About

About Bill

Bill has been a leader in innovation, sustainable development, climate change, and the circular economy for over three decades. A lifelong intra- and entrepreneur, Bill has worked with startups, corporations, investors, governments, and NGOs to create sustainable enterprises. In addition to being a leader of three Bay Area startups, Bill was the Vice President, Innovation for Veolia Environnement, where he co-founded and led the Veolia Innovation Accelerator and worked with all of Veolia’s business divisions (water, waste, energy, and transportation) to enhance their services through technological and business innovations. Bill currently serves as a Senior Fellow at the U.S. Council on Competitiveness, a member of the University of Washington (Bothell) advisory board, a member of Princeton’s Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and an advisor to variety of client organizations through his firm BrainOxygen LLC.

Bill has extensive international experience, having worked on five continents in four languages (English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian), and lived in Italy, Brazil, Mexico, and India. Bill has served as an advisor to organizations including the Romanian, Italian, Mexican, Brazilian, and U.S. governments, UNIDO, International Finance Corporation, the Sustainable Performance Group Investment Fund, PROPEL Board of Directors, The Conference Board, The Pew Center on Global Climate Change, The Institute of the Americas, FUNDES, the World Resources Institute, World Business Council for Sustainable Development, New Jersey Environmental Lobby board of directors, and NASA LAUNCH. He was the WRI/WBSCD Greenhouse Gas Protocol subgroup leader for scope 3, and launched the climate consulting practice at Arthur D. Little.

Bill has a Ph.D. in Engineering and Public Policy from Carnegie Mellon and BSE in Chemical Engineering from Princeton. He is an active mentor to entrepreneurs and is the author of a children’s picture book series on climate change.

Professional Activities

  • Pitch Competition Judge, Emerging Markets Institute (Cornell University), August 2021-present
  • Senior Fellow, US Council on Competitiveness, August 2016 – present; focus on innovation and sustainability; strategic support to the Global Federation of Competitiveness Councils
  • Council Member, Princeton University Council for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, March 2021-present
  • Advisory Board Member, University of Washington (Bothell) – September 2016 – present
  • Entrepreneurship Advisor/Mentor, Princeton Entrepreneurship Council June 2016-present (focus on arts, environmental, and social entrepreneurship)
  • Entrepreneurship Advisor/Guest Lecturer, Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship, University of Washington (healthcare, environmental, cybersecurity, business plan competition) – August 2016 – present
  • Biden for President, Climate, Energy, and Environment Domestic Policy Committee, Aug-Nov 2020; Volunteer Policy Expert, Thought Leader for Circular Economy brief, contributor to Battleground State Conservation policy briefs
  • Council Member, NASA LAUNCH (open innovation platform for system-wide impacts sponsored by Nike, NASA, US State Department), 2012-2016
  • Delegate (Private Sector), UNFCCC COP-21, Paris, France, December 2015
  • Social Innovation Leadership Award, World CSR Congress 2013, Mumbai, India
  • Delegate, Rio+20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development, Rio de Janeiro, 2012
  • Advisory Board Member, Metropolis Global (José María Figueres, Chairman), provider of sustainable urban development solutions, 2009-2011
  • Advisory Board Member, Institute of the Americas Digital Media/Information Technology/Telecommunications Advisory Board, 2001 – 2009
  • Advisory Board Member, Sustainable Performance Group Investment Fund (Zurich) (now RobecoSAM), 1993-2002
  • Advisory Board Member, World Resources Institute Digital Dividend Project, 2001 
  • Company Representative, The Conference Board Americas EH&S Council, 1998-2000 
  • Sub-Group Leader, WRI/WBSCD Greenhouse Gas Protocol Initiative, 1999-2000
  • Board Member; PROPEL (environmental foundation for small and medium business development in Latin America, founded by Stephan Schmidheiny) (Colombia), 1993-1999
  • Eco-efficiency Advisor, FUNDES (Latin American small business support foundation founded by Stephan Schmidheiny), 1993-95
  • Advisor to the Romanian Minister of Environment, served as part of the Romanian delegation to the UNCED “Earth Summit” in Rio de Janeiro, 1992
  • Advisor to the Italian Ministry of Environment, developed an international knowledge network, performance metrics for the organization, environmental standards strategy, and strategy for UNCED (1989-1992), cleantech strategy (2013).
  • Advisor, Business Council for Sustainable Development (now WBCSD), 1990-92
  • Advisor, Waste Minimization, UNIDO, 1991-92
  • Editorial Review Board Member, Management Institute for Environment and Business/WRI, 1990-1992
  • Board Member, New Jersey Environmental Lobby, 1984-1985


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