BSR at Climate Week NYC and UNGA Week

Date and Time

September 21-September 28, 2025
EDT

Scheduled Speakers

Lara Birkes, Managing Director, Climate and Nature, BSR

Managing Director, Climate and Nature, BSR

San Francisco

Lara is responsible for leading BSR's Climate and Nature team globally and driving the organization’s work with Member companies' impact consulting, grants, and collaborative initiatives.

Lara is a sustainability and policy professional with over fifteen years of experience managing partnerships, sustainability initiatives and policy engagement with companies, international organizations, governments, and NGOs.

Prior to BSR, Lara was Global Head of Sustainability at Sonder, joining in 2020 to establish the corporate responsibility function, implementing policies to engrain responsible business practices across the company pre to post IPO.

She also serves on the Advisory Board of EQX Biome, a start-up working to mobilize financial markets to protect the world’s remaining biodiversity hotspots. In 2024 Lara started hosting a web series & podcast called Nature IS to raise awareness of the critical need for protection, conservation, and regeneration of biodiversity.

Lara holds a B.S. degree in International Business & Management from the University of Montana, a M.A. degree in International Trade Policy from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, California and is a World Economic Forum Global Leadership Fellow.

Recent Insights From Lara Birkes

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Laura Donnelly, Director, Climate and Nature, BSR

Director, Climate and Nature, BSR

New York

Laura leads BSR’s Nature team. Her focus is working with member companies to develop holistic and credible strategic approaches to address nature related impacts and dependencies. These engagements are conducted across industries, with an additional focus on understanding the linkages between nature and other areas of focus (e.g., human rights, climate, etc.).

Prior to joining BSR, Laura spent seven years on the markets transformation team at the Rainforest Alliance. Her role focused on engaging companies throughout agriculture supply chains in addressing risks and opportunities through incorporating nature-based solutions and interventions. This included working with companies from farm to market on their sustainability strategy utilizing the Rainforest Alliance program. Laura also has experience in the beauty industry, where she worked in brand management and marketing.

Laura holds a Master of Communication Management from the University of Southern California and a BS in Business Administration from Boston University.

Recent Insights From Laura Donnelly

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Ameer Azim, Director, Climate and Nature, BSR

Director, Climate and Nature, BSR

Washington, D.C.

Ameer leads BSR’s climate work in the US and works closely with BSR’s Technology sector companies.

Ameer helps BSR members develop strategies to implement the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) and enhance business resilience through climate risk assessment using climate scenario analysis and planning. He also works with BSR member companies on developing resilient and sustainable value chains.

Ameer was previously working with BSR’s Financial Services sector companies and led the Business Alliance to Scale Climate Solutions, a BSR carbon markets collaborative initiative now known as the Beyond Alliance.

Prior to joining BSR, Ameer was the chief financial economist at Climate Advisers Trust and Orbitas, where he conducted research on climate scenario analysis and financial research for the agriculture, forestry, and other land use (AFOLU) sector and engaged institutional investors on deforestation risks in investment portfolios. Ameer also brings over a decade of capital markets experience at financial institutions like ABN Amro, Citi, and Barclays Bank.

Ameer holds a MS in Sustainability Management from Columbia University and a BA in Economics and Government from College of William and Mary

Recent Insights From Ameer Azim

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Julie Dugard, Associate Director, Climate and Nature, BSR

Associate Director, Climate and Nature, BSR

Paris

Julie serves as Manager of BSR’s Climate team, where she brings over 10 years of experience in corporate sustainability and climate action and supports BSR members with their climate strategies.

After joining BSR in 2021, Julie worked on multiple projects helping companies implementing TCFD recommendations, conducting climate scenario analysis (for the tech, financial and insurance industry), accelerating Net Zero transition, implementing just transition approaches (extractive industry) and scope 3 strategies (consumer goods sector). Since 2023, Julie manages BSR grant-funded work dedicated to Climate Transition Plans.

Julie is also co-developing BSR’s work on alternative business models addressing the tension between business growth and sustainability targets.

Prior to joining BSR, Julie worked in Mazars’s sustainability services and risk practice, where she audited and advised companies on their ESG data and internal audit, control and risk approaches. During her time within Mazars, Julie also spent six months at the Mexico City office.

Julie holds a master’s degree in business from Kedge Business School and spent one semester at the University of Nottingham and another one at the University of Technology of Sydney. She speaks French, English, and Spanish.

Recent Insights From Julie Dugard

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Adam Fishman, Associate Director, Transformation, BSR

Associate Director, Transformation, BSR

New York

Adam works with BSR member companies across industries on sustainability management, including stakeholder engagement, materiality, strategy and reporting, among other topics.

Prior to BSR, Adam was a thematic expert on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with the International Institute for Sustainable Development, focusing on the linkages between climate, development, business, and sustainable consumption and production. He previously worked on the SDGs team at World Resources Institute. During his graduate studies, Adam interned at the World Business Council for Sustainable Development and was a Coca-Cola World Fund fellow with Conservation International, researching the strategic connections between the SDGs and corporate sustainability.

Adam holds a Master’s in Environmental Management from the Yale School of the Environment, specializing in Business and the Environment. He has a BA in Environmental Studies and Government, with a concentration in International Politics, from Wesleyan University.

Recent Insights From Adam Fishman

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Juliette Pugliesi, Manager, Climate and Nature, BSR

Manager, Climate and Nature, BSR

Paris

Juliette is part of BSR’s Nature team, where she helps companies assess their impacts and risks to Nature and develop ambitious strategies to mitigate them across multiple industries.

Prior to joining BSR, Juliette worked at WWF, where she supported companies on their nature issues (biodiversity, forest, climate, fresh water). She also contributed to the Science Based Targets for Nature initiative, where she was lead coordinator for the working group on biodiversity metrics for companies. Prior to WWF, she worked for Mazars’ sustainability services as a senior CSR consultant.

Juliette holds an MSc in Public Policies and Environmental Strategies from AgroParisTech, a master's degree in Sustainable Development and International Affairs from the University of Paris Dauphine, and a bachelor’s degree in social sciences from the same university. She also went on an academic exchange program at the University of Quebec in Montreal, where she studied environmental sciences and nature conservation. Juliette speaks French and English.

Recent Insights From Juliette Pugliesi

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