THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
Michelle is a thought leader across diverse topics including:
Carbon Literacy and Climate Action
Women’s Empowerment
Ocean Advocacy
Employee Engagement and Corporate Sustainability
Carbon Literacy and Climate Action
Through Clever Carbon, Michelle teaches people about carbon footprint in a hip and fun way because what gets measured gets changed. Initiatives like the Coffee Menu, Clever Terms, monthly CO2 ppm report, and the Carbon Newbie Summit make it fun and engaging to learn about a topic that can seem intimidating. Michelle also stresses the importance of acting NOW by reducing our impact on the planet from carbon to water and waste footprint. Focusing on solutions for 2030, 2040, and 2050, can make it seem like we can maintain the status quo. We must act now and we must focus on solutions that scale.
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Carbon Footprint Quiz
What gets measured gets changed. Clever Michelle created Clever Carbon’s carbon footprint quiz to help people learn about their personal footprint in under 2 mins. Translated in 9 languages, Clever Carbon has worked with brand partners including the NBA and Mubadala.
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Clever Terms
Michelle started Clever Terms to help people learn about climate-related terms in a bite-sized and fun format! Terms covered so far: albedo effect, anthropocene, carbon dioxide removal, tragedy of the commons, and more!
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The Coffee Menu
The Coffee Menu is one of Michelle’s favorite initiatives. So simple, yet powerful. Translated in over 9 languages, the coffee menu offers a simple and fun way to learn about carbon footprint and get people carbon curious! Available to download for free.
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The Carbon Newbie Summit
The Carbon Newbie Summit debuted at NYC Climate Week in 2023. Speakers from the NBA, Allbirds, Mastercard, Nasdaq, the United Nations, and more, gathered to create a safe space for carbon newbies to start their carbon literacy journey. Michelle’s past experience working in Silicon Valley inspired her to create a space for newbies to get started.
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8 Questions Climate Era Leaders Should Know the Answer To
Our leaders play a critical role in deciding the future of our planet. Michelle understands that carbon and climate literate leaders are imperative and these 8 questions should be table stakes for policy makers, head of states, and the C-Suite.
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Monthly CO2 Atmospheric Concentration Reports
Experts say that if we surpass 450 ppm, we will surpass the 1.5C target set by the Paris Agreement. We need to be below 350 ppm for a thriving planet. Michelle started this initiative to help people understand that carbon removal at scale is critical to helping us reverse anthropogenic carbon emissions.
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Carbon footprint literacy and the future of consumer brands
At SXSW 2023, Michelle spoke on the topic of carbon literacy fellow advocates Sandra Noonan with Just Salad and Emily Ewell with Pantys. The panel was moderated by Christina Mittermeier with Sea Legacy.
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Carbon Literacy: the Most Scalable and Impactful Climate Solution
At COP28, Michelle convened experts Martina Donlon from the United Nations and David Eichberg from Mastercard to talk about carbon literacy as a climate solution. The panel was moderated by Tola St. Matthew-Daniel.
Women’s Empowerment
Michelle is passionate about raising the voices of women in the climate space. She founded Women and Climate to create a joyful and safe space for more women to learn and talk about climate - no climate experience necessary. She also created the Women and Climate Speaker Database to make it easier for event organizers to find speakers and to encourage more women to step into their power and speak on their topic of expertise.
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Women and Climate
A globally recognized powerhouse, Women and Climate is a non-profit focused on igniting climate action among women professionals - no climate experience necessary. Michelle started Women and Climate along with Stephanie Korbely in February 2022.
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Women and Climate Speaker Database
The Speaker Database represents over 800 women globally, spanning 40+ climate topics. Speakers are regularly promoted and featured ahead of global events including NYC Climate Week, COP28, and more. Michelle’s goal is to enable women to share their thought leadership across all climate topics.
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Bloomberg Sustainable Business Summit
Michelle spoke on the topic of Empowering Women in Sustainability alongside women leaders: Abby Danzig | Bloomberg, Esther Chang, CFRE | UN Global Compact Network Singapore, Subhashini Chandran | Mastercard. Bloomberg Live Sustainable Business Summit hosted by Meg Szabo
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Intersection of gender and climate in focus ahead of COP28
Michelle was a guest speaker on the S&P Global Podcast ahead of COP28. “The power players and the really technical industries that are going to help us transition to a greener economy, so to speak, those are mainly led by men,” Michelle tells us. “So we have to create space for women.”
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BOLD
An initiative of Women and Climate, Michelle created BOLD, a global virtual summit, to provide a platform for women to share their thought leadership on bold topics including climate and national security, women and boards, climate displacement and equity, and more.
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NYC Climate Heroes
At Women and Climate’s NYC Climate Week Dinner in 2023, Michelle spearheaded an initiative to recognize women climate heroes in the community and the workplace.
Ocean Advocacy
Our planet is 30% land and 70% ocean. Our oceans store more carbon than anywhere on the planet. When healthy, our oceans can provide the most scalable way to remove carbon from the atmosphere. Repairing our oceans and restoring ocean biomass is urgent.
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SXSW 2023
At SXSW 2023, Michelle convened leaders in the ocean space to bring climate repair, ocean health, and carbon removal to the masses.
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World Ocean Day
Through Clever Carbon, Michelle has created a number of social media campaigns to raise awareness on SDG 14 and the important role of oceans.
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Speaking
Michelle has worked with organizations like the Prince of Monaco Foundation and Carbon Unbound to moderate conversations on ocean related topics including marine CDR and green shipping.
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Ocean Awareness
Michelle is a frequent speaker at corporations through her Clever Carbon Carbon Footprint Workshops. Included in the “curriculum” is the importance of oceans and ocean repair.
Employee Engagement and Corporate Sustainability
Having worked in customer facing roles at Silicon Valley tech company’s including Salesforce, Michelle has a unique and deep understanding of how corporations are central to individual learning. When it comes to topics like mental health, fitness and well-being, and DEI, our corporations are the front line for disseminating information. The role of corporations in helping employees learn about climate change is imperative and can benefit employee retention, accelerate decarbonization across the business, and benefits the planet. Employee engagement on sustainability and climate is also important in mitigating greenwashing.
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Sustainability — the Newest Pillar of Employee Wellness
Published on Medium | Authored by Michelle Li
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Two Truth’s on a Tuesday — Climate Edition
Six less obvious ways to tell if a company cares about the planet
Published on Medium | Authored by Michelle Li -
Sustainability LIVE New York 2023
Panel: Engaging employees and customers on carbon literacy with Michelle Li, Founder of clever carbon, Ali Nora Pellegrino, Sustainability Manager, Americas at adm Group Ltd, Jarian Kerekes, President, Equitable Foundation at Equitable and Emily S. Ewell, CEO & Co-Founder of Pantys.
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Green Biz Net Zero Conference
Michelle spoke with fellow experts on the panel: Break Out the Megaphone: How to Combat Greenhushing
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The Female Quotient
A Better Framework for Measuring ESG Impact | A panel at SXSW 2023
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WeWork
Easy sustainable practices for small businesses
May 2022 | Written by Michelle Li