Key Note Speakers

Nathan Stuck

Nathan is an award winning leader in the B Corp community and the Founder of Profitable Purpose Consulting, a culture, impact, and B Corp consultancy. He founded and chairs B Local Georgia and serves on the board of B Academics, a nonprofit committed to research and experiential B Corp learning opportunities. 

He is also the Executive Director of BLD Southeast, a regional annual B Corp conference that brings together B Corps from the southeastern United States for a celebration of business as a force for good.

Nathan teaches an MBA course on B Corps at the University of Georgia, is a regular speaker at conferences and on podcasts around the world, and hosts the B The Change Georgia podcast. His first book, Happy Monday: Designing Your Dream Career, was released in 2022, and his TEDx Talk was released in March 2023. 

Adrianne Gordon ’99

She has helped hundreds of businesses from independent birth professionals just launching their practice to 25 year old manufacturing companies with nearly 100 employees. She believes in meeting clients and audiences where they are and uses a customized approach for each engagement to meet their unique needs. Every consultation, facilitation, training, and presentation focuses on implementable ideas and best practices. Adrianne approaches problem solving in a way that achieves big picture goals while considering the details needed for effective execution. She is a strong planner, communicator, and integrator known to bridge strategy and tactics. As a speaker and facilitator, Adrianne has an approachable and engaging style that receives very positive feedback from participants. Connecting her professional roles, community involvement and personal projects is her dedication to helping people, companies, communities and organizations achieve their goals. For some, the goal is growth while others seek stability. Many seek her out for support in integrating EOSⓇ.

Panelists

Brock Ashburn

Brock Ashburn works at Highland Brewing Company in Asheville, NC. His role has morphed from staff engineer and contractor around 2011, to Vice President today. At the same time, he serves as husband of the President, and son in law of the founder.  He has been self-employed as a licensed engineer since 1998 and as a general contractor since 2000, with a breadth of design/build experience in residential, commercial, and site development/construction. Inheriting a building that was originally built in the 1950’s and added to over the next 20 years has presented Highland with many challenges.  These challenges have provided opportunity to recycle, reuse, and improve many systems and processes in the brewery during the seemingly unending construction cycle of hospitality related facilities, packaging hall upgrades, brewhouse enhancements, solar array additions, etc. over the last 5 years.  Brock seeks to continue the trend of sustainability and reduction of energy use while implementing new and improved machines, systems, safety, and processes throughout the facility.

Clary Franko

Clary is the Chief Operating Officer at Sugar Hollow Solar, the largest locally-owned solar company in western NC. After graduating summa cum laude from Appalachian State University where she chaired the Renewable Energy Initiative, she became an environmental organizer throughout the east coast. In 2012, Clary helped launch a mission-driven solar company in Vermont. Returning to her Southern Appalachian roots, she joined the Sugar Hollow team, originally as Director of Marketing, in 2020. Clary serves on the Blue Horizons Project Community Council, a non-profit working to get Buncombe County to 100% clean energy by 2042. She lives in West Asheville with her partner and pup, and is an active member of the local Ladies Climbing Coalition and Asheville AcroYoga community.

Steve Linton

Steve Linton, president of Deltec Homes, is among the leaders in the nationwide movement to build the next generation of home. In business for more than 50 years, Deltec is a certified B- corporation that specializes in building sustainable, hurricane-resistant, and beautiful panoramic homes using components produced at its Asheville, NC headquarters.

Linton as a degree in Civil Engineering from Cornell University, a master’s degree in business from Western Carolina University, and is a leadership fellow at the Thayer Institute. He is also a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Accredited Professional and has been a green building consultant for ABC’s Extreme Makeover program.

Jael Skeffington

Jael Skeffington, co-founder and CEO of French Broad Chocolates in Asheville, believes in using business as a force for good. What started in 2006 as a farmers’ market stand has grown to 90 employees and includes an experiential Chocolate Factory & Cafe, a destination dessert restaurant – French Broad Chocolate Lounge, a growing online business, and a small chocolate boutique in Atlanta.  Her chocolates have been recognized in many national and international awards, and she was the recipient of the WomanUp “Best in Business” award in 2016.

Michael Whelchel

Michael is Founder and CEO of Big Path Capital. In 2007 the old economy driven by the single gear of profit maximization reached a dead end in the financial crisis. It was a moment of reckoning during which Michael left his fifteen-year career in private equity to form Big Path Capital, leveraging the engine of capitalism for an expansive economy built on natural, social, and financial capital.

Recognizing that impact investing isn’t just a different way of investing but a superior way of deploying capital, Michael is committed to challenging the status quo and to raising the expectation of capital.  In this vein, Big Path has created a number of first-in-class initiatives demonstrating SmarterMoney+:  Maximize impact, Maximize return. These include the Five Fund Forum, Impact Capitalism Summit, and Impact & Sustainable Trade Missions.

Michael received his BA summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa from the University of the South in Sewanee, TN and received a joint MBA and MEM (Master of Engineering Management) from the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University.