396fbdf4

From Nairobi to Sundance

looka_production_185573449 — Thu, 29 May 2025 23:34:15 GMT

This is a subtitle for your new post

The world has changed drastically since I last posted about events I attended during Climate Week in NYC in September 2024, from marching with youth activists at the Friday for the Future event across the Brooklyn Bridge to attending events such as HATCH NYC, Conscious Festival, PVBLIC Foundation, Peaceboat, Blue Planet Alliance and Transformative Impact Summit.

Soon after I was invited to travel to Kenya by Align with Africa and collaborate with indigenous women from the Maasai and Kamba tribes to help expand the reach and customer base of their beautiful arts and crafts so they may gain tools and knowledge to increase their income and better provide for their children. In the two weeks I was in Kenya, we worked 12+ hour days as we met with collaborators and co-creators in the lush Rift Valley and other regions in Kenya. Guided by a talented jewelry designer Esther Mwangi, we visited artisans in rural areas of Machakos and walked through the Kibera slums to meet crafts men and women, jewelry and leather goods suppliers.

During the trip I re-connected with my dear friend Agnes Leina of I l’Laramatak Community Concerns as she returned to Nairobi, fresh from attending COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan. Agnes has been instrumental in fighting female genital mutilation (FGM) and child marriage in Kenya for over 30 years and is a heroine I’ve admired since we met in NYC at a Commission on the Status of Women dinner event at Eve Ensler’s home in 2019 where I learned about her incredible work. Agnes’s Il’Laramatak (Caretaker) funds the education and upbringing of girls rescued from child marriage and also provides employment and training to former genital cutters so they can continue to make a living with a program called “Cut the Garment, Not the Girl.” I visited Agnes in February 2020 and started a documentary “Kajiado Girls” on her incredible work and generosity providing for over 250 girls she has rescued in the past 30 years. In order to be in Nairobi after Agnes returned from COP29, I extended my trip for meetings and wound up having my Thanksgiving dinner alone at Nairobi Airport, eating fish and chips, as I waited to board my 10 hour flight back to New York City to be with my son and family for the holidays. I wound up spending my birthday alone in my son’s guest room in Philadelphia, recovering from a bug I caught and exhaustion but made it to be with family for Christmas.

In January 2025 I was invited back to Nairobi and launched a pilot program collaborating with Agnes’ women and girls in Kajiado. We co-designed scarves with Maasai fabric , jewelry made with semi-precious stones of amethyst, hematite, jade and lapis lazuli I carried with me from New York City, and also leather bags with beading done by the talented women in Agnes’ community. In February 2020, during my first visit to Kajiado, a bright 15-year-old girl Alice, took asked me aside and asked me if I can help rescue her sister, who is about to turn 12, the age girls from her village get married off. Agnes has taught the girls on the importance of education and acquiring skills so that they can get work and support themselves. The cost of rescuing a girl is $20 and education for a year in middle schools is $200, including school uniforms, a mattress, and room and board, I asked the Alice if she could make jewelry for me so I sell them with the proceeds going towards rescuing her sister. I happened to have a box of beads I brought from NYC with me and I handed them to Alice. The following morning at 5 AM, I received a call from Agnes to tell me that the girls have woken her up. They stayed up all night making necklaces and bracelets and they have finished them. They asked “When can we rescue Alice’s sister and bring her to Kajiado?” Once I was back in the US was able to tap into two WhatsApp groups I belonged to, one of Summit Series, and another with Kinnernet Venice attendees. I was able to sell the jewelry and send money to Agnes where she immediately activated the rescue of Alice’s sister before she was cut and married off in exchange for cows and goats.

While I was in Nairobi, which is where the United Nations HQ in Africa is located, President Trump was inaugurated on January 20th and one of his first actions as head of state was gut USAID that provided billions in funding to African organizations to alleviate poverty, provide food security, healthcare, education and democratic governance. You could immediately sense the tension and concern in Nairobi when this happened that reverberated across the African continent. To date 10,000 USAID jobs have been cut and fund disbursements by the organization has stopped.

