Wolcott J. Humphrey III Symposium

Press release:

This spring the Wolcott J. Humphrey III Symposium on Leadership and Community Life will return to Genesee Community College. The Symposium honors the memory of Wolcott (Jay) Humphrey, a highly-respected business and community leader who passed away in 2001. Jay dedicated time, resources, and energetic leadership to the college and the GLOW Region. He saw himself as a change agent and encouraged friends and colleagues to develop leadership and change management skills. The Symposium is facilitated by the Genesee Community College Foundation.

As in the past, this year’s Symposium will feature a distinguished speaker and panelists with the purpose of creating an energetic and informative dialogue that will greatly benefit the civic, business, and professional community. Participants will be able to take real-life ideas and techniques back to their organizations and community.

To date, there have been eight Symposiums. Speakers have included Jim Boeheim, B. Thomas Golisano, Honorable William Hudnut III, Dr. Donna Fernandes, Paul Speranza, Fred Grandy, Jerry Greenfield, and most recently Jack Uldrich. This year the focus will be on Climate Change and Sustainability. We are pleased to announce Peter Boyd as the keynote speaker. Peter is a Lecturer at the Yale School of the Environment, a Lecturer in the Practice of Management and a Resident Fellow at the Yale Center for Business and the Environment. He is passionate about system change to a “Net -Zero” world: from writing and speaking to directly helping groups that are accelerating the transition. Peter’s accomplishments are numerous and his expertise and experience will drive a great experience for participants.

In addition to Peter Boyd, the Symposium will feature a panel of experts in various areas impacted and associated with Climate Change and Sustainability. The panel will be moderated by Dr. Benjamin Houlton, the Ronald P. Lynch Dean of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University. Panelists include William Carleton, General Manager, Solar O&M, Clearway Energy; Andrew March, CEO, Plug Power; Suzanne Hunt, Co-Owner of Hunt Country Vineyards and Curt Gooch, Dairy Science Expert, Land O’Lakes.

Participants will not only have the opportunity to hear the comments of Mr. Boyd and our panelists but will take part in facilitated table talks to further the discussion on Climate Change and Sustainability. The Foundation is focusing on GLOW Region business leaders, Genesee County Economic Development Center, Genesee Valley Educational Partnership and Orleans Niagara School District Leaders and students. We are encouraging businesses to send a leadership team.

In addition, participants will have the opportunity to learn about GCC’s new Solar Electric Technician Certificate. Renewable energy in the form of solar electric (photovoltaic) grid systems are expanding rapidly throughout New York State both residential and commercially. According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the demand for photovoltaic energy workers is projected to increase 50% or require 6,000 new workers over the next ten years. GCC’s new technical training lab is outfitted with state-of-art tools and equipment to provide students hands-on, practical training with individualized attention for the novice learner to the experienced mechanic. GCC provides a safe, convenient, and welcoming environment with campus amenities such as athletic facilities, library, food service, and student academic support services.

The Symposium will be presented on April 21 with a timeline of 9:00 AM to 1:30 PM. The Symposium will be held in the Richard C. Call Arena. Lunch will be provided. The cost will be $20.00 per participant. Student tickets are free. The event will be live-streamed with access available to registered participants.

We expect that this will be a meaningful event that will challenge our thinking and leadership and help to shape a positive and productive future for our area.

Additional information is available at https://gccfoundationinc.org/humphrey/

Thomas A. Cox
President
Genesee Community College Foundation.

Press release:

Six successful leaders will provide an active discussion on "Climate Change and Sustainability" at the 2022 Wolcott J. Humphrey III Symposium on Leadership and Community Life on April 21, 2022 at 9:00 a.m. at the Richard C. Call Arena on the Genesee Community College's Batavia Campus.

The opening presentation by keynote, Peter Boyd, CEO & Founder of Time4Good and Resident Fellow at Yale Center for Business and Development, will be followed by a panel moderated by Dr. Benjamin Houlton, Dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University. A luncheon will be provided with the opportunity for groups to network afterward.

Speakers are distinguished in their areas of expertise and innovation to the challenges of climate change.

Dr. Benjamin Z. Houlton is the Ronald P. Lynch Dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and a Cornell University professor in the Departments of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and of Global Development. An accomplished international scientist, his research interests include global ecosystem processes, climate change solutions, and agricultural sustainability. As founding co-chair of the California Collaborative for Climate Change solutions, Ben works with researchers from key research institutions to accelerate the translation of research findings into practical climate solutions. He also directs more than 100 acres of farmland carbon sequestration projects to improve crop yields and create new financial markets for farmers and ranchers. Ben has published his research in leading scientific journals including Nature, Science and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. As part of his mission to connect scientific discovery with the public, he is also a frequent guest on regional and national news programs.

