MO Summit 2025
Top Gathering for Impact CEOS
MO Summit 2025
April 21-23, 2025, at the Renaissance Hotel & Conference Center, Asheville, NC
About MO
Learn and make lasting connections.
At MO, leading impact CEOs engage, learn, and forge a new path on critically important topics. The Summit includes a combination of core panel topics and deep networking. Come be part of how businesses are redefining capitalism creating solutions to the world’s pressing social and environmental issues creating enduring value through strategies that leverage the inherent link between natural, social, and financial capital.
Join us for the biggest annual gathering of impact CEOs of high-growth, positive-impact companies using the power and creativity of business as a force for good. A gathering of leaders who are building the future – one that is inclusive, regenerative, sustainable. In 2018, Big Path Capital created the MO Summit to bring together leaders who had a similar vision of capitalism to expand our collective impact.
Watch Wendy and Blair's testimonial
"It’s actually changed the trajectory of my career and business. Best conference I’ve been to."
The goal of the MO is much deeper than a learning event. It fosters an environment for impact CEOs to connect and develop meaningful relationships – relationships that are symbiotic and lasting. Check out the video to the left to see how the MO helped connect Wendy Strgar (Good Clean Love) and Blair Kellison (Formerly of Traditional Medicinals).
Interactive programming that inspires.
Double Down
Leading with Values During Times of Uncertainty
2025 Summit Agenda
Monday, April 21
Opening Event
Kick-off Reception / Vic Isley
This reception will be held at the Top of the Plaza – Renaissance Asheville Downtown. Join us for dinner, drinks and great conversations!
Renaissance Asheville Downtown Hotel
31 Woodfin St,
Asheville, NC 28801
Speaker
Vic Isley
CEO, Explore Asheville
Day 1 Agenda
6-9pm Kick-off Reception
Join us for dinner and drinks as we welcome everyone to Austin at Geraldine’s located in Hotel VanZandt.
Kick-off Reception: Welcome to Austin
This reception will be held at the AT&T Hotel & Conference Center on the Tejas Patio. Join us for dinner, drinks and great conversations!
Austin, TX 78705
Day 2 Agenda
8-9am Breakfast
9-10am Connections That Matter
10-11am CEO Workshops Session 1
• 1.1 – Impact Collaborative
• 1.2 – Raising Capital
• 1.3 – Building Brands & Movement
• 1.4 – Personal Integration
11:15am – 12:15pm CEO Workshops Session 2
• 1.1 – Impact Collaborative
• 1.2 – Raising Capital
• 1.3 – Building Brands & Movement
• 1.4 – Personal Integration
12:15-1:15pm Lunch Break
1:20pm Welcome & Opening Address
1:45 – 2:40pm Panel: Power of Partnerships
2:45 – 3:40pm Breakout Panels
• 2.1 – Lessons for Legacy
• 2.2 – Alternative Hiring
3:45 – 4:40pm Breakout Panels
• 3.1 – Psychedelics
• 3.2 – Faces of the Triple Botton Line
• 3.3 – Climate Finance
4:45 – 5:15pm Action for Impact: Move Your Money
5:30 – 6:30pm Networking Reception
6:45 – 7:30pm MO 100 Awards Ceremony
7:30-9pm Awards Dinner
Tuesday, April 22
Arrival
Breakfast
Speaker
Connections That Matter
Start your MO Summit experience with what matters most: meaningful connections. In this expertly facilitated session, you’ll engage in thoughtful, small-group discussions designed to maximize the value of the next two days—both personally and professionally. Rather than skimming the surface, you’ll dive into key questions about your purpose for attending, the challenges you face, and the insights that could create the greatest impact for you and your organization.
Calysta Phillips
Facilitator & Coach
Transition
Break
Sessions
CEO Workshop Session 1
Values as Value: Why Mission-Aligned Partnerships Matter
In an era where company values increasingly drive consumer choice and employee engagement, selecting service providers who share your organization’s mission has become a strategic imperative. This panel brings together CEOs who have successfully built ecosystems of value-aligned partnerships, transforming their supply chains and service relationships into powerful amplifiers of their company’s impact. Leaders will share practical insights on evaluating provider alignment, managing the potential trade-offs between values and efficiency, and leveraging shared mission to create deeper, more resilient business relationships.
Thatcher Vagts
CEO, The Synergy Company
Brad Stevenson
Founder + CEO, Premiums for the Planet
Julien Gervreau
Practice Leader - ESG & Sustainability Services, Sensiba
Jim Black
Impact Partner - Impact GC
Lauren Dubé
VP & Director of all Good Things - Climate First Bank
How Do We Accelerate the Shift to Authentic Stakeholder Capitalism?
