Community Summit Participants' Biographies
| Mayor Rocky Anderson Salt Lake City, UT |
Ray C. Anderson Founder and Chairman Interface, Inc. |
| Sharon Alpert Program Officer for Environment Surdna Foundation |
Peter Alspach Associate, ARUP |
| William Becker Executive Director Presidential Climate Action Project (PCAP) |
Bob Berkebile Principal BNIM Architects |
| Scott Bernstein President Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT) |
Willaim J. Bertera Executive Director Water Resources Federation |
| Paul R. Brown President Public Services Group, CDM |
Brianna Buntje Research Director Natural Capitalism Solutions |
| George Burmeister President Colorado Energy Group |
Brian Castelli Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Alliance to Save Energy |
| Beth Conover Director, Greenprint Denver City of Denver, CO |
Judy Corbett Executive Director Local Government Commission |
| Tabitha Crawford Senior Vice President Actus Lend Lease |
David Crockett Associate, CitiStates Group |
| Scott Denman Senior Program Officer, Reconnecting People and Places Program Wallace Global Fund |
Larisa Dobriansky Senior Advisor Baker & Hostetler |
| Jan van Dokkum President UTC Power |
John R. Ehrmann Founder and Senior Partner of the Meridian Institute |
| Christine A. Ervin | Garrett Fitzgerald Director of Programs ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability U.S.A., Inc. |
| Rebecca L. Flora Executive Director Green Building Alliance |
Maureen Hart President of Sustainable Measures |
| Sadhu Johnston Commissioner, Department of the Environment City Of Chicago |
Keith Laughlin President Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (RTC) |
| L. Hunter Lovins, Esq. President & Founder Natural Capitalism Solutions |
Steve Nicholas Director, Office of Sustainability & Environment City of Seattle, WA |
| John Parker Principal Economist HDR |
Doug Newman Director, National Energy Center for Sustainable Communities, Principal, Community Planning Consultants, Chicago, IL Adjunct Professor, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA |
| Matt Petersen President & CEO Global Green USA |
Stephen "Tim" Quigley Jr. |
| Mayor Graham Richard City of Fort Wayne, Indiana |
Matt Ries Managing Director of Technical and Educational Services at the Water Environment Federation |
| John Sibley | Ken Snyder Executive Director PlaceMatters |
| Randall E. Solomon Founder & Executive Director New Jersey Sustainable State Institute |
Carol Werner Executive Director of the Environmental and Energy Study Institute |
| John Williams Senior Vice President, HDR |
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Ross C. "Rocky"Anderson received a bachelor's degree in philosophy from the University of Utah and graduated in 1978 with a J.D. degree from The George Washington University Law School.
Anderson practiced law for twenty-one years in Salt Lake City, specializing in civil litigation. He was lead attorney in several seminal civil rights and consumer protection cases, including Bott v. Deland, which established, for the first time, a private cause of action for damages occurring from the violation of the Utah Constitution and that ruled the Utah Legislature may not set a limit on recoverable damages for such violations. He also filed an amicus brief in the important First Amendment case, University of Utah Students Against Apartheid v. Peterson, and successfully represented the plaintiffs in Bradford v. Moench, which held, for the first time, that deposits in inadequately insured thrift and loan institutions are protected under federal securities law in the same manner as stocks and bonds.
Anderson helped spearhead reform of Utah’s child custody laws. He worked to institute a program to help those who do not qualify for assistance through Legal Aid or Legal Services, but who are unable to afford to pay a full fee for legal representation. Anderson served as Chair of the Litigation Section of the Utah State Bar Association and as President of Anderson and Karrenberg, a Salt Lake City law firm.
During this time, he was affiliated with the ACLU and volunteered as a board member of several community-based, non-profit organizations, including Common Cause, Planned Parenthood Association of Utah, and Guadalupe Schools. On behalf of Common Cause, Anderson lobbied for stronger legislation pertaining to ethical conduct by elected officials and for campaign finance reform. Anderson also founded and served as President of Citizens for Penal Reform.