Andrew J. Marsh joined Plug Power as president and CEO in April 2008. Under his leadership, Plug Power has been a leading innovator in the alternative energy field, helping create an entirely new hydrogen fuel cell (HFC) market in the material handling space as the world moves towards electrification in mobility applications. This new market has proven to be one of the first successful endeavors to commercialize HFC technology. Today, the firm's fuel cell solutions, including its GenKey suite and ProGen engine line, are leveraged by global marketplace leaders such as Amazon, Walmart and Carrefour to power industrial electric vehicles.

William D. Carleton is general manager, Solar Operations and Maintenance at Clearway Energy Group based in Scottsdale, Arizona. Will is responsible for overseeing the safe and reliable operations of 15 utility-, 275 commercial-, and industrial-scale solar assets across the United States totaling over 1500 megawatts of generation capacity. Under his leadership, Clearway has rapidly become one of the top solar owners/operators in the country. This has been accomplished through a dedication to the people who work for him and ensuring that not only are they able to handle all technical issues that arise but are also good stewards of the communities in which they operate.

Suzanne Hunt is co-owner of Hunt Country Vineyards, her family's seventh-generation farm and 40-year-old winery in the Finger Lakes. She is also policy director for Generate Capital which finances, builds, owns, and operates sustainable infrastructure projects in North America, South America, and Europe. From 2007 to 2021 Suzanne was a cleantech and climate policy consultant solving problems in energy, agriculture, and transportation. Her firm Hunt Green LLC's clients included a wide variety of private equity firms, government agencies, startups, Fortune 500 companies, and nonprofits. At the winery, Suzanne has spearheaded a multitude of sustainability and climate resilience efforts - including energy efficiency, geothermal heating/cooling, solar PV, micro-wind, soil health, carbon sequestration, sustainable building materials, waste reduction, wildlife habitat, and advocacy. In 2021 Suzanne and her parents were recognized by Wine Business Monthly as some of the top leaders who shape the way the wine industry operates.

Curt A. Gooch is a Dairy Environmental System Solutions Expert at Land O'Lakes and a Cornell Senior Extension Associate Emeritus. Curt found his passion for animal agriculture early in life and has been fortunate to work professionally for over 30 years serving the US dairy industry. His unique combination of on-farm experience, professional preparation, technical experience, and industry leadership on environmental sustainability has resulted in positive impacts at the farm, milk shed, state, regional and national levels. He works extensively across the US and abroad, contributing towards dairy environmental, economic, and social sustainability with the goal of having dairy products on sustainable food plates. Curt is a technical and practical expert in the cradle to farm gate dairy environmental systems encompassing dairy facilities and management, cow comfort and well-being, manure handling, advanced manure treatment for energy recovery (anaerobic digestion) and nutrient recovery, environmental impact reduction and assessment, farmstead greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions quantification, mitigation, and off-farm offsets. He serves on the Innovation Center for US Dairy Environmental Stewardship Committee and the National Milk Producers Environmental Issues Committee. Curt earned a Master of Science degree in biological resources engineering and a Bachelor of Science degree in agricultural engineering, both from the University of Maryland College Park, and became a licensed professional engineer in 1996. Curt utilizes his farm upbringing to approach work from a systems solution's perspective based on identified end goals. He thrives when working with others committed to common outcomes and targeted impacts.

Peter Boyd teaches and coaches a wide variety of students, executives, and teams on 'Connected Leadership' and the opportunities arising from leading the transition to sustainability. In addition to his lecturer positions at Yale and consulting work with Time4Good; he serves on the Expert Peer Review Group for the UN's 'Race To Zero' campaign and is on the Senior Advisory Council for the Integrity Council for Voluntary Carbon Markets. Locally, he is Chair of Sustainable Westport in his hometown. He has worked on, led, and advised, high-growth organizations on leadership, strategy, time maximization, team alignment, and entrepreneurial opportunity. His private-sector experience started with McKinsey & Co then spanned over ten jobs in twelve years at the Virgin Group, including CEO of Virgin Mobile South Africa. In non-profit and government, he was Launch Director and COO of Sir Richard Branson's Carbon War Room; served as Chair of The Energy Efficiency Deployment Office for the UK Department of Energy & Climate Change; and led The B Team's 'Net-Zero by 2050' initiative focused on business encouragement for an ambitious Paris Agreement at COP21.

The Wolcott J. Humphrey III Symposium on Leadership and Community Life is named in honor of Mr. Humphrey who died unexpectedly in 2001. As president of the former Pavilion State Bank and an active member of numerous civic organizations, Mr. Humphrey frequently spoke about the need for a forum where community and business leaders could hear and learn the world's best ideas about leadership. The first symposium was held in 2003 and featured Syracuse University Basketball Coach Jim Boeheim who spoke about leadership and perseverance.

Registration is available online at https://gccfoundationinc.org/humphrey. Lunch is included along with the opportunity to network with others.