Prepare to Be Inspired
If you're looking for new ideas to improve efficiency, manage risk or advance sustainability, you'll find inspiration through the interactive discussions and peer case studies the Forum delivers.
2015 Preliminary Program
Download the 2015 Full Program Schedule-at-a-Glance to print
Download the 2015 Full Agenda to print
Download the 2015 Final Program
| 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. |
NAEM Board of Regents Fall Leadership Meeting - Grand Ballroom AB |
| 8:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. |
Annual Pre-Forum Golf Event Join your NAEM colleagues for a golf scramble at the beautiful Ballantyne Course at the Ballantyne Hotel and Lodge. This venue is a public, championship PGA course. Cost: $70/person, includes greens fees, transportation and lunch. Sign up for this event by adding it to your form during registration. If you have already registered and want to add the golf outing, please email Evan Hart.
Sponsored by:
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| 1:00 - 4:00 p.m. |
Building a Better Business Case for Sustainability Investment Decisions Does your organization need more reasons to believe investments in sustainability are the right choice for the business? Through specific case examples, attendees will learn how to simplify and articulate seemingly complex business value creation opportunities, and how to quantify and monetize business benefits in ways that support more effective decision-making. All attendees will take away materials, methodologies and tools that can immediately be applied to help their organizations make better, more sustainable business decisions
During this hands-on, highly interactive session, attendees will take away:
Trainers:
Register Sign up for this event by adding it to your form during registration. If you have already registered and want to add the pre-conference session, simply complete another registration form, just for the pre-con and it will be added to your order.
This pre-conference session is sponsored and presented by:
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1:00 - |
Seven Oaks Trail Clean Up Get outside and enjoy the natural beauty of the Charlotte area before the conference starts. Volunteer to help preserve a vital local ecosystem by eradicating invasive plant species and clearing and protecting the trail.
The 2.8-mile natural surface, the Seven Oaks Preserve Trail runs along Lake Wylie, where Charlotte's drinking water comes from. This trail is on 78 acres of conserved land which filters water runoff from this area before reaching the lake. Transportation will be provided to and from the hotel. Please email Evan Hart if you would like to attend or bring a group. |
| 2:00 - 7:00 p.m. |
Registration Opens - Providence Promenade Avoid the lines, register and pick up materials on Tuesday! |
| 4:00 - 6:00 p.m. |
NAEM Affiliate Council Meeting - Trade Room |
| 5:30 - 7:00 p.m. |
2015 CDP North America Climate Change Leadership Celebration Cocktail Reception - Harris Room Please join CDP and NAEM for a complimentary evening celebration to recognize the top CDP reporters for 2015 - cocktails and hors d'oeuvre will be served. There is no fee for this event but attendees must RSVP and space is limited. 
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| 7:00 a.m. | Registration Open, Continental Breakfast - Providence Promenade | |||
| 7:00 - 8:00 a.m. |
Breakfast - Providence Ballroom | |||
| 8:00 - 8:30 a.m. |
Welcome and Introductions - Providence Promenade
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| 8:30 - 10:00 a.m. | Opening Keynote - Path to Positive: Getting People Excited to Solve Climate and Sustainability Challenges - Providence Promenade The business world is changing. Sustainability is no longer a “nice to have.” For leading companies, it's a business management paradigm that impacts all business decisions and redefines their purpose. EHS&S leaders are more important now than ever to the business community's ability to turn the corner on what it means to be a sustainable company. In order to put their full weight behind this shift, EHS&S leaders must be able to catalyze engagement and inspire people throughout their companies, from the shop floor to the C Suite, to act. But how? Join us for an engaging discussion with President of ecoAmerica, Bob Perkowitz as he discusses how we can better engage and empower our organizations to action, and shares examples of trigger points that have led to meaningful action for corporations.
Attendees will learn how to create a measurable and lasting increase in awareness, understanding and action among their colleagues and senior management. They will leave the session with new ideas, examples, and tools to help them understand and engage their organizations and broader communities to help take leadership roles on these critical topics.
