CLU hosts corporate breakfast in Valley

(THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - Feb. 24, 2011) California Lutheran University will hold a Corporate Leaders Breakfast focused on sustainability from 7:30 to 9 a.m. Tuesday, March 15, at the Warner Center Marriott in Woodland Hills. This will be the first event in the series to be held in the San Fernando Valley.

Organized in partnership with The Valley Economic Alliance, the breakfast will feature a panel discussion on "The Sustainability Revolution: Policy, Power and Profits." The panelists will be Carolyn Casavan, principal engineer at Casavan Consulting; Craig Perkins, president and executive director of The Energy Coalition; and Marla Vasquez, senior vice president and regional president for Wells Fargo's Community Bank for the San Fernando Valley.

Prior to her work with Casavan Consulting, Casavan founded West Coast Environmental and Engineering in 1987 and served as CEO and senior principal engineer. She is an expert in several environmental areas including sustainability, energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions. She has helped prepare environmental management systems and develop compliance strategies and has been an expert in legal cases. She co-chairs the San Fernando Valley Green Team.

Perkins' nonprofit organization has been developing energy-efficiency partnerships with local governments, communities and utilities for almost 30 years. The Energy Coalition's current programs include a partnership with seven Southern California cities, energy education reaching more than 50,000 California students, and an effort to reduce Palm Desert's energy use by 30 percent over five years.

Vasquez was involved in the opening of Wells Fargo's first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold-certified retail banking store in the San Fernando Valley a year ago. The store was the 26th in the country reflecting the company's new building standards for its newly built retail locations. Wells Fargo ranked No. 3 among banks and insurance companies in Newsweek magazine's 2010 "Green Rankings."

Jim Rondeau, director of operations and programming at National Public Radio station KCLU, will moderate.

The Corporate Leaders Breakfast Series brings members of the business and civic communities together to share ideas and hear from prominent leaders in the region. The 2010-2011 series will conclude with a presentation by John Krist, CEO of the Farm Bureau of Ventura County, on agriculture and the economy on May 3 in CLU's Lundring Events Center.

The Marriott is located at 21850 Oxnard St. in Woodland Hills.

Reservations are requested by Thursday, March 10. To RSVP or for more information, contact Sharon Nelson at smnelso@callutheran.edu or (805) 493-3150, or go to http://www.callutheran.edu/clb.