The Wharton Environment and Climate Action Network (WECAN) is a Wharton Global Affinity Club dedicated to harnessing the collective power of the global Wharton alumni network to advance sustainable business solutions for the climate and environment. Our mission is to cultivate innovation, collaboration, and action in the global transition toward sustainable and resilient systems through networking, knowledge exchange, and strategic partnership opportunities.
Our vision for WECAN is to serve as a global Wharton hub where alumni collaborate to address climate and environmental challenges, creating transformational change in our global journey toward a sustainable future.
Through purpose-driven online and offline events, knowledge sharing, and other activities, WECAN empowers its members to become change-makers in the evolving landscape of environmental and climate action.
Christophe is the Head of HSBC Asset Management’s Climate Technology venture fund having recently relocated to London from San Francisco. Previously he was Vice President of Centrica Innovations, leading the UK’s largest energy retailer’s Venture Capital effort deploying £100m in North America, Europe, and Israel. He started his career
Christophe is the Head of HSBC Asset Management’s Climate Technology venture fund having recently relocated to London from San Francisco. Previously he was Vice President of Centrica Innovations, leading the UK’s largest energy retailer’s Venture Capital effort deploying £100m in North America, Europe, and Israel. He started his career as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch in London before joining the Private Equity firm TowerBrook Capital Partners where he focused on growth equity investments and leverage buyouts in a variety of industries. Following his MBA, Christophe joined Centrica in the group M&A team and later leading the European gas origination team as part of Centrica Marketing and Trading. In 2014, Christophe moved to North America as part of the M&A team where amongst other things, he led the acquisition of Panoramic Power, an energy management and intelligence company.
Christophe has a BA in Economics and International Affairs from Colorado College, a Finance and Accounting graduate degree from the London School of Economics and an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Christophe is married with three children.
Harvey is a Co-Founder and Partner at Congruence Capital. Congruence aims to invest in public companies and work collaboratively with management teams to create long-term value.
Prior to Congruence, Harvey was a Vice President at Centerline Capital Management, a Platinum Equity affiliate, where he focused on investments in companies with p
Harvey is a Co-Founder and Partner at Congruence Capital. Congruence aims to invest in public companies and work collaboratively with management teams to create long-term value.
Prior to Congruence, Harvey was a Vice President at Centerline Capital Management, a Platinum Equity affiliate, where he focused on investments in companies with potential for value creation through operational improvements. Previously, he worked in various roles at Oaktree and Evercore, focusing on companies in stressed and distressed situations. Harvey graduated from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Economics with a concentration in Finance.
Harvey currently serves as the Treasurer and a member of the Board of Directors for the Wharton Club of Southern California.
Marina Rakhlin (WG11) is the Program Director of Partnerships in Climate and Sustainability and ESG Strategy at IBM. She leads cross-departmental collaborations with academic institutions, governmental organizations, enterprise partners and non-profits to expedite discovery and commercialization of solutions to challenges posed by climate
Marina Rakhlin (WG11) is the Program Director of Partnerships in Climate and Sustainability and ESG Strategy at IBM. She leads cross-departmental collaborations with academic institutions, governmental organizations, enterprise partners and non-profits to expedite discovery and commercialization of solutions to challenges posed by climate change. Her key projects include IBM’s engagement as a core partner in the New York Climate Exchange ,which is building a climate action center on Governors Island in New York, and IBM participation in the MIT Climate and Sustainability Consortium. At IBM Marina has worked on the intersection of AI and climate technology in areas such as geospatial analytics, natural carbon sequestration and accelerated discovery of new materials for carbon capture. Prior to IBM Marina was leading Product Management and Strategy teams at a number of startups.
Marina holds an MBA from the Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania and a BA in International Economics from University of California Davis.