From Kenya, I flew directly to Park City Utah on January 23rd to speak at 2050 House on the topic of “Marketing and Storytelling for the UN SDGs and Impact” and we had a pop-up booth with some of the products we co-created with the Maasai women of Kajiado . Kwasi Asare curated such a fascinating group of inspiring speakers who are making a difference. While at Sundance I reconnected with my former boss Ashley Heather who co-founded a biohacking company Lumati and I got to experience some of their offerings and even received an NAD infusion.

HATCH - A Gathering of Inspiring Change Makers

Fri, 25 Oct 2024 15:17:22 GMT

A gathering of inspiring and accomplished change makers at HATCH Climate Week 2024

Climate Week Pt. 2

Hatch NY September 21, 2024

It’s hard to believe that a month has flown by since the HATCH Climate Week Opening event in NYC at Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) headquarters in DUMBO Brooklyn. With 600+ events happening in New York during Climate Week how does one navigate through the numerous options? On Saturday, September 21st, I decided to take the 90-minute subway ride to the trendy DUMBO neighborhood of Brooklyn because the founder of HATCH , Yarrow Kraner is someone whom I met at Kinnernet in Venice, Italy in 2019 and respect immensely. Plus, my super-talented climate provocateur artist friend Benjamin Von Wong was one of the speakers. On top of this, the gathering was located at BIG’s headquarters and I’ve been a long-time fan of their sustainable and innovative awe-inspiring architectural design projects from Denmark to New York City. I’ve been wanting to attend HATCH’s gatherings for several years since Yarrow is a master connector and HATCH has been known to curate a high quality of speakers and attendees for their events from Switzerland to Mexico. So, a 90 minute subway ride on a beautiful Saturday to be at a HATCH event in New York City was definitely not an inconvenience.

DUMBO’s streets on a gorgeous summer weekend are usually hectic and packed with people restaurant hopping or making their way to Brooklyn Bridge Park and the picturesque waterfront. Upon entering BIG’s offices I felt an immediate sense of peace and calm at their impeccably designed offices in an industrial building loaded with natural light streaming from the windows with views of the East River and the Manhattan Skyline. I immediately felt welcomed and it was also a huge relief to see so many women in the room. As someone who has worked in tech most of my career, I’ve been accustomed to often being one of the few women in rooms and only one on panels at events from London to San Francisco. I started seeing a pattern here that there is probably a 50/50 male to female ratio at Climate Week events and in Hatch’s case, there were more women in the room. It was comforting to immediately see Harald Neidhardt from futur.io who produces the much anticipated CSO Awards (Chief Sustainability Officer) at Climate Week and at the World Economic Forum (WEF). I’ve known Harald for 20+ years from us both being early founders of e-commerce startups. I was also greeted warmly by our host Yarrow and was introduced to two stylish women, Manuella Cantalice and Carolina Llano. Carolina is of Brazilian heritage who lives in London and is the founder of New Animal Ventures which “unites allies to amplify ground realities and frontline voices in climate finance.” There was definitely not going to be small talk at Hatch. Carolina I learned is the Director of Art, Design, Technology, @Public Design Commission for the NYC Office of the Mayor and is currently working with BIG on the design of a more climate resilient waterfront. A delicious array of hors d’oeuvres and charcuterie beckoned to me and over bites of manchego cheese and figs, I was able to meet Daniela H., who is the brilliant co-founder of Dynex, a quantum computing firm with ethical chips based out of Zurich. Another woman whom I was immediately drawn to was Ortega Pittman who was fashionable and effervescent. She glowed and was lit from within as she spoke about her work on King Charles’ Sustainable Markets Initiatives with the goal to "convene top organizations from industry and the financial services, alongside governments, to innovating, accelerating and delivering on a just, sustainable and prosperous future."