Since taking office in 2000, Anderson has been an outspoken advocate for protecting the environment. As Mayor, he committed Salt Lake City, in its own operations, to abide by the Kyoto Protocol, and implemented numerous programs to improve air quality and reduce emissions of global warming pollutants. By 2005, Salt Lake City far exceeded its Kyoto goal, seven years before the Protocol’s 2012 target date. To date, in its municipal operations, Salt Lake City has reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 31% from 2001 levels.
In 2003, Mayor Anderson received the Climate Protection Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Mayor Anderson received the “Political Leader of the Year” award in 2002 from the Utah chapter of the Sierra Club and received the Distinguished Service Award from the national Sierra Club. He is also the recipient of the Environmental Stewardship Award from the Utah Medical Association. Under Mayor Anderson’s leadership, Salt Lake City received a Green Power Leadership Award from the EPA, and an award from the Association for Commuter Transportation Leadership for the development of alternatives to commuting by automobile.
Along with Robert Redford and the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI), Mayor Anderson founded and hosted the Sundance Summit in July 2005 and again in 2006. The Summit has brought together seventy mayors from across the United States to discuss and plan action on climate change.
Because of his leadership on sustainability issues, Mayor Anderson was invited to the eighth meeting of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, or COP8, in New Delhi to describe Salt Lake City’s climate protection projects. He was invited to the COP10 meeting in Buenos Aires, where he provided three presentations regarding Salt Lake City’s expansive greenhouse gas reduction programs. In October 2005, Environment Business Australia sponsored Mayor Anderson to speak about sustainability and means to combat climate change, as part of the organization’s 2005 Business and Sustainability Summit.
Mayor Anderson was the only representative from the U.S. to consult in London with representatives from G8 nations regarding climate change, in preparation for the 2005 G8 Summit. He also spoke at the 2006 annual meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative, and at the 2007 annual meeting of the National Environmental Law Societies. Mayor Anderson serves as a member of the Newsweek Global Environment and Leadership Advisory Committee, and on the steering committee of The Climate Group.
In November 2005, Salt Lake City won the World Leadership Award for the environment for its Salt Lake City Green Program, perhaps the most comprehensive environmental program in the United States. Mayor Anderson was also named by Business Week as one of the top twenty international figures working to combat climate change.
Anderson is a proponent of transit-oriented urban housing and walkable, mixed-use neighborhoods that do not perpetuate dependence on the automobile or further sprawl development. He has implemented an extensive pedestrian safety program, which garnered Salt Lake City the Surface Transportation Policy Project's 2004 award for most improved city for pedestrian safety, and the 2006 America Walks "City at Your Feet" award. Anderson has also signed a complete streets executive order, requiring Salt Lake City to accommodate the transportation needs of bicyclists and pedestrians in future road construction or reconstruction projects.
Anderson has been a strong advocate for the rights and interests of minority communities in Salt Lake City. In December 2001, state and federal officials organized a raid at the Salt Lake City Airport that selectively enforced immigration laws against undocumented employees, who were arrested, imprisoned, and lost their jobs. In response, Anderson created the Family to Family program, which made it possible for Salt Lake City families to provide direct emotional and financial assistance to the airport workers and their families. Additionally, the Mayor spearheaded a challenge to English-only legislation in Utah in 2000, and in 2006 spoke at two large demonstrations for comprehensive immigration reform.
For his leadership, Anderson received the League of United Latin American Citizens’s first-ever “Profile in Courage” award, as well as the National Association of Hispanic Publications’ Presidential Award, in 2006.
Anderson signed an executive order in 2000 implementing a full-fledged affirmative action program in City hiring. This program has led to historic levels of ethnic minority hiring and retention in City government. The City employs 34% more ethnic minorities compared to 1999, with a 90% increase in members of the ethnic minority community holding executive and administrative positions. Members of the minority community comprise more than one-third of his staff and more than one-third of his nominations to City boards and commissions.
Anderson also signed executive orders that extend benefits to domestic partners of City employees, and ban discrimination against City employees on the basis of race, creed, gender, or sexual orientation. He co-convened the Alliance for Unity, a non-partisan group of religious and community leaders working to build bridges between people throughout Utah.