Kendall Combs (WG11) is the Chief Executive Officer of Merlin Solar Technologies, a company who is revolutionizing renewable energy for mobile environments and rooftops. Merlin has innovated solar panel form and function to achieve rugged durability, lightweight construction, and exceptional performance for some of the world’s most dema
Kendall Combs (WG11) is the Chief Executive Officer of Merlin Solar Technologies, a company who is revolutionizing renewable energy for mobile environments and rooftops. Merlin has innovated solar panel form and function to achieve rugged durability, lightweight construction, and exceptional performance for some of the world’s most demanding environments.
Prior to Merlin, Kendall was Vice President of Strategic Business Development at Saint-Gobain North America where he led the M&A, Strategy, Sustainability, and Marketing functions while managing a portfolio of early-stage businesses totaling >$1B in revenue.
Kendall holds an MBA from the Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania, a Master's in International Studies from the University of Pennsylvania, and a B.A. in Marketing from the Red McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas.
Amy Richard Butte (WG03) has a career in delivering solutions for sustainability. Her experience includes product development, marketing and sales, commodity pricing and structuring, and project development. At Constellation Energy, she launched successful renewable energy, onsite solar, and load management products representing hundreds
Amy Richard Butte (WG03) has a career in delivering solutions for sustainability. Her experience includes product development, marketing and sales, commodity pricing and structuring, and project development. At Constellation Energy, she launched successful renewable energy, onsite solar, and load management products representing hundreds of megawatts of power. At Enventix, she leads commercialization of regenerative agriculture, carbon, and biofuel products. As a consultant, she has worked with Pacific Gas and Electric, EPRI, PARC, Viridity Energy (now Ormat), EnerVault, the City of Santa Monica, and other clean tech startups and nonprofit organizations. Amy performs regulatory analysis and has worked as an advocate for equitable climate action. Amy earned her MBA in Operations and Finance from Wharton and a BA from Stanford.
Wayne Hao (WG11) is an accomplished international executive with over 20 years of experience in entrepreneurship and corporate development and is currently a Managing Director at Shomei Capital, an investment and development firm with a primary focus on power and environmental technologies.
Before joining Shomei, Mr. Hao served as Vice Pre
Wayne Hao (WG11) is an accomplished international executive with over 20 years of experience in entrepreneurship and corporate development and is currently a Managing Director at Shomei Capital, an investment and development firm with a primary focus on power and environmental technologies.
Before joining Shomei, Mr. Hao served as Vice President of Corporate Development at NANO Nuclear Energy (NASDAQ: NNE), an advanced nuclear energy company. Throughout his career, Mr. Hao has held executive leadership roles including international strategy and operations for a social commerce entertainment enterprise and serving as CFO of an MGM-backed multimedia business. Earlier in his career, he was an analyst for an $800 million venture investment firm and also played a pivotal role in building two early-stage startup exits that collectively exceeded $150 million in total exit value.
Mr. Hao holds an MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Washington University in St. Louis. He is also dedicated to fostering community and diversity as a Board Member of the Asian Business League of Southern California, a nonprofit organization serving the Asian business community since 1984.
Jack Rejtman (WG02) is a social entrepreneur, innovation consultant and strategic adviser. He has spent the past 15 years working with start-ups, research-intensive organizations, multinationals, NFPs and governments to create new products, services, software and platforms to unlock and multiply the impact of research, knowledge networks
Jack Rejtman (WG02) is a social entrepreneur, innovation consultant and strategic adviser. He has spent the past 15 years working with start-ups, research-intensive organizations, multinationals, NFPs and governments to create new products, services, software and platforms to unlock and multiply the impact of research, knowledge networks and big data.
As a founding director of Acacia – a social enterprise working to reallocate capital to create greater ecological, social and economic value – Jack is supporting development of the first large-scale, commercial kelp farm in Australia. Previously, he has helped accelerate commercialization of new products that remove excess phosphate from water to reduce algal blooms, that reduce dengue fever and that provide advanced warning of bush fires. Jack also co-founded and led The Conversation — a global media group that translates academic research and insights into plain English.
Jack holds an MBA in Strategic and Entrepreneurial Management from Wharton and a BS in Journalism & Communications from the University of Florida.
Learn more about how you can get involved and make a positive impact through the Wharton Community.