2023 Annual Environmental, Social & Governance Conference

Michele N. Siekerka, Esq., President and CEO of the New Jersey Business & Industry Association, leads the nation’s largest, most influential employers’ organization, advocating on behalf of New Jersey’s large and small businesses for policies that will make New Jersey more affordable and regionally competitive.

Being known as a collaborative leader, Siekerka is leading an NJBIA established coalition (New Jersey Business Coalition) comprised of more than 100 business and nonprofit associations across the state to tackle the tough economic and business challenges our state is facing during COVID 19.

Well versed on the ‘boots on the ground” issues affecting our state’s business community, Michele is often the “go to” resource for media and is sought after to share her expertise in public forums across the state.

Dr. Denise Anderson holds a Bachelor of Science in Human Ecology with a concentration in Dietetics obtained from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. In 2002 (until 2013), she became a Registered Dietitian and received her Master’s in Public Health from Rutgers University, School of Public Health. She completed her doctorate in a joint (Rutgers and NJIT) Ph.D. program in Urban Systems – Health Track. Dr. Anderson is a National Center for Quality Assurance (NCQA), Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH), Certified Content Expert (CCE).

She has taught Human Resources Administration, Strategic Planning, and Health Systems and Policy as a part-time lecturer at Rutgers School of Public Affairs and Administration and worked as Adjunct Faculty at William Paterson University (WPU), School of Public Health, teaching Disparities in Health. She is a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Public Health Prevention Specialist (PHPS) fellow, and an Eagleton Institute of Politics fellow; she has over nineteen years of experience in public health as a generalist. Her recent work includes serving at the New Jersey Department of Health (NJDOH) as New Jersey’s Primary Care Officer in the Office of Primary Care and Rural Health (OPCRH), overseeing programs and services for underrepresented and vulnerable populations. Before departing NJDOH, she served as Executive Director, Maternal Care Quality Collaborative (MCQC), and Founder and Principal for the Department’s first-ever Rapid Mobile Response Team.

Lastly, she briefly served at New Community Corporation as Department Head for Health and Human Services, overseeing mental health and substance use services, transitional housing, workforce readiness, and youth services. Dr. Anderson is the founder and CEO of Denise Anderson & Associates (DA&A), LLC, an independent public health and health care consultancy business.

Danielle Barrs is the Director of ESG and Sustainability Solutions in the firm with over 10 years of experience in environmental management, sustainable business, corporate social responsibility (CSR), and environmental, social and governance (ESG). She works with privately held and publicly traded organizations in a variety of industries, including manufacturing and distribution, real estate, private equity funds, and portfolio managers. Danielle also has experience serving Fortune 500 companies, NGOs, and governmental organizations.

Danielle works with clients to solve key variables in the sustainability equation, including carbon emissions, energy efficiency, clean energy, ESG performance, capital investment, and societal impact. She develops enterprise climate and sustainability objectives for clients that align with each company’s overall vision, leadership, and corporate strategy by assessing her clients’ current state, developing a tailored, long-term sustainability roadmap, and guiding them through the implementation process.

Additionally, Danielle engages and trains executive leadership, managers and staff on energy and sustainability best practices for today’s market.

Prior to joining the firm, Danielle was the Head of Global Energy and GHG Strategy for a Fortune 200 manufacturing company and managed all energy-related initiatives for 100+ facilities in over 30 countries worldwide – from RFPs to project management, budget forecasts, ESG KPIs, and CSR reporting.

Ray Cantor is Deputy Chief Government Affairs Officer of Government Affairs of the New Jersey Business & Industry Association (NJBIA), the nation’s largest state-level business association whose member companies collectively employ 1 million people.

Cantor, an attorney whose career has included high-level positions in the legislative and executive branches of government, a former assistant commissioner and, later, chief adviser to the commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), leads NJBIA’s advocacy efforts on environmental and energy matters affecting the business community.

At DEP, Cantor oversaw the offices of Legal Affairs, Dispute Resolution, and Economic Analysis in addition to advising the DEP commissioner on policy, legal, management, and economic matters. Cantor was also responsible for policy formulation related to all DEP regulations, including site remediation, NRD, air quality, water regulation, and land-use management.

A graduate of New York Law School, Cantor began his career working at the state’s Office of Legislative Services as senior counsel in the Environment, Energy, & Natural Resources section. He later served as the Assistant Commissioner of Land Use Management & Compliance at DEP until 2002 and also worked as a project consultant for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Cantor’s experience as a business lobbyist includes five years as director of Government Affairs for the Medical Society of New Jersey and then executive director of the New Jersey Apartment Association. He returned to the state DEP in 2010, where he served as chief advisor to DEP Commissioner Bob Martin for eight years.