Anderson has been an outspoken advocate for drug policy reform, speaking at several national conferences and receiving the Drug Policy Alliance's 2005 Richard J. Dennis Drugpeace Award for outstanding achievements in the field of drug policy reform. He has also pushed for better security at the nation's airports, overseeing Salt Lake City International Airport's effort to become the first in the nation to screen all checked baggage for explosives.
Ray C. Anderson is the Chairman of Interface, Inc.
The story is now legend: the “spear in the chest” epiphany Ray Anderson experienced when he first read Paul Hawken’s The Ecology of Commerce, seeking inspiration for a speech to an Interface task force on the company’s environmental vision. Thirteen years and a sea change later, Interface, Inc., is approximately 45 percent towards the vision of “Mission Zero,” the journey no one would have imagined for the company or the petroleum-intensive industry of carpet manufacturing which has been forever changed by Anderson’s vision. Mission Zero is the company’s promise to eliminate any negative impact it may have on the environment, by the year 2020, through the redesign of processes and products, the pioneering of new technologies, and efforts to reduce or eliminate waste and harmful emissions while increasing the use of renewable materials and sources of energy.
An honors graduate of Georgia Institute of Technology, Ray learned the carpet trade through 14-plus years at various positions at Deering-Milliken and Callaway Mills, and in 1973, set about founding a company to produce the first free-lay carpet tiles in America. Today, he commands the world’s largest producer of commercial floor coverings and interior finishes. Interface has diversified and globalized its businesses, with sales in 110 countries and manufacturing facilities on four continents.
In 1997, Ray described his vision for his company, then nearly a quarter-century old, that stands true today: “If we’re successful, we’ll spend the rest of our days harvesting yester-year’s carpets and other petro-chemically derived products, and recycling them into new materials; and converting sunlight into energy; with zero scrap going to the landfill and zero emissions into the ecosystem. And we’ll be doing well … very well … by doing good. That’s the vision.”
The once captain of industry has eschewed a luxury car for a Prius and built an off-the-grid home, authored a book chronicling his journey, Mid-Course Correction, and become an unlikely screen hero in the 2004 Canadian documentary, “The Corporation.” He appears as a master commentator on the Sundance Channel’s 2007 series, “Big Ideas for a Small Planet,” and was named one of Elle Magazine’s heroes in their 2007 Green Awards coverage. He’s a sought after speaker and advisor on all issues eco, including a stint as co-chair of the President’s Council on Sustainable Development during President Clinton’s administration.
Anderson has been lauded by government, environmental, and business groups alike. In 1996, he received the Inaugural Millennium Award from Global Green, presented by Mikhail Gorbachev, and won recognition from Forbes Magazine and Ernst & Young, which named him Entrepreneur of the Year. In January, 2001, he received the George and Cynthia Mitchell International Prize for Sustainable Development. He also has been honored by the Georgia Conservancy, Southface Energy Institute, SAM-SPG (Switzerland), the U.S. Green Building Council, the National Wildlife Federation, the Design Futures Council, the Children’s Health and Environmental Coalition, the Harvard Business School Alumni (Atlanta Chapter), the International Interior Design Association, the Southern Institute for Business & Professional Ethics, the Possible Woman Foundation International, the World Business Academy, LaGrange College, and the Council of Scientific Society Presidents. Interface has been named to CRO magazine’s (formerly Business Ethics magazine) 100 Best Corporate Citizens List for three years. In 2006, Sustainablebusiness.com named Interface to their SB20 list of Companies Changing the World, and in 2006 GlobeScan listed Interface #1 in the world for corporate sustainability.
Ray serves on the boards of The Georgia Conservancy; Ida Cason Callaway Foundation; Rocky Mountain Institute; the David Suzuki Foundation, LaGrange College, Emory University Board of Visitors, the ASID Foundation, and Melaver, Inc. He is on the Advisory Boards of the Harvard Medical School Center for Health and the Global Environment and the Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper, and is an honorary advisor to the President of Peking University. He holds honorary doctorates from Northland College (public service), LaGrange College (business), N.C. State University (humane letters), University of Southern Maine (humane letters), The University of the South (civil law), and Colby College (law), Kendall College (art), and Emory University (science).
