Scaling Future-Fit Innovation
April 15th, 2026 | 12:00 PM – 5:00 PM ET
April 16th, 2026 | 8:30 AM - 2:00 PM ET
In-Person & Virtual Registration
Hosted by: Braskem
Meeting Overview
Join the April SB Member Meeting for a dynamic exploration of how consumer brands are scaling future-fit innovation in practice. From next-generation materials and circular design to using AI to accelerate learning, decision-making, and scale, this meeting surfaces what becomes possible when sustainable innovation is treated as a source of real competitive advantage.
Built for participation, the agenda blends case studies, data, peer exchange, and workshop-style activities designed to test ideas, challenge assumptions, and share lessons learned. Expect candid conversations, practical takeaways, and clear signals on what it takes to successfully scale innovation across teams, markets, and value chains. Participants will:
- See where future-fit innovation is gaining traction across consumer brands, including materials, AI-enabled tools, and resilience-driven approaches.
- Review insights from a new SB Member Playbook created with the support of Target, The Estee Lauder Companies, Braskem, Eastman, IFF, and Change Chemistry on Scaling Future Fit Materials.
- Workshop with peers to explore how insights from this playbook can inform your innovation roadmap.
- Explore how data, case studies, and shared frameworks are used to evaluate readiness, risk, and return when scaling innovation.
- Understand how AI and digital tools accelerate progress, remove internal, operational, and time-to-market barriers, and strengthen the confidence and credibility of environmental claims.
- Learn how sustainability-led innovation translates into competitive advantage, strengthening brand relevance, resilience, and long-term growth.
This SB Member-exclusive gathering is part of our Member Meeting series, intended to create a safe and productive space for discussion, raise shared obstacles and insights, and enable the co-creation of solutions that drive progress for all.
Agenda
Day 1 - Wednesday, April 15, 2026
8:30 am - Tour of Remark Glass Meetup (In-person attendees only) Tour Details to be provided.
9:00 - 11:00am - Tour of Bok Building & Remark Glass (In-person attendees only)
Through Circular Philadelphia , SB Member Meeting attendees are invited to experience an immersive look at Philadelphia's circular economy in action, beginning with a walk-through of the adaptively reused Bok Building and continuing with a behind-the-scenes tour of Remark Glass, a pioneering glass-reuse studio pushing the boundaries of what's possible with recovered materials. The tour will bring circular material flows to life, highlight the power of local ecosystem partnerships to close loops, showcase custom collaborations for zero-waste packaging and product design and offer insight into how craft, transparency and systems thinking translate into compelling brand storytelling and measurable impact.
The experience will begin at the Bok Building, a standout example of circular economy principles applied to the built environment. Once a vocational high school, Bok has been thoughtfully transformed into a dynamic hub for Philadelphia makers, small businesses, nonprofits and artists, demonstrating how adaptive reuse can preserve embodied carbon, strengthen local economies and create space for circular innovation.
From there, attendees will head to Remark Glass, and innovative glass-reuse organization redefining how post-consumer glass can be recovered, re-formed and re-valued for an immersive tour. In this working studio, bottles and jars collected through the sister nonprofit Bottle Underground are transformed into hand-crafted barware, lighting and custom glass objects, illustrating how discarded materials can become high-value design inputs. Participants will see the full transformation process, from cleaning and precision cutting to reheating and hand-forming, and explore what this model means for consumer brands.
Further Tour Details to be provided.
11:00 - 11:15am - Tour attendees return to Braskem (In-person attendees only)
11:00am - 12:00pm - Arrival, Registration and Networking (In-person attendees only)
12:00 - 12:15pm - Welcome & Framing the Conversation
Speaker/s: Sustainable Brands Leadership
12:15 - 1:15pm - Host Kickoff: Materials Innovation as a Foundation for Scale
Speaker/s: Jake Harrison, Biotechnology Innovation, Braskem
Gustavo Lombardi, Director of Business Development, Braskem
Amanda Zani, Innovation and Technology, Braskem
Jerry O'Grady, Sustainability Market Development Manager, Braskem
This opening session from our meeting hosts at Braskem will explore the role of materials innovation in scalable product systems, with a focus on how bio-based plastic solutions are creating sustainable carbon cycles to power a circular economy.
