The University of Iowa College of Law, Tippie Social Impact Community, and Vanderbilt Law School are excited to announce the launch of The Private Sector and the Planet: Environmental Governance Across Industries, a new year-long speaker series that examines the evolving role of private actors in environmental governance across key sectors.
A collaborative partnership
Produced collaboratively by the Hubbell Environmental Law Initiative at Iowa Law, Vanderbilt’s Private Climate Governance Lab, and the Tippie College of Business’s Social Impact Community, this series spotlights corporate leaders and change makers tackling environmental challenges in sectors such as agriculture, energy, healthcare, and transportation.
Professor Shannon Roesler, Faculty Director of the Hubbell Environmental Law Initiative, added, “We are delighted to partner with Vanderbilt to highlight various topics and issues in the dynamic field of private environmental governance.”
The four scheduled sessions will be held in-person alternating between Nashville and Iowa City, with simultaneous live streaming available to reach students, faculty, practitioners, and the wider public nationwide. The series emphasizes representation from the Midwest and South, reinforcing the importance of regional context in private-sector contributions to environmental solutions.
“Private organizations—from corporations to investors to nonprofits—are now central actors in the global effort to address environmental problems,” said Professor Michael Vandenbergh, Director of Vanderbilt’s Energy, Environment and Land Use Program and founder of the Private Environmental Governance Lab. “This series offers a platform to explore how law interacts with this new reality, and it has enabled us to leverage the private governance strengths at Iowa.”
Launching with an industry leader
The inaugural session, titled “Navigating the Shifting Landscape of Corporate Governance and Reporting,” features Jill Sanchez, the Vice President of Financial Reporting at John Deere (Deere & Company). VP Sanchez will explore emerging developments in environmental governance and financial reporting, scaling transparency, evolving shareholder engagement expectations, and navigating the risks of heightened scrutiny.
Save the date
The second speaker in this series will be Phil Bredesen, the former Tennessee Governor and co-founder of Silicon Ranch - one of the largest owners of solar assets in the United States. His fireside chat-style talk will be on November 3, 2025 in person at Vanderbilt Law and virtually via Zoom. The spring semester series speakers are yet to be announced. Future details will be featured on the series website: https://heli.law.uiowa.edu/privatesectorandtheplanet .
Kickoff event details
When: Monday, September 29, 2025 — 12:45 PM to 2:00 PM
Where: Boyd Law Building, University of Iowa (also live-streamed)
Speaker: Jill Sanchez, VP of Financial Reporting, Deere & Company in a conversation moderated by Cristi A. Gleason, the Carlson-KPMG Research Professor of Accounting at the Tippie College of Business
CLE Credit: Iowa (427878); Missouri (774815) and Wisconsin
For registration and more details, visit: https://heli.law.uiowa.edu/privatesectorandtheplanet
About the partners
About the Vanderbilt Private Climate Governance Lab
The Private Climate Governance Lab builds upon Vanderbilt's innovative environmental law curriculum, which prepares students for public and private governance concepts by providing conceptual and applied research opportunities. The Lab is focused on producing innovative scholarship, practical resources, and student learning opportunities to address the role of private organizations in addressing climate change mitigation and adaptation.
About the Hubbell Environmental Law Initiative
The Hubbell Environmental Law Initiative—funded by a gift from Charlotte and Fred Hubbell—champions interdisciplinary engagement, learning, and public impact in environmental law at Iowa Law. HELI seeks to create an active forum for interdisciplinary engagement on important environmental issues, support law students and curriculum, and ultimately strengthen the environmental law bar in Iowa.
About the Tippie College of Business Social Impact Community
The Social Impact Community at the University of Iowa’s Tippie College of Business connects students, faculty, and industry leaders to explore the intersection of business and positive social change. Through events, projects, and partnerships, it fosters innovative approaches to addressing societal challenges in ways that create lasting value for both organizations and communities.
For questions about this series, contact HELI Program Director, Blake Rupe, at blake-rupe@uiowa.edu