Once B enjamin von Wong and other speakers such as Atossa Soltani of Amazon Watch arrived, Yarrow gathered all of the attendees in a huge circle and asked us to introduce ourselves. This was a great ice-breaker and made it even more difficult to determine with whom one should speak as every single attendee had a fascinating story and job pertaining to impact and climate solutions.

Benjamin gave an entertaining presentation of how he uses art to educate the general public about the dangers of plastics and toxins in our environment. He showed us his most recent work of a sculpture made of garbage found in the Himalayas left behind by mountaineers climbing Mount Everest.

Altos Soltani of Amazon Watch is the director of global strategy for the Amazon Sacred Headwaters Initiative. She spoke about her work to protect one of the most bio-diverse ecosystems on Earth. The initiative is led by an alliance of Amazonian indigenous nations of Ecuador and Peru, with support from Fundacion Pachamama, Amazon Watch and the Pachamama Alliance.

My favorite part of the HATCH event was after the talks, Kai-Uwe Bergmann, a partner at BIG and the evening’s co-host gave us a tour of their architectural models used for climate mitigation solutions for the entire NYC coastline which BIG has been involved with to make more resilient since Hurricane Sandy (they received 1/3 of a billion dollar budget from former Mayor Bloomberg). I was living on the Williamsburg waterfront during Hurricane Sandy and have seen firsthand how a superstorm can decimate the city and disrupt the lives of its citizens so hearing first hand of the process to protect NYC from future storms made me feel more secure about living in NYC. Another impressive project involved NASA for whom BIG is designing a 3-D printing robotic space vehicle for moon settlements which will print structures for habitation made with found materials such as moon dust.

During the tour I also had the privilege of meeting philanthropist Daniel Sheth and his daughter who is a high school student in Connecticut and is actively involved with the decisions related to their family office investments. Apparently Daniel used to manage the family office of one of America's top tech founders/CEOs for 18 years. After the Hatch event, I saw Daniel at four more Climate Week events including a private dinner at Cafe Boulud, a PVBLIC Foundation party at the Virgin Hotel, and at the Transformative Impact Summit Family Office and Philanthropy day at Neuehouse.

We ended the evening watching the sunset at BIG’s rooftop with expansive views with shots of tequila. What an inspiring and creatively and intellectually stimulating day and evening. Thanks Yarrow and Kai-Uwe for a fantastic event!

With Youth and Global Leaders at Climate Week NY

Fri, 18 Oct 2024 15:03:46 GMT

An exciting start to Climate Week spent with youth and global leaders in NYC and at the United Nations.

Climate Week NYC was a whirlwind with over 600 day and evening events over the course of the week which expanded into two between pre and post week events. I’d like to highlight some of the inspiring people whom I’ve met and events I've attended which made it so worthwhile for me to return to New York City and be part of Climate Week.

At the UN for "Building Inter-Generational Collaboration and Celebrating the Future with Youth and SDG Localization" symposium by GloCha

one of the first events I attended was a pre-Climate Week event on September 18th, to which I was invited by Emilie McGlone, Executive Director of Peace Boat and Blue Planet Alliance. The symposium was held at the United Nations with the intention for “Building Inter-Generational Collaboration and Celebrating the Future with Youth and SDG Localization." I've known Emilie for many years through her work with Parties for Peace, a non-profit event production company she founded to promote world peace through art, music and events. Emily’s talk at the UN Pact for the Future which covered the “...environmental crises that pose the most pressing and serious threats to the sustainability of our planet and the well-being of its present and future inhabitants and have disproportionate effects on developing countries.” The UN side event at the Summit of the Future focused on engagement and empowerment for ocean and climate action for youth, in particular from Small Island Developing States (SIDS). I feel deeply about how my birth country, the Philippines is among the most vulnerable countries impacted by climate change and extreme weather so I was grateful to be in the room at the UN Trusteeship Council Chamber for these important conversations. The event showcased the importance of youth in getting involved in scaling up ocean action, and their inclusion in the front lines of advocacy for the ocean and climate crises. It was inspiring to hear the intergenerational speakers discuss future developments and collaborations for empowerment and engagement of youth for the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development.

