Benita Mahanta

About Benita Mahanta

I am an Events Manager at Greentown Labs, the largest climate tech incubator in North America, where I lead the planning and execution of events that promote and support over 70 climate tech startups and their innovative solutions. With more than 15 years of experience in the public policy and advocacy space, I am passionate about advancing environmental sustainability, social equity, and energy transition through strategic communication, stakeholder engagement, and collaboration. In my current role, I oversee the implementation of panels, workshops, meetings with governmental delegations, pitch competitions, and summits; reaching hundreds of attendees from diverse backgrounds and sectors and driving positive climate impact and influencing policy and culture. Additionally, I work closely with colleagues, member companies, strategic partners, and vendors to ensure high-quality and seamless event logistics and delivery.

Experience

1. Events Manager

   Greentown Labs

   Apr 2023 — Present · Houston, TX, US

   Drives innovative climate solutions by leading the implementation of 4+ events/month, to promote 75+ climate tech startups; includes Climate Tech Summit - the year’s largest event - with 450+ attendees - and events associated with CERAWeek and Houston Energy and Climate Startup Week• Accelerates energy transition by evaluating requests to host events in Greentown Labs’ space, ensuring they influence climate policy and shift cultural discourse toward climate solutions, in order to approve• Ensures successful event logistics before, during, and after events; including via space setup and breakdown, catering support, name tags, signage, and vendor support• Collaborates regularly with colleagues, member companies, strategic partners, and vendors to ensure high-quality and successful• Works across the Houston team to effectively coordinate and plan both external and internal events• Leads the logistical planning and execution for smaller events; including visitor tours, workshops, and lectures, etc.• Collaborates with the rest of the Marketing and Events team to ensure effective messaging, collateral, social media, and promotion of all events• Amplifies activities, members, partners and the broader Houston innovation ecosystem across social media channels• Updates website with information about Greentown Houston members, partners, and press coverage• Spearheads management of tasks before, during, and after events; including Eventbrite invitation creation, recording management, Zoom creation and execution, question-and-answer tracking, etc.• Manages and fields inbound inquiries about hosting events at Greentown Houston• Maintains data management and tracking of events, campaigns, and marketing budgets

Education

• Yale School of Public Health

  Certificate Program - Climate Change and Health

  2019 — 2020

• University of Chicago

  Master of Public Policy

  2009 — 2011

• Yale School of the Environment

  Certificate Program - Tropical Forest Landscapes: Conservation, Restoration and Sustainable Use

  2021 — 2022

• Yale School of the Environment

  Field Course Certificate - Restoration in Human-Dominated Landscapes

  2023 — 2023

• The University of Texas at Austin

  Bachelor of Business Administration

  1999 — 2004

• Richmond, The American International University in London

  Study Abroad Program in Florence, Italy

  2003 — 2003