1:15 - 2:15pm - Lunch Break and Networking (In-person attendees only)
2:15 - 3:30pm - Scaling Future Fit Materials: SB & Change Chemistry Working Group Insights and Playbook Review
Speaker/s: Rui Resendes, PhD, Change Chemistry and Working Group Members
Michael Hershkowitz, Director Global Sustainability & Sustainable Innovation, IFF
Laurel Baysal, Director of Sustainability, Eastman
A cohort of Sustainable Brands Members, including P&G, Target, Eastman, The Estee Lauder Companies, and IFF have come together through the SB Scaling Future-Fit Materials Working Group to tackle one of the most complex challenges in sustainable product / brand transformation: how to transition away from harmful chemicals and legacy inputs toward materials that are safer for people and planet without sacrificing performance, and while building the business case and a path to delivering enhanced business value.
This interactive session will introduce the working group's mandate and share out core insights surfaced during the development of its first deliverable, the Scaling Future-Fit Materials Playbook. The playbook includes a walkthrough of business value drivers, insights surfaced via the SB Business Transformation Roadmap (BTR), decision frameworks, case examples, and priority actions companies can take now to advance materials innovation. Designed as a practical guide for sustainability, product, innovation, procurement, and R&D leaders, the playbook translates ambition into actionable operational next steps.
Ample time will be dedicated to discussion, inviting participants to reflect on how the findings apply within their own organizations, where roadblocks remain, and what collaborative action may require next.
3:30 - 3:45pm - Networking Break (In-person attendees only)
3:45 - 4:30pm - Panel: Designing Circular Consumer Products: EPR, Packaging Materials, and Reverse Logistics
Speakers: Candice Lawton, Executive Director, Circular Philadelphia
Rebecca Davies, Founder, Remark
Paige DeAngelo, Founder and CEO, AER Cosmetic
Steven Figgatt, Founder and CEO, Sycamore International,
Alan Horowitz, Vice President of Sustainability, Aramark
What does it take to make circular consumer products and packaging work in practice—not just in theory? This panel and interactive discussion brings together Philadelphia-based leaders across beauty, electronics refurbishment, food service, local ecosystem building, and materials recovery to explore how circularity is designed into products, packaging, and systems from the start.
Moderated by Circular Philadelphia, the discussion will highlight how stakeholder alignment and pilot programs help move circular solutions into the market. AER Cosmetics will share its journey as a refillable beauty brand, including hard-won operational and supply chain lessons, while Sycamore International offers a future-of-packaging perspective, drawing parallels between electronics refurbishment and packaging return systems—from design for disassembly and modularity to reverse logistics at scale. Through the lens of Remark Glass, we will examine how post-consumer materials can be transformed into high-value products through local partnerships and zero-waste principles. Aramark will contribute a large-scale operational perspective, sharing how foodservice and facilities organizations are rethinking packaging, reducing food waste, and integrating circularity across campuses, stadiums and corporate environments. Together, the session surfaces practical insights on packaging innovation, reverse logistics, and the collaborative infrastructure required to scale circular consumer products.
4:30 - 5:00pm - Day 1 Reflections & Group Discussion
Evening (Optional - In-person attendees only)
Informal Member Dinner / Networking (details TBA)
Agenda
Day 2 - Thursday, April 16, 2026
8:30 - 9:30am - Breakfast and Networking (In-person attendees only)
9:30 - 10:30am - From Courtrooms to Conservation: Turning Critics into Architects of America's First Solar Town
Speakers: Nicole Janok, Senior Partner, Finn Partners
Aila Hernandez, Vice President Corporate Purpose & Sustainability, Finn Partners
Imagine buying an area larger than Manhattan with no infrastructure, a looming real estate crash, and a lawsuit from the nation's most powerful environmental groups waiting on your desk. This is the story of Babcock Ranch, where visionary developer, Syd Kitson, invited his critics to the drawing board and together they protected wildlife corridors and co-authored award winning sustainability standards. Discover how Kitson's extraordinary vision turned what could have been an environmental tragedy into a global model for resilient, solar-powered living that has kept residents safe and secure through Category-5 hurricanes.
