LEAD THE CHANGE – SAVE THE DATE!
UCLA Covel Commons | OCTOBER 13-14, 2026 | Los Angeles, California
Join our movement for change
Founded in 2022, SAVe Sustainability in AV has become the industry’s leading catalyst to achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Attend SAVe 2026 this October and partner with us to accelerate our momentum in bringing change to an industry that needs your leadership.
Registration for SAVe 2026 is $299 (free for event speakers & SAVe volunteers). Conference details are forthcoming. For now, simply mark your calendar and plan on joining us October 13-14 for this critically important AV industry gathering.
Registration will open soon.
Get involved in a real way
Be a catalyst for change in an industry that not only needs to embrace sustainability, it hungers to do so. There’s a groundswell of support for our mission. All we have to do is activate and direct it. In whatever capacity you can contribute your time, talents and passion, know this: SAVe provides you a vehicle to become a true sustainability leader.
Get educated. Become empowered.
Attend SAVe 2026 with your colleagues and get your organization SAVe Certified through a workshop experience that results in development of an actionable, measurable sustainability plan. Learn how to give your AV gear a second life at the end of its first one, and how to make design and installation more sustainable. Gain knowledge and resources that will empower you to advocate in your community.
Meet your international allies
While SAVe is the first U.S.-based industry-wide organization of its kind, our mission is global, and so is our membership. At SAVe 2026 you’ll meet, learn from, and share ideas with like-minded change makers from across the planet. The experience will lay the ground for global change. But you, too, will be transformed by this opportunity to join a movement that grows by the day.
SAVe 2026 | October 13-14
UCLA Covel Commons | Los Angeles, California
Located in the heart of the Sunset Village on-campus housing community, Covel Commons is a meeting facility that is home to a nearly 6,000-square-foot event space with vaulted ceilings, adjacent to a magnificent 3,700-square-foot terrace with wonderful views of storied UCLA landmarks.
Agenda
September 24, 2025
7:30 - 9:00 AM PT
Registration
9:00 - 9:10 AM PT
Opening Remarks Christina De Bono, Founder & President, SAVe; and Joe Way, Executive Director of Digital Spaces, UCLA
9:10 - 9:30 AM PT
Welcome Speech Bonny Bentzin, Deputy Chief Sustainability Officer, UCLA
The University of California, Los Angeles is at the forefront of sustainability efforts in academia. Bonny will provide an overview of how the university has methodically and comprehensively incorporated sustainable practices across the breadth of its operations and, in so doing, has become be a model for other educational institutions large and small.
9:30 - 10:15 AM PT
Keynote Presentation: The Path to a Sustainable World Christina De Bono, Founder & President, SAVe
Christina will provide an update on SAVe's efforts to bring the Sustainable Development Goals to the pro AV industry and share the latest information on the challenges we face, the momentum we've achieved, and the progress we have charted. The theme of this year's conference is "A Call to Action," and this presentation will make it clear what needs to be done and why SAVe is uniquely well-positioned to spur action.
10:15 - 10:30 AM PT
Break
10:30 - 11:00 AM PT
Keynote Presentation: Shure's Sustainability Story Christine Schyvinck – CEO, Shure
Christine will provide a deeper look at Shure’s sustainability initiatives, from its move to more sustainable packaging to the pioneering of rechargeable batteries in AV, the adoption of technology designed to minimize power consumption in its products, and company initiatives in the areas of people and facilities, products, packaging and logistics, and community. She will also discuss the company’s early embrace of the Sustainable Development Goals and why achieving them is crucial for our future.
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM PT
Keynote Presentation: Green Means Go – The Time to Engineer Change for Sustainability Is Now Cindy Pereira Cooper – Senior Program Officer, The Lemelson Foundation; Co-Founder, Engineering for One Planet
A systems innovator working to improve the health of our planet and our lives, Cindy spearheads the Lemelson Foundation’s award-winning Engineering for One Planet (EOP) initiative, an effort to transform education to equip all future engineers with the skills, knowledge and understanding to advance sustainability. She will speak about her mission and the progress she has charted, and will be joined by Jonathan Abarbanel, adjunct associate professor of product design at ArtCenter College of Design, an institution that has adopted the EOP initiative.
12:00 - 1:15 PM PT
Networking Lunch
1:15 - 1:30 PM PT
Video Address – "How Sustainability Leads to Innovation in the AV Industry" Michael Blackman – Executive Director, Integrated Systems Europe (ISE)
Mr. Blackman will address our conference on ways that sustainability fuels innovation in AV.
1:30 - 2:15 PM PT
UCLA's SAVe Certification Experience Moderator: Joe Way, Executive Director of Digital Spaces, UCLA
Development Goals; initiatives undertaken by UCLA Digital Spaces and spearheaded by Executive Director Joe Way; the Digital Spaces department’s experience with the SAVe Certification workshop and follow-up activities; outcomes from the SAVe Certification process; and the importance of developing sustainability plans that are actionable, measurable and, in their own right, sustainable.
