Wallet Max presents Emerald Summit™ September 18, 2026
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Connecting executive women, sustainable startups, impact investors.
Discover the next generation of bold, innovative, & sustainable fintech solutions that are driving our planet forward
Emerald Summit 2026 Agenda
September 18th, 9:00 AM – 9:00 PM | New York City
09:00 AM - 10:30 AM EDT
Registration, Breakfast & Networking
The Emerald Summit opens with a warm welcome and a chance to connect before the day begins. Attendees will check in at registration, receive their event materials, and enjoy light breakfast refreshments. Arrive early, settle in, and take advantage of the space to connect with those who, like you, believe that action starts with conversation. Network with peers, investors, founders, and executives who are committed to reshaping systems for people and the planet.
10:30 AM - 11:00 AM EDT
Bhuva Shakti
Welcome Keynote: Shaping Sustainable Futures With Community
The Emerald Summit opens with a powerful keynote from Bhuva Shakti, founder of Wallet Max™ and a longtime leader at the intersection of finance, technology, and climate action. Drawing on her journey from Wall Street to venture capital, Bhuva will set the stage for the day by highlighting why community, not just capital, is the engine of lasting change. In this keynote, she will share how collective leadership, inclusive ecosystems, and shared responsibility can unlock the solutions our future demands.
From mobilizing climate finance to empowering overlooked founders, Bhuva’s perspective underscores that sustainability cannot be achieved in silos. It requires community: investors, innovators, policymakers, and operators working side by side. Attendees will leave this session with a clear call to action: to view sustainability not as an isolated target but as a shared pathway shaped by collaboration. The keynote frames the Summit’s central theme, building sustainable futures with and through community, and invites everyone in the room to take part in that mission.
11:00 AM - 11:45 AM EDT
Parichat Wrolstad
Marion Hayes
Martin Avidan
Eric Williams
Unlocking Capital Flows For Climate Solutions
This panel examines how capital actually moves toward climate solutions, and where it gets stuck. Marion Hayes, Senior Managing Director and Head of Responsible Investing at Arsenal Capital Partners, and Parichat Wrolstad, ESG and Sustainability Advisor, unpack the fund-level decisions that determine which climate ideas get funded, with a focus on climate-solutions-focused capital driving mitigation and adaptation.
The panel is moderated by Eric Williams, Legal Director at the Detroit Justice Center, whose work centers on the legal needs of Detroit’s entrepreneurs, small businesses, and nonprofits.
Target audience: investors, fund managers, and founders raising capital in climate and sustainability. Key takeaways: how institutional capital evaluates climate risk and opportunity, what founders actually need structurally to access that capital, and where private equity and impact investing intersect.
Why now: with climate mitigation and adaptation needs accelerating, understanding how capital is genuinely being redirected, not just pledged, matters more than ever. Climate relevancy: this panel sits at the center of the summit’s core thesis, that sustainable finance is the mechanism, not the byproduct, of real climate progress.
11:45 AM - 12:30 PM EDT
Elana Margulies-Snyderman
Betsy Fore
Blair Carl Smith
Sacha Awwa
Will Hogan
Sustainability Playbook: How Overlooked Founders Build On Their Own Terms
This panel brings together five leaders across venture capital, financial markets, marketing, and impact-driven business to explore what it takes to build a fundable, scalable company when the traditional playbook wasn’t written with you in mind.Betsy Fore of Velveteen Ventures, Blair Carl Smith of Milken Institute Financial Markets, Elana Margulies-Snyderman, Founder, EMS Network, Sacha Awwa of SAMG Marketing Group, and Will Hogan of Umergence each bring a different vantage point on access, capital, and growth.
Target audience: founders outside traditional venture pipelines, and the investors and advisors who support them.
Key takeaways: practical strategies for accessing capital and building credibility without a conventional network, and how AI is reshaping who gets to build next.
Why now: funding gaps for underrepresented founders remain wide despite growing awareness, making concrete strategy more valuable than sentiment.
Climate relevancy: sustainable, inclusive business models depend on a broader base of founders being able to build and scale in the first place.
