About Us

The Idea

Of the dozens of ways to tackle climate change, conservation and offsetting can have the most immediate impact. By directly and indirectly reducing your carbon footprint, you can lead the charge in a cleaner, greener, and cooler planet. But we know that not everyone can or wants to become carbon neutral in the same way, and the idea that buying carbon offsets is like buying generic gas at the pump is just plain wrong. Many projects subsidize ‘dirty’ industries or lack credible standards. Others have health, economic, biodiversity, and other benefits that deserve your support. And conservation should be central to the discussion.

Our mission is to let you offset and conserve in the way that is right for you. We commit to bringing you radical transparency for each offset project, so that you can decide where your money goes. We commit to talking about conservation not just in easy tidbits, but presenting deeper objective analysis, and leaving it up to you to figure out how to best minimize your footprint. We want you to be part of the conversation, to proudly talk about what you're doing, and to help solve the problem by enlisting others in the fight.

We also work with businesses to help them offer transparency, consider the options and trade-offs, and more accurately represent their impact.

The bottom line is that you know more about your life and your values than we do. We'll provide a whole host of ideas for making your footprint smaller and consuming more responsibly, and verifiable mission driven projects to offset the rest. You take it from there.

The Team

ClimatePath was formed by two consumer internet and social enterprise veterans.

• Dave Rochlin

  

  Dave has an extensive background in the international NGO and social enterprise sector, as well as in technology, consumer products, and consulting. Dave was previously COO of the NGO TransFair USA, a four time winner of Fast Company/Monitor’s social capital award, and leading certifier and enabler of ethical commerce solutions designed to alleviate global poverty. He left TransFair to start ClimatePath with the idea that the principals of transparency and sustainable development that underlie fair trade should also be applied to carbon footprinting, reduction and offsetting, and that consumers and businesses can work together to lead change.

  Dave has held key executive positions with several fast growing Internet pioneers, including helping to build, grow, and eventually sell businesses to Hollywood Video and Earthlink, and placing companies on both the Deloitte 50 and INC 500 lists. He has also been a brand manager and big four consultant.

  He combines a Berkeley upbringing with an MBA from the Kellogg School at Northwestern to bring a pragmatic approach to the idea of sustainable business and natural capitalism. Dave speaks and writes frequently on green business, corporate social responsibility, and sustainability, has taught both innovation strategy and ethics in the executive MBA program at St. Mary’s College, and runs a popular applied innovation program and course at the Haas School at UC Berkeley. He has also published a textbook on technology strategy, and is a board member of both the Lindsay Wildlife Museum and the ClimatePath Ecologic Fund.

• Katy Foreman

  

  Katy has over a decade of web related operations product management experience, both in managing technical and customer operations, and user experience and back end development projects. Before co-founding ClimatePath, Katy managed the web and web strategies for TransFair USA, including streamlining workflow, introducing new advocacy programs, and managing partnerships with Ebay, Google, and Salesforce.com. She also managed the roll out of the Whole Foods “Whole Trade” program, which has integrated sustainability into Whole Foods overall product procurement strategy.

  Katy is a committed naturalist, and lives a sustainable lifestyle whenever possible. She has a degree in Astrophysics from the University of Washington, is a community sustainability advocate and wildlife rehabilitation volunteer.

• Board and Advisors

  Our advisors include:
  Charlotte Opal, Chair of the Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels at the Energy Center at EPFL (Lausanne)
  Dr. Sascha Von Meier, the Director of the Environmental Technology Center (ETC) at Sonoma State University
  Peter Micciche, CEO of Certain Software
  Sheeraz Haji, Managing Partner of The Cleantech Group
  
  We also have gotten advice and feedback from The University of California Energy Institute (Catherine Wolfram), The University of California Transportation Center (Lee Schipper), UC Berkeley’s Energy and Resource Group (Gene Rochlin), and a host of other individual experts and organizations involved in different aspects of the fight against climate change, including EcoTrust, The Conservation Fund, and Rainforest Alliance.

The Details

ClimatePath provides web and media services to encourage conservation activities and support for carbon reducing projects worldwide. Moral/ethical obligations aside, supporting these projects is a voluntary and philanthropic activity, and is therefore best accomplished through a non-profit partner organization, called the ClimatePath Ecologic Fund. Your donations to retire carbon offsets are made directly to and through the Fund. The Fund retains a small portion of the donation to cover expenses, and the rest is passed on to the project provider.

All carbon offsets purchased in this manner are immediately and permanently retired in the name of ClimatePath Ecologic Fund on your behalf. ClimatePath Ecologic Fund is a 501c3 nonprofit organization, making all donations tax deductible.