Entrepreneurship, engine for improvement.
Speaker Bio:
Christina Keller's education and work experience have been focused on sustainable business issues throughout the world.
Currently, Christina is leading the Triple Quest Business Unit at Cascade Engineering, a joint project between CE and the Windquest group. This sustainable business is focused on providing high quality products to the base majority in developing countries, the first product being the HydrAid® BioSand Water Filter which provides safe drinking water for people in remote areas of developing countries. The group recently signed a letter of intent with the Honduran Government to do 40,000 filters over the next 5 years and has also done projects with USAID, Rotary International and the US Navy. She has responsibility for the entire business unit.
Working in New York City, Christina was a Manager at Polaris Management Partners, a management consulting firm where she contributed to the development of a new strategy practice area and led numerous projects. She also worked in New York as a consultant at Accenture, where she performed risk management and financial analysis prior to a large merger and acquisition. She also served as a Project Manager at Environmental Resources Trust in Washington DC, where she worked on renewable energy and greenhouse gas emission reduction projects.
During several trips to Uganda, Christina worked with Solar Light for Africa to install solar panels on schools and hospitals with Uganda's first lady. In Peru, she helped to develop micro-enterprise in rural communities and taught micro-business classes to help citizens in high-poverty areas achieve economic success. She also studied international business in Spanish at Universidad Catolica in Santiago, Chile for one semester. In addition to creating her own consulting company, Sustainable Enterprise LLC, she is a board member on the Cascade Renewable Energy Group, the Keller Futures Center, GVSU Sustainability Advisory Board and the Community Sustainability Partnership.
Christina earned her undergraduate degree from Boston College in international development, minor in environmental studies. She also obtained a certificate in international economics from American University. For graduate school, she attended the Johnson School of Management at Cornell University where she studied Sustainable Global Enterprise with Stu Hart, earning her MBA.
[ Ссылка ]
In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TED has created a program called TEDx. TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. Our event is called TEDxGrandRapids, where x = independently organized TED event. At our TEDxGrandRapids event, TEDTalks video and live speakers will combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events, including ours, are self-organized.
