I don't just work in ESG and sustainability—I redefine how companies engage these topics. I take the complexities of ESG and sustainability, distill them into actionable insights, and help businesses unlock new opportunities through strategic thinking and impactful storytelling. My approach? I ask the hard questions, clarify the uncertain, and deliver solutions that drive growth and resilience.

My passion comes from the books I've read over the years. Growing up, I was fascinated to see how stories were constructed and would try to connect the dots before the ending. Businesses tell stories every day, and the risks and opportunities among the dots to keep their story going now fascinate me.

With over 20 years of experience in technology and disruption, I’ve become known for pioneering strategies that move companies forward. Whether it's translating ESG data into business value or helping senior stakeholders see around the corner, my goal is to position businesses for long-term success in a rapidly evolving landscape.

As an ESG advocate, I’m engaged in key conversations that matter:
· Spoke at the UN GCIC Climate Innovation Summit, was interviewed and quoted on podcasts, in articles, and at events, and was recognized as Who's Who in ESG 2023 by Onalytica.
· Serves on the LP Advisory Committee for Morgan Stanley’s Next Level Fund, providing input on the portfolio, including from the technology and ESG perspectives.
· Partners with Enzo Advisors as a Senior Advisor, helping small and mid-market cap companies understand ESG and sustainability to drive resilience.

Beyond work, I write the ESG Advocate newsletter and authored ESG Mindset, an award-winning book that empowers companies to navigate ESG and leverage it for sustainable growth. Upon release, the book was recognized as the #1 New Release for Sustainable Business Development and a Best Seller for Green Business.

If you're looking to deepen your company’s approach to ESG, align it with your business strategy, and build a resilient organization, let's connect!

Dominique is a strategic in-house legal leader, with nearly 20 years of compliance and legal experience with Fortune 50 companies, AM100 law firms and the government. With a comprehensive background in commercial and corporate law and a deep understanding of sustainability and climate, she specializes in providing practical legal advice to Chief Sustainability Officers and sustainability and social impact teams, aiming to manage risk while driving towards more sustainable outcomes. She is skilled in navigating complex regulatory and legal landscapes and known for "out of the box" strategies. She is committed to driving positive social and environmental impact and to creating more resilient communities.

Some of her career highlights include:

✷ Became Nike’s first holistic ESG Counsel; built Nike’s legal ESG program.
✷ Led the Federal Trade Commission's Los Angeles office, securing $100M+ settlements with AT&T and DeVry University.
✷ Provided strategic legal advice Nike's Chief Sustainability Officer, Global Sustainability Leadership Team, and Sustainable Data and Analytics.
✷ Established Nike’s global compliance strategy on emerging and active ESG laws and regulations (German DD, California Climate Bills, EUDR, CS3D).
✷ Developed Nike’s strategy on mandatory reporting and disclosures and led cross-functional team on double materiality assessment.
✷ Counseled industry trade consortium and its board on corporate governance, strategic partnerships, intellectual property and antitrust compliance.
✷ Successfully defended a major tech company in a 2+ year investigation into the company’s general business practices.
✷ Successfully led a joint legal-business strategy to defeat a telecommunications regulation that impeded company growth into local markets.

As a dynamic and visionary leader, she excels in guiding teams to achieve their full potential and surpass organizational goals. With a blend of strategic foresight, emotional intelligence, and motivational prowess, she fosters an environment of collaboration, innovation, and excellence. Her track record of success lies in empowering individuals, cultivating strong team dynamics, and driving sustainable results through effective communication, mentorship, and strategic decision-making.

Ryan is currently Lead ESG and Corporate Compliance Counsel for Ralph Lauren. He practices at the intersection of law and compliance with Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) issues. Ryan is responsible for overseeing global ESG compliance at Ralph Lauren, including corporate sustainability and human rights disclosures and improving the traceability and transparency of its supply chain, in response to global regulatory requirements. Prior to Ralph Lauren, Ryan was an in-house counsel for Everest Group, Ltd., a global insurance and reinsurance company, where he was responsible for their ESG reporting and integrating ESG considerations into their investment and underwriting strategies. Before graduating from Rutgers Law School, Ryan spent five years working in the climate change and sustainable development fields at the United Nations following his completion of a Master's degree in climate science and policy at Columbia University. He is admitted to practice law in New York and New Jersey.