The second event I attended was with Global Society who participated in the Fridays for the Future parade, founded by youth climate activist Greta Thunberg, on September 20th. I was invited to be part of the delegation by Marc Buckley of ALOHAS whom I met in Venice, Italy at the Kinnernet conference in 2019. Global Society is an organization founded by Dr. Cristoph Geisler to “unite a global civil society to negotiate relevant urgent issues.” The events Global Society were a part of included the Summit of the Future Action Days, the Summit of the Future, the United Nations Global Compact Leaders Summit, and the 79th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA79). According to their press release the mission of Global Society includes addressing “…the reformation of institutions, the impending failure of the SDGs and other topics such as peace restoration, systems confrontation, re-naturalization and more specific topics like circular economy and child slavery. The agenda setting has been done by members of the global civil society representing all regions and sectors of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The results of these talks will form the foundation for the future form of joint civil cooperation on global challenges.” I’m honored to be part of the Global Society delegation as I’m an advocate for peace, re-naturalization or “rewilding,” circular economy, and ending child slavery and child marriage.

At the Friday for the Futures march, I was inspired by the passionate indigenous and youth leaders who led the parade with their voices and signs demanding for the transition to clean energy and to vote for climate as they took us from Foley Square in downtown Manhattan, to crossing the Brooklyn Bridge to City Hall. It was also great to see influential leaders such as Dr. Cristoph Geisler (Global Society), Marc Buckley (ALOHAS and Global Society) and Henk Rogers (Blue Planet Alliance ) have their boots on the ground and march along with the indigenous and youth leaders and help amplify their voices.

I want to express gratitude to Elliott Bayev of Transformative Impact Summit who was a catalyst for my return to NYC for Climate Week. I met Elliott in Austin in January at the Intergen Family Office conference hosted by Sofia and David Chang. After learning of Transformative's future plans and growth, they became my client and Earthlings helped Elliott and his cofounders Gloria Kimbwala and Taylor Kendal with an update of their brand identity. We developed a new logo, website and enhanced social media presence in order to magnify their work and get high profile speakers and attendees for the Transformative Impact Summit September 27-29 and a separate Family Office and Philanthropists day at the end of Climate Week. The summit focused on creating impact which is near and dear to me and featured entrepreneurs and investors in ecological, economic, social and technological transformation. I was more than happy to invite friends Andrew Yang (Forward Party), Marc Buckley (ALOHAS), Daniela Fernandez (Sustainable Oceans Alliance) and Michelle Li (Women and Climate) to be among the inspiring notable speakers.

From Hyper Consumer to Carbon Minimalist

Mon, 10 Jun 2024 19:58:09 GMT

A reckoning of how I lived and worked contributed to climate change...

I’ve made a well-paid living as a consumption instigator and am now atoning for my sins. I was formerly a tech startup entrepreneur and a fashion e-commerce exec who was profiled by Plum Sykes in Vogue and described as “an executive Bond girl.” Jason Binn featured me in the premier issue of Gotham Magazine with Liv Tyler on the cover as one of twelve “Gotham Girls Who Run New York” along with heiresses Nicky Hilton and Casey Johnson and was dressed in Oscar dela Renta for the spread. For my work as a CEO who raised millions for my e-commerce startup boutiqueY3k in 2000, Jason Calacanis’ Silicon Alley Reporter included me among the inaugural “Silicon Alley 100” where real estate magnate Bill Rudin and Elon Musk BFF Adeo Ressi were also included. So why did I give up my loft apartment, give away all my clothes, and pack my dog, my son and one suitcase to live in a solar-powered treehouse in Tulum?