Media contact for more information:
Lisa Lilienthal, 404.661.3679
lisalilienthal@earthlink.net
| Office of the Chairman, for scheduling: Jo Ann Bachman, 770.437.6891 jo.ann.bachman@interfaceglobal.com |
Office of the Chairman, for correspondence: Linda Sutton, 770.437.6802 linda.sutton@interfaceglobal.com |
Sharon Alpert is Program Officer for Environment at the Surdna Foundation, a family foundation based in New York City. The Environment Program's $8 million portfolio of grants supports organizations working on transportation and land use, climate change, and biodiversity issues throughout the U.S. Ms. Alpert joined Surdna in 2004 from the Ford Foundation, where she shaped grantmaking strategies focused on sustainable development, smart growth, and environmental justice, as well as a cross-portfolio initiative on regional equity.
Ms. Alpert brings experience from the environmental and community development fields, and the private sector. She directed housing development activities at Northern Manhattan Improvement Corporation, where she secured millions of dollars of public and private investment for affordable housing, energy efficiency, and new environmental health programs in New York City. She executed several multi-family projects, from acquisition to rehabilitation, and developed the first Lead Safe House in Manhattan for the Borough President, which received an EPA Environmental Quality Award. Prior to that, Ms. Alpert was the Director of Marketing for Inventure, a dot-com that provided data and analytics software to international banks and energy companies. While completing her undergraduate and graduate degrees, she worked with the Natural Resources Defense Council, the President’s Council on Sustainable Development, the Washington Office on Environmental Justice, and was an in-district intern for Representative Maurice Hinchey. Ms. Alpert received a Masters in Public Administration in 1998 and a B.S. in Agricultural, Resource, and Managerial Economics in 1995, both from Cornell University.
Ms. Alpert serves on the steering committee of the Climate and Energy Funders Group and various working groups within the Environmental Grantmakers Association and the Funders Network for Smart Growth.
Peter Alspach is an Associate and mechanical engineer in Arup’s Seattle office. He is a specialist in the design of low energy HVAC systems, passive design strategies, community and campus energy master planning, and renewable energy systems design. Peter also leads Arup's America's Region Building Physics network and serves as a technical advisor for several research programs, including the development of EnergyPlus, the Department of Energy's newest building thermal and energy analysis software. He lectures nationwide on low energy building design and analysis.
William Becker is the Executive Director of the Presidential Climate Action Project and the organizer of the “National Leadership Summits for a Sustainable America”, a series of four conferences in 2006 and 2007 to advance America’s sustainability in a time of global warming.
The Presidential Climate Action Project is one of several initiatives that have emerged from the summits so far. Another is the “Wingspread Principles on the U.S. Response to Global Warming”, a document authored by Bill and signed by many of the nation’s climate leaders to begin speaking in a unified voice about the nation’s responsibility to address climate change.
Before he joined the University of Colorado at Denver in January 2007 to direct the Presidential Climate Action Project, Bill was senior advisor to the Global Energy Center for Community Sustainability and an adjunct faculty member in the Colorado Energy Research Institute at the Colorado School of Mines. He served both functions while on sabbatical from the U.S. Department of Energy, where he was Director of DOE’s Central Regional Office, overseeing a staff of 30 and nearly $50 million annually in federal programs to commercialize energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies. He retired from DOE on Jan. 1, 2007.
Bill is regarded as a national expert on sustainable development. After the Great Flood along the Mississippi River in 1993, he organized and led a team of experts to help two communities relocate from the floodplain and rebuild on higher ground with sustainable designs and technologies. In 1996, he founded and directed DOE's Center of Excellence for Sustainable Development and its Smart Communities Network web site, the "granddaddy" of sustainable community resources on the internet.
More recently, he organized and led a team of US sustainable design experts to Beijing to help Chinese officials "green" the Olympic Village for the 2008 Olympic Games. In 2006, he participated on a small team of experts who traveled to Thailand to provide advice on tsunami reconstruction. Also in 2006, he was one of three national experts deployed by the State of Louisiana to help residents of the Lower Ninth Ward in New Orleans plan "sustainable reconstruction" after Hurricane Katrina.