Christina Tusan is an award-winning consumer protection trial attorney who has investigated, prosecuted, and supervised the litigation of complex unfair competition cases in federal and state courts on behalf of the Federal Trade Commission, the California Attorney General, and the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office. Ms. Tusan has obtained judgments or negotiated settlements on consumer protection matters valued at over $1 billion. Ms. Tusan has spent the last 26 years successfully investigating and litigating Unfair Competition Law (UCL) cases, False Advertising Law (FAL) cases, and Unfair or Deceptive Acts or Practices (UDAP) Cases on behalf of consumers.

Ms. Tusan’s work has been recognized as exceptional by state and federal agencies, as well as the National Health Care Anti-Fraud Association. The California Attorney General recognized her contributions by selecting her as the recipient of an “Award for Excellence,” and the Federal Trade Commission gave her three different awards for her work while at the agency. One news article describes a prenatal vitamin case she investigated and settled as a case that “could change an industry."

Patrick Miller is an international lawyer concentrating on cross-border commercial issues, with an emphasis on arbitration, mediation and litigation. He concentrates on working with Social Impact companies that incorporate a social mission into their business models, particularly smaller, more entrepreneurial companies.

He has worked in the US, Europe and Asia — spending nearly a decade in South-East Asia focusing on commercial disputes with a large international law firm.

He is a strong advocate for social businesses and passionate about assisting these companies when they encounter commercial disputes. He has also advised several social impact startups doing business internationally, providing advice on both legal and business issues.

He is involved in the business & human rights legal community primarily through his work with the ABA Business Law Section Working Group that has a developed a comprehensive set of contractual provisions to address potential human rights violations in international supply chains. He can advise companies on establishing responsible supply chain frameworks in compliance with emerging regulatory challenges.

He’s also active in the Environmental, Social and Governance space, particularly through his work hosting a YouTube show called ESG-in-Law for the California Lawyers Association ESG Committee where he interviews professionals who work on issues involving the convergence of ESG and law.

Given his experience abroad, his involvement in the social business movement and his commercial background, he is able to provide strategic guidance that addresses his clients’ legal and business objectives—while also focusing on their responsible business commitments.

Layla El-Wafi is a senior in-house lawyer with an international bank based in Dubai. Since 2014  she has advised on a range of finance transactions, regulatory and commercial matters mainly in the UAE and other Middle East North Africa countries as well as cross border with Europe, US, Asia and Africa on sustainable finance and ESG matters. Her clients apart from various banking teams  includes Climate Risk, Responsible AI and Data Ethics, Procurement and Environmental & Social Risk Management.  

Layla is an English qualified lawyer and prior to the bank trained and qualified with a London based law firm.  Prior to her legal career, Layla worked with a few international development and human rights NGOs in London and MENA region.  She is a board member of the Association of Corporate Counsels MENA Chapter and has a personal passion in sustainability and ESG where she has published a few papers over the last years- see links below.  Layla's participation in the  event is in her personal capacity and as a member of the ACC MENA in the spirit of learning and collaborating with other legal and compliance professionals to promote responsible business.

Kristina joins Persefoni from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), where she served as Senior Counsel for Climate and ESG to the Director of the Division of Corporation Finance. While at the SEC, Kristina oversaw the assessment of climate-related disclosures and helped to lead the rulemaking team through drafting proposed climate disclosure rules. She also worked closely with the Commission's Office of International Affairs, engaging with regulators and standards-setters in jurisdictions around the world. She also supported the U.S. Department of Treasury and other Federal agencies on a variety of matters, including a report in response to an Executive Order that addressed the impact of climate change on the nation's financial stability.

Kristina's first-hand experience in assessing and shaping the climate reporting landscape, combined with her deep expertise in ESG policy and regulation, will be indispensable in supporting customers to identify climate-related risks and opportunities while maintaining confidence in their compliance with rapidly evolving regulation.

Prior to the SEC, Kristina served as Senior Counsel and Director of Sustainability at Latham & Watkins, where she established and led the firm's internal sustainability program and co-chaired the firm's ESG taskforce in the commercial practice. There, she experienced first-hand the challenge of calculating Latham's own emissions and establishing reduction goals, and saw clients struggle to understand and manage their greenhouse gas (GHG) footprints – the exact obstacles Persefoni solves.