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| 10:00 - 10:30 a.m. | Morning Break - Grand Ballroom |
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| Track Descriptions | Track 1: Sustainability in a Changing Environment |
Track 2: Optimizing EHS Performance |
Track 3: Applying a Risk Lens |
Track 4: Managing and Developing EHS Teams |
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10:30 a.m. |
Session 1: Calculating and Communicating the Value of EHS&S Programs Harris Room This session will provide EHS and sustainability leaders with strategies, tactics and psychology necessary for increasing the value and recognition of EH&S solutions across global business operations. This includes practical examples of how EHS&S leaders have successfully framed the value of EHS&S solutions to appeal to corporate decision makers as well as the presentation of a broader framework for calculating and communicating EHS&S value. If you're seeking to transform perception and status of EH&S in a traditional corporate environment this session will provide you with the dos and don'ts for ensuring your EHS&S programs are clearly recognized for the value they add.
Moderator: Rob Luchacher, EH&S Director and Practice Leader; Cushman & Wakefield |
Session 2: Compliance Assurance: Brilliant at the Basics Trade Room EHS managers today face increasingly stringent regulations, tight budgets, an aging workforce, shrinking EHS departments and increased responsibility. For the fundamental elements of EHS programs, such as regulatory and compliance tracking, permitting, auditing, and training; learn how companies are navigating these challenges to keep their EHS staff brilliant at the basic technical aspects of their jobs. You'll leave this session with lessons learned and proven strategies from companies who have found success through internal programs and practices.
Moderator: Fawn Bergen, Senior Environmental Engineer; Intel Corp. |
Session 3: Global Regulatory Trends EHS&S Leader Must Understand Tryon Room Through the lens of successful global EHS&S leader's, attendees will learn to identify the major global compliance trends and how companies are planning for and meeting new global regulatory challenges. Attendees will glean actionable insights to benchmark organizational compliance programs. Stay ahead of global regulatory trends and see how your peers are leading organizational compliance programs forward. Attendees will also get lessons learned when rolling-out a global GHG program, managing compliance risks that do not fit neatly under the responsibility of one owner, and getting data to benchmark programs.
Moderator: JC Tabora, Environmental and Sustainability Manager; Ryder Systems Inc. |
Session 4: Attract, Develop and Retain Top EHS&S Talent Independence Room Our organizations are only as strong as our people. Sessions in this track will focus on how companies are developing their EHS staffs and ensuring they are prepared to attract and train the next generation of leaders in our field. It will also offer attendees insight on how to manage multigenerational teams as well as create training that's engaging and effective.
Moderator: Monty Lovejoy, Vice President; AECOM |
| 12:00 - 1:15 p.m. |
Roundtable Discussions Luncheon - Providence Ballroom | |||
1:30 - |
Session 5: Managing in a Water Stressed World Independence Room What steps should you be taking to ensure your business has identified the major water-related risks to your operations? Do you know if your sites or supply chains are prepared for water shortages and water quality issues, for instance? Get practical and actionable ideas for mitigating water-related risks that reduce your water intensity, maintain your access to reliable, safe sources of water, and ensure business continuity even as water resources continue to dwindle in many regions.
Moderator: Chris England, Director EHS; Xylem |
Session 6: Maximizing the Business Value of Management Systems and Conformance Standards Harris Room With the proliferation of ISO standards, certification schemes, and reporting requirements that impact EHS and Sustainability, companies are challenged with whether to keep existing certifications, and how to integrate the complex needs in this area. This session will provide an update on ISO 14001 revisions, along with details on the anticipated new ISO 45001 standard on OHSMS. Presenters will share on how their organizations are responding to the evolving ISO regime and in turn developing internal standards that address ISO as well as requirements from entities such as GRI, IIRC and SAB.
Moderator: Charles Redinger, President; Redinger 360 |
Session 7: Best Practices for Operational Risk Assessment and Prioritization Tryon Room Curious about how companies are performing their EHS Risk Assessment and Prioritization Process? Want to get different perspectives on this critical topic for enterprise risk management? This session will address how to identify, prioritize, communicate and manage key EHS operational risks. Attendees will get common approaches and frameworks for EHS Risk Assessment and Prioritization, and practical examples of these programs in operation.
Moderator: David Williams, Director, Environment and Sustainability; Teva Pharmaceuticals |
Session 8: Engaging and Managing a Multigenerational Workforce Trade Room There are currently three, and sometimes four generations in the workforce. The dynamics of the multi-generational workforce are important to managers. This session will feature panelists who will address the biggest challenges resulting from the generational differences, these include: communication, work/life balance, and career expectations. The panelists will share their successes and lessons learned while leaving attendees with tips and tricks for how to best engage and manage a multigenerational workforce.