Bill began his diverse career at age 19 as a combat correspondent for the U.S. Army in South Vietnam, where he won a Bronze Star medal for his news reporting and photography under fire. After the war, he worked as a writer/photographer for the Associated Press; published his own weekly newspaper in rural Wisconsin; and served as editorial writer and columnist for the Wisconsin State Journal in Madison, WI. After he left journalism for a career in public service, Bill worked as associate director of the Wisconsin Energy Extension Service, research director for the Wisconsin State Senate, Executive Assistant to the Wisconsin Attorney General, Counselor to the Administrator and Chief Counsel for Advocacy at the U.S. Small Business Administration in Washington, DC, and special assistant to two Assistant Secretaries for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy at DOE.
Bill's interest in sustainable development began in the 1970s when, as editor and publisher of the newspaper in Soldiers Grove, WI, he proposed and helped implement a pioneering project to relocate the community from a floodplain and rebuild it as the nation's first solar village. The project was a pioneering example of nonstructural flood prevention – an approach in which people move out of harm’s way rather than relying on engineering approaches to managing riverine ecosystems – and one of the nation’s first community-wide solar energy projects. The project has been featured in the television documentary "River Town", as well as in several books, including two authored by Bill: Come Rain, Come Shine, and The Making of a Solar Village.
Bill and his wife, Mary, live in Golden, CO.
Bob Berkebile is a leading authority in the field of sustainable design and is the founding chairman of the American Institute of Architects’ National Committee on the Environment. He is a Principal of BNIM Architects, and Elements Consulting, and brings 40 years of diverse experience to the profession. Bob currently serves on the boards of The Nature Conservancy, Environmental Building News, The Center for Global Community, Athena and New Earth Organization; he was a member of the US Green Building Council board and currently serves on USGBC’s Technical and Scientific Advisory Committee. He is highly regarded by fellow professionals for creating beautiful environments that are restorative and pedagogical. He has conducted numerous sustainable design charrettes and workshops for the White House, DOD, DOE, NPS, FEMA and the Canadian Provincial Architects. He has lectured extensively at universities including Harvard, Cambridge, Stanford and Rice and at international conferences including The Earth Summit in Rio and UN or NSF conferences in Scotland, Sweden and Antarctica. Bob utilizes diverse collaborative teams, integrated design and creates new approaches and tools to restore social, economic and environmental vitality.
In 1993, following the Mississippi flood, Bob was asked to assemble a team of fifty national experts to consider new federal guidelines for disaster response and he has since led and/or participated in teams to rebuild or relocate communities in Illinois, Missouri and the Texas Medical Center in Houston following Tropical Storm Alison.
Some of his representative projects include the Noisette Development (a 3,000 acre redevelopment) in North Charleston, several benchmark projects for healthy, efficient facilities at the University of Texas Health Sciences Center in Houston, a new headquarters for the Eugene, Oregon Water & Electric Board, a learning center promoting sustainability and conservation ethics at Shelburne Farms, Vermont, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources headquarters in Jefferson City, and the Missouri Department of Conservation’s Urban Conservation Campus in Kansas City.
Scott Bernstein is President of the Center for Neighborhood Technology, an urban sustainability innovations laboratory which develops resources and systems to promote healthy, sustainable communities by helping local leaders understand and use their hidden assets; and publisher (1978-1998) of The Neighborhood Works, winner of the Peter Lisagor Award for Public Service Journalism. He studied engineering and political science at Northwestern University and served on the research staff at its Center for Urban Affairs. He taught at UCLA, was on the Humphrey School Policy Program Board at the University of Minnesota and was a founding Board member at the Brookings Institution Urban & Metropolitan Center. President Clinton appointed him to the President’s Council for Sustainable Development, where he co-chaired its task forces on Metropolitan Sustainable Communities and on Cross-Cutting Climate Issues with Dr. James Baker of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration; and to other Federal advisory panels on global warming, development strategy, and science policy. His work has provided leading approaches to urban economic development, resource efficiency, and transportation; currently, CNT is analyzing Chicago’s carbon footprint for the Chicago Climate Task Force and helping the Clinton Foundation provide climate change software for the world’s forty largest cities.