The co-founders of the Purpose Pledge which launched 2 months ago at Expo West will lead a discussion on authentic stakeholder capitalism. The Purpose Pledge is a new business community for purpose-driven companies in the natural food and beverage industry. The co-founders will discuss key principles of the Purpose Pledge to ground the conversation and then have participants share what they are doing to build community, transparency and accountability in their respective industries.
Les Szabo
Chief Strategy & Impact Officer, Dr. Bronner's
Lara Dickinson
Co-Founder & Executive Director, One Step Closer
Perpetual Purpose Trust Ownership: A Just and Innovative Succession Strategy for Any Business
Ownership structure is a key component of how responsible and impact businesses can reflect their values of equity, equality, and justice in terms of democratizing power, leadership, decision-making, and profit-sharing. After decades of individual ownership, two B Corp impact businesses in very different industries – Ocaquatics Swim School and Natural Investments – changed their ownership to an Employee Ownership Trust and Perpetual Purpose Trust. In this workshop, CEO Miren Oca of Ocaquatics and Trust Steward Michael Kramer of Natural Investments share how trust ownership allowed the companies to implement an internal succession plan that preserves their long-held values, unique culture, and organizational autonomy while creating debt-free avenues for next generation leaders, particularly for minorities and those without financial capital.
Miren Oca
Founder & Director, Ocaquatics
Michael Kramer
Advisor, Natural Investments
Zoe Schlag
Co-Founder & Managing Partner - Common Trust
Stewarding Legacy: Finding Capital Partners Who Grow Your Impact
Whether raising growth equity or selling the business, these transactions aren’t just financial. They are inflection points that can have permanent effects on the mission and future viability of the company. The right capital partner and the right process can ensure the on-going prominence of a company’s mission and legacy. In this session, learn from Founders and CEOs of leading impact companies and leading impact investors who have had success in finding aligned capital partners thereby stewarding the company’s mission.
CP Helms
Senior Vice President, Private Equity - Satori Capital
Alan Kelly
Managing Director, SJF Ventures
Christie Lange
Director, Big Path Capital
Melaine Dulbecco
CEO, Torani
Regeneration as a Mindset: Unlocking Potential, Power, and Pitfalls
Regeneration isn’t just a practice—it’s a mindset that empowers impact leaders to move beyond extractive business models, build reciprocity in relationships, and help ecosystems flourish. This workshop will foster deep peer discussions and provide actionable strategies to embed regeneration as a guiding framework for lasting change.
Cheryl Eaton
COO, Guru
Ryan Pintado-Vertner
Founder & CEO, Smoketown
Creative Capital Strategies for Impact Companies
In this workshop, three veteran CEOs will share battle-tested strategies for financing your impact company beyond traditional equity routes. While equity funding often seems like the only path forward, it comes at a premium cost and requires forming deep investor partnerships that can be challenging to navigate effectively. Various forms of financing along with pros and cons will be discussed. Before committing to that Series A term sheet, join this practical conversation to expand your funding toolkit and make financing decisions aligned with your company’s unique impact goals and growth trajectory.
Transition
Break
Sessions
CEO Workshop Session 2
Afternoon
Lunch Break
Transition
Welcome to the Event
Keynote
Lightning Talks
Melaine Dulbecco
CEO, Torani
Les Szabo
Chief Strategy & Impact Officer, Dr. Bronner's
Dr. Henry C. McKoy, Jr.
Former Senior Advisor, US Department of Energy
Transition
Break
Panel
Breakout Panel 1
How to Change the World - Move Your Money
Moving $100,000 from a traditional bank to a values-based bank is the equivalent carbon reduction of not taking 100 cross-country flights, annually! ” Want to change the world, start banking with an insitution that uses your deposits to finance the world we want.
Ken LaRoe
Chairman of the Board & Founder, Climate First Bank
Eric Schurr
Chief Strategy Officer, National Products Sunrise Bank
Charley Cummings
CEO, Walden Mutual Bank
Capital Chemistry: Partnering Your Way to a Successful Exit
Come hear about this newly formed partnership that was finalized earlier this year. Selina DeLangre, the Founder of Celtic Sea Salt, had a meteoric rise in sales and felt it was time to bring in a capital and operating partner but it needed to be an aligned partner. In this fireside chat, learn about her process in finding and striking a partnership with Ben Rudman and Charis Consumer Partners. It is a behind the scenes look at their successful partnership. Together, they’ll unpack how their aligned values and shared vision transformed what could have been a standard transaction into a powerful strategic union that amplified the company’s growth. Learn firsthand about the key conversations and mutual understanding that created the right chemistry for a partnership and continued business success.
