Environmental Impacts of AI Working Group: Exploring Best Practices

By Invitation Only

New York

September 22, 2026

2 - 3:30 pm EDT

This session will cover shared challenges in measuring, reporting, and reducing the environmental impacts of AI.

Companies that buy and deploy AI solutions will learn practical approaches for introducing and expanding their usage. We will also explore how to work effectively with AI vendors, including what questions to ask during procurement conversations and what information is needed to support credible environmental reporting. These insights will shape the working group’s final publication: a Sustainable AI Playbook.

Scheduled Speakers

Laura Donnelly, Director, Climate and Nature, BSR

Director, Climate and Nature, BSR

New York

Laura is a Director on BSR's Climate and Nature team, helping global companies develop integrated environmental strategies that strengthen business resilience and create long-term value. She advises companies across industries on assessing and managing climate- and nature-related risks and opportunities, with a focus on translating sustainability commitments into business strategy, governance, and implementation across global value chains.

Over her eight years at BSR, Laura has partnered with multinational companies on a broad range of sustainability topics, including climate and nature strategy, risk assessments, supply chain engagement, biodiversity, and the intersection of environmental sustainability with emerging issues such as artificial intelligence. She also works closely with companies to navigate evolving sustainability frameworks and regulations, helping embed environmental considerations into business decision-making and risk management.

Before joining BSR, Laura worked at the Rainforest Alliance supporting companies in integrating nature-based approaches into agricultural supply chains, and previously held roles in brand management and marketing within the beauty industry.

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

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Lucia Dardis, Associate, Climate and Nature, BSR

Associate, Climate and Nature, BSR

New York

Lucia supports members across industries on climate change and nature, including climate scenario analysis, peer benchmarking, sustainability management, and data analysis.

Previously, Lucia interned at the World Wildlife Fund-US as an Agricultural Sustainability Analyst. There, she researched agro-commodity and bioplastic feedstock supply chain risks. At Evergrade, Inc., Lucia was a Consultant and Intern Manager focused on people and project management, data architecture and analysis, and environmental impact research. Through her coursework at UC Berkeley, Lucia was a Sustainability Consultant with the Clorox Company and a Data Science Research Apprentice for the CoolClimate Network, where she collaborated on a quantitative methodology for assessing the greenhouse gas reduction potential of carbon credits.

Lucia studied business administration and data science at the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley. She completed a semester exchange at the Universitat de Barcelona, where she studied international marketing and corporate finance.

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Kelly Gallo, Director, BSR

Director, BSR

San Francisco

Kelly is a Relationship Lead and sustainability advisor who partners with many of BSR's largest U.S.-based technology companies to help them maximize the value of their BSR membership and navigate the evolving sustainability landscape. She works with global technology leaders—from cloud, software, hardware, semiconductors, consumer technology, and digital infrastructure companies to high-growth innovators—to advance ambitious, resilient, and practical sustainability strategies.

Through BSR's Business Transformation advisory services, Kelly helps companies identify and prioritize their most material sustainability issues, conduct materiality and double materiality assessments, develop sustainability strategies, establish governance and targets, strengthen sustainability reporting, and engage stakeholders. She supports companies in embedding sustainability into business strategy while responding to evolving regulatory requirements and stakeholder expectations.

Kelly brings deep expertise at the intersection of technology, energy, and sustainability. Since joining BSR in 2015, she has worked closely with the data center industry on renewable energy procurement, sustainability strategy, and collaborative approaches to addressing the environmental and social impacts of digital infrastructure. Kelly managed BSR's Future of Internet Power initiative to help accelerate renewable energy adoption across the technology sector, which subsequently led to co-founding the Renewable Energy Buyers' Alliance (now the Corporate Energy Buyers Association). She has contributed to numerous BSR publications on technology, renewable energy, corporate sustainability, and responsible business.

Prior to BSR, Kelly spent more than six years consulting on energy efficiency, sustainability, and renewable energy for California’s utilities and public-sector clients. She has also served as a Board Member for the US National Committee for UN Women, San Francisco Bay Area Chapter and Spark, a non-profit that seeks to advance gender equality by engaging the next generation in accessible forms of philanthropy.

Kelly holds an MA in International Relations from San Francisco State University and a BA in Global Studies from the University of California at Santa Barbara.