He co-founded the Surface Transportation Policy Partnership in 1990, a national coalition which shifted federal policy toward greater local control, and currently serves as Chairman. The resulting ISTEA legislation has been reauthorized twice, most recently in 2005. Since 1991, the portion of public dollars spent on enhancing existing systems jumped from 55 to 80 percent, mass transportation investments rose to record levels, and a firm basis was laid for promoting urban and suburban reinvestment over decentralization and sprawl.
He helped organize and lead the world’s first study of location efficiency in metropolitan areas, along with MacArthur Fellow Dr. David Goldstein of NRDC, Hank Dittmar of the Princes Foundation for the Built Environment-UK, Dr. John Holtzclaw of the Sierra Club, and Dr. Peter Haas of CNT. This is the first study to provide firm empirical proof of the relationship between accessibility and convenience and travel demand on a fine-grained geographic information basis. It showed that increases in accessibility and convenience, a proxy for urbanism, result in significant and permanent reductions in travel demand. This work was peer-reviewed and published in a supplemental study for the National Academy of Sciences that provided the nation’s first web-based calculator for estimating personal and community-level greenhouse gas emissions from different travel choices.
He co-founded the Center for Transit Oriented Development whose mission is to promote TOD as a preferred development form, managing it to maximize new economic value creation, and implementing TOD in ways that help communities and investors capture this value systematically. CTOD and CNT created the nation’s first National TOD Database, covering all 4,000 existing and developing TOD sites in the US; and a new housing & transportation affordability index, to help better disclose the economic value of good transportation access. These resources provide new performance benchmarks for TOD. He led the development of the Location Efficient Mortgage®, a product that increases housing affordability by recognizing the value of convenient living, which is available in dozens of metropolitan areas, and the new Housing + Transportation Affordability Index, to help working families recognize the full value of reducing transportation expenditures. With CTOD, he co-authored The New Transit Town: Best Practices in Transit-Oriented Development (Island Press 2005) and Street Smart: Streetcars &Cities in the 21st Century, one of this year’s CNU XV Charter Award winners.
With John Norquist, former Mayor of Milwaukee, and President of the Congress for a New Urbanism, he is currently leading an effort to replace aging elevated highways with surface boulevards and mass transportation. See www.cnu.org. He’s also leading efforts to examine innovative transportation as a key to revitalization in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, Columbus Ohio, Seattle Washington, Buffalo New York, and many other cities.
Bernstein and CNT earned awards from the American Society of Landscape Architects; Renew America; the Enterprise Foundation; the Secretary of Energy; the League of Women Voters; American Institute of Architects; USEPA; Midwest Energy Efficiency Association, the Sustainable Buildings Industry Council, and Mayor Daley of Chicago, among others. In 2006 CNTs office received the coveted “Platinum” rating from the US Green Building Council, and CNT’s Energy Smart Pricing Plan received the Chicago Sun Times Innovation Award. Scott is 55, resides in Evanston Illinois & can be reached at scott@cnt.org. See www.cnt.org.
