John Elkington
Founder SustainAbility and Founding Partner & Director Volans (UK)
Co-founder of SustainAbility in 1987, and Founding Partner & Director of Volans, John Elkington is a world authority on corporate responsibility and sustainable development. In 2004, BusinessWeek described him as “a dean of the corporate responsibility movement for three decades.”  In 2008, The Evening Standard named John among the '1000 Most Influential People' in London, describing him as "a true green business guru," and as "an evangelist for corporate social and environmental responsibility long before it was fashionable."

Volans, launched in April 2008 aims to find, explore, advise on and build innovative scalable solutions to the great global divides that overshadow the future.   Volans’ first report, The Phoenix Economy: 50 Pioneers in the Business of Social Innovation, explores a new economic order rising from the ashes with a new generation of innovators, entrepreneurs and investors accelerating the changes essential for delivering scaleable sustainable solutions to the world.

 Over time, John has authored or co-authored 17 books. His most recent explores the work of leading social and environmental entrepreneurs.  Co-authored with Pamela Hartigan, Director of the The Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship at the Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, The Power of Unreasonable People: How Social Entrepreneurs Create Markets That Change the World, was published by Harvard Business School Press on 5 February 2008.  

John’s previous books include 1988’s million-selling Green Consumer Guide and Cannibals with Forks: The Triple Bottom Line of 21st Century Business (1997). He has also written hundreds of articles for newspapers, magazines and journal and has written or co-written some 40 published reports.

John writes monthly columns for Epoca Negocios in Brazil, Nikkei Ecology in Japan, Chinadialogue in China and UK and Director Magazine, UK. 

John has spoken at over 500 conferences and other events throughout the world, among them the annual meetings of the World Economic Forum, of which he was a Faculty member from 2002 to 2008. He moderated sessions in New York (2002), at Davos (2003 through to 2008) and in Palo Alto (2007) and Dalian, China (2007). 

In terms of other hats, John is a Visiting Professor at the Doughty Centre for Corporate Responsibility at the Cranfield School of Management.  He chairs The Environment Foundation and the Aflatoun Impact and Policy Analysis Steering Group and is an Honorary Fellow of The Hub and also the Institute of Green Professionals. John is also a member of strategic advisory boards for, among others: 2degrees Venture Partners; the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes; EcoVadis; Gaia Energy; the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), Greenopolis.com; Instituto Ethos; Physic Ventures; Polecat UK and a Cleantech Fund developed by Zouk Ventures.  John is also a Senior Advisor to the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, a member of the WWF Council of Ambassadors, a member of the Evian Group Brain Trust and Council of Global Thought Leaders, the Global Leaders Academy; the Sea Change Advisory Board. John has recently joined the newly formed Cleantech Group LLC’s Cleantech Innovation Council. John was a Faculty member of the World Economic Forum from 2002-2008.

John Strongman
World Bank (USA)
John Strongman’s career with the Mining Group of the World Bank spans nearly thirty years.  During this time John has been involved in a range of mining exploration and development issues globally and had responsibility for over US1.3 billion in lending.

As the Mining Adviser, John played a key role in coordinating the World Bank’s Extractive Industries Review, with its strong emphasis on improving community level impacts of mining projects and global level impacts related to climate change, and the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative which addresses transparency of payments between companies and governments.

John’s work experience covers a broad range of mineral policy and governance issues including mineral legislation and regulations; mining taxation; mining sector institutional development; mineral economics; minerals markets; ownership and financing of exploration and mining projects; environmental protection including mine site reclamation, and  community, social and mining-related gender issues.   John has driven projects and advised governments in all regions of the world including:

• Mexico, Chile, Peru, Jamaica and Ecuador in Latin America;
• Botswana, Ghana, Tanzania, Zambia, Madagascar and Mozambique in Africa;
• Russia, Poland, Turkey and Romania in Europe, and
• Indonesia, India, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Mongolia and Afghanistan in Asia.

Following his retirement, John has continued to work as an advisor at the World Bank and his current focus is on coal development in Botswana, mining development in Papua New Guinea, coal and minerals development in Pakistan and mining community and gender-related issues in Peru.

Paul J Dowd
Managing Director of Phoneix Copper, Chiarman of Adelaide Resources, SA Resources & Engineering Skills Alliance, Resources & Energy Sector Infrastructure Council, non-executive Director of Oz Minerals & Northgate Minerals

Principal PJ Dowd & Associates Pty Ltd, a mining engineer, has a professional career spanning more than 40 years, primarily in the private sector, but also served in the Public Sector as head of the Victorian Mines and Petroleum Departments during the Kennett State Government.  .

In 2006 he resigned from the position of Managing Director of Newmont Australia Limited and Vice President Australia and NZ.  Prior to the merger with Newmont and Franco-Nevada, he was Group Executive – Operations for Normandy Mining Limited with responsibility for the group’s global managed mining interests, including eight Australian operations and four spread over Africa, Europe and Asia.