Currently, Michael is an Executive Fellow at Harvard Business School, supporting student entrepreneurs in the launch of new ventures in the tough tech sector. From 2012 through early 2024, he served as the co-founder and CEO of Vaxess, a company bringing healthcare out of the clinic and into patients’ lives with the MIMIX patch platform. Under Michael’s leadership, Vaxess achieved key milestones including signing lucrative partnerships with industry leaders such as Astra Zeneca, raising more than $80M in funding from partners such as RA Capital and the Gates Foundation, opening an advanced GMP manufacturing plant, completing a successful Phase I clinical trial, and building a pipeline of high-value products.

Prior to Vaxess, Michael spent time at Google and Honda where he helped bring a range of products such as the Google Chromebook and Honda Pilot to market. He has earned more than 15 patents with innovations spanning the transportation, technology and life science sectors. Michael received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University and his M.B.A. from Harvard.

Kirsten co-founded Revolution Foods in 2006 and grew it to over $130 million in revenue when she stepped down in 2024. At Revolution Foods, Kirsten established, grew and oversaw many aspects of the business, including product strategy, stewarding mission and impact, business expansion, B Corp certification and conversion to a Public Benefit Corporation. Revolution Foods was named by Fast Company as one of the world’s 50 most innovative companies and was listed as one of Fortune Magazine’s “Seven World-Changing Companies to Watch.” Today, Kirsten is the Chief Operating Officer of the Save the Redwoods League, a nonprofit dedicated to landscape-scale conservation of redwood forests throughout California.

Kirsten has served as a member of the Board of Directors for Mercaris as well as serves on the boards of nonprofits ARTA River Trips and Amigos de las Americas. She is a social entrepreneurship fellow for the Schwab Foundation, an Ashoka Fellow, and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network since 2010. Kirsten and her co-founder Kristin were listed among Fortune’s 40 under 40 for 2013, and were identified as Time Magazine’s Education Activists of 2011.

Kirsten holds an AB from Brown University and an MBA from UC Berkeley.

Ian has extensive entrepreneurial and executive-level leadership experience managing brand building and marketing activities for some of the world’s most influential consumer product companies. From The Body Shop, to Patagonia, to Nike, to Nau, he has been instrumental in building and stewarding brands that have defined and differentiated themselves based on their strong commitment to innovation and sustainability. He has also served as an advisor and board member for several early-stage companies and non-profit organizations. Early in his career, he merged his passion for the outdoors with his interest in human development as the Executive Director of Outward Bound in Canada.

Ian earned a BA from Antioch College and received a post graduate Research Fellowship from the Thomas J. Watson Foundation that enables “university graduates of unusual promise” to engage in independent study abroad. He is also a graduate of the Program for Executive Development at the Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia.

Prior to founding Closed Loop Partners, Ron was the Deputy Commissioner of Sanitation, Recycling and Sustainability in New York City in the Bloomberg Administration. He oversaw the collection and processing of NYC’s paper, metal, glass, plastic, textile waste, electronic waste, organics and hazardous waste, as well as public policy. In 2013, NRDC and Earth Day New York named Ron as the Public Official of the Year in New York City. 

Throughout his career, Ron has been recognized with several business and environmental awards, including recognition as a ‘Champion of the Earth’ by the United Nations Environment Programme, which is the highest distinction for environmental protection given by the United Nations and recognizes outstanding visionaries and leaders in the fields of policy, science and entrepreneurship. He has also been given the Medal of Excellence from Columbia University, which recognizes alumnus under the age of 45 for excellence in scholarship, public service and professional life. 

The companies that he has led have been recognized as innovators in sustainable business practices. Recognitions include The Conference of Mayors––Public/Private Partnership of the Year, Technology Pioneer from the World Economic Forum and the Wall Street Journal’s #1 Venture Backed Cleantech Company of The Year. 

Ron is the author of a number of patents in the areas of technology and environmental science. 

Ron holds an MBA from Columbia Business School. He returned to Columbia as an Adjunct Professor for several years. His first book, The Waste-Free World, was published by Penguin Random House in 2022. 

Tazia brings nearly 20 years of experience within investment banks, working with institutional family offices across the capital structure. During this time, she seized leadership opportunities accelerating the integration of sustainable finance into capital markets.  

Prior to joining Closed Loop Partners, Tazia was a Managing Director at Deutsche Bank, covering institutional family offices. Tazia helped establish Deutsche Bank’s Key Client Partners business, which delivered private market opportunities, structured lending and trading capabilities to qualified private clients. Throughout her last year at Deutsche Bank, Tazia worked with the CEO’s strategy team focused on the integration of ESG, impact and sustainable finance. Before she joined Deutsche Bank, Tazia spent seven years at Goldman Sachs providing institutional cross-asset sales coverage for private clients.    

In 2019, Tazia co-founded and served as a Strategic Advisor for the IMP+ACT Alliance, an independent nonprofit technology initiative funded by Deutsche Bank, with the purpose of advancing market participants’ assessment of impact investments, that is now part of The Global Impact Investing Network (The GIIN). 

Tazia holds a BA in Environmental Science & Policy from Duke University, where she graduated magna cum laude. She is a CFA® (Chartered Financial Analyst) Charterholder.  