12:30 PM - 1:00 PM EDT
Bhuva Shakti
Climate Fintech: Fireside Chat
A candid, one-on-one conversation exploring how climate tech and fintech are converging globally, not just in the US. This fireside chat zooms out from the day’s panels to examine how capital, technology, and financial inclusion intersect on an international scale. Target audience: attendees interested in the global dimension of climate finance and AI-driven transformation. Key takeaways: how climate fintech trends are playing out beyond the US market, and what global perspective adds to domestic strategy. Why now: as climate solutions increasingly require cross-border capital and coordination, understanding the international picture is no longer optional context, it’s central to strategy. Climate relevancy: climate fintech is the throughline of the entire day, and this conversation gives it a global lens.
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM EDT
Lunch & Networking
Take a pause, refuel, and recharge with a curated networking lunch designed to foster meaningful connections across industries and sectors. Participants will have the chance to deepen conversations sparked throughout the morning, exchange perspectives on emerging opportunities, and build relationships that can accelerate collaboration well beyond the Summit. This is not just a break, it’s a catalyst for partnerships that turn ideas into action.
2:00 PM - 3:00 PM EDT
Bhuva Shakti
Scott Ryan
Enes Karakullukcu
Sonam Velani
Tiya Gordon
Pitch Competition & Startup Awards
Live startup pitches from founders building climate, fintech, and AI-driven solutions, judged by Enes Karakullukcu of Klaris Capital, Scott Ryan of Investature, and Sonam Velani of Streetlife Ventures. Each startup presents in a tightly timed format, followed by judge deliberation and awards recognizing the most scalable, investable solutions in the room.
Target audience: early-stage founders, investors scouting new opportunities, and anyone interested in what's actually being built in this space right now.
Key takeaways: a real-time look at emerging climate and fintech innovation, and what investors are actually looking for when evaluating early-stage companies.
Why now: as capital tightens across early-stage markets, understanding what gets funded, and why, is more valuable than ever for founders and investors alike.
Climate relevancy: this is the summit’s most direct expression of its mission, funding sustainable, profitable technology for people, planet, and global communities.
03:00 PM- 3:45 PM EDT
Cody Ley
David Chan
Marc Robert
Ophir Bruck
Karen Gamba
The Scarcity Trade: Investing In What We Cannot Live Without
This panel confronts the capital and resources that don’t get the urgent attention they deserve, water, land, disclosure, and systemic risk, moderated by Karen Gamba, CEO of ExV Agency & The Housing Summit, Cody Ley of Hemp for Humanity, David Chan of Homestead Capital, Marc Robert of Water Asset Management, and Ophir Bruck, Director at CDP, each bring direct experience investing in or advocating for resources facing real scarcity
Target audience: investors and founders working in real assets, natural resources, and systemic risk disclosure.
Key takeaways: how scarcity in essential resources is becoming a defining investment thesis, and what transparency and disclosure actually require in practice.
Why now: as climate volatility increasingly strains water, land, and agricultural systems, these resources are shifting from background risk to central investment consideration.
Climate relevancy: scarcity is, at its core, a climate story, and this panel makes that connection explicit and investable.
3:45 PM - 4:30 PM EDT
Rocky Brito
Powering Tomorrow: Innovation, Policy, and the Future of Renewables
This panel examines the energy crisis as the defining challenge of the moment, driven by AI’s escalating power demands, geopolitical instability, and inflation, and what it will take to scale renewable energy solutions in response.
Panelists bring direct experience in renewable energy development, capital solutions, and project finance for clean infrastructure.
Target audience: investors, developers, and policymakers working in energy and infrastructure.
Key takeaways: where renewable energy investment and policy are heading, and how capital is being structured to meet accelerating demand. Why now: AI infrastructure is driving unprecedented energy consumption, moving renewable capacity from long-term
Climate relevancy: this panel closes the day’s programming on the most pressing structural climate question facing the next decade.