I was one of a handful of women startup CEOs when I founded boutiqueY3k in 1998 which I bootstrapped for two years prior to getting funded by VCs. The businesses I launched generated plenty of carbon especially when I helped enable European luxury brands such as Burberry, Frette and La Perla to sell goods 24/7, in multiple languages and currencies to customers around the globe. The campaigns I helped create and websites I’ve managed drove millions in sales and drove shoppers to click and purchase whatever they wanted whenever they wanted. With the right pictures and copy we could sell almost anything within 5 clicks and in less than 3 minutes — from $150 dog bowls to $4000 duvets. We tracked customer data and purchase habits and were privy to when Wall Street bankers would purchase 34B and 36DD bras and which went to wives versus mistresses. We spent hours strategizing on how to attract customers we didn’t previously have and deployed geo-targeted ads based on whether customers drove a Mercedes or a Prius or drank sauvignon blanc or craft beer. I myself had closets full of designer clothes as dressing the part of a luxury customer was necessary especially when my office was right next door to Bergdorf’s and across the street from the Plaza Hotel. When I was being recruited by private equity firm JH Partners in 2006 to work for their portfolio company La Perla I was given a $30,000 annual clothing allowance as part of my package on top of a six figure salary. When I spearheaded the launch of Burberry’s e-commerce business in 2003, I dressed my toddler son in Burberry polo shirts, outerwear, and boots and sent him to a posh pre-school in the Upper East Side. I received a bonus when at launch we oversold our inventory by $1.5 million and had to pull merchandise from the flagship 57th Street store to fulfill orders. My venture-backed startup StyleTrek which Cathy Horyn featured on the front page of the NY Times Style section in 2010 carried crowd-sourced fashions and accessories from Argentina to Bali including now fashionista fave Nanushka from Budapest. During this time, I drove my son to school in a Mercedes-Benz ML350 black SUV on my way to work totally oblivious of the amount of carbon I was emitting. I was a pioneer in cross-border commerce and StyleTrek sold fashions to over 90 countries. So yes, I was complicit in the 22% of global CO2 emissions stemming from the production of goods that are, ultimately, consumed in a different country.

In Tulum we explored the deserted beaches full of sea turtle nests, rode our bikes on empty streets where crabs basked in the sun, and and swam in the warmth of the Caribbean Sea from sunrise to sunset. On our walks we picked up plastic that washed up on the shores — apparently originating from consumers coming from 52 countries. At times our solar power ran out — fans, lights and wifi would shut down. We gladly traded the climate-controlled buildings of New York City for the off grid life along with sounds of birds, bugs and coati living in the mangroves. My long haul covid — chest pains, lethargy, and dizziness and Mateo’s depression lifted within 5 days. I made our meals on the two burner propane stove on the terrace facing the mangrove forest with groceries we bought at Super Aki, accessible via a 30-minute bike ride into town. Fresh mangoes, papayas and grapefruit costing less than a dollar a pound arrived via a truck that passed by twice a day. We settled in our simpler life, filled our lungs with pollution-free oxygen, preferring our one room solar powered treehouse over the 2 bedroom loft we left in NYC.

I had plenty of time to think of our lives back in NY while away from the bombardment of the 24/7 CNN & FOX news cycle — our treehouse had no TV and only intermittent wifi. Our solar powered electricity would also cut out if two of us spent too much time on our MacBooks. To co-work with more stable wifi for zooms, we biked to a nearby hotel and booked day access passes for $20. In June 2020, most of the hotels in Tulum were closed and had laid off their employees. At the supermarket I met unemployed yoga teachers who made sandwiches and sold them in the parking lot for income. On the beaches Mexican children as young as 5 whose parents were unemployed from lack of tourism would come up to us to sell coconuts they took down from trees that lined the shores. Young women from Argentina would approach me and sell beautiful jewelry they hand-crafted at home for $15. We did my best to support the local economy.

