Communicating Climate in 2025: Navigating Polarization with Action and Authenticity

IN THE EPISODE

In this live episode recorded during Climate Week NYC 2025, Bard MBA professor Renay Loper hosts a conversation with Alec Turnbull, co-founder of Climate Tech Cities and the Climate Film Festival, and Lauren Kiel, Global Head of Community Innovation at Bloomberg Media. The panel tackles communicating climate action in a polarized environment, discussing why talking about 'value instead of values' resonates with business leaders and why 89% of people care about climate despite the stigma around discussing it. They explore the shift from headlines to action, the power of personal stories over macro messaging, and why record-breaking Climate Week attendance suggests real momentum continues. The conversation emphasizes that incremental progress matters, long-term planning persists despite political headwinds, and the most important climate action we can take is simply talking about it.

This episode captures the energy of Bard's new 'Inside Sustainability Live' series, where real-world practitioners and academics come together to build community and share strategies for advancing sustainability work in challenging times.

Bard’s Graduate Programs in Sustainability cultivate leaders who break through existing systems, innovating solutions to critical social, environmental and economic challenges. 2023 marked the 20th anniversary of the first graduating class from M.S. in Environmental Policy degree at Bard CEP and the 10th graduating class from the Bard MBA in Sustainability program. The 2024 graduating MS EP, MS CSP, MEd and MBA classes brought the Bard GPS alumni community to over 500!

MEET THE SPEAKERS

Lauren Kiel
Lauren Kiel is the Global Head of Community Innovation at Bloomberg Media, where she leads a global team producing revenue-generating executive thought leadership and building impactful communities and convenings. Her portfolio includes overseeing Bloomberg Media’s Coalitions—year-round working groups uniting senior leaders to address global challenges such as cancer, clean tech, and dynamic cities—as well as developing commercial programming for Bloomberg Live Experiences events and managing the Bloomberg New Economy Catalyst program, which spotlights visionary leaders driving change across business, philanthropy, and government. She also continues to guide Bloomberg Media’s commercial efforts for Bloomberg Green and its sustainability-focused initiatives.

Previously, Lauren served as General Manager of Bloomberg Green, where she helped launch and grow Bloomberg’s flagship editorial brand on climate news and data-driven insights, leading strategy across commercial, editorial, digital, and events teams. She also directed Bloomberg’s Sustainable Business Summits, shaping a global conference series for leaders in sustainable business and finance. Earlier in her career, she managed editorial programming for Bloomberg Industry Group and Bloomberg Government events, and was part of the AtlanticLIVE editorial team at The Atlantic.

Beyond her work at Bloomberg, Lauren has been a longtime mentor and committee member with Girls Write Now, a nonprofit dedicated to serving girls and gender-expansive youth through writing and mentorship.

Alec Turnbull
Alec Turnbull is a climate tech entrepreneur and ecosystem builder based in New York City. With over 15 years of experience spanning impact sectors, fintech, and digital media, he has built and scaled innovative technology solutions to address global challenges. Alec is the founder of New Forecast, a platform accelerating investment in high-impact climate projects, and the co-founder of Climate Tech Cities and the Climate Film Festival, initiatives that foster collaboration and storytelling across the climate innovation ecosystem. Previously, he led product and engineering teams as VP at Dotdash Meredith, America’s largest digital and print publisher, and has worked on startups in renewable energy and deep tech for building decarbonization.

Renay Loper:
Renay is a Clinical Faculty in Organizational Leadership for the Bard MBA in Sustainability, where she focuses on justice-centered transformation in the workplace. Previously, she was the Vice President of Program Innovation at PYXERA Global where she served on the Executive Leadership Team, led five country offices, drove the development of new business and programs, co-led the organization's work on inclusive circular cities, and advised corporate clients on their social impact strategies. Renay also led the organization’s ARC (Antiracist Collective) initiatives, which included internal and external efforts toward dismantling unjust systems. To this end, Renay created Rhetoric to Action, a series of conversations to bridge sectors toward collective action around social and racial justice.

Prior to PYXERA Global, Renay led the grassroots exchange and education grant portfolio at the Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership, and has served in a variety of leadership roles in higher education, nonprofit, and business prior to that. Renay is an avid speaker and facilitator, has authored and edited numerous publications, including a resource journal, Student Affairs Professionals Cultivating Campus Climates Inclusive of International Students (Jossey Bass). Renay serves on the board of directors of nonprofits including Community Change, Harpswell Foundation, and Girl Rising.