Advisory Council Will Shape Panels, Talks and Startup Programming for April 7-8 Conference at Walter E. Washington Convention Center
WASHINGTON, Nov. 10, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — ClimateTech Connect officially announced the 21 leaders who will steer its 2027 conference program, naming senior figures from Munich Re, the World Bank Group, Marsh McLennan, PwC, Aon and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to its Advisory Council and opening entries for its third annual Global Pitch Competition.
Council members curate the conference’s panels and talks on predictive climate modeling, regulatory change and insurance product innovation. They include Daniel Kaniewski, former deputy administrator of FEMA, and Benjamin Strauss, CEO and chief scientist of Climate Central.
“Climate and extreme weather risks continue to reshape industries and economies, and the solutions to them need to reach scale faster,” said Megan Kuczynski, Founder and CEO of ClimateTech Connect. “We founded ClimateTech Connect on the belief that resilience is a team sport, one that brings together the leaders, innovators and technologies helping industries move from understanding risk to acting on it. Our 2027 Advisory Council reflects expertise spanning reinsurance, economics, public policy, climate science and investment.”
The 2027 ClimateTech Connect Advisory Council includes:
- Raghuveer Vinukollu, Head, Climate Insights and Advisory, Munich Re
- Stephane Hallegatte, Chief Economic Advisor, Climate, World Bank Group
- Jeff Gitterman, Managing Director, Gitterman Asset Management
- Angela Grant, Chief Legal Officer, Palomar; Founder, CTC Peril Labs
- Stephen Bennett, Head of Climate and Catastrophe Science, Mercury Insurance
- Melissa Hoffer, Climate Chief, Commonwealth of Massachusetts
- Benjamin Strauss, CEO and Chief Scientist, Climate Central
- Veronika Torarp, Partner, Insurance and Sustainability Lead, PwC
- Francis Bouchard, Managing Director, Climate, Marsh McLennan
- Denise Garth, Chief Strategy Officer, Majesco
- Jennifer Hoolehan Kyung, SVP Business Performance Office, Nationwide
- Jacqui LeGrand, Founder and CEO, Maptycs
- Andrew Eil, CEO and Founder, Antifragile Labs
- Juan Mazzini, Global Head, Celent
- Tyson Echentile, Global Manager, AI & Industrial Solutions, IoT, SAS
- Daniel Kaniewski, Founder and CEO, Northstar Risk & Resilience; Former Deputy Administrator, FEMA
- Emilio Figueroa, CEO and Founder, Indemnity Lab LLC
- Steve Weinstein, Founder and CEO, Mangrove Property Insurance
- Andy Neal, Managing Director, NatCat and Climate, Aon
- Joy Ippolito, Investor, American Family Ventures
“Technology is changing how businesses and communities anticipate, manage and respond to climate and extreme weather risk, and it gives us better tools to predict, prevent, respond and recover,” said Francis Bouchard, Managing Director, Climate at Marsh McLennan. “I’m honored to serve on the ClimateTech Connect Advisory Council and help advance its work.”
The council also guides the conference’s startup initiatives. One of them is the Global Pitch Competition, which returns with partners Celent, Miami Insurtech Advocates Hub and SwitchPitch. The competition connects startup founders with re/insurance executives, investors and policymakers working to shift the industry’s focus from risk transfer to risk reduction. Past winners include flood resilience company 7Analytics and property risk intelligence company Tenax AI. Startups can enter the competition here through January 15th, 2027.
“Startups are central to ClimateTech Connect, and the Global Pitch Competition gives emerging companies a stage to show how their technologies help industries anticipate, mitigate and respond to climate and extreme weather risk,” said Kuczynski. “We look forward to welcoming this year’s finalists to the stage in April.”
“Celent, SwitchPitch and Miami Insurtech Advocates Hub share a mission to identify and advance promising startups developing technologies for climate and extreme weather risk,” said Juan Mazzini, Global Head of Celent and Co-Founder and President of Miami Insurtech Advocates Hub. “We’re glad to partner with ClimateTech Connect for a third consecutive year and help bring founders and their solutions to the forefront.”
Links to register for ClimateTech Connect 2027, book a hotel, inquire about sponsorship and apply to speak are below.
About ClimateTech Connect
ClimateTech Connect (CTC) is a premier conference, tradeshow and executive community focused on the intersection of climate risk and technological innovation. Launched in 2024 by Founder and CEO Megan Kuczynski, ClimateTech Connect is where thought leaders, innovators, policymakers, and industry experts gather to advance climate adaptation and resilience strategies at scale. Through its flagship events, executive programming, Risk2Resilience publication and CTC Peril Labs, CTC focuses on the technologies and strategies needed to predict, prepare, prevent, respond and recover faster from the impacts of extreme weather and climate events. For more information, visit: climatetechconnect.io
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