OUR STORY BEGINS WITH ONE BIG EVENT…
BUT IT LIVES ON WITH OUR WORK BEYOND EVENTS.
After meeting while turning a 55,000 person music festival into Miami’s most sustainable event of its scale, we knew we had stumbled onto something good. We couldn’t help but notice that these events are a microcosm of the world around us, and so Ascendance Sustainability Group was born to take our learnings and successes beyond event gates.
Our history in the events industry gives us the unique ability to:
Bring creativity and fun to every project
Build and collaborate with multiple teams
Have the utmost respect for timelines
Vivian Belzaguy, Founder
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT + POLLUTION PREVENTION + NATURE CONSERVATION
Vivian has a passion for engaging communities in taking better care of our planet. She has executed sustainability programs that have reached millions of people and has touched thousands through event activations and speaking opportunities.
In 2017, Vivian founded Ascendance Sustainable Events which she has now expanded to Ascendance Sustainability Group in an effort to level up her positive impact with projects that go beyond event gates. She leads the team and most company projects, while focusing on communications, community engagement and nature conservation initiatives.
Vivian has almost 20 years of experience in corporate communications as well as a B.S.B.A. in Marketing. Her most notable sustainability projects include the creation of Ultra Music Festival’s Mission: Home program and her leadership as TEDxMiami’s Sustainability Director.
“I want you to find your reason to fight for the planet like it’s an emergency… because it is, and we need YOU.”
- From Vivian’s TEDxTalk
Anna Borofsky
WASTE REDUCTION + RECYCLING
Anna graduated from the University of Vermont with a degree in Environmental Studies. She has since become one of the country’s leading Waste Management & Recycling Experts focused on outdoor music festivals. As co-owner and co-founder of Clean Vibes, Anna has led the waste management and cleanup of well over 500 events, ranging in size from less than 1,000 attendees to over 100,000 attendees.
Clean Vibes is a company formed and dedicated to responsible on-site waste management of outdoor festivals and events. Their mission is to actively encourage and promote recycling, composting and proper waste disposal. They hope to educate and inspire a new generation of responsible environmental stewards. With over two decades of experience, Anna and her team have diverted over 21 Million pounds of waste through their recycling and composting initiatives.
“Every time we work an event we are essentially building a city and then cleaning it all up. Over and over, we’ve proven that within that temporary city, no matter how large the “population”, we can mitigate littering while recycling and composting so effectively that we divert huge amounts of waste from the landfill. I know we will apply our success at events to bigger projects and even actual cities some day.”
- From Anna, regarding her aspired work with Ascendance
Dr. Aurora Dawn Benton
EDUCATION + OPERATIONS + SUPPLY CHAIN RESILIENCE
Dr. Aurora Dawn Benton designs, implements, and scales sustainability programs. She founded Astrapto LLC to provide practical, business-oriented solutions to social and environmental issues. She helps clients move the needle through sustainability assessments, roadmaps, training, coaching, and reporting. Her impact ranges from measurable and significant reductions in food waste to landfill to engaged and excited employees seeking opportunities to impact their communities.
Aurora holds a Doctorate in Business Administration in Social Impact Management. She is a Certified Sustainability Associate from International Society of Sustainability Professionals, has a Certificate in Sustainable Tourism from the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC), and a Sustainable Event Professional Certificate from the Events Industry Council.
“I am deeply passionate about changing hearts, minds, behaviors, and systems to be sustainable. Those who see me speak and teach on this subject have no doubt that I live to do this.”
- From Astrapto’s Founder Page
Jesse Uzzell
CLIMATE ACTION + RENEWABLE ENERGY
Jesse has a Bachelors of Science in Aerospace Engineering from Texas A&M University and a Masters of Science in Environmental Engineering from the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Sweden. Jesse has worked with climate projects and carbon finance since 1998, and certified the first Kyoto Protocol climate projects in the world, while developing the climate change services at Det Norske Veritas between 1998 and 2005. He founded Climate Futures in 2005 and has experience along the entire value-chain of climate projects and carbon offsets while developing four different portfolios of climate projects.
Jesse now helps businesses develop and meet their carbon reduction goals. In addition, he currently leads the development of the 1PLANET Marketplace, a blockchain-based platform for climate action. 1PLANET helps people and companies to take climate action by supporting carbon reducing efforts, such as renewable energy and sustainable forestry projects.
“I like to innovate and combine technical knowledge with business insights. I enjoy working on sustainable business and climate strategies, particularly in the retail sector. And I like to kitesurf in my spare time. :)”
- From Jesse’s LinkedIn