Ben Rudman
CEO, Charis Consumer Collaborative
Selina DeLangre
CEO, Selina Naturally
Michael Whelchel
CEO & Founder, Big Path Capital
From Resistance to Revolution: Igniting Change That Matters
The greatest challenges in driving transformative change aren’t just strategic – they lie in understanding the invisible human forces that can either catalyze or crush your boldest initiatives. Through powerful case studies and breakthrough insights, discover how successful leaders create the psychological conditions that turn initial resistance into unstoppable momentum, transforming skeptics into champions and barriers into bridges. Walk away with actionable frameworks for building cultures where change flourishes, enabling your organization to tackle society’s biggest challenges while inspiring others to join your revolution.
Kate Williams
CEO, 1% for the Planet
Jeremy Smith
CEO, Civitech
Vicki Lee Parker-High
Executive Director, NCSB
Transition
Break
Panel
Breakout Panel 2
Decoding DC: A CEO's Guide to Strategic Decision-Making in an Era of Policy Uncertainty
In this session, veteran CEOs will break down the complex interplay of regulatory shifts, legislative developments, and administrative actions shaping today’s business landscape across sectors. Through real-world examples, leaders will gain practical, on-the-ground insights on how to anticipate policy changes, build adaptable business models, and make confident decisions despite Washington’s unpredictable dynamics. The discussion will offer actionable approaches for executives to protect and grow their businesses.
Clark Duncan
Senior Vice President of Economic Development, Leadership, Asheville Chamber of Commerce
Dr. Henry C. McKoy, Jr.
Former Senior Advisor, US Department of Energy
Omar Blayton
CFO, Sunwealth
Jay Roberts
Provost & Dean of the Faculty, Warren Wilson College
Developing a New Playbook for a Warming World and Web3 Finance
Business playbooks are undergoing shifts – some quite dramatically – in response to climate change and the emergence of Web3 financial services. Well-known companies that have revised their business playbooks in response to these trends share their realizations and strategies for building resilient and profitable companies during a period of unprecedented global technological and environmental change. Learn also how Web3 technologies provide new tools for advancing climate change resilience. Hear firsthand experiences from these leaders to inform your organization’s strategy for adapting to financial services and environmental change and volatility.
Dax Hansen
Partner, Perkins Coie
Susan Terzian Gorham
VP & Associate General Counsel, Strategy
Damu Winston
Global Head, Web3, Amazon
Brent De Jong
Chairman & CEO, Qenta
From One CEO to Another: Game-Changing Growth Moments
In this session, seasoned CEOs pull back the curtain on the transformative moments that redefined their leadership journey and reshaped their organizations. Through candid conversations, these executives share the unexpected challenges, bold decisions, and crucial pivot points that accelerated both personal and company growth. The discussion promises actionable insights on navigating complex business landscapes, fostering innovation through adversity, and building resilient leadership strategies that drive sustainable success.
Erika Whitmore
Managing Partner, KPMG
Rebecca Hamilton
CEO, Badger Balm
Jamie Ager
Co-Founder & CEO, Hickory Nut Gap Farms
Transition
Break and Transit to The Restoration
Reception
Networking Reception
Join us for networking at The Solarium & Observatory Rooftop – The Restoration
Dinner
Awards Dinner - All In Again
See lightning strike twice. In this exciting session, hear from two founders who had successful exits and have decided to work their magic again in new ventures. They will discuss their motivations and lessons learned from their earlier successes and failures. The discussion will delve into their decision to go “all in” again, revealing what drives successful entrepreneurs to restart the journey and how they’re applying their hard-earned lessons to create even greater impact in their new endeavors.
Matt O'Hayer
Founder, Vital Farms / Blue Zones Kitchen
Kate Huntington
Head of Advisory Solutions Group & Managing Director, Fiduciary Trust International
John Foraker
Co-Founder & CEO, Once Upon A Farm
Ken LaRoe
Chairman of the Board & Founder, Climate First Bank
Awards
Awards Ceremony
Zane Adams
Co-Founder & Executive VP of Strategy & Development, FedUp Foods
Evening
After Party
Wrap up the evening with us at The Draftsman – The Restoration
Day 3 Agenda
8-9am Breakfast
9:15am Welcome
9:30:-10am Action for Impact
• 1% for the Planet
10:10-11:10am Breakout Panels
• 4.1 – Alternative Exits
• 4.2 – Leadership in Difficult Times
• 4.3 – TBA
11:15am Closing Session
12:15-1:15pm Lunch
1:30pm Wrap up
Wednesday, April 23
Arrival
Breakfast
Action for Impact
Multicultural Intelligence: The New Consumer Currency
Today’s most successful companies recognize that deeply understanding diverse cultural perspectives isn’t just about inclusion – it’s a critical driver of business growth and market expansion. Through real-world case studies and personal insights, the workshop will focus on how their organizations have leveraged cultural intelligence to identify emerging consumer trends, develop resonant products, and capture market opportunities others miss.
