Chris is a former Major League Baseball outfielder who spent the better part of eight MLB seasons with the Baltimore Orioles and Cincinnati Reds. A Southern California native who grew up as a natural environmentalist, Chris is the co-founder of Players for the Planet and helps oversee One Tree Planted’s sports partnerships, including the Play for Trees program.
2022
Massimo Calvelli
Massimo Calvelli began serving as ATP Chief Executive Officer in January 2020. The Italian has been a highly respected sports executive in global sales, marketing, operations and product development for the past 20 years. Most recently, Calvelli was employed by Nike where he worked across multiple functions and oversaw all aspects of global tennis sports marketing. During his time at Nike, he led negotiations with many of the sport’s global icons. Previously, Calvelli was the Global Business Director for Wilson Sporting Goods.
Jonathan Smith
For over twenty years Jonathan has dedicated his career to helping advance sustainability and climate action, in and through golf.
A geographer and graduate of the University of St Andrews, he led the environmental team at Scottish Golf before founding GEO in 2006.
He advises some of golf’s leading associations, tours and tournaments including: The R&A; European Tour Group; Ryder Cup; LPGA; Ladies European Tour; and Olympic Golf. Also advocating widely at events and through media; and helping represent golf in the mainstream sustainability movement amongst governments, NGO’s and businesses.
In addition, Jonathan has led the Foundation to become the only body in sport to meet the rigorous ISEAL Alliance ‘Code Compliance’ for sustainability standards, certification and reporting systems, joining peer groups such as Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance, Forest Stewardship Council and Marine Stewardship Council.
Jonathan is a full member of the Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management, and a former Board member of the ISEAL Alliance. He lives near Edinburgh, enjoys playing and watching many sports, and spending time in the great outdoors.
Guillermo Castro
Industrial engineer with more than 39 years of experience in marketing and sports marketing, senior management and strategic planning in consumer companies, mass media and sports institutions. Current marketer of the Colombian Olympic Committee and other properties of sports and athletes. manager of Acting Green Forum, Top Athlete Forum, E+V and other activities and events.
Alexandra Criscuolo
Alexandra (Aly) Criscuolo, a GreenBiz 30 Under 30 recipient, is determined to make sports and organizations more sustainable. She was appointed as the first Sustainability & Corporate Social Responsibility Director at New York Road Runners (a UNFCCC Sports for Climate Action Signatory), where she develops and implements sustainability strategy for the world’s largest marathon, 50+ annual races, and multiple facilities. Previously, she worked at Kickstarter as the organization’s in-house Environmental Impact Consultant and General Electric in the environmental risk and energy project finance space. Alexandra has an MBA in Sustainability from Bard College and a BS degree in Finance from Fairfield University with minors in Environmental Studies and Spanish. She was a Division I swimmer and enjoys competing in road races and triathlons.
David Stubbs
David is an internationally renowned specialist on sustainability in sport and global mega-events. For the last ten years he has been providing strategic and technical support to leading sports, entertainment and event businesses, including the International Olympic Committee, English Premier League, World Rugby, Lawn Tennis Association, FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™, Formula 1, World Economic Forum, The Economist Group and Smyle.
Previously, he led the award-winning sustainability programme of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, widely recognised as the most sustainable Games in modern times, and which pioneered many of the key processes, methods and standards that have become sustainability best practice in the event sector.
Dale Vince
Dale Vince has led a remarkable life. From “enemy of the state” to “green energy tycoon” he has dedicated his life to challenging conventional wisdom in pursuit of a better way to live.
As a traveller Vince was an outlaw, living a decade outside of society, on the road and off the grid in constant tension with the police. After an epiphany in the 90s, he ‘dropped back in’ to build a big windmill on the hill he parked on and from there, went on to start the world’s first green energy company, Ecotricity.
Dale kickstarted the now-global green energy movement using the goals and values he developed on the road to bring green energy into the mainstream. He pioneered the electric car, built the Electric Highway to power them and runs Forest Green Rovers – the word’s first green football club. Created diamonds out of carbon in the sky. Most recently he launched a new range vegan burgers. His whole life has been a strive for change and the result of a questioning mind that doesn’t take ‘no’ for an answer.
He is the UN Ambassador for Climate Change.
Energy, Transport and Food – these are the pillars of his manifesto for a better world and in his first book, Manifesto, Vince explores what must be done to turn the tide on climate change, drawing on his personal experience as a self-professed eco-nut. It’s a manifesto of hope, backed up by solutions from someone with real life experience of disrupting the energy industry and paving the way to a greener planet.
Jamie Farndale
Jamie Farndale is a current international rugby captain, leading Scotland Sevens on the HSBC World Sevens Series. He has played professionally for eleven years. Jamie was awarded the University Medal for highest grades in Business Management at Edinburgh Napier where he studied alongside playing. He focussed on Business Sustainability Strategies and has recently begun a Masters in Sustainability Leadership at Cambridge University.
Jamie has spent the last year delving into Sustainability in Sport. He co-wrote an open letter signed by hundreds of professional players urging World Rugby to take a leadership role in sustainability. He has since had involvement with World Rugby who since unveiled their ambitious 2030 Environmental Sustainability Plan. He was also involved as an athlete ambassador with the Birmingham Commonwealth Games whose aim was to be the most sustainable games ever. He is working on other projects within sport looking at a strategic approach to achieving sustainability.
Anne Dietrich
Anne is passionate about sustainability. She has an educational and professional background in creating strategy for and implementing sustainability initiatives in the non-profit, chemical, and energy sectors. Anne’s other big passion is sport. By pursuing her Ph.D. in sport and sustainability at Texas A&M University, she combines her two loves with the goal of helping sport organizations and events make strategic decisions for sustainable development. Anne is part of the Sustainability in Sport Lab at Texas A&M University, Sport Ecology Group, and the German think tank sportainable.
Brian P. McCullough
Brian McCullough, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Sport Management and the Director of the Center for Sport Management Research and Education at Texas A&M University.
His research focuses on the environmental impacts of sport, organizational strategy and decision making, and stakeholder engagement campaigns.
He has written over 60 peer-reviewed journal articles and chapters, edited two books, authored one book, and presented his research over 130 times to national and international audiences. In addition, Dr. McCullough assisted in the United Nation’s Sport for Climate Action Framework and is the Director of the Sustainability in Sport Lab at Texas A&M and the Co-Director of the Sport Ecology Group.