In the second Sustainability Snapshots session at Stanford GSB's third annual Climate, Business & Innovation Summit on February 10, 2021, Brad Kintzer and Stephanie Benedetto shared their "green take" on what it means to create sustainable change and discussed the surprising way responding to the climate 'alarm clock' impacted their direction.

View the agenda from the Climate, Business & Innovation Summit 2021 here: https://docs.google.com/presentation/...

Brad Kintzer, Chief Chocolate Maker at TCHO, covered how chocolate is made in West Africa, from bean to bar, and how climate change is challenging this status quo. Prior to joining TCHO, Brad was chocolate maker and product developer at U.S. bean-to-bar pioneer, Scharffen Berger (acquired by The Hershey Company in 2005). Previous to his 20 years of chocolate making, Brad studied botany and environmental studies at the University of Vermont, and spent months working on cacao plantations throughout Latin America to better understand the origins of chocolate flavor. At TCHO since 2009, Brad and his team are focused on innovating in every aspect of chocolate making; from cocoa genetics, fermentation and roasting, to developing unique and tasty chocolate products for-market. Brad is currently president of the Fine Chocolate Industry Association and serves on the board of the Heirloom Cacao Preservation Fund.

Stephanie Benedetto, Co-Founder of Queen of Raw, illuminated how Queen of Raw, a marketplace to buy and sell unused textiles, is tackling the massive challenge of textile waste and turning pollution into profit. Stephanie is a corporate attorney turned fashion tech and sustainability entrepreneur. Prior to starting Queen of Raw, Stephanie worked as a lawyer in the fashion, entertainment, and technology industries and co-founded a sustainable textile manufacturing facility. As an advocate for women in business and sustainability, her companies have been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Vogue, the United Nations, and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, just to name a few. And among her many accolades, Stephanie is part of Inc.’s 2020 Female Founders 100 list, a Grand Prize WeWork Creator Awards Winner, a Cartier Women's Initiative Laureate, and an MIT - Solve Global Challenge Winner.

The speakers were introduced by Jennifer Bae, MS ’21, Sustainability Science and Practice, and GSB Climate Summit Organizer