As Chief Strategy Officer, Jessica leads high-priority growth initiatives across Closed Loop Partners, working across all investment platforms and in close collaboration with the firm’s innovation center, the Center for the Circular Economy. She works with Closed Loop Partners’ corporate investors, portfolio companies and other partners to help achieve their circular economy goals. 

As the Head of Closed Loop Builders, Jessica helps the team incubate, build and scale circular economy infrastructure and solutions across the U.S. The first company launched within Closed Loop Builders is Circular Services, one of the largest privately held recycling and circular economy services companies in the U.S., serving municipalities and commercial properties in some of the nation’s largest and fastest growing cities.  

Jessica brings over two decades of experience, helping organizations increase competitiveness and drive profitable growth while creating positive economic, environmental and societal impact. Prior to joining Closed Loop Partners, Jessica was a Managing Director with Accenture, leading their North America Sustainability and Responsible Business practice. In this role, Jessica led engagements with companies in energy, food, fashion and technology to advance their ESG goals, drive economic value through responsible business and scale circular business models. In addition to working with Fortune 500 companies, she drove multi-stakeholder efforts with the World Economic Forum and the United Nations Global Compact. Prior to that role, Jessica was based in East Africa, leading the company’s work at the intersection of business, international development and emerging markets. 

Before joining Accenture, Jessica worked in the United States Senate on issues related to affordable housing and immigration. She is a speaker and author of several papers and studies, including the industry’s flagship publication on the business case for the circular economy, The Circular Economy Handbook: Realizing the Circular Advantage. 

Jessica serves as an advisor to The Earthshot Prize, the Global Teacher Prize and Rise. She was selected as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.  

Jessica holds a BA from Macalester College. 

Talia works closely with leadership to support the firm’s investment group, Closed Loop Capital Management, its innovation arm, the Center for the Circular Economy, and its operating group, Closed Loop Builders, fostering seamless collaboration and alignment with the firm’s mission to advance the circular economy.  

Prior to joining Closed Loop Partners, Talia served as general counsel to several rapid growth tech startup companies across a range of industries. She has deep experience as a respected partner who understands how to advance business goals, provide practical commercial advice and navigate companies through complex issues (including cross-border), economic uncertainty and challenging environments. 

Prior to her in-house roles, Talia was an associate at Latham and Watkins, where her practice focused on private equity transactions, mergers & acquisitions, strategic transactions and general corporate law.  

Talia holds a JD from the University of Houston School of Law, where she graduated magna cum laude, Law Review, and a BA from the University of Texas, where she graduated magna cum laude.  

As the Head of the Center for the Circular Economy, Kate has built a team that innovates new material and operational solutions to reduce waste, advance reuse, and increase recovery of resources. The Center’s collaborations across diverse sectors and materials bring together Fortune 500 companies, innovators, industry associations and other stakeholders across the entire value chain to advance systems-level impact.

Kate brings more than two decades of experience leading mission-driven teams. Prior to joining Closed Loop Partners, Kate served in New York City government for more than a decade, most recently as Senior Vice President at the NYC Economic Development Corporation. At NYCEDC, Kate led a team launching innovative business development programs to foster the growth of entrepreneurship, strengthen New York City’s anchor and emerging industries and create new jobs. She managed a portfolio across sectors including smart cities, healthcare, cleantech, fashion, tech, media and advanced manufacturing. Kate previously served as the Executive Director of the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission, the city agency that preserves New York City’s architecturally, historically and culturally significant buildings and sites. 

Kate serves on the Sustainability Advisory Council for Novo Nordisk, the Advisory Committee for the Healthy Materials Lab at Parsons School of Design and is Chair of the Water Advisory Committee for Southold Township, NY. 

Kate holds an MS from the University of Pennsylvania and a BA from Cornell University. 

Bridget has spent the last 20 years building movements to help drive a more sustainable economy––from the local food movement to the circular economy. This work has included a national campaign to improve quality of life with less consumption; building and executing campaign tools to move consumers to Buy Fresh, Buy Local; a startup turned growth company incentivizing consumers to recycle right; and Purpose, a consultancy and incubator leveraging the tools of movement building to solve global challenges. 

Bridget holds a BA in Sustainable Development from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. 

Prior to joining Closed Loop Partners, Danielle developed an expertise in the environmental sector, investing across asset classes including private equity, project finance and venture capital. She started her career at NewWorld Capital Group, where she supported growth equity and project finance deals across some of the earliest U.S. commercial solar developers, as well as novel and more efficient HVAC. She evaluated hundreds of environmental sector businesses and developed and developed investment theses alongside the firm’s Chief Technology Officer.  

Danielle also worked on larger-scale projects with Invex Infraestructura, evaluating opportunities for new clean energy assets in a newly privatized Mexican energy landscape––which was later nationalized again. She also worked with Queensland Investment Corporation, evaluating energy infrastructure opportunities as they looked to expand into the U.S. market. As part of this work, she authored a climate risk assessment framework for their existing asset base, which continued on to serve as a basis for their work in managing climate risk across their portfolio.  

Danielle currently serves on the Board of SolarCycle, Capra Biosciences and HomeBiogas; and led both the investment and exit of Atlas Organics. In addition, she serves on the Board of the Billion Oyster Project, a nonprofit dedicated to restoring the biodiversity and health of New York Harbors by engaging community members in education and action.  

Danielle holds an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business and a BA in Philosophy and Politics with a minor in Religious Studies from Pomona College.