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Alumni

How a Network of Nonprofits and a Habit of Generosity Powers the U.S. Blood Supply

Curt Bailey ’99, CEO of Bloodworks Northwest, explains how the generosity of blood donors enables a uniquely American model for managing a crucial corner of healthcare.

A blood donation center
  • What Does It Take to Create Financial Products That Can Save the Planet?

    Investors are increasingly eager to contribute to solutions for climate change and other environmental problems. Charlotte Kaiser ’07 of The Nature Conservancy’s NatureVest explains how the company builds financial products that attract mainstream capital while delivering conservation impacts.

    An overhead image of Ille Pierre Island in Seychelles.
  • How Trust Can Power Renewable Energy

    Lily Donge ’97 talked with us about how building trust is critical for any kind of real innovation—and how it’s helped her develop new models for scaling renewable energy.

    A wind farm in Rio Vista, California, with a path winding toward the turbine in the foreground
  • How Balancing Creativity and Rigor Helped Disney Build a Star Wars Vacation Experience

    Architect Ann Morrow Johnson ’14 is the executive producer and executive creative director for Walt Disney Imagineering’s immersive vacation experience Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser. We talked with her about balancing innovative creativity and strategic rigor.

    Anne Morrow Johnson standing in front of an image of a Star Wars starship
  • How Connecticut Accelerated Its Vaccinations

    Josh Geballe ’02, Connecticut’s chief operating officer, explains the state’s controversial decision to switch to age-based eligibility for COVID vaccines—and says it likely saved lives.

    A drawing of a woman taking a selfie while getting a vaccination.
  • California’s Path to a Carbon-Neutral Grid

    Elliot Mainzer ’98, CEO of CAISO, explains how California is working to avoid another summer of blackouts even as the state transitions to a carbon-neutral grid.

    A power substation at the LS Power Group Gateway Energy Storage project in Otay Mesa, California.
  • Why the Texas Power Market Failed

    Texas-based energy economist Ed Hirs ’81 says the February 2021 power crisis exposed longstanding, fatal flaws in the state’s energy market design and oversight.

    Workers repair a power line in Austin, Texas, on February 18, 2021. Photo: Thomas Ryan Allison/Bloomberg via Getty Images.
  • To Reduce Risk, Build Trust, in Developing Countries and the U.S.

    Mena Cammett ’12 of the World Bank says that the tools used to analyze risk in emerging markets are increasingly relevant to the United States. To mitigate vulnerabilities, build trust.

    The Taiba N’Diaye Wind Power Station in Senegal, a project underwritten by the World Bank’s Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency. Photo: MIGA.
  • Maintaining Momentum on Climate Change

    Tyler Van Leeuwen ’14 of Shell explains explains how his internal skunkworks team helps move Shell toward its decarbonization goals.

    An illustration of an electric car moving through a landscape of wind turbines
  • To Tackle Plastics Pollution, Embrace a Circular Economy

    To cut down on plastics pollution, says Matt Kopac ’09, sustainable business and innovation manager at Burt’s Bees, we need a fundamentally different approach to sustainability.

    Microplastic collected from the Sargasso Sea. Photo: Tom Gruber.
  • Pharma Collaborates in the Fight against the Pandemic

    Nandish Poluru ’13 discusses the pharmaceutical industry’s unprecedented cooperative efforts to treat and prevent COVID-19.

    Scientists gathered around a lab table working with test tubes in concert.