My interactions with Mexican locals made me contemplate the expansive supply chains I had been a part of and the “Global E-commerce Checklist” keynote I delivered in Barcelona at the Global E-commerce Summit in 2011. Much of fashion and luxury goods have components made by lower-waged factories in Asia or South America, shipped to Europe and/or US then shipped to distribution warehouses and stores, so they can be packaged, shipped and sold to customers. As of 2019, 62 metric tons of apparel have been consumed worldwide. This number doesn’t include millions of excess inventory of which 30% are left unsold that often get trashed, wind up in landfills or shipped to Ghana . As many countries are now undergoing extreme heat, drought and water shortages, to know that it takes 10,000 liters of water to produce one kilogram of cotton or approximately 3,000 liters of water for one cotton shirt, it’s hard to digest that girls in Africa are being married off younger and younger in exchange for cows and goats as drought cause crops to fail and cattle to die. Plus textile dyeing requires toxic chemicals that subsequently end up in our oceans. Approximately 20% of the wastewater worldwide is attributed to this process, which accumulates over time. Is it possible to create Pantone’s color of the year without poisoning our waters and the planet? Don’t even get me started about cancer-causing micro-plastics from synthetic fibers made from petroleum and PFAs that are now winding up in the fish we eat and water we drink.

I don’t want to preach, but don’t we have enough brilliant and conscious business leaders and innovators who can lead the charge in producing more sustainably and support a more circular economy? We don’t want factory workers from Bangladesh to Bologna to be without jobs, but how can we have more efficient supply chains, scale back production based on demand, and stop polluting our planet with microplastic from fibers and toxic dyes?

According to the Environmental Protection Agency 85% of textiles ended up in landfills or were burned in 2018. A benefit of lockdown in the past few years, was that many bored consumers with time to kill Marie Kondo’d their closets and resold their clothes on sites like the The Real Real and Poshmark. According to Thredup, the secondhand clothing market is expected to triple and grow from from $28 billion in 2019 to $80 billion in 2029. Teens in particular even those who are from upper income households are buying thrift and supporting second hand marketplaces like Depop. I’m not surprised since I’ve been buying thrift since high school especially since I could not afford the brands or cuts I wanted back then. But during my 20s I started buying new and designer clothes “to look the part of the job I want” as magazines from Cosmo to Glamour preached on their pages. But something else is happening here — according to PiperSandler teens ranked environmental issues highly as a political and social topic they care about. Greta Thunberg’s efforts are clearly resonating with this age group. More brands are getting in on the action to control their resale price and get a piece of their second hand marketshare. Brands are now reselling their own pre-worn merchandise — Patagonia has wornwear.patagonia.com , Levi’s has secondhand.levi.com and Northface has thenorthfacerenewed.com .

After one month in Tulum, I decided to truly empty my nest. We returned to our Williamsburg apartment and we gave away all of its contents including a ficus tree, paintings I’ve purchased and created, and 8 wardrobe boxes of designer clothes and 5 boxes of shoes. In August 2020 I dropped off my son Mateo at Penn State to start his freshman year and two days later, boarded a plane back to Mexico with my dog Shorty and one suitcase. In the next two years I lived a low-carbon life in Mexico. I biked everywhere, lived in off-the-grid in un-airconditioned homes — from thatched roofed huts to tents, bought locally grown produce which I cooked myself and lived contently in my simpler minimal carbon lifestyle.

Now I’m back in the US, living nomadically, consuming consciously (buying local and circular), living minimally (out of a suitcase), plastic-free (no single use plastic). I'm still consuming but being more mindful and intentional with my purchases. Quality over quantity and researching brands from vitamins to footwear if they are ethical, sustainable, and are healthy for us and our children. I also have been intentional with brands I work with, accepting consulting projects with impact and sustainability minded companies who are creating amazing products while doing good.

I also started creating regenerative art and collaborating with innovators to call attention to the fragility of the world’s ecosystems to help promote circular construction and renewable energy.

Thank you for following my journey. If you are into sustainability, fighting climate change and would like to like to collaborate on projects that are good for humanity and the planet, please contact me.