10:30 - 11:00am - Sustainable AI: Measuring Environmental Impact Deploying Generative AI and Agentic AI - Part I
Speaker/s: Franco Amalfi, Global Sustainability AI Partner Ecosystem Lead, Capgemini
Jordan Friedman, Manager - Consumer Products, Retail, Hospitality & Services, Capgemini
This conversation will include an overview of key environmental impact areas for consideration when deploying generative and agentic AI, and how to measure and track impacts.
11:00 - 11:30am - Sustainable AI: Measuring Environmental Impact Deploying Generative AI and Agentic AI - Part II
Interactive discussion / Q&A around impact mitigation strategies and how to track and address them over time.
11:30 - 12:30pm - Lunch and Networking Break (In-person attendees only)
12:30pm - 1:00pm - AI for Sustainability: Leveraging AI to Advance Scale and Sustainability - Part I
Speaker/s: Franco Amalfi, Global Sustainability AI Partner Ecosystem Lead, Capgemini
Jordan Friedman, Manager - Consumer Products, Retail, Hospitality & Services, Capgemini
This discussion will identify opportunities and share case studies to support brands in understanding where AI can make the biggest impact in their organization, where to invest, and how to find the right partners for success.
1:00 - 1:30pm - AI for Sustainability: Leveraging AI to Advance Scale and Sustainability - Part II
Interactive discussion / Q&A around scaling strategies and how to track impact outcomes.
1:30- 1:45pm - SB Member Cohorts: Update and Feedback Survey
This brief discussion will spotlight Sustainable Brands' Member Cohorts: member-exclusive, peer-to-peer groups designed to foster candid exchange, practical problem-solving, and cross-functional collaboration around priority topics. Cohorts provide structured opportunities for members to learn from one another, pressure-test ideas, and accelerate progress on shared challenges. Members will have the opportunity to respond to a Cohort Feedback Survey, gathering insights into what Members most value in a peer cohort experience, which topics should be prioritized next, and where deeper collaboration is needed.
1:45 - 2:00pm - Reflection and Closing Conversations
A synthesis of shared insights, emerging opportunities, and implications for Members' innovations roadmaps heading into SB'26 for continued learning. Updated on Member events at SB'26 (June 8-10) and cohort opportunities.
Who should attend
Sustainable Brands curates Member-exclusive experiences for our network to help guide their journeys toward becoming truly sustainable brands. This meeting is available to the SB Member community networks only.
We encourage brand leaders across innovation, growth, brand voice and values, internal engagement and transformation, as well as consumer communications and marketing to join this interdisciplinary dialogue.
*All SB Member Meetings operate under the Chatham House Rule. By registering for the event, I grant permission for Sustainable Brands Media to use video or photographs of me for promotional purposes.
Bring A Guest
Our SB Member Meetings rely on deep cross-sector partnership, collaboration, and alignment. Do you have a colleague at another company who would make a great addition to the SB Member Network? If so, bring them as a guest to this Member Meeting! Together, we can co-create sustainable solutions to support a more regenerative ecosystem.
Contact us at engage@sustainablebrands.com for details.
Member-Exclusive In-person Experiences:
Wednesday, 4/15, SB Member Network Dinner
Details to be announced
In-Person Travel Details
The April Member Meeting will be held at the Braskem Headquarters in Philadelphia, PA.
Please use the link below to reserve your room at a discounted rate. This rate will expire on March 16, 2026.
Sonesta Philadelphia, Rittenhouse Square
1800 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103
Registration details:
Space is limited - be sure to register for your member-exclusive admission!
Registration will close on Thursday, April 9, 2026.
Miss the deadline? Reach out to your account director for availability.
We hope to see you there!