Dan Bena is currently the Senior Director of Sustainable Development for PepsiCo, and serves as liaison between technical functions, government affairs, public policy, and field operations to develop substantive advocacy and messaging to internal and external stakeholder groups. Dan is former Chair of the Washington-based American Beverage Association’s (ABA) Water Resources Committee, and has been active in the International Society of Beverage Technologists (ISBT), serving as founder and Chair of the Emerging Scientific Interests Subcommittee, founder and Chair of the Subcommittee for Sustainable Development, and a three-year elected term on the ISBT Board of Directors.
Bena also serves on the Board-sponsored Public Health Committee of the Safe Water Network, which is a not-for-profit organization for which PepsiCo was a founding member, dedicated to market-based, sustainable community-level solutions to provide safe drinking water in developing economies. He serves on the Leaders Group for Water of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), the Global Agenda Council for Water Security and Water Planning Board of the World Economic Forum, and the Steering Committee of the United Nations CEO Water Mandate. In 2009, he was invited by the mayor of his city to serve on a new Sustainability Advisory Board to develop a forward-looking sustainability plan for the city, one of only three nationwide selected to pilot a new sustainability planning tool kit.
Bena has become an “evangelist for sustainable development,” spreading the word of how business can and must collaborate with other stakeholders to find creative solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges. He has delivered many opening keynote addresses to diverse audiences, including academia, non-government organizations, trade associations, and others. He has authored chapters for several texts from CRC, Blackwell Science, and Marcel Dekker in the areas of water treatment and chemistry, sanitation, and beverage production. His own book will be published in 2011, which will help companies develop a roadmap for their sustainable development initiatives.
Dan lives in New York with his wife of 25 years, Diane, and their dog, Opie. He is a passionate and impactful public speaker serving an eclectic variety of topics. 100% of his speaking honorarium is donated to a variety of non-profit organizations which are dedicated to helping the planet and the people who borrow and depend on it.