4:30 PM - 5:00 PM EDT
Bhuva Shakti
Closing Keynote: Accelerate Impact Beyond Climate Week
The Emerald Summit closes with a forward-looking keynote from Bhuva Shakti, founder of Wallet Max™, who will challenge us to think beyond the events of Climate Week and focus on what comes next. Drawing from her experience as a Wall Street risk leader turned impact investor, Bhuva will spotlight how communities, capital, and technology must continue to work together long after the headlines fade. She will share lessons from Wallet Max’s work building inclusive ecosystems, expanding funding access, and mobilizing leaders across finance, technology, and sustainability.
This keynote will emphasize the importance of moving from conversation to execution – accelerating impact through practical tools, partnerships, and governance models that create resilience beyond a single week of dialogue. Attendees will be called to carry the Summit’s momentum forward into boardrooms, investment strategies, startups, and policy agendas. By the end of this session, participants will leave not only inspired, but equipped with a renewed sense of urgency to scale solutions that outlast Climate Week and transform systems for the long term.
5:00 PM - 6:00 PM EDT
Bhuva Shakti
Pitch Winners & Startup Awards: Bhuva Shakti
We’ll recognize standout startups driving scalable solutions and give prizes/awards.
6:00 PM - 9:00 PM EDT
VIP Dinner & Networking
End the day with casual networking and dinner, and meet with industry experts after an inspiring day of panels and pitches. Create connections that will carry through Climate Week and beyond.
Meet your Host
Bhuva Shakti is the visionary founder and CEO of Wallet Max™, a global community of executive women and venture capital investors on a mission to expand fundraising access for high-growth, sustainable startups.
With an MBA from Columbia University and over three decades as a senior executive on Wall Street, Bhuva has led diverse financial portfolios and launched cutting-edge digital transformation initiatives across investment banking, capital markets, and payment networks.
Her TEDx TALK, EXEMPLIFIES her leadership in risk governance, especially during the 2008 global financial crisis Where she was essential AT driving successful regulatory compliance, mergers, and acquisitions at some of the world’s top banks and credit rating agencies.
Bhuva currently serves as a board director and fractional C-Suite advisor to social impact businesses, and is a keynote speaker championing economic inclusion and climate-fintech innovation.
She is the USA Country Director for the World Business Angels Investment Forum and the Chief Ethics & Culture Officer for Women in AI globally.
Through her advisory firm, Bhuva’s Impact Global, she leads fundraising strategies, product operations, and investor relations for sustainable growth and market expansion.
Learn from Climate-Conscious Business Leaders
Unlocking Capital Flows For Climate Solutions: A Sustainable Finance Playbook
His work centers on ensuring that capital, investment, and public policy reach the communities most often left out of them — spanning impact litigation, housing justice, and transactional legal services for community-controlled economic development.
Eric also operates Eric C. Williams PLLC, where he handles trademark and business law matters. He brings a practitioner’s ground-level perspective – informed by Detroit’s housing and economic justice landscape – to conversations about how capital actually moves, and how it can be deployed without reinforcing the inequities it’s meant to solve.
Marion Hayes is a Senior Managing Director and the Head of Responsible Investing of Arsenal where she leads and oversees the execution of Arsenal’s responsible investing program and new ESG initiatives. Prior to joining Arsenal in 2022, Ms. Hayes was a Senior Vice President, ESG Management at Brookfield Asset Management. Before joining Brookfield’s ESG team, she was part of Brookfield’s branding and communications, private funds, and investor relations teams. Ms. Hayes started her career as a Marketing Associate at Allianz Global Investors.
Parichat Wrolstad is a senior ESG and sustainability advisory professional with 15+ years of experience helping corporations and investors define what sustainability means for their business, build stakeholder trust, and translate ESG commitments into long-term value creation. Her career reflects a combination of issuer-facing and buy-side experience. As Senior Vice President at Edelman Smithfield, she advised 30+ public and PE-backed companies on ESG risk assessment, sustainability program development, and disclosure aligned with ISSB, GRI, TCFD, and CSRD frameworks, supporting clients through corporate transactions and crisis communications. At BNY’s Global Investor Relations Advisory team, she advised non-U.S. issuers on cross-border investor engagement and IR strategy for nearly 10 years. She also brings buy-side credit assessment experience from her tenure as a Senior Fixed Income Analyst at the Government Pension Fund of Thailand.
