kobor
Utility regulation, ratemaking, and policy development at Vote Solar
Briana specializes in utility regulation, ratemaking, and policy development. She...
Carolyn Szczepanski
Communications Coordinator, Alliance for Biking and Walking
Cindy Jayne
Lead, Climate Outreach and Preparedness, Local 20/20
Cindy Jayne is an active member of Local 20/20's Climate...
Colin Hughes
Director of National Policy, The Institute for Transportation and Development Policy
Colin O’Brien
Attorney, Earthjustice
Colin C. O'Brien joined Earthjustice's San Francisco location of the...
Corinne Winter
Executive Director, Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition
Cory MacNulty
Southwest Senior Program Manager, National Parks Conservation Association
Cy Maramangalam
DC Lead Educator, Alliance for Climate Education
Dan Haifley
Executive Director of O’Neill Sea Odyssey
Dan was the first Executive Director of O’Neill Sea Odyssey,...
Dan Lashof
Climate and Clean Air Program Director, Natural Resources Defense Council
Dave Campbell
Program Director for the East Bay Bicycle Coalition
David Coale
Acterra's home energy audits to reduce energy use and GHG emissions in the home
Deborah Goldberg
Managing Attorney, EarthJustice
Derek Walker
Director of Strategic Climate Initiatives at Environmental Defense Fund
Dermot Hikisch
B Lab
Dirk Rosen
Executive Director, Marine Applied Research and Exploration (MARE)
Dr. Tiffany Wise-West
Climate Action Manager for the City of Santa Cruz
Dr. Tiffany Wise-West is the Sustainability and Climate Action Manager...
Ed Stierli
Field Representative for Chesapeake and Virginia Program, NPCA
Elizabeth Shope
Advocate, International Program, Tar Sands/Keystone XL & Global Safe Drinking Water Project at Natural Resources Defense Council
Ethan Spotts
Former Marketing Director, Active Transportation Alliance
Garett Brennan
Artist for 1% for the Planet and Clif Green Notes, Executive Director, Focus the Nation
Gernot Wagner
Senior Economist, Environmental Defense Fund
Hardik Savalia
Head of ratings at B Lab
Jamie Henn
350.org Communications and Development Director
Janet Larsen
Director, Earth Policy Institute
Jason Kowalski
Policy Coordinator, 1Sky campaigns for energy and climate legislation
Jenn Fox
Director of Strategic Planning at ClimateWorks
Jeremy Madsen
Executive Director, Greenbelt Alliance
Jessie Fernandez
Bicis del Pueblo Coordinator, People Organizing to Demand Environmental and Economic Justice (PODER)
Jessie Fernandez was born and raised in South Central Los...
Jim Brown
Executive Director, Sacramento Area Bicyclist Association
Joel Brammeier
President and CEO, Alliance for the Great Lakes
Joel Brammeier is president and CEO of the Alliance for...
Jonah Yellowman
Founding Board Member Utah Diné Bikéyah (UDB)
Jonah is Diné from Halgaito in Monument Valley, UT. He...
Josh Mogerman
Deputy Director of National Media Program, NRDC
Kate Colarulli
Associate Campaign Director, Beyond Oil, Sierra Club
Kate Williams
CEO, 1% for the Planet
Kate Williams is CEO of 1% for the Planet, a...
Keith Laughlin
President, Rails-to-Trails Conservancy
Lauren Van Ham
Interfaith Eco-Chaplain and Sustainability Consultant
Leah Shahum
Executive Director, San Francisco Bicycle Coalition
Lisa Daniels
Executive Director, Windustry
Marilyn Waite
William and Flora Hewlett Foundation Program Officer, Environment
Marilyn leads the climate and clean energy finance portfolio at the Hewlett...
Mark Preiss
CEO, Glacier National Park Conservancy
Mark Wenzler
Vice President of Conservation Programs, National Parks Conservation Association
Mary Lauran Hall
Communications Director, Alliance for Biking and Walking
Michael Eckhart
Founding President, ACORE (American Council on Renewable Energy)
Michael Jamison
Crown of the Continent Program Manager, NPCA
Michael Jamison joined NPCA’s Glacier Field Office in September 2010,...
Michael Stevens
State Director, The Nature Conservancy in Washington
Michael S. Stevens brings twenty years of experience in land...
Mikael Colville-Andersen
Denmark's Bicycle Ambassador
Mike Tidwell
President, Chesapeake Climate Action Network
Nicole Rom
Executive Director, Will Steger Foundation
Noah Budnick
Executive Director, San Francisco Bicycle Coalition
Paul Shapiro
Vice President, Farm Animal Protection, Humane Society of the United States
Rachel Hood-Petroelje
Executive Director, West Michigan Environmental Action Council
Randy Swisher
Former Executive Director, American Wind Energy Association
Rebecca Calahan Klein
Vice President, Organizational Development at 1% For the Planet
Renee Rivera
Executive Director, Bike East Bay
Rozina Kanchwala
Director of Energy Justice Partnerships at the Clean Energy Leadership Institute (CELI) & Founding Executive Director of Eco.Logic
Rozina is an energy and environmental professional with global academic...