▪ Scott Bernstein, “How Streetcars Helped Build American Cities,” in Street Smart: Streetcars and Cities in the Twenty First Century, Gloria Ohland and Shelley Poticha (eds.), American Public Transit Association and Community Streetcar Coalition, 2006
▪ Scott Bernstein, Bruce Katz, Robert Puentes. TEA21 Reauthorization: Getting Transportation Right for Metropolitan America. Brookings Institution. 2003. http://www.brook.edu/dybdocroot/es/urban/publications/tea21.pdf
▪ Scott Bernstein. Planning as If People and Places Matter: Surface Transportation Research Needs and Performance for the Next Century. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. March 15, 2002
▪ Scott Bernstein, Moving from Split Incentives to Joint Stakes in Energy Technology and Climate Research Initiatives, House Committee on Science and Technology. April 17, 2002
http://www.house.gov/science/hearings/full02/apr17/bernstein.htm
▪ Hidden in Plain Sight: Capturing the Demand for Housing Near Transit, Reconnecting America,
March 2005, http://www.reconnectingamerica.org/html/TOD/newReport.htm
▪ Scott Bernstein, Hidden Assets (originally published as Using the Hidden Assets of America’s Regions to Build Sustainable Communities), 1999, at http://www.cnt.org/hidden-assets/
▪ Scott Bernstein, Julia Parzen, John Cleveland, Robert Friedman, Steve Gage, and Carolyn Hunsaker; Staying in the Game: Exploring Options for Urban Sustainability; http://www.cnt.org/publications/staying-in-the-game.pdf
▪ Scott Bernstein; “The New Transit Town: Great Places and Great Nodes That Work for Everyone,” concluding chapter, The New Transit Town: Best Practices in Transit Oriented Development, Hank Dittmar and Gloria Ohland (eds). Island Press 2004
▪ Scott Bernstein, Carrie Makarewicz, Kevin McCarty; Driven to Spend, Center for Neighborhood Technology and Surface Transportation Policy Partnership, 2005, at www.transact.org
▪ Scott Bernstein, David Burwell, Steve Winklemann; Climate Matters: the Case for Addressing Greenhouse Gas Reduction in Federal Transportation Policy; Funders Network for Smart Growth & Livable Communities, 2003 at
http://www.fundersnetwork.org/info-url_nocat2778/
info-url_nocat_show.htm?doc_id=148724
▪ Gail Schecter, Steve Perkins, Scott Bernstein, Land Reform Chicago Style, CEOs for Cities, 2002, at http://www.ceosforcities.org/research/2002/land_reform/ch2.html#i
▪Combating Global Warming Through Sustainable Transportation Policy, Transportation Research Board, Transit Cooperative Research Program. Project H21. Program report (2002) and web site; www.travelmatters.org
▪ John Holtzclaw, Robert Clear, Hank Dittmar, David Goldstein and Peter Haas “Location Efficiency: Neighborhoods and Socioeconomic Characteristics Determine Automobile Use,” Transportation Planning and Technology, 2002, Volume 25, 1-27
▪ John C. Dernbach and Scott Bernstein, “Pursuing Sustainable Communities: Looking Backwards, Looking Forward.” Urban Lawyer. 2003. American Bar Association. Volume 35
William J. Bertera, is the Executive Director of the Water Environment Federation (WEF), an international organization of water quality professionals headquartered in Alexandria, Va. He is a career association executive with extensive experience in not-for-profit management of both public and private sector organizations, especially those with environmental infrastructure interests.
Bill has served as Executive Director of both the American Public Works Association and the Rebuild America Coalition, the latter a national organization of engineering, construction and government organizations dedicated to rebuilding America's public infrastructure. He has also served as the Executive Director of the Society of Nuclear Medicine.
He has been Managing Director of the National Solid Wastes Management Association; and he has filled executive and management positions with both the International City Management Association and the National Association of Counties.
Bill has a B.S. degree in business administration and a M.S. of Public Administration degree in urban affairs.
Paul R. Brown
As president of CDM’s Public Services Group, Mr. Brown is responsible for the delivery of consulting, engineering, construction, and operations services to the firm’s municipal, regional, and state government clients throughout North America. He has nearly 30 years experience in project development, project finance, and the planning and management of public utilities and environmental facilities. He has also been involved in a number of water resources planning projects with a heavy emphasis on process facilitation and multi-objective decision making.
Prior to his appointment as unit president, Mr. Brown was the manager of marketing and planning for CDM’s water and wastewater business practices. Mr. Brown has also served as officer-in-charge of the firm’s privatization and project development group, which completed several environmental facilities privatization projects, including a privatized 18.5-mgd water filtration plant for the City of Scottsdale, Arizona. Currently, Mr. Brown is on the board of the joint-venture company operating the 120-mgd Tolt Treatment Facilities design/build/operate (DBO) project for Seattle Public Utilities, one of the largest municipal DBO projects undertaken in the United States.
