This timely webinar is designed for climate economy businesses and organizations navigating a challenging new landscape. With federal support of clean energy projects being pulled and the very premise of the need for climate action questioned at every turn, project developers and company leadership must be ready to lead and defend. This session offers strategies, messaging guidance, and real-world examples to help you protect your reputation and credibility, compellingly convey your mission and impact, and strike down misinformation.

Speakers

Joe Curtatone, President, ACT

Before stepping into the role of ACT President, Joseph A. Curtatone forged a reputation for being one of the most innovative mayors in the United States as the nine-term Mayor of Somerville, MA. That includes Somerville being named one of only 95 cities in the world to make the CDP Cities A-List for climate planning and action. He also spearheaded a comprehensive net-zero action plan for his city with a strong focus on equity.

During his tenure, Curtatone embraced data-driven decision making, employed systems-based solutions to community issues and was an innovator in healthy city initiatives. He has forged regional coalitions to tackle issues around transportation, housing and COVID-19 pandemic response. He also worked to establish Somerville as a leader in climate technology, recruiting Greentown Labs to the city, where it has been steadily growing since 2013. Thanks to his pursuit of cutting-edge industries, Somerville saw its workforce increase by more than 40% during his tenure as the city became the home to billions of dollars of new economic activity. Curtatone also did significant work to reshape the city. In 2014, Somerville opened the first new station in Greater Boston's core light rail transit system in 27 years, and soon it will open six more new stations as part of the first major expansion of that system since the 1980s. In addition, during his time in office Somerville built a network of more than 40 miles of bicycle lanes inside a city of just 4.1 square miles.

He is a graduate of the Harvard Kennedy School, the New England School of Law and Boston College. A father of four, Curtatone also has been a longtime high school and youth sports coach.

Justine Griffin, Principal, Rasky Partners

As a principal at Rasky Partners, Justine leads the firm’s public relations practice where she specializes in working with clients who find themselves at the nexus of media, government and business. She specializes in crisis communications and issues management, specialty areas for which the firm is well known.

In crisis and reputation management, clients come to Justine and her team when the stakes are high, including bet-the-company litigation, government investigations, high-profile business disputes, data breach, mergers or other reputation threats for businesses and nonprofits throughout New England, Washington DC and beyond. The team provides strategic counsel to leading institutions, global corporations, major health care players, corporate boards, companies, colleges and universities as well as nonprofits and trade associations.

In issues management and advocacy, Justine works with clients seeking to move and shape public opinion around issues being debated and deliberated upon in the halls of Congress and statehouses, as well as initiative petitions that will ultimately be voted upon by the electorate.

Kevin Conroy, Foley Hoag

Kevin Conroy is a partner in Foley Hoag’s Administrative Law Department, with a primary focus on state regulatory matters and government investigations. He co-chairs the firm’s State Attorneys General group.

Kevin has considerable experience developing proactive strategies to guide clients through every aspect of a state’s regulatory process, including attorney general investigations, cannabis and gaming licensing and administrative hearings. He has advised many large companies in matters before state Attorneys General Offices, cannabis regulatory bodies and public utility commissions.

Kevin knows firsthand how government investigations work, and has helped companies find workable solutions within highly scrutinized industries. His work with DraftKings led to first-in-the-nation regulations around fantasy sports, ultimately avoiding an outright ban in Massachusetts and providing a roadmap forward for many other states. Kevin represents a variety of cannabis investors and operators regarding state licensing matters, including approvals to open and changes in ownership.

Joe Dalton, Vice President, Government & Regulatory Affairs, ENGIE North America Inc.

Joe Dalton was named Vice President, Government & Regulatory Affairs covering federal issues on behalf of ENGIE North America Inc., on July 1, 2024. He is based in Washington, DC.

With over 2300 employees in North America, ENGIE NA manages a range of energy businesses in the United States and Canada, including clean power generation and cogeneration, retail energy sales, and comprehensive services to help customers run their facilities in a more efficient and optimized manner.

Joe is a seasoned professional highly regarded within the company where he is in his nineteenth year, and by external stakeholders across the spectrum – public officials and policy makers, trade association leaders, commercial counterparties, and professional colleagues from within the energy industry and business community more broadly. He was most recently serving as (ENA Project Director) President & CEO of the Medical Area Total Energy Plant (MATEP) asset serving the trigeneration (steam, electricity and chilled water) needs of Harvard Medical School and its affiliated hospitals and research institutions in the Longwood Medical Area in Boston.

Prior to serving in this commercial role, Joe covered G&RA issues in New England and Washington on behalf of ENGIE NA’s portfolio which consisted of a renewable and fossil power generation fleet, C&I retail, and the Everett LNG terminal – and Joe represented ENA’s interests while navigating the global, federal, state, and local political and policy landscapes. Before joining (then Suez Energy NA), Joe served in leadership roles for U.S. Representative (now U.S. Senator) Ed Markey for fourteen years in Massachusetts and Washington, DC.

Joe is a graduate of Wesleyan University in CT and serves on the Board of Directors of the New England Council; is a President Emeritus and former Member, Board of Directors of the Northeast Energy and Commerce Association; and is on the Board of Directors at the Arlington (MA) Boys and Girls Club.