2025 Population Health Innovation Summit

Sherri Goodman, a pioneer in sustainability and national security, is among the most respected international voices on emerging global risks, including energy and climate security, environment and public health.

She is renowned for being the first Pentagon chief environmental officer, sustainability and national security expert and author of Threat Multiplier. Her career accomplishments include serving as the Pentagon’s first deputy undersecretary of defense (environmental security) and directing efforts to transform the Department of Defense into a sustainability, climate resilience, and advanced energy leader.

An experienced “change agent” for large institutions, Goodman has been recognized for her ability to blend a compelling strategic vision with operational execution to strengthen national security and mission readiness. As the founder and first executive director of the CNA Military Advisory Board on Climate Change and National Security, she led the first efforts to assess the national security implications of climate change as a strategic imperative. This work resulted in more than a decade of bipartisan action on building energy and climate resilience in defense missions while protecting our troops’ resilience and health from growing biological and other health risks. Using her famous coinage “threat multiplier,” Sherri is credited with educating a generation of U.S. military and government officials about the nexus between climate change and national security, fundamentally shaping the field of climate and energy security.

Today, Sherri serves as the secretary general of the International Military Council on Climate & Security, the leading international organization for national security and military leaders on climate and energy security, and as a senior fellow at the Wilson Center. She is also a sought-after speaker for domestic and international audiences, has taught and delivered lectures at numerous universities, appeared in several films, and testified before congressional committees as a leading authority on sustainability, energy, and climate security. Sherri has received prestigious awards such as the Department of Defense Distinguished Service Award, the Environmental Protection Agency’s Climate Change Award, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Environmental Peacebuilding Association, as well as an honorary doctorate from Amherst College. Sherri has made guest appearances on CNN, PBS NewsHour, BBC, and NPR, among other major media.

Capital Region Chamber Vice President of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Jason Benitez is responsible for assisting businesses and organizations embark on and advance their DEI journeys as well as furthering the chamber’s strategic mission relevant to DEI. These efforts collectively help to cultivate inclusive economic opportunity for all who call the Capital Region home. Benitez believes that our fullest potential is realized when DEI are the standards we use to strengthen and impact our businesses and communities.

Benitez previously worked for more than 15 years in higher education at the University at Albany, SUNY Schenectady, and Union College, where he served as associate dean of diversity and inclusion. Benitez’s efforts at Union helped the college garner recognition with the Higher Education Excellence in Diversity Award (HEED), given by Insight into Diversity, for six consecutive years. In 2022, the Business Council of New York State awarded the Capital Region Chamber with the statewide Chamber of the Year award, specifically citing the chamber’s DEI efforts as a notable accomplishment.

Benitez has served on the national board of directors for the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives and as chair of their DEI Sub-Division. He is a board member for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Northeast New York Chapter. He also serves on the board of trustees for WMHT, the Capital Region’s local PBS station. Benitez earned his bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, and certificate of advanced study from the University at Albany. He lives in Slingerlands, NY, with his wife and two children.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-benitez-64a269b3/

Manny Cerniglia is the co-founder and CEO of Flyhound, a New-York-based startup dedicated to supporting public safety agencies in their mission of finding people in emergencies.

Flyhound uses advanced drone technology to help locate missing people, especially in emergencies like natural disasters. As climate change increases the frequency and intensity of weather events, Flyhound’s rapid response capabilities can save Iives, reduce health risks for those affected, and help increase communities’ resiliency in the wake of disaster.

Whether missing persons, victims of natural disasters, or criminals endangering communities, Flyhound helps find people much faster than traditional methods, saving lives, time, and money.

Prior to Flyhound, Cerniglia co-founded a travel adventure startup and held positions at AT&T helping build the smartphones that have become ubiquitous in daily life. His decade of experience in telecommunications helped integrate smartphone and drone technology for rapid response in rescue missions.

Abbey DeRocker is the team lead and director of New York Energy Research and Development Authority’s (NYSERDA) large-scale renewables group. She is responsible for executing multifaceted programs that aid in the development and effective operation of large-scale renewable generation resources to satisfy New York’s renewable energy and environmental goals. Under her leadership, NYSERDA has awarded agreements for more than 100 large-scale renewable energy facilities including solar, onshore wind, and hydroelectric facilities, totaling 8.5 gigawatts of new renewable capacity and more than $9.8 billion in investments.