Beth Johnson is Chief Experience Officer (CXO) and Head of ESG of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. Johnson leads an organization focused on building the capabilities to deliver excellent experiences for our customers in a rapidly changing banking environment including working to enact sustainable and systemic change leading the company’s ESG efforts. Specific areas of responsibility include digital design, data &analytics, marketing & communications, enterprise payments strategy & infrastructure, and the company’s firm-wide Agile transformation effort.

In addition, Johnson is responsible for ESG and the company’s overall commitment to the communities it serves.  This includes over $5 billion in loans for home purchases and home refinances for low-to-moderate income borrowers and small businesses with sales under $1 million. She also oversees financial support from Citizens and the Citizens Charitable Foundation to support deserving programs and non-profit organizations as well as over $1 billion in equity and loan commitments to community development initiatives.

Johnson previously served as chief marketing officer and head of virtual channels, responsible for corporate-wide marketing activities and for advancing Consumer Banking growth and profitability by leading and aligning the businesses’ strategy, brand, digital, and contact center teams. She joined Citizens in October 2013 as head of Corporate Strategy.

Prior to joining Citizens in 2013, Johnson was a senior leader at Bain and Company. She served as a partner and leader of its customer strategy and marketing practice, specializing in financial services. She regularly co-authored Bain’s annual Customer Loyalty in Banking study.

Johnson also held roles at J.P. Morgan and Goldman Sachs, where she focused on fixed income and derivatives products for commercial banking clients as well as risk management. She earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Northwestern University and an MBA from Stanford University.

At 3M, Nina supports the strategic work to achieve and advance the company’s sustainability ambitions. This includes collaborating throughout the large and diverse organization and engaging external stakeholders. An essential element is activating 3M’s ~90,000 employees to realize their role in the company Purpose.

Prior to 3M and working in ESG Strategy, Nina has experience across global organizations, specializing in Commercial Finance and Commercial and Corporate Strategy. Although passionate about the environment, this background drives her perspective on ESG as a lever to grow the business and serve customers. Having spent half of her career in Europe she values both the HQ and regional perspective on challenges and solutions.

Tequila Smith is the Executive Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer for Covanta, a leader in sustainable materials management and a premier provider of environmental solutions benefiting businesses and communities across North America.  In this role, she leads the design, implementation and measurement of both internal and external sustainability impact programs that address overall sustainability, environmental justice, government/regulatory affairs and community engagement strategy. 

 Tequila has extensive operations and external affairs experience working at Southern Company, Alabama Power, and Georgia Power for almost 25 years.  Most recently, she served as vice president of sustainability for Georgia Power, one of the nation’s largest generators of electricity.   

Tequila earned a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and MBA from the University of Alabama-Birmingham and an MA in Communication Studies from the University of Alabama.  She is a member of the Board of Directors for Stonehenge Capital Community Development, UAB School of Engineering, Saint Augustine’s University, Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta, and HudsonAlpha Foundation. She is a silver life member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. 

Kyle leads Langan’s M&A advisory practice, which focuses on ESG and EHS due diligence matters. He has over 20 years of experience assessing environmental risk and ESG issues for multi-national transactions. Kyle and his team provide strategic support throughout the deal cycle to private equity, legal, industrial, and commercial investment clients.

John G. Valeri Jr. is a Member and Practice Group Leader of CSG’s Environmental Practice Group. John has more than 30 years of experience providing advice regarding state and federal environmental laws and regulations, including obtaining permits and approvals involving multiple environmental media for complex projects. He provides strategic policy advice on major state and federal legislative and regulatory initiatives, and he regularly appears before the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the Office of Administrative Law and in appeals before the New Jersey Superior Court. John also represents public utilities and renewable project owners and operators before the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities. In addition, John negotiates environmental agreements and provides strategic policy advice on major state and federal legislative and regulatory initiatives. John previously served as Associate Deputy General Counsel in the Office of General Counsel at the USEPA, and Counselor to the Administrator under former Administrator Christine Todd Whitman. John also served as Senior Assistant Counsel for Governor Christine Todd Whitman, and Chief of Staff to the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities. John was appointed as a member of the New Jersey Clean Air Council by Governor Chris Christie in 2015 and served as the Chair from 2018-2021.