Ryan Valdez
Senior Manager of Conservation Science and Policy, NPCA
Sachu Constantine
Manager of Vote Solar's regulatory efforts, coordinating strategy and operations
Sachu manages Vote Solar's regulatory efforts, coordinating strategy and operations...
Sam Grant
Executive Director 350 Minnesota
Sam Grant has been organizing around the intersection of economic,...
Samuel P. Schuchat
Executive Officer, State of California Coastal Conservancy
Selena Kyle
Staff Attorney, Natural Resources Defense Council
Stuart Cohen
Executive Director, TransForm
Suma Peesapati
Staff Attorney, EarthJustice
Tim Sullivan
Climate Director, North American Region The Nature Conservancy
Tim Sullivan is the Climate Director for the North American...
Torrey Udall
Development Director, Protect Our Winters
Torrey grew up in Carbondale, Colorado where he forged an...
Trina Peterson
Director of Development, 1% For the Planet
Wood Turner
Executive Director, Climate Counts

Authors, Artists, and Scientists

Abel Gustafson
University of Cincinnati Professor, Co-Founder XandY Analytics, Research Affiliate at Yale Program on Climate Change Communication
Abel Gustafson, PhD, is Assistant Professor at University of Cincinnati,...
AshEl Eldridge
Producer and Vocalist; Earth Amplified
Ashley Marsh
RA, Senior Architect at MASS
Ashley joined MASS in 2018, driven by a desire to...
Ben Sollee
Cellist, vocalist and bike touring musician
Bill McKibben
Leading environmentalist, writer and founder of 350.org
Renowned author, educator, and environmentalist, Bill McKibben is founder and...
Carl Mears
Senior Scientist, Remote Sensing Systems
Chris Jordan
Acclaimed visual artist
Colin Beavan aka NO IMPACT MAN
Author and subject of NIM film
Dan Fagre
Research Ecologist and Climate Change Research Coordinator
Daniel Fagre is Research Ecologist and Climate Change Research Coordinator...
David Helvarg
Acclaimed journalist, author and founder of Blue Frontier Campaign
Derek Smith
Diver, Archeological and Coastal Ecology Researcher, STEM Director
I've had the good fortune to be a part of...
Dirk Rosen
Founder of MARE
Dirk is an ocean explorer, deploying deep diving robotic submarines...
Dr. Philip Duffy
IPCC Nobel Prize Winning Climate Scientist, President & Executive Director, Woods Hole Research Center
Edward Parson
UCLA School of Law, Faculty Co-Director of the Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment
Elizabeth A. Del Buono, MD
Elizabeth (Lisa) A. Del Buono, MD trained at the University...
Eric Davidson
Adjunct Senior Scientist, Woods Hole Research Center & President American Geophysical Union
Erich Peitzsch
Physical Scientist, USGS Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center
Erich is a Physical Scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey...
Erick Cedeño
The Bicycle Nomad
Erick Cedeño is an explorer and historian, and on social...
Eugene Linden
Author and acclaimed journalist
Howard Frumkin
Dean, School Of Public Health, University Of Washington
Jaclyn Robidoux
University of Maine, Marine Extension Team
As a member of the Marine Extension Team, Jaclyn focuses...
Jean Talbert
Obstetrician Gynecologist
Josh Dorfman
The Lazy Environmentalist – Writer, host and Sundance Channel star
Kathy Lunetta
Professor of Biostatistics at Boston University School of Public Health
Kathy Lunetta is a professor of Biostatistics at Boston University...
Marian Westley
A presentation from NOAA's Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL) at Princeton University
Michael Lemonick
Former Science Writer for Time, Senior Writer at Climate Central
Paul Hawken
Environmentalist, entrepreneur, journalist, and author
Peter Furth
Professor of Civil Engineering, Northeastern University
Peter Lehman
Founding Director of Schatz Energy Research Center, Professor of Environmental Resources Engineering at Humboldt State University
Phil Levin
Lead Scientist, The Nature Conservancy in Washington
Conservation scientist Phillip Levin is the Lead Scientist for The...
Phoebe Moore, PhD
Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics, University of Massachusetts Medical School
Phoebe S. Moore, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist who...
Richard Oppenlander
Consultant & Researcher; Author of ‘Comfortably Unaware’
Sandy Aylesworth
Oceans Advocate | NRDC
Sandy Aylesworth advocates for policies that protect and restore our...
Sasha Reed, Ph. D.
Research Ecologist for Southwest Biological Science Center
Dr. Sasha Reed is an ecologist focused on understanding how...
Seth Darling
Nanoscientist, Argonne National Laboratory
Sony Ton-Aime
Haitian poet, Essayist, and Translator
Sony Ton-Aime is a Haitian poet, essayist, and translator. He...
Temra Costa
Sustainable food and farming advocate, and author of Farmer Jane: Women Changing the Way We Eat
Tim Sullivan
Climate Director, North American Region The Nature Conservancy
Tim Sullivan is the Climate Director for the North American...
Zoë Chafe
MPH, UC Berkeley Energy and Resources Group