Ron Prashker ’04 is a partner, investor, and board member at Salcheto Winery, which uses biodynamic farming to cultivate its crops in Tuscany, Italy, and distributes its wines through Whole Foods and other outlets.
One point of pride is that Salcheto has become the model for a sustainable winery certification, which has been adopted by approximately 500 wineries. “We were the first in a lot of areas around climate and sustainability,” he said at a luncheon for the Climate Practitioners Network (CPN) at the Climate Business and Investment Conference.
Prashker and his co-investors are seeking an- other investment round to fund a rollup of sustainable wineries. The challenge, he said, is balancing sustainability considerations, including creating good jobs, with economics: “You can’t do all of these things if you can’t survive.”
He is one of many alumni who have become active participants in the CPN. The network took shape two years ago when the Tamer Institute identified a need to bring together alumni in the field, recounted Allison Kline ’20, senior associate director for network engagement at the Tamer Institute. After conducting more than 50 one-on-one interviews with alumni, Kline and her colleagues began rolling out opportunities for alumni with shared goals around climate change to connect, crossing the boundaries of different professional fields. CPN’s work has included both in-person events like the CPN luncheon and a newsletter to keep alumni updated on relevant opportunities.
“Given the urgency of addressing climate change in the business community and how rapidly the Tamer Institute is expanding our offerings in climate for current students and for the public through the Climate Knowledge Initiative, it seems like a really important time to more strategically address that question and think about how to engage our alumni,” Kline said.
“Think about that 20-to 30-year-old in your life. Ask them the hard questions. Ask them what they want to see in the world. Tell them that it’s possible, and tell them that we can build it together.”
- Drew DiPrinzio '25
Investors are an important part of the group. Andrea Turner Moffitt ’07, a member of the Tamer Institute’s Advisory Board, has been an active connector in the network, and many other investors attend events to network and scout for deals.
“Private capital has to step up,” said Diane Keefe ’84, who attended the CPN lunch to scout for investments. One of her recent investments was in Knip, a startup that develops an additive for aquaculture that reduces disease in fish populations, with the goal of making the field more sustainable. “So many of the economies in the world are reliant on fish,” she said.
The network has attracted alumni in highly specialized fields as well. Eric Pitt ’04, chief commercial officer at Emergent, attended the luncheon with an eye on finding the right partners to fight deforestation. Emergent works with developing countries that have tropical forests and the private sector to arrange large-scale transactions of carbon credits.“ There is a critical mass of companies and governments that are really committed to the issues, so coming to an event like this pro- vides a sense of opportunity,” he said.
For many alumni in the network, connecting with students is the primary goal. Alumni practitioners return as career advisors, mentors, and guest speakers, sharing their experiences to encourage the next generation of climate talent. Among the most active are David Wei ’19, vice president of finance and operations at SolarKal (led by founder and CEO Yaniv Kalish ’12), and Wendy De Wolf ’18, who founded renewable energy startup East Light Partners while at CBS and is now co-founder and president of Reservoir Partners. Wei and De Wolf also share a formative experience: Both participated in the inaugural cohort of CBS’s Three Cairns Fellowship.
The student-run Green Business Club, meanwhile, brings together the next generation of leaders in climate innovation and actively invites alumni participation. This year, the club was led by co-presidents Drew DiPrinzio ’25 and Abby Trusler ’25, who accepted the 2025 Carson Family Changemaker Award in recognition of their extraordinary impact in running the club.
As he accepted the award, DiPrinzio called for mentorship, along with optimism. “Think about that 20-to 30-year-old in your life,” he said. “Ask them the hard questions. Ask them what they want to see in the world. Tell them that it’s possible, and tell them that we can build it together.”
Trusler stressed that a focus on moving ahead is more important than ever: “This moment in our country calls for ambition, resilience, and the belief that progress is still within reach.”