Kristina holds a Bachelor of Arts from Duke University, a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Colorado, and an MBA in sustainability from Yale University.

Karyn Polak founded Shift the Prism Advisory to support changes in mindsets, systems, and approaches to capital and development. Throughout her career, Karyn has consistently sought to reduce inequities and increase inclusion through concrete contributions as a business executive, board member, mentor, and community convener and connector.
 
She previously served as a senior counsel, trusted advisor, and C-suite executive in her various roles at Citigroup, PNC Bank, and Transamerica — from her first senior position as General Counsel for Citi Private Bank to her most recent as Chief Legal Officer for Transamerica. She also has over a decade of experience advising global financial institutions, multinational corporations, and family businesses in corporate finance, securities, and mergers and acquisitions at three top-100 U.S. law firms.
 
Karyn's prior roles as a senior executive and legal counsel across the spectrum of traditional finance -- from consumer banking, to brokerage and wealth management, investment banking and institutional asset management, and insurance and retirement -- highlighted the gaps in capital tools and access that she works today to close.  She consults on a portfolio of projects that stretch mindsets and opportunities from philanthropy to the public markets, driving innovation in place-based, local investments and for individuals, businesses, and communities without existing wealth on which to build.

Patrick Miller is an international lawyer concentrating on cross-border commercial issues, with an emphasis on arbitration, mediation and litigation. He concentrates on working with Social Impact companies that incorporate a social mission into their business models, particularly smaller, more entrepreneurial companies.

He has worked in the US, Europe and Asia — spending nearly a decade in South-East Asia focusing on commercial disputes with a large international law firm.

He is a strong advocate for social businesses and passionate about assisting these companies when they encounter commercial disputes. He has also advised several social impact startups doing business internationally, providing advice on both legal and business issues.

He is involved in the business & human rights legal community primarily through his work with the ABA Business Law Section Working Group that has a developed a comprehensive set of contractual provisions to address potential human rights violations in international supply chains. He can advise companies on establishing responsible supply chain frameworks in compliance with emerging regulatory challenges.

He’s also active in the Environmental, Social and Governance space, particularly through his work hosting a YouTube show called ESG-in-Law for the California Lawyers Association ESG Committee where he interviews professionals who work on issues involving the convergence of ESG and law.

Given his experience abroad, his involvement in the social business movement and his commercial background, he is able to provide strategic guidance that addresses his clients’ legal and business objectives—while also focusing on their responsible business commitments.

Lizzie Lange is a partner in the Corporate & Securities Practice Group at Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP. Experienced in complex transactions, Lizzie works with public and private companies, private equity sponsors and their portfolio companies and other clients in a variety of industries and focuses her practice on mergers and acquisitions, venture capital, corporate restructurings, private securities offerings, divestitures and general corporate matters. Lizzie also leads the firm’s full-service ESG practice and regularly advises clients on ESG, B Corp and social impact matters

Patrick Miller is an international lawyer concentrating on cross-border commercial issues, with an emphasis on arbitration, mediation and litigation. He concentrates on working with Social Impact companies that incorporate a social mission into their business models, particularly smaller, more entrepreneurial companies.

He has worked in the US, Europe and Asia — spending nearly a decade in South-East Asia focusing on commercial disputes with a large international law firm.

He is a strong advocate for social businesses and passionate about assisting these companies when they encounter commercial disputes. He has also advised several social impact startups doing business internationally, providing advice on both legal and business issues.

He is involved in the business & human rights legal community primarily through his work with the ABA Business Law Section Working Group that has a developed a comprehensive set of contractual provisions to address potential human rights violations in international supply chains. He can advise companies on establishing responsible supply chain frameworks in compliance with emerging regulatory challenges.

He’s also active in the Environmental, Social and Governance space, particularly through his work hosting a YouTube show called ESG-in-Law for the California Lawyers Association ESG Committee where he interviews professionals who work on issues involving the convergence of ESG and law.

Given his experience abroad, his involvement in the social business movement and his commercial background, he is able to provide strategic guidance that addresses his clients’ legal and business objectives—while also focusing on their responsible business commitments.