Chamber Attends Day On Governors Island Event Hosted by The New York Climate Exchange
On Monday, July 17, the New York Climate Exchange (“The Exchange”) hosted a Day on Governors Island event that invited partner organizations and elected officials to visit the island, tour the site that will soon be home to the world-leading climate solutions center, and learn more about The Exchange’s mission, vision, and anticipated programming. As part of The Exchange’s robust partner network, the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce participated alongside over 80 representatives from elected official offices and partner organizations from across New York City and the country.
The Day on Governors Island event marked an important step in The Exchange’s commitment to uniting its many stakeholders, including offering the opportunity for elected officials and their teams to meet with partners and learn more about The Exchange’s ambitious goals.
Event guests were welcomed to Governors Island with remarks in the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council Arts Center by Clare Newman, president and CEO of The Trust for Governors Island; Maria Torres-Springer, deputy mayor for Housing, Economic, and Workforce Development; Maurie McInnis, president of Stony Brook University and chair of The New York Climate Exchange; and Kevin Reed, associate dean for research and an associate professor in the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences at Stony Brook University. Reed also advises programming for The Exchange.
The Exchange’s physical presence on Governors Island will be home to research, education, and public programming. It will be a model of sustainability, using renewable energy and zero-waste technologies to achieve net-zero and net-positive goals for energy and water. During the Day on Governors Island event, guests toured the grounds where construction will begin in 2025. Andrew Winters, director of development for The Exchange, along with Sarah Krautheim, senior vice president of public affairs for The Trust for Governors Island, led a tour for attendees and provided a first-hand look at how the grounds will be transformed.
This spring, New York City Mayor Eric Adams and The Trust for Governors Island announced The Exchange as a first-of-its kind not-for-profit organization. The Exchange is a network of climate experts, researchers, educators, business leaders, and community organizations dedicated to tackling the effects of climate change on New York City and beyond. Partners from technology, finance, academia, research, government, public health, and environmental justice have joined together in an unprecedented model to identify and scale climate change solutions.
In addition to the Chamber, The Exchange’s partners include Boston Consulting Group (BCG), The City University of New York (CUNY), Duke University, Georgia Tech, Good Old Lower East Side (GOLES), IBM, Moody’s, New York University, Pace University, Pratt Institute, Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), Stony Brook University, SUNY Maritime College, University of Oxford, University of Washington, and more than 36 local community partners.