During her tenure at NYSERDA, she has overseen the design and implementation of the renewable energy standard, a key component of New York State’s nation-leading advancement of renewable resources under the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, and Clean Energy Standard.

For more than 20 years, DeRocker held public and private sector leadership roles in the energy sector. Prior to joining NYSERDA, DeRocker served in various management roles with Southern California Edison (SCE). She led the implementation of major initiatives including the enterprise risk management program, greenhouse gas trading, and acid rain program trading with a focus on energy trading, finance, operations, and risk. Prior to moving to Los Angeles, DeRocker served as the manager of the valuation review group for the commodities division of Morgan Stanley in Purchase, New York. In her last role, she led the North American Electricity, North American Natural Gas, Emissions and Global Oil Liquids valuation teams. DeRocker holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics with a concentration in environmental science from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine. A proud native New Yorker, DeRocker is a mom to two girls and does her best to train them in her role as a level 100 NYSSRA/USSA alpine ski coach.

Dr. Matthew A. Nystoriak is an associate professor at the Masonic Medical Research Institute (MMRI) with a distinguished background in cardiovascular research. His work focuses on the mechanisms that regulate blood flow to the heart, how blood vessels function, and how metabolism influences circulation, particularly related to aging.

The Nystoriak Lab studies how various environmental factors affect heart health, function, and the risk of disease. By exploring how the environment and climate impact the heart on a cellular level, Nystoriak and his team help us better understand the connections between environmental exposures and cardiovascular disease, and what can be done to mitigate negative effects.

Nystoriak’s research, supported by the National Institute of Health, American Heart Association, and Federal Drug Administration, also examined how things like tobacco exposure and poor sleep impact heart health. He has helped uncover how changes in the body’s energy use and oxygen levels affect blood vessel function, which could lead to new treatments for heart disease. In addition to his research, Nystoriak is dedicated to mentoring the next generation of scientists and serves on national scientific review committees and editorial boards.

Nystoriak earned his bachelor’s degree in biology and his PhD in pharmacology at the University of Vermont, College of Medicine in Burlington, VT. He completed his postdoctoral training at the University of Washington and University of California, Davis. He has also spoken at several prominent scientific gatherings.

National Grid’s Director Marie Schnitzer, serves as New York distributed generation ombudsperson, and as a liaison with customers, colleagues, and regulators for technologies that generate electricity at or near where it will be used, such as solar panels and combined heat and power. Distributed generation projects can benefit the environment when they reduce the amount of electricity that must be generated at a centralized power plant/grid. Schnitzer oversees projects that are up to five megawatts, which represents large-scale energy capacities within the power industry.

Schnitzer also leads the NYS Interconnection Policy Working Group on behalf of the NY Joint Utilities, which helps guide policy issues for interconnection within New York State while attending to climate change, extreme weather, and environmental conditions. Grid interconnection ties a network of local grids together at a synchronized frequency, which allows the exchange of energy from local grids with surplus power to those having a demand higher than what they can produce locally. Schnitzer also oversees internal efforts at National Grid to improve the interconnection process.

She has spent more than 25 years in the renewable and sustainable energy industries, which span energy storage, non-wires alternatives, utility scale wind and solar, fuel cells, and hydrogen generation. She earned her Bachelor of Science in chemical engineering from Clarkson University and a Master of Business Administration from the College of Saint Rose.

Augusta Williams, ScD, MPH, is an assistant professor at SUNY Upstate Medical University in the Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine. Williams currently works at the intersection of public and occupational health, sustainability, and climate change. She serves as the assistant director of the Central New York Children’s Environmental Health Center and was formerly a heat safety technical expert at the Occupational Health and Safety Administration. Williams’ doctoral and post-doctoral training were completed in environmental health at Harvard University. She earned her Master of Public Health degree from Columbia University and completed her Bachelor of Science in biology and atmospheric sciences from Hobart and William Smith.