2:15 - 2:30 PM PT
Break
2:30 - 5:00 PM PT
Workshop 1: SAVe Certification Moderators: Debbie Williamson – SAVe Co-Founder, Board Member, and Co-Chair of the SAVe Donor Program; John Thomas – SAVe Board Member and Co-Chair, SAVe: A Second Life Committee
Participants will gain an understanding of the SDGs and then brainstorm ideas on how their organizations can have a positive impact towards the progress of the SDGs. Individuals will be broken out into teams and will be assigned to 1 – 2 SDGs to address. At the conclusion of the workshop, team leaders will report on the ideas that their team came up with.
2:30 - 5:00 PM PT
Workshop 2: The Critical Role of SAVe Ambassadors Moderators: Christina De Bono – Founder and President, SAVe; Carolina Sosa – SAVe Ambassador, Colombia
This workshop is to help SAVe Ambassadors develop a plan for how to bring stakeholders together in their country to take concerted action to achieve the SDGs. In developing a plan, the SAVe Ambassador will formulate an analysis of what is being done in their country to implement the SDGs with a focus on Goal 12 related to reuse, repurpose, recycling and proper disposal of electronics. The workshop will facilitate discussion amongst SAVe Ambassadors on ways that they have already advanced SAVe initiatives.
2:30 - 5:00 PM PT
Workshop 3: Sustainable AV Design & Installation Moderators: Joe Perez, SAVe Co-Founder, Board Member and SAVe Sustainable AV Design & Installation Committee Co-Chair; Juan Carlos Gutiérrez, SAVe Sustainable AV Design & Installation Committee Co-Chair and SAVe Ambassador to Colombia
In this hands-on working sessions, we will focus on soliciting recommendations for the second edition of the SAVe Guide to Sustainable AV Design & Installation, to be published later in 2025; strategies to increase awareness and dissemination of the SAVe Guide to Sustainable AV Design and Installation; and how sustainable AV design and installation helps to advance the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production
5:00 - 6:00 PM PT
Break
6:00 – 7:00 PM PT
Cocktail Reception & Silent Auction Viewing
7:00 - 9:00 PM PT
Fundraising Dinner & Live Auction Host: Christina De Bono, Founder & President, SAVe; Auctioneer: Joe Way, Executive Director of Digital Spaces, UCLA
September 25, 2025
7:30 - 8:30 AM PT
Networking Breakfast
8:30 - 9:45 AM PT
Breakout Session 1: Global Change Makers – The Impact of Our SAVe Ambassadors Moderator: Steph Beckett – Managing Editor, rAVe [PUBS]
This breakout session will focus on the global nature of SAVe’s mission; the importance of tailoring SAVe’s efforts to the culture and unique business landscape of each country and region where we seek to advance the SDGs; the significant achievements our Ambassadors have charted in a very short time; the ways our diverse membership makes SAVe a stronger, more credible and effective organization; and SAVe’s goals for the Ambassador program.
8:30 - 9:45 AM PT
Breakout Session 2: Partnership for the Goals – The Impact of Our Partnerships with HETMA, TERRA, AVIXA, ISE and Link Development Moderator: Dan Ferrisi – Group Editor, Commercial & Security, Commercial Integrator
This breakout session will focus on the critical role of partnerships in achieving the strength in numbers necessary to effect meaningful change; the basis of SAVe’s strategic partnerships with HETMA, TERRA, AVIXA, ISE and Link Development; key aspects of SDG 17: Partnership for the Goals, which highlights the importance of fostering collaboration and cooperation among governments, the private sector and civil society to achieve the other 16 SDGs; and SAVe’s invitation to other organizations to partner with us in our movement for change.
9:45 - 10:00 AM PT
Break
10:00 - 11:15 AM PT
Breakout Session 3: Sustainability in Manufacturing Mike Rogers – Senior Sustainability Program Manager, Crestron; Co-Chair, SAVe Sustainable Manufacturer Council
This panel discussion will focus on the role manufacturers can play in accelerating pro AV’s transition to a more sustainable future. Topics will include strategies for driving a more conscious, efficient and innovative sector that produces products with reduced environmental impact, greater energy efficiency and integrated social responsibility; and how industry professionals can help lead the effort by investing their experience, talents and passion to provide the strategic and tactical leadership that meaningful progress demands.
10:00 - 11:15 AM PT
Breakout Session 4: Controlling AV E-Waste: Guidelines on Sustainable AV Design Moderator: Joe Perez, SAVe Co-Founder, Board Member and SAVe Sustainable AV Design & Installation Committee Co-Chair
This panel discussion will cover topics including the growing problem of electronic waste and pro AV’s contributions to it; the difficulty of measuring the amount of electronic waste generated by the pro AV industry; the importance of sustainable AV design and integration in keeping useable devices and peripherals out of the waste stream; strategies integrators can follow to prolong the usable life of AV equipment and how to recycle AV gear responsibly.
11:15 AM - 12:00 PM PT
Break
12:00 - 1:30 PM PT
Lunch and Closing Ceremony Christina De Bono, Founder & President, SAVe; and Joe Way, Executive Director of Digital Spaces, UCLA
Going, going, gone!
You don’t have to wait until we meet in order to make a difference. Participate in our online auction to help us raise the funds we need to organize and act.
Location
Covel Commons
Los Angeles, CA
UCLA Campus, USA
October 13 – 14, 2026
Starting 8:00 AM PT
