Meet the Speakers

Jeff is President and Executive Creative Director of Rescue Social Change Group, a behaviour change marketing company. His passion for social change began in high school when he volunteered for an anti-tobacco group. Observing the lack of effective social marketing services, he started Rescue Social Change Group when he was 17 years old. While growing Rescue SCG, Jeff studied Marketing for his undergraduate degree and received a Master’s in Experimental Psychology from the University of California, San Diego. Today, Jeff has led Rescue SCG’s growth to five offices in the US and managing over two dozen behaviour change programs across North America, tackling issues such as tobacco, obesity and violence.

Three decades ago, Jennifer Lynes could be heard reading energy conservation tips over the P.A. system during the daily announcements at her high school. After a while, she realized two things: 1) no one was really listening, and 2) her ‘cool’ factor at the school wasn’t going up.   In the process, however, she uncovered a passion for understanding what motivates individuals to  take action (or not) when it comes to environmental issues.

Over the next decade she completed a business degree in marketing (University of Guelph), a master degree in environmental studies (University of Waterloo) and a PhD in environmental planning (Griffith University). In 2004, she landed at the University of Waterloo, where she is currently Associate Professor in the School of Environment, Enterprise and Development.  Additionally, she teaches in the Sustainability and Behaviour Change certificate program at the University of California, San Diego.  Dr. Lynes describes her area of expertise as being at the intersection of sustainability and marketing, particularly in relation to music, fashion and transportation.

Dr. Lynes continues to demonstrate leadership in sustainability through her research, teaching and long-standing support of community initiatives. She spent six years as director of Canada’s leading undergraduate program in environment and business, is past Chair of REEP Green Solutions, current board member of Avocado Co-op and a core member of the recently formed Plan E project.  As a founding member of the Sustainable Concerts Working Group, her work with the live music industry has included collaborations with ‘the greenest of the green’, such as musician Jack Johnson and Guelph’s Hillside Festival. She has been a ‘green roadie’ on the U2 Joshua Tree tour and worked on numerous projects with Live Nation.   

Her work has appeared in Nature Energy, the Globe and Mail, and on CBC’s The Current.