Moderator: Jenna Newcombe, Senior Engineer; Geosyntec Consultants |
| 3:00 - 3:45 p.m. |
Afternoon Break - Grand Ballroom | |||
3:45 - |
Session 9: Shrinking Your Corporate GHG Footprint Trade Room This session will focus on interesting and innovative ways in which companies have reduced their greenhouse gas footprint while providing tangible business value. Going beyond traditional energy audits and other “low hanging fruit”, case studies in this session will feature low cost – high return benefits that are useful for companies of any size. Attendees will also learn how speakers got support for the projects, communicated the results and hear how the project results, and articulated the positive effects for different interest groups within a company – employees, shareholders, executives, and operations.
Moderator: Mike Morgan, Group Environmental Director, BBA Aviation |
Session 10: Leveraging Supplier Engagement to Drive EHS & Sustainability Performance Tryon Room Many companies identify supplier sustainability performance as an important concern, yet few equate sustainability programs with supplier price, quality and on-time delivery. This session will explore why some companies have decided to go “beyond questionnaires” and include specific EH&S and other performance criteria in determining whether suppliers get, or keep, their business. Presenters will discuss how they are engaging with suppliers, the mechanics of their supplier sustainability programs, and share their reasoning around the weight and importance of EHS & sustainability issues when establishing and assessing supplier relationships. Attendees will be challenged to consider whether or not their current supplier sustainability programs are on track to deliver improved sustainability performance, and critical steps they can take to ensure they do.
Moderator: Tim Greiner, Managing Director; Pure Strategies |
Session 11: Understanding Board Expectations: What do EHS&S Leaders Need To Know? Independence Room This session will give attendees a peak behind the boardroom doors and explore the new and emerging risks that corporate boards and shareholders are focused on and how EHS leaders can be prepared to address and manage those risks. From governance to enterprise risk management and sustainability, this session will help attendees understand how they need to be shaping their programs and addressing their board's concerns. Attendees will also get insights and practical tips for how to present EHS risk information to their BOD members.
Moderator: Kenny Ogilvie, CEO; EHS Support |
Session 12: Next Generation Training Harris Room This session will touch on three aspects of trends, challenges and solutions to environmental, health and safety and sustainability training. Learn about the latest in learning and organizational change, including the principles of gamification, brain science, microlearning and personal learning networks. This session will also feature concrete examples of companies that are innovative in their training programs - from delivery styles to engaging employees. Come away with ideas you can put to work in your own programs as well as an understanding of the spectrum of techniques and technologies critical to effective corporate training programs.
Moderators: Michelle Redfield, Director, Environment and Process Improvement; Schneider Electric SE |
| 5:30 - 7:00 p.m |
Welcome Reception - Grand Ballroom
Sponsored by:
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| 7:00 a.m. | Registration Opens - Providence Promenade | |||
| 7:30 - 8:15 a.m. |
Continental Breakfast - Providence Ballroom | |||
8:15 - |
Opening Remarks - Providence Ballroom
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| 8:30 - 10:00 a.m. |
Thursday Morning Keynote Session - Beyond Operations: Addressing Sustainability Expectations throughout the Value Chain - Grand Ballroom Leaders of EHS and Sustainability can no longer focus exclusively on their immediate operations. Stakeholders and society expect companies to reduce or eliminate their environmental and social impacts across their supply chains and the life cycles of their products, with a stretch goal of contributing net positive value back to society and the environment. It sounds like a tall order but the panelists in this session will discuss how they are tackling and delivering on these expectations. Join your fellow attendees for a fascinating conversation, led by the President of the Rainforest Alliance, Tensie Whelan. Attendees will get insights on how EHS&S leaders can find success through a more adept understanding and management of the “Corporate Ecosystem” and come away with strategies for success from three of the leading change-makers in our field!
Moderator: Tensie Whelan, former President; Rainforest Alliance & future Director; NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business |
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| 10:00 - 11:00 a.m. | Morning Break - Grand Ballroom |
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| Track Descriptions | Track 1: Sustainability in a Changing Environment |
Track 2: Optimizing EHS Performance |
Track 3: Applying a Risk Lens |
Track 4: Managing and Developing EHS Teams |
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11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. |
Session 13: Leveraging NGO Partnerships to Advance Sustainability Harris Room It has become increasingly important for sustainability managers to leverage the expertise of a wide range of professionals in order to develop and execute their initiatives. This has led an increasing number of companies to partner with NGO's in order to enhance the quality of their companies' sustainability policies and credibility, while providing confidence to company management and customers. Although the private sector and NGOs are often motivated by different drivers, there are an increasing number of opportunities for collaboration between the two sectors. Attend this session and get examples of corporate/NGO partnerships that are yielding deep business value and real improvements for society and the environment. Come away with strategies and best practices for finding and establishing NGO partnerships that are the best fit for your business and tips for how to ensure success when partnering with NGOs.