Earlier in his career, Martin created and managed multi-billion-dollar loan and structured finance portfolios across aviation, energy, infrastructure, real estate, and corporate sectors. He has extensive experience in asset restructuring, distressed debt workouts, and portfolio optimization, having co-headed Natixis’s global distressed ABS structuring team during the financial crisis.Martin began his career at Citibank and held senior roles at Credit Lyonnais and CGA Investment Management before joining Natixis in 2001.
In addition to his corporate career, he serves as President and Chairman of the American University of Paris Foundation and as a Trustee and Executive Committee Member of the American University of Paris.
He holds a BA in International Business from the American University of Paris, an MBA from the Thunderbird School of Global Management, and is a Chartered Financial Analyst.
Sustainability Playbook: How Overlooked Founders Build On Their Own Terms
Elana joined EisnerAmper in 2014 in the Financial Services Group, working within the Asset Management Practice where she launched the firm’s quarterly Engaging Alternatives and PE Edge publications.
Prior to joining the firm, Elana was Chief Reporter at With Intelligence’s Hedge Fund Manager Week (HFMWeek). She began her career at Institutional Investor’s Alternative Investment News.
Elana is a frequent panelist at many alternative investment industry conferences, including events hosted by the CFA Society, Institute for Portfolio Alternatives, Foundation Research Associates’ (FRA) and more.
Worth Magazine named Elana as one of the Worthy 100 of 2022 and the Top 100 Magazine named her as one of the Top 100 People in Finance in 2022 for her thought-leadership at EisnerAmper and community work. Elana received her B.A. with honors from Brandeis University and Master’s Degree from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. She is Co-Founder and Secretary of the Board of Directors of Phyt Cares, a 501c3 U.S. tax-exempt and 1101.01 Puerto Rico tax-exempt non-profit (CECFL approved) that educates youth and communities in New York and Puerto Rico via fitness and also supports and mentors entrepreneurs on the Island to run and grow their businesses.
Her nonprofit Natives Rising is one of the largest communities of Indigenous technologists and founders. She has been an active Investment Partner with XFactor Ventures (funding over 2.5% of all female-led seed rounds in the nation) and LongJump (funding Midwest-based underrepresented founders with an LP base of ~200). Betsy has been honored with Blueprint Capital Advisors’ Power100 in Venture Capital, Chief’s Top 50 Execs in the New Era of Leadership, Cosmopolitan’s New C-Suite, Crain’s 40 under 40, Entrepreneur’s 100 Women of Impact and Forbes 30 under 30. Betsy’s greatest accomplishments are her three children, she builds from her love for family and her ancestors of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa.
Blair C. Smith is a senior director of Finance at the Milken Institute, with more than 20 years of financial services and capital markets experience. He leads the Access to Capital and strategic innovative financing initiatives, to enhance economic and social impact. Smith also leads the Institute’s work on impact investment, including community development financial institutions (CDFIs), minority depository institutions, and Opportunity Zone funds. Smith was the founder and CEO of Promethean AB Strategies LLC, a strategic consultancy focused on helping diverse-led asset management firms achieve their goals. He is the former chief investment officer for the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone Development Corporation, a CDFI. Smith was also responsible for comanaging a $5.2 billion emerging manager investment portfolio within the State of New York Common Retirement Fund. Earlier in his career, Smith served for more than 10 years as a relationship manager with both the Greenwich, CT, and New York City Wealth Management teams at various top-tier banks. Smith was appointed an adjunct professor at Columbia University Graduate School of Business. He is on the board of the Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health, the Baltimore Afro-American Newspapers, and the Afro Charities. Smith received his MBA in finance from Columbia University and a BS in journalism from Morgan State University (a historically Black college and university), where he was a two-year Reserve Officers’ Training Corps scholar.
