Research, ideas, and leadership for a more secure, peaceful world
A discussion panel recognizing the work of ChemFORWARD, the 2024 winner of the Roy Award for Environmental Partnership.
How can we reduce the impacts of the most toxic chemicals in today's supply chains?
Join the Belfer Center's Environment and Natural Resources Program for a discussion panel on the role of information access in enhancing environmental initiatives to reduce pollution and chemical toxins. Panelists - including Harvard Kennedy School experts, industry leaders, and representatives from ChemFORWARD, the 2024 winner of the Roy Award for Environmental Partnership - will explore the challenges that the private sector faces in addressing toxic pollution, the upsides and downsides of regulatory approaches, and lessons learned from a cross-sectoral approach to chemical hazard mitigation.
Q&A to follow. Coffee and light refreshments will be served.
Recording: A recording of the seminar will be made available on the Belfer Center's YouTube channel.
Registration: RSVP required. A Harvard University ID is required for in-person attendance; all are welcome on Zoom.
David Bourne is the Lead Sustainability Strategist at Google. has deep industry expertise in product design, user experience research, and circular economy innovations. He is a founding member of the consumer hardware sustainability team at Google. Prior to his current role, he has over 12 years of experience at Apple and Nest Labs (now part of Google). David holds a BA in Sociology from Emory University.
Heather McKenney serves as the Science and Safer Chemistry Lead at ChemFORWARD, where she drives efforts to enhance access to high quality chemical hazard data and amplify safer alternatives. She oversees the quality and integrity of data within ChemFORWARD's data trust and plays a key role in science communication. Heather collaborates with industry, NGO, and governmental stakeholders across various sectors, including beauty and personal care, electronics, the built environment, and plastic packaging. Beginning her career in the consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry, Heather led the Toxicology and Product Safety team for The Honest Company for six years. In this role, she oversaw ingredient and product safety review and substantiation and clinical safety testing while supporting regulatory compliance, governmental affairs, and science communication for beauty and personal care, cleaning, and baby products. She is a member of the March of Dimes Mom and Baby Action Network (M-BAN) where she supports M-BANs goal in achieving equity in maternal and infant health by mitigating high-risk environmental exposures. In 2024, she was appointed to California's Green Ribbon Science Panel.
Heather holds a Master of Public Health (MPH) concentrating in Environmental Health from Boston University School of Public Health and BS in Environmental Science from Indiana University Purdue University, Indianapolis (IUPUI). Heather resides in Los Angeles, CA.
Charles Taylor is an economist researching the environment, agriculture, and climate change. He is an Assistant Professor of Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School. His work often uses satellite data to answer policy questions. He received the Wallace E. Oates Outstanding Dissertation Award in environmental economics. He previously held positions at The Earth Partners, a sustainable land investment company, McKinsey & Company, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He is the co-founder of Drylands Natural Resource Centre, a farmer-owned cooperative. He earned a BA from the University of Virginia and a PhD in sustainable development from Columbia University, and was previously a Ciriacy-Wantrup fellow at UC Berkeley.