Moderator: Kevin Conroy, Principal and Water Treatment Practice Leader; Golder Associates |
Session 14: Strategies for Safety Culture Reinvigoration Tryon Room How can organizations look at safety culture with fresh eyes? Are your safety indicators trending the wrong way? Has safety taken a back seat to other priorities? If so, it might be time to refresh your safety culture program. Learn the symptoms of safety culture decline, and hear what others have done to reinvigorate or recreate their programs.
Moderator: Annette Russo, Manager, Communications, Training- Worldwide EHS; Johnson & Johnson |
Session 15: Changing Climate Means Changing Risk Independence Room How do you plan for potential upticks in injury rates, property damage, and business interruption that could result from shifting weather patterns without increasing the cost of doing business? If your organization is exposed and potentially subject to any of these impacts, planning and control programs must adapt to “the new normal.” Attendees will leave the session hearing current best practices from organizational leaders who have initiated programs to protect their assets without negatively impacting the bottom line.
Moderator: Brad Waldron, Director of Risk; Caesars Entertainment Corp. |
Session 16: Building Product Stewardship Capacity: Ensuring You've Got the Skills and Capacity to Manage Product Risk Issues Trade Room How do global companies organize and staff their product compliance and stewardship obligations to address emerging regulatory and customer requirements, expanding product lines, distribution, and geographies? Unlike traditional EHS programs that have evolved over several decades with best practices, industry standards, and management systems, product stewardship programs are relatively young with little industry-wide or cross sector standards. This session will feature different industry sector examples of how global companies are structuring and staffing product stewardship programs to manage business risks and opportunities. These examples will highlight the variety of organizational approaches companies have taken to address product stewardship and the optimal mix of in-house vs consulting staff they've leveraged to expand their reach and address complex regulatory requirements.
Moderator: Sarah Medearis, Partner; Environmental Resources Management (ERM) |
| 12:30 - 1:30 p.m. |
Business-to-Business Luncheon - Providence Ballroom | |||
1:45 - |
Session 17: All About Sustainability Metrics - Beyond EHS Harris Room As internal and external stakeholders continue to challenge organizations to increase transparency around Corporate Sustainability, EHS leaders are asked to organize and report on metrics beyond our traditional practice areas. Attend this session to learn about emerging trends in sustainability reporting, how to facilitate the collection and management of non-traditional metrics, and innovative strategies on sustainability reporting.
Moderator: Sulaiman Hamidi, Director, Sustainability & Product Stewardship; Allergan |
Session 18: Ensuring the ROI of Consultant Partnerships Trade Room EHS&S Managers are faced with the demands of increasing responsibilities with fewer resources. Using external consultants is often the choice EHS&S Managers use to bridge the gap. But how do you manage this relationship to get what you pay for and even more? Attendees will hear perspectives from EHS&S managers that use consultants for a variety of reasons to help manage some of these growing tasks. Participants will learn about how to manage consultancy relationships and how to maximize the value proposition and benefits of this outside resource.
Moderator: Keith Green, Vice President; WSP Global |
Session 19: Managing EHS Risk During Corporate Change Tryon Room Whether you are dealing with a merger, acquisition, layoff or reorganization, the potential for critical EHS management tasks to fall through the cracks increases during times of change. This session will showcase companies who are dealing with these types of changes and the strategies and processes they are putting into place to ensure EHS cultures are being integrated, roles and responsibilities are reassigned, and compliance efforts don't lapse, even in the face of workforce reductions.
Moderator: Curt Michols, Principal Specialist; Abbott Laboratories |
Session 20: Mobile Technologies Revolutionizing Employee Engagement Independence Room Over 2 billion smartphones will be in use by 2016 in the United States. Use of mobile technologies is not a generational thing – It's an immediacy of information thing. Real-time capture of key information on the shop floor and in the field, along with real-time insights into site and company-level performance is weaving EHS into the daily activities of employees across all functions. Gain insights into strategies and best practices for taking EHS to the masses as our cross-industry panel shares lessons learned and roadmaps for leveraging mobile technologies to drive employee engagement and EHS performance.
