Pathways to Success: Exploring Career Possibilities

Join JHU Program Coordinator and lecturer in the MS in Energy Policy and Climate and MS in Environmental Sciences and Policy programs David Guggenheim as he welcomes Leonard Adler, Hillary Fenrich, and Winnie Lam to discuss careers in the nonprofit, for-profit, and government sectors, including positions related to climate change, sustainability, conservation, clean energy, social change, and much more.

Leonard Adler is the founder and CEO of Green Jobs Network, a leading online career platform that serves individuals and employers in green and climate job sectors such as conservation, sustainability, and clean energy. GJN provides, among other services, access to career coaches, education and training programs, job boards and websites, and interactive tools to explore occupational pathways. Adler also hosts the Green Jobs Pod, which explores the world of green and climate careers. He holds a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center, where he was a Public Interest Law Scholar and co-founded the Georgetown Journal on Fighting Poverty. He has worked to promote greater access to law and justice through roles at Equal Justice Works, FindLaw, Nolo, and Justia. Adler also holds an MPP from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and a BS in political science from Stanford University.

Hillary Fenrich is an environmental and conservation professional with a global focus. She currently serves as Global Manager of Nature & Water Strategy at McDonald’s Corporation, where she leads and implements sustainability strategies across international markets. Fenrich has worked in policy, leading international public-private partnerships to support resilient agriculture and connecting those in need to local food resources. She also spent many years in the field running biodiversity assessments and teaching visitors about the Amazonian jungle. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Allegheny College, where she developed a strong foundation in environmental science and conservation. She has since dedicated over a decade to field‑based conservation work—conducting biodiversity assessments, piloting new methodologies, and collaborating with local experts in diverse ecosystems around the world. Currently, she is pursuing an MS in Environmental Science and Policy at Johns Hopkins University to advance her capacity to bridge science and policy in sustainable resource management across global systems.

Winnie Lam is the Senior Director of Sustainability and Design Engineering at Nike. She is responsible for the technology to digitize the design of Nike’s shoes and apparel and make them more environmentally sustainable. Prior to Nike, Lam led the Data Center Sustainability team at Google. As an advocate for animals, she championed the banning of elephant ivory from being sold through Google and has partnered with big Tech companies and the nonprofit World Wildlife Fund to create the Global Coalition to end wildlife trafficking online. Lam serves on the Board of Directors at the University of Waterloo’s United College and at the environmental journalism nonprofit Mongabay. She received her BS in Systems Design Engineering from the University of Waterloo in Canada and her MS in Energy Policy and Climate from Johns Hopkins University.

Learn about JHU’s MS in Energy Policy and Climate and MS in Environmental Sciences and Policy programs.