Live from the NeoCon show floor in Chicago, Verda and Jon sit down with Kathleen Egan and Paul Shahriari, co-founders of Ecomedes. If you’ve ever struggled to specify sustainable materials, this episode is a must-listen. Ecomedes is changing the game for the architecture and design industry by streamlining product data, certifications, and comparisons into one comprehensive and easy-to-use platform. We explore why the process has been so hard for both designers and manufacturers, challenge ideas about product data, and explore how Ecomedes is making the path to sustainable design more efficient and impactful.

References & Resources

Ecomedes Platform https://www.ecomedes.com

Summit at Neocon mentoned; https://metropolismag.com/viewpoints/insights-metropolis-leadership-summit-neocon/

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In this episode, Jon and Verda sit down with Osprey Orielle Lake, founder of the Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN), to explore the connections between women’s rights, climate justice, and the rights of nature. From ecofeminism to alternative worldviews, from frontline defenders to global policy, Osprey shares how women, especially in the Global South are driving climate solutions.

References & Resources

Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN) www.wecaninternational.org

The Story is in Our Bones: How Worldviews and Climate Justice Can Remake a World in Crisis by Osprey Orielle Lake https://ospreyoriellelake.earth/

Inside Climate News: “The Ecofeminist Movement Is Surging. Here’s What Its Advocates Want.”

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In this episode, Jon and Verda go live from Chicago, at the Gensler Principal's Retreat to unpack some of the issues shaping the design industry. Amanda Schneider, of ThinkLab, is back and joins us on stage for a three-part conversation on how unspoken norms around gender and power influence who leads, whose needs are prioritized in design, and how inclusive leadership can drive climate resilience. Amanda shares her research in how generational shifts, and specifically the perspective of Generation Z, are reshaping the way we think about work. Together, we reflect on how expectations placed on women at work, at home, and in leadership are evolving, and how letting go of rigid labels may open the door to a more inclusive, sustainable future.

Referenced Work:

Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Perez

The book Jon and Verda have been reading this season about how male-default bias shapes everything we design from transit systems to disaster response

A deep dive into how corporate structures reinforce gendered power

This Changes Everything

A Documentary film that looks at gender disparity in Hollywood

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