Moderator: Donovan Hornsby, Vice President; Gensuite |
| 3:15 - 3:45 p.m. |
Afternoon Break - Grand Promenade | |||
3:45 - |
Thursday Afternoon Keynote: Advancing Sustainability using Creativity, Collaboration and the Principles of Improv Comedy - Providence Ballroom This exciting interactive keynote, put on by Second City Works, the business solutions division of the world famous improve comedy theater, The Second City, will teach attendees how to use the key principle of improv comedy to advance their programs. Centered on improving communication, executive presence and delivery, this session will give attendees dozens of tactics for increasing the effectiveness of group or one-on-one interactions. They will learn to get past the typical “no, but” mentality we often encounter in our workplaces and keep their audience listening and engaged around their ideas. Attendees will learn to flourish in the new working environment where collaboration and influence are often more critical than title or authority when it comes to getting things done.
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| 5:15 - 5:30 p.m. |
Closing Remarks |
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| 6:30 - 10:00 p.m |
Thursday Evening Networking and Dinner Event - Howl at the Moon Just a short walk from the hotel, join your colleagues for dinner, drinks, networking and live music at Charlotte’s favorite downtown night spot, Howl at the Moon. Get on the dance floor or sing-along with favorite pop songs from all decades. You are sure to have a great time relaxing with old friends and new! |
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| 9:00 - 9:30 a.m. |
Grab-and-Go Pastries and Coffee - Providence Promenade |
| 8:30 - 9:30 a.m |
Women's Leadership Networking Breakfast - Sharon Room Join your EHS&S peers for a lively networking breakfast. The cost is $49/person. Attendees can sign up at the registration desk while tickets last. If you have already registered and want to add the breakfast please email Virginia Hoekenga. |
| 9:30
- 11:30 a.m. |
NAEM Board of Directors Meeting - Morehead Room |
9:30 - |
Discussion Groups Friday morning will offer attendees a variety of issue-specific discussion groups. These discussion groups are open to all and included in your conference registration.
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| 11:30 a.m. | Conference Adjourns |
Download the 2015 Full Program Schedule-at-a-Glance to print
Download the 2015 Full Agenda to print
Program Details - Finding Solutions, Leading Forward
Track 1 - Sustainability in a Changing Environment
Whether you're talking about the physical environment or the business environment, both are changing. Sessions in this track will examine how EHS&S leaders are preparing their businesses for issues like climate change and water scarcity, as well as and how they are continuing to drive sustainability performance in an ever-changing global business climate by leveraging partnerships and internal resources.
Track 2 - Optimizing EHS Performance
Optimizing is defined as making something as effective, perfect, or useful as possible. We are constantly challenged to optimize all aspects of our programs and ensure continuous improvement in even the core aspects of EHS management and compliance. Sessions in this track will look at ways companies are finding ways to improve their programs whether through shear management creativity or the use of emerging technologies or partnerships inside or outside the business to deliver on the promise of optimization.
Track 3 - Applying a Risk Lens
While EHS managers have traditionally managed operational risks like compliance, process safety and chemical hazards as part of their core responsibilities, they are now being challenged from a strategic prospective to consider and communicate EHS risk. Sessions in this track will explore risk through both an operational and strategic lens. It will delve into risk from the perspective of process, product, financial, emerging regulatory and non-regulatory risks.
Track 4 - Managing and Developing EHS Teams
Our organizations are only as strong as our people. This session will focus on how companies are developing their EHS staffs and ensuring they are prepared to attract and train the next generation of leaders in our field. It will also offer attendees insight on how to manage multigenerational teams as well as create training that's engaging and effective.
Interested in Speaking?
Are you an EHS or sustainability leader with a case study to share? Contact Virginia Hoekenga, NAEM Deputy Director at (202) 986-6616 to learn about speaking opportunities.
About NAEM
NAEMThe National Association for Environmental Management (NAEM) empowers corporate leaders to advance environmental stewardship, create safe and healthy workplaces, and promote global sustainability. As the largest professional community for EHS and sustainability decision-makers, we provide peer-led educational conferences and an active network for sharing solutions to today's corporate EHS and sustainability management challenges. Visit NAEM online at www.naem.org.