Chiqui Cartagena
Founder, Multicultural Growth Partners
Ana Ceppi
Founder, Multicultural Growth Partners
Mary Schroeder
Managing Partner, MCS Partners
Transition
Break
Field Trips
East Fork Pottery
East Fork is a certified B Corporation in Asheville, North Carolina, committed to bringing you the most beautiful, functional and long-lasting pottery out there while treating each other and our community with kindness and respect.
French Broad Chocolates
We make awesome chocolate — sourced with integrity, crafted with intention, and served with gratitude.
Panel
Founders Session
Blair Kellison
Board Member, Various
Dan Kalafatas
Co-Founder & Chairman of the Board, 3Degrees
Sarah Mullins
Co-Founder, Vice President for People and Purpose, FedUp Foods
David Gray
CEO, FedUp Foods
Afternoon
Lunch Break
Speaker
Connections That Matter
Leaving the MO Summit without reflecting on your key takeaways is like planting seeds but never nurturing them. This session provides a dedicated space to solidify your insights, recognize the contributions of others—an invaluable exercise you won’t want to miss—and ensure that the knowledge and connections you’ve gained take root and drive meaningful growth—both personally and professionally.
Calysta Philllips
Facilitator & Coach
Closing
Closing Reception
Join us for some food, drinks and local bluegrass from Cast Iron Bluegrass!
Breakfast
Welcome & Action for Impact: 1% for the Planet
with Kate Williams
Breakout Panels
4.1 – Exit with Purpose: A Fireside Chat with a Business Owner Who Sold to His Employees
Historically, ensuring mission lock upon exiting has been a hit-or-miss outcome for purpose-led founders exiting their business. Come here a CEO who exited and accomplished this illusive goal.
Zoe Schlag
Partner, Common Trust
Brad Herrmann
CEO, Text-Em-All
4.2 – Measuring what Matters: Leveraging ESG for Sustainable Value Creation
This session helps impact-minded companies understand how sustainability can be integrated into strategic planning and budgeting cycles to create long-term enterprise value. This broader thinking creates a roadmap for action, provides key insights to operationalize and execute on a concrete sustainability strategy, and prepares companies for upcoming ESG disclosure requests or public-facing reporting. Attendees will participate in a working session to identify industry-specific sustainability issues, metrics and KPIs as defined by leading global ESG reporting frameworks.
Karen Burns
Partner, Sensiba LLP
Julien Gervreau
ESG Services Director, Sensiba LLP
4.3 – Beyond Sustainability | Regenerative Thinking In Business
Regenerative thinking is a mindset and approach that goes beyond traditional sustainability efforts. It emphasizes nurturing and restoring the health and vitality of ecological and social systems We know that being a regenerative business is shifting the dial from doing “less harm” to adopting a more systems-based approach, focused on the creation of value across whole value chains. Or, put more simply, it is about actively replenishing natural resources, social and economic capitals. Come here how to incorporate this thinking into your business.
Dax Henson
Partner, Perkins Coie
Valeska Pederson Hintz
Partner, Perkins Coie
Ryan Pintado-Vertner
Founder & CEO, Smoketown
Russell Diez Canseco
President & CEO, Vital Farms
Craig Swanson
President, r.world
Break
Closing Session with Nathan Stuck
Wrap Up
Lunch
Meeting Space Available
Summit Speakers
The Renaissance Asheville
The Renaissance Asheville Downtown Hotel is in the heart of the Blue Ridge and Great Smoky Mountains. Asheville is a mountain hub for the arts, beer culture, outdoor activities, culinary, and entertainment. All of this is within walking distance of the Renaissance Asheville.
Frequently Ask Questions
How can we help?
Don’t see your question here? Feel free to reach out to [email protected]!
Get Updates
You will receive a confirmation email once you have registered.
Renaissance Asheville Downtown Hotel, Asheville, NC
No, registration closes Friday, April 17, 2025
Certainly, please reach out to [email protected] to discuss your needs.
Yes, the suggested event attire is Business Casual.
You can find more details at the MO Summit website and it will be updated as we confirm details closer to the event.
Ballroom Foyer
Grand Ballroom
See you April 21, 2025!
Our Partners
Thank you to our 2025 sponsors.
