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WISE session three:
speaker bios
WISE: Women in Sustainability and Energy
Session Three:
Dollars and Sense
exploring the role of enlightened finance in driving green building
March 20, 2015— 8:30 to 10:00 am
Moderator:
Sukanya Paciorek, SVP of Corporate Sustainability at Vornado Realty Trust
Speakers:
Suzanne Buchta, Managing Director in Debt Capital Markets and Head of Green Bonds at Bank of
America Merrill Lynch
Kate Burson, Chief of Staff to Energy and Finance Chairman at Office of the Governor of New York
Charlotte Kim, Partner at WSGR
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Speaker Bios:
Sukanya Paciorek
SVP of Corporate Sustainability
Vornado Realty Trust
Sukanya (Suki) Paciorek is the Senior Vice President of Corporate Sustainability at Vornado
Realty Trust, one of the largest real estate investment trusts in the U.S. In this role, she
develops and oversees Vornado’s corporate strategy, goals, programs and policies, and
reporting and disclosure related to energy efficiency/management and sustainability. Sukanya
also manages the utilities group for Vornado’s New York Division, which includes contract
management, energy procurement and accounting for an annual budget of over $100 million.
Since joining Vornado in 2008, Sukanya has led Vornado’s efforts to establish a standalone
energy efficiency capital fund through which projects are implemented, raise $450 million in
green bonds and to LEED certify over 30 million square feet of its existing building portfolio.
Sukanya serves on several boards and advisory groups, including most recently as Co-Chair of
REBNY’s sustainability committee, board member of Green Light New York, Co-Chair of the
commercial buildings subcommittee of NYC’s Building Resiliency Task Force, and board
member of the Department of Energy/ Commercial Commercial Workforce Credentialing
Council. Before Vornado, Sukanya worked in the energy industry and for the U.S. Department
of State. She has a master’s degree from Columbia University’s School of International and
Public Affairs where she studied international energy management and policy, and an
undergraduate degree in international studies and political science from the Ohio State
University.
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Suzanne Buchta
Managing Director, Debt Capital Markets;
Head of Green Bonds and Market Linked Notes AMRS
Bank of America Merrill Lynch
Suzanne Buchta is managing director and head of Green Bonds Americas. She has been active in
advising issuers and consulting investors on Green Bonds since 2010, when the market was in its
infancy. Her team arranged the first retail Green Bond in 2011 and has since worked across globally
across Investment Grade, High Yield and Municipal Capital Markets teams and regions to establish
Bank of America Merrill Lynch as a leader in this rapidly growing market.
In September 2013, Buchta co-authored a white paper on the framework for green bonds which
formed the basis for the “Green Bond Principles,” a globally recognized market disclosure standard for
Green bonds. She was recently named a 2014 Bloomberg New Energy Finance FiRe Finalist for her
work on “Catapulting Green Bonds from a Niche to Mainstream Market,” spoke on green bonds at the
United Nation’s Abu Dhabi Ascent, and was an active member of Bank of America’s working group for
the Sustainable Energy for All Finance Committee, led by Chad Holliday, Chairman of the Board.
A 15-year veteran at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Buchta holds a masters degree in Mathematics
from UNC Chapel Hill, a Fulbright Fellowship from Melbourne University and a BA from College of the
Holy Cross.
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Kate Burson
Chief of Staff to the Chairman of Energy & Finance
Office of New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo
Kate Burson is currently serving as Chief of Staff to the Chairman of Energy & Finance for New
York State, a position she assumed in January 2013. In this role, Ms. Burson has operating
responsibility for a portfolio consisting of the Department of Public Service (DPS), the New
York Power Authority (NYPA), the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA), and the New York State
Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). She manages the State’s Reforming
the Energy Vision, a comprehensive strategy to scale up clean energy deployment, enhance
New York’s competitiveness for clean energy businesses, and make its energy systems more
resilient, reliable and affordable. Ms. Burson has also overseen a multitude of landmark
achievements including the establishment of the nation’s largest Green Bank, an ambitious
regulatory reform agenda designed to reshape New York’s energy markets, and the
restructuring of state energy incentive programs into a $5 billion Clean Energy Fund.
Ms. Burson was initially appointed to the Administration of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo in
January 2011. Prior to her current role, Ms. Burson served as Special Assistant to the Governor
for Energy Efficiency, where she designed and implemented BuildSmart, a program that will
improve energy efficiency in state buildings by 20 percent by 2020.
Previously, Ms. Burson served as an Assistant Attorney General for New York State, where she
prosecuted securities fraud. Ms. Burson has also formerly held positions at the World Wildlife
Fund, the World Trade Organization, and the National Women’s Law Center.
Ms. Burson attended Vanderbilt University where she graduated magna cum laude and was
awarded All-American and Academic All-American honors for her achievements as a Division I
tennis player. She received her law degree from Washington University in St. Louis.
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Charlotte Kim
Partner Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
Charlotte Kim is a partner in the New York office of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, where
her practice focuses on global corporate finance with particular expertise in the energy,
healthcare, medical device and other life sciences, retail, manufacturing, and technology
sectors. Charlotte has structured, negotiated, and closed more than 150 transactions with a
total value exceeding $20 billion. Charlotte specializes in corporate finance, energy efficiency
finance, project finance, healthcare finance, and related merger and acquisition transactions.
She has extensive experience advising public and private companies, private equity funds,
growth and venture capital funds, financial institutions, institutional investors, and multilateral
agencies on debt capital structures and financing needs throughout the life cycle of the
enterprise, from start-up through operations, acquisitions, joint ventures, restructurings, and
investments.
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