Sacha is the founder of Uncomplicate It and SAMG Marketing Group, where she works with Seed through Series B founders to diagnose where their marketing is misaligned with their stage and install the structure that moves the needle before they spend another dollar. Her work sits at the execution layer – what breaks down between raising capital and building something that lasts, and how AI is changing the growth playbook for founders operating under investor scrutiny. She helps founders who don’t have the traditional advantages use discipline, structure, and the right tools to build investor-ready companies without the recycled playbooks.
She is the host of the Uncomplicated Marketing podcast and the author of Empower Your Marketing (Indigo River Publishing, distributed by Simon & Schuster, June 2026) and a contributor to Marketing for Leaders (August 2026). A two-time New York Times Publishers Award winner, Webby Award winner, Silver Addy Award recipient, and recipient of the U.S. Army National Guard Peritus Medal – an honor awarded outside the civilian sector for distinguished contribution – Sacha brings a perspective shaped by decades inside the rooms where the rules are made, and the communities that rarely get to play by them.
Will Hogan is Principal of Impact BD LLC, where he advises impact-focused founders, green infrastructure project sponsors, and investors on capital formation and strategic business development. Will works with investors, early-stage ventures, and project sponsors across climate and energy, circularity, food and agriculture, built environment, and supply chain themes. His advisory work spans both venture and infrastructure projects, with clients operating across multiple geographies and regulatory environments. Example engagements include:
Impact Venture
• Digital platform for extended producer responsibility (EPR) implementation and compliance
• Soil intelligence and agricultural carbon credit platform
• Advanced commercial solar energy-as-a-service provider
• Sustainable onshore shrimp production platform
Green Infrastructure Project Finance
• Commercial-scale solar-plus-battery energy storage (United States)
• Utility-scale geothermal energy production (Americas)
• End-of-life tire valorization (Europe)
• Green hydrogen production and distribution (United States)
• Woody biomass-to-renewable fuel oil processing (North America)
Based in New York, Will brings decades of investment-industry business development experience to his advisory practice. Previously, he led new business and growth initiatives at Amalgamated Bank, Aetos Capital, Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan Chase, and Ernst & Young.
Will holds an MBA from NYU Stern School of Business and an AB from the University of Chicago. He earned the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) designation from the CAIA Institute and a Sustainable Investment Professional Certificate from Concordia University in Montreal.
In addition to Impact BD LLC, Will is affiliated with FINRA-regulated broker-dealer Umergence, where he holds Series 7, 63, and 24 securities licenses (CRD #4120547), as well as green infrastructure project finance platform QPQ International.
The Scarcity Trade: Investing In What We Cannot Live Without
Cody Ley is a Michigan based farmer and founder of Hemp 4 Humanity. Cody started H4H with a goal to provide plant based housing solutions that are built in cooperation with the natural environment.
Since 2021 Cody has worked on building and supporting the Michigan hemp supply chain from the farm up. Working with local farmers, researchers, engineers, and architects we’ve developed a system that makes it possible to build accessible and sustainable healthy hempcrete housing with their crew of licensed contractors specializing in hemp lime applications.
A meteorologist by background and a financier and technologist by training, David is passionate about the intersection of food, agriculture, water, and investing. He holds an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School (Toigo Fellow), a B.S. from Cornell University, and is a graduate of LeadNY Class 19.
He previously spent 18 years at Morgan Stanley, including as Managing Director and Head of U.S. Equity Research Sales, working across the U.K. and France. Marc serves as Board Chair of WaterAid America, focused on global access to safe water and sanitation, and Board Chair of Sylvester Manor.He is a trustee of St. David’s School, where he previously served as Board Chair, and holds a B.A. in Religious Studies from Brown University.
Previously, Ophir was a Senior Director at S&P Global, where he led strategic account management and market engagement for sustainability, climate, and energy transition solutions in North America. He earlier held roles at the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), leading signatory relations and strategic initiatives in western North America, and at the University of California Office of the Chief Investment Officer, where he supported sustainable investment initiatives.
Ophir serves on the Advisory Board of the California Department of Insurance’s Organized Investment Network (COIN) and is a Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He holds a BSc in Society and Environment from the University of California, Berkeley.
