Heat & Haze: LA’s Dual Climate Emergency #LATechWeek
Hosted by
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ᵔ▾ᵔ:)>.<Dinner provided
Business casual
Free street parking & paid parking is available at LACI
Extreme heat and air pollution are growing threats in Los Angeles, and together they’re deadlier than either alone. On days with both, the risk of death rises by over 21%. As the New York Times recently reported, this “double whammy” poses an urgent challenge for public health and climate resilience.
Join us for two panels bringing together founders, investors, and ecosystem builders to explore how innovation, funding, and policy collaboration can advance Los Angeles’s heat and air resilience. Networking happy hour to follow.
Panel 1: Connecting the Heat & Air Innovation Ecosystem
Moderator: Emily Dinino, CEO & Founder at ThermoShade
Panelists:
Michael Swords, VP Government and International Relations at LACI
Serena Allen, CEO & Founder at AirVitalize
Raychel Espiritu, Program Director at Walking Softer
Rohit Shukla, CEO & Founder at Larta Institute
Panel 2: Investing in Heat & Air Resilience
Moderator: Serena Allen, CEO & Founder at AirVitalize
Panelists:
Alena Solonia, Co-Founder and Partner at CurvePoint Capital
Emily Dinino, CEO & Founder at ThermoShade
Gaby Darbyshire, General Partner at Dangerous Ventures
Pilar Carvajo Lucena, Head of Investments and Fund Partnerships at Third Derivative
About the Panelists:
Michael Swords is the Vice President of Government Affairs and International Relations for the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI). In this role, he is responsible for managing the organizations' relationships with leaders at the local, regional, state and federal level. Swords also manages the LACI-led National Coalition of Clean Energy Incubators (NCCEI) and international partnerships for LACI.
Raychel Espiritu is a Los Angeles-based operations professional and community builder working at the intersection of climate innovation, capital, and conscious leadership. Her 17 years of professional experience include digital marketing, communications, philanthropy, venture capital, and systems change. She supports mission-driven organizations in mobilizing resources and scaling impact as Program Director of the Young Leaders Award at Walking Softer, a family office foundation.
Rohit Shukla is Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Larta Institute, an internationally-recognized technology accelerator he founded in 1993 to focus on transforming ideas into enterprises that “feed the world, fuel the world and heal the world.” An internationally-recognized thought leader on innovation, commercialization and enterprise- and technology-led economic development, he has written extensively on venture capital, sector-led innovation in wireless, telecommunications and the life sciences, and on entrepreneurship, research-based enterprises, commercialization and government policy.
Alena Solonina is a Partner and Co-Founder of CurvePoint Capital, an independent investment firm with focus on providing flexible capital solutions for high-growth companies that solve pressing environmental problems. Before starting CurvePoint Capital, Alena invested capital across various asset classes, filling the financial gap for small and medium enterprises around the world. Alena actively supports female entrepreneurs through her leadership of the LA Chapter of Women in Climate Investing and Finance. Additionally, she co-founded The RAR Studio, an initiative that provides educational resources and a community platform for female entrepreneurs to help them navigate the complexities of capital markets. Alena’s expertise spans multiple sectors, including sustainable investments and climate finance, aligning with the firm’s mission of responsible and impactful investing.
Gaby Darbyshire is a General Partner at Dangerous Ventures, where she backs early-stage companies building resilience solutions to address global climate challenges. Born in Beirut, raised in London, Gaby began her career practicing environmental and criminal law, founding a charity for Death Row inmates and taking on large-scale environmental cases. Transitioning into management consulting across Europe, she then moved to Silicon Valley in the 1990s, where she became a founder and executive in several tech startups. Subsequently, as Co-founder and COO of Gawker Media in New York, she helped create one of digital media’s most formative companies. Later, she guided corporate innovation in original IP at Framestore Ventures and served as CEO at QXR Studios, an interactive media studio. Gaby’s governance work outside Dangerous extends across boards dedicated to media excellence and global environmental impact.
Pilar leads Third Derivative’s investments and fund partnerships team, overseeing the investments of the D3 Accelerator Funds as well as the capital strategy to support D3 startups as they come on board, grow, and scale. She brings a decade of experience in climate finance across across asset classes and geographies, and is interested in solving for a more efficient capital allocation to the most promising opportunities for mitigation and adaptation, from the early stages and through commercial deployment.
Scholarships available if needed to attend, please reach out to nohemi@airvitalize.tech to request.
This event is a part of #LATechWeek—a week of events hosted by VCs and startups to bring together the tech ecosystem. Learn more at www.tech-week.com.
Guest List
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