Mr. Brown’s educational background includes an MBA from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania (1982); an MA from the University of Rochester (1973); and a BA from Tufts University (1971).
Brianna Buntje serves as Research Director for Natural Capitalism, managing the organization’s creation of new intellectual capital. She directed the development of our Climate Protection Manual for Cities and currently directs the development of our Climate Protection Manual for Business. Her other recent accomplishments include lead researcher on aspects of Natural Capitalism's consulting projects for USAID to Afghanistan and On The Frontier (OTF) Group as well as for Clif Bar, Inc. In addition to developing presentations and researching pending publications with the Chicago Climate Exchange, her responsibilities include helping to develop articles and books that are in the works and overseeing the internship program.
Ms. Buntje earned a B.S. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a major in Psychology and a minor in Business. She also studied at New South Wales University, Australia. She has worked in financial planning, retail, mortgage banking, and marketing research before coming to Natural Capitalism.
George Burmeister is President of the Colorado Energy Group, Inc., Boulder, CO. CEG assists local and state governments and the private sector with energy efficiency and renewable energy technology policy and program implementation, and the acquisition of federal appropriations.
In 2007, he is writing Energy Assurance Guidelines for Local Governments with PTI’s Ronda Mosley and establishing Zero Energy Home subdivisions in Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico, and a "Moving Toward Zero Carbon Community" in the Los Angeles area.
George’s career includes a senior political appointment in the Clinton Administration, service with the National Association of State Energy Officials, Americans for Clean Energy, the National Conference of State Legislatures, the Sierra Club and the offices of U.S. Senator Timothy E. Wirth.
He has a B.A. in Environmental Studies from Trinity University and a Masters in Public Administration from the University of Colorado.
Brian T. Castelli brings nearly 30 years of national and international experience in the energy field, including expertise in energy efficiency, renewables, emission reductions, and electricity demand reduction, to the Alliance to Save Energy as executive vice president and chief operating officer. Prior to joining the Alliance’s senior management team in July 2005, Castelli ran his own energy consulting firm.
Among his varied endeavors, he was the federal energy liaison for the California Energy Commission, one of the nation’s premier state energy offices; a principal with the Center for Energy and Climate Solutions, a one stop shop helping businesses and states adopt high-level strategies for saving energy and cutting pollution; and a consultant to the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) where he organized a High Technology Council (comprised of communications and information technology leaders) to advise EPRI’s Intelligent Grid program.
Castelli also consulted with the National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO) where, on behalf of the National Energy Technology Laboratory, he conducted a series of public workshops in 14 western states on advanced, highly-efficient turbines and fuel cells that involved manufacturers, developers, utilities, and state and federal energy and environmental officials.
As a presidential appointee, Castelli served as chief of staff to the U.S. Department of Energy’s assistant secretary for energy efficiency and renewable energy from 1994 to 2001. He managed 550 staff and more than $1 billion in programs and research, development, and deployment initiatives and directed the development and implementation of energy policies and programs.
Castelli also led and participated in missions to Western Hemisphere, European, and former Soviet Union countries and was also deeply involved in developing energy-efficiency measures for the eventual closure of the nuclear reactors in Chornobyl, Ukraine. Prior to DOE, Castelli was appointed in 1988 by Gov. Bob Casey to the Pennsylvania Energy Office (PEO), for three years as deputy director for administration and public affairs and then as executive director, through 1994. As executive director he ran the commonwealth’s energy policies and programs, managed the state energy office and the Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority, and took the lead on responding to energy emergencies.
Notably, he developed a revolving loan fund for energy-efficiency measures and a “Green Buildings” program for cutting energy use and costs in all commonwealth-owned or operated buildings, and he drafted legislation for and implemented an alternative fuel program.
As the PEO’s deputy director, Castelli’s responsibilities included administration, budgeting, public information, and energy program policies. He also created more effective financial assistance and energy outreach programs and served as the PEO’s liaison to delegations of state and federal legislators.
Earlier in his career, Castelli was vice president of finance for The National Center for Appropriate Technology; senior vice president and cofounder of CEXEC; and financial analyst