Karen L. Gamba is the Founder and CEO of ExV Agency, an international corporate events and communications firm with offices in New York, Hong Kong, and Atlanta. She produces and moderates panels for global summits and convenings across finance, sustainability, and impact investing, and is the founder of The Housing Summit, a global series convening capital, policy, and community around housing solutions, with a strong focus on climate resilience and sustainable development. Karen is a two-time Innovation in Business Award winner (2023, 2024) and 1st Runner Up at the Women’s Business Awards 2025. Based in Hong Kong, she works internationally with executives, investors, and founders to build high-impact convenings and the relationships that come from them.
Powering Tomorrow: Innovation, Policy, and the Future of Renewables
Rocky Brito
Tech and operations advisory leader
Previously, as Lead Implementation Consultant at Oracle, he led AI-embedded systems automation, large-scale cloud delivery, and enterprise change management across more than 500 completed implementations, holding certifications including OCI Artificial Intelligence Foundations Associate.
He was also a Graduate Fellow at the Cornell Emerging Markets Institute, researching artificial intelligence, economic development, and technology infrastructure across Southeast and East Asia. He holds an MSBA from Cornell University and is the Founder and Executive Director of Principalia Sa Bulalacao, advocating for culturally grounded sustainable economic development.
What you can expect
Value Driven Content
Expert-led conversations at the intersection of fintech and climate tech. Enjoy exclusive insights, actionable strategies, climate-aligned investment, and next-gen innovation. This isn’t theory — this is the blueprint for climate fintech in action.
A Curated Network
Bringing together high-impact founders, investors, and executives focused on building a more sustainable financial future. Expect intentional matchmaking, strategic alignment, and connections that catalyze global change.
Elevated Experiences
from the Fintech Is Femme team ensures thoughtfully designed spaces and seamless event flow, creating an atmosphere that inspires meaningful connections, engaging discussions, and high-impact collaborations.
Main Character Energy
Join a room led by the builders, backers, and big thinkers driving climate fintech forward. This is where climate meets capital — with purpose, power, and presence.
NYC or Nowhere
Happening during Climate Week NYC, join global leaders converging in New York to shape the future of finance, climate, and tech — The city that never sleeps is where change happens.
Real Thought Leadership
A collaboration between journalist Nicole Casperson and climate fintech leader Bhuva Shakti, this summit brings together bold ideas at industry depth to shape the future of climate tech and finance.
Who’s in the Room
Taking place at the intersection of NYC Climate Week, the UN General Assembly (UNGA), and NYC Fashion Week — our summit annually brings diverse groups of impact enthusiasts and futuristic innovators.
- As climate intersects with all sectors, we see corporate executives in healthcare, food, climate, fintech, tech/AI, fashion, and more.
- Startup founders, small-medium-businesses, tech builders – climate, fintech, AI, data, infrastructure (from Seed to Series B+).
- Investors (Angels, Venture Capital, Private Equity, Family Offices, Fund of Funds) – investing from pre-seed through IPOs.
Corporate Boards, Executives, Middle Management – Board directors, CEO, C-Suite (CTO, CIO, CFO, CAIO, Sustainability Officers).
Policymakers and public sector leaders – NYC state/city officials, local regulators, financial institutions, Wall Street professionals.
- Additional Participants – students, university leaders, community organizations, local/global media representatives (covering NYC Climate Week, UNGA, and NYC Fashion Week both on the ground and virtually).
Emerald Summit™ 2024 ©Wallet Max.
Our Sustainability Speaker Alumni
The key to positive environmental, social, and governance impact lies in the extraordinary power of knowledge. Our summit is designed to unite powerful, inspiring change-makers and thought leaders who share your passion for creating a better world. See our alumni speakers who have joined us to create a more sustainable and inclusive future.
Sponsor Our Cause
Do you want to invest in the future of sustainability or want to align your brand with our initiatives? We invite you to sponsor our summit and other community events! Get in contact to learn more about how you can showcase your brand through our sponsorship packages.
Volunteer With Us
We are looking for volunteers based in New York who can join our cause to make a difference. We will match your passions and skill sets with meaningful opportunities that align with your own mission, such as organizing events and administrative assistance.