SPARK 2017 is Urjanet’s fifth-annual SPARK utility data conference providing unrivaled industry insights.
Sept. 14-15, 2017
Atlanta, GA
About
The goal of this year’s event is simple: to create a friendly and collaborative forum at a unique location where like-minded people can exchange ideas and explore new utility data opportunities through thought-provoking panels, roundtable discussions, and interactive presentations from industry experts.
Why attend
Attendees gain a deeper understanding of the depth and potential utility data provides across multiple industries and markets, while identifying opportunities for improvement within your own organization.
Who attends
Those who have attended SPARK in past years have gathered to discuss and debate the critical challenges facing those who are driving change at the intersection of technology and energy and sustainability management. This year, we will expand the discussion to reflect the changing landscape of applying utility data in the financial services sector.
Featured Speakers
Come and meet some of our leading industry experts offering innovative and valuable solutions in their respective fields.
Lee Ballin
About Lee
Lee Ballin is the Head of Sustainable Business Programs at Bloomberg L.P. Reporting to the Chairman’s Office, the team aggressively integrates sustainability considerations into all operations and co-develops products and services for the Bloomberg Professional Service & Bloomberg Media, enabling our clients to evaluate sustainability market risks and opportunities. Lee works closely with media teams at Bloomberg to help forward-thinking brands showcase their sustainability efforts to the financial and business communities through a wide range of Bloomberg Media opportunities. Lee’s communications team develops best-in- class employee engagement programs, training curriculum for operating departments and Bloomberg’s GRI-based Sustainability Report, published annually. He is a frequent panelist at sustainability conferences and events speaking on topics ranging from sustainable supply chains, external reporting and employee engagement. Lee is a Fellow within the Aspen Institute’s Business and Society Programs First Mover Fellowship and a graduate of CORO Leadership New York, a civic leadership program. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business logistics from Pennsylvania State University Park and a MBA from New York University’s Stern School of Business with a focus on finance and sustainability. He is an adjunct professor at the Pratt Institute, focusing on the intersection of Operations Management and Sustainable Business Strategy. He also is a faculty member at the NYU School of Professional Studies teaching a course on Corporate Social Responsibility and an advisor for the NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business.
Marilyn A. Brown
About Marilyn
Marilyn A. Brown is the Brook Byers Professor of Sustainable Systems in the School of Public Policy at the Georgia Institute of Technology, where she is Director of the Climate and Energy Policy Lab and a Presidential appointee to the Board of Directors of the Tennessee Valley Authority. Her current research focuses on the the design of public policy to promote clean energy systems, the integration of distributed resources into the electric grid, and the creation of jobs in the advanced energy economy. Previously she held leadership positions at Oak Ridge National Laboratory where she conducted several national climate change mitigation studies and became a leader in the analysis and interpretation of energy futures in the United States. She has authored more than 250 publications and five books including Green Savings: How Markets and Policies Drive Energy Efficiency (Praeger Press, 2015) and Fact and Fiction in Global Energy Policy (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2016). Among her honors and awards, she is a co-recipient of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for co-authorship of the report on Mitigation of Climate Change, she has served on eight committees of the National Academies of Sciences (currently on Geographical Sciences), and she is a member of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Electricity Advisory Committee.
Steve Swartz
About Steve
Steven is a partner in the McKinsey Center for Business and Environment and leads our Sustainable Enterprise service line, which pulls together McKinsey’s expertise across energy, water, clean technologies, operations and other disciplines to help clients develop and implement sustainability strategies that span the entire value chain. Steven provides pro bono assistance to several non-profit organizations promoting sustainability in consumer packaged goods and retail. Prior to joining McKinsey, he founded and ran a consulting firm that worked with industrial clients to integrate environmental strategies into their manufacturing processes.
Steve Ely
About Steve
Steve Ely is the CEO of eCredable, a credit bureau based in Alpharetta, Georgia. There are 45 million “credit invisibles” in the United States – people who cannot access affordable financial services due to a lack of a traditional credit score. eCredable works directly with these consumers to help them cross the credit chasm by scoring how they pay rent, utilities, mobile phone, and insurance. Mainstream lenders use this score in underwriting to provide the consumer access to credit cards, personal loans, auto loans, and home loans. The result – the consumer’s monthly payments are reported to the three major credit bureaus, which helps them build a traditional credit score.
From late 2005 through 2009, Steve was President of Equifax Personal Information Solutions, which provides credit-related products to consumers that help them manage their credit health, protect themselves against identity theft, and improve their overall financial well-being. Prior to this role, Steve was responsible for global product development at Equifax.
Prior to joining Equifax in 2004, Steve led worldwide marketing and software development at S1 Corporation, the first software company to provide Internet banking. Steve has held various roles in numerous technology companies since 1978, spanning software development, marketing, sales, and general management.
Steve is a graduate of the Institute of Computing Management in Pittsburgh, PA. He also completed the Emory University Goizueta Executive Program.
Mike Mondelli
About Mike
Mike is the SVP of Alternative Data Strategy & Business Development for TransUnion’s $800 million+ Financial Services Division. In this role Mike coordinates the integration of L2C’s team and assets with TransUnion’s legacy data, analytic and technology assets. Beyond acquisition integration, Mike focuses on business and product development strategies for Financial Service clients leveraging incremental data to TransUnion’s traditional consumer credit file.
Mike previously served as the CEO of L2C, Inc., which he co-founded in 2000. He led the Business and Product Development strategic functions for L2C, Inc. from the founding of the Company until its acquisition by TransUnion in 2015. L2C led the consumer credit industry by creating consumer credit scoring algorithms leveraging alternative credit bureau data. Alternative credit bureau data are defined as data incremental to the industry’s traditional three credit bureau files that can be compliantly used for consumer credit scoring. L2C was the first Credit Reporting Agency (CRA) to convert its database infrastructure to an open source Hadoop framework housing data for over 260 million US consumers. Mike and his team achieved broad adoption of L2C’s service offerings by 60% of the top US banks and Mike led the development of innovative Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) compliant Reseller Agreements with TransUnion & Equifax for distribution of L2C solutions to all connected lenders. Before co-founding L2C in March 2000, Mike worked for seven years in the securities business with Morgan Keegan Company as a First Vice President where he was advisor to several burgeoning technology companies.
Mike graduated from The University of the South with a BA in Economics and received his MBA in Finance from Georgia State University. He is married with one son and enjoys spending time with his family, cycling and traveling.
Kevin King
About Kevin
Kevin King has nearly a decade of experience in credit risk and fraud analytics, having served in a variety of roles at ID Analytics since joining the company in 2007 including analytics, business analysis, product strategy and professional services. In each of these roles, King has focused on applying ground breaking analytic tools to the unique financial services challenges, and has directly supported projects at top 10 banks, several “Big 4” wireless carriers, the two leading U.S. satellite television companies, and multiple leading cable and internet providers. A driving force behind ID Analytics’ thought leadership program, he has authored several thought leadership whitepapers on a range of topics spanning fraud, credit and identity risk. King holds a B.A. from the University of Colorado.