Navigating Net Zero: Patrick Flynn & Insights from Salesforce and Beyond
In the pilot episode of Navigating Net Zero, host Alexia Kelly connects with Patrick Flynn, climate expert and former Head of Sustainability at Salesforce. Patrick and Alexia discuss his experience at Salesforce, where a strong culture throughout the entire organization – from teams in every part of Salesforce all the way to CEO Marc Benioff – was so important to embedding sustainability throughout the company, even to the point of establishing sustainability as a core company value. They also dive into the challenges of tackling supply chain emissions, the importance of customer pressure, and how incentives and market-based instruments drive and enable real-world impact. They also discuss Patrick’s experience leading Switchboard, an organization aimed at building new climate leaders and harnessing collective action, and his upcoming masterclass on how to architect and execute your organization’s most impactful climate action strategies.
Creators and Guests
Host
Alexia Kelly
Alexia Kelly has worked for more than 18 years at the intersection of policy and finance to address the climate crisis. Alexia is the Managing Director of the Carbon Policy and Markets Initiative (CPMI) at High Tide Foundation. The CPMI accelerates ambitious climate action and capital mobilization through robust rules and guidance for voluntary corporate action and disclosures, and building the next generation of high-integrity carbon and environmental services markets. She currently serves on the Board of the Integrity Council for Voluntary Carbon Markets (IC VCM) and the Board of the Advanced and Indirect Mitigation Initiative, as well as on the Expert Advisory Group of the Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity Initiative (VCMI). Prior to joining High Tide Foundation, she served as Director of Net Zero + Nature at Netflix, where she led the company’s inaugural greenhouse gas inventory, renewable energy strategy, Science Based Target and global carbon credit portfolio. Previously, she worked at the U.S. Department of State, where she served as lead negotiator to the UNFCCC on Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. She has also held senior roles at the World Resources Institute, The David and Lucille Packard Foundation, The Climate Trust, and in private equity.
Producer
Matt Jordan
Matt Jordan is a Director within the High Tide Foundation’s Carbon Policy and Markets Initiative (CPMI). Matt has been working in climate action for more than 15 years, and has a long track record of envisioning, developing and scaling innovative programs and financing tools that deliver lasting global impact. Matt built CLASP’s Clean Energy Access program from a single small project to an integrated portfolio of technical, research, and market stimulation programs with a coherent, issue-defining theory of change and a global team of more than 20. He co-founded Propel Clean Energy Partners, a consulting firm with clients such as the World Resources Institute, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, and the Asian Development Bank. Following their acquisition of Propel’s work and team, Matt served as a Director in RMI’s Global South portfolio and led their global clean energy workforce development initiative. He holds a BA in Philosophy from Colgate University, a Master’s in Public Policy Analysis from the University of California, and a Professional Certificate in Financing and Deploying Clean Energy from Yale University.
Guest
Patrick Flynn
Patrick Flynn is a climate action expert who has spent his career at the intersection of business, technology and sustainability. While always working for Planet Earth, he has held roles in engineering, investing and business transformation, including many years leading sustainability for Salesforce. Nowadays, he’s on a mission to supercharge the business world’s most influential climate leaders with Switchboard. Patrick is an advisor to various mission-aligned organizations like Generation Investment Management, TOPO Finance and WattCarbon. He holds an engineering degree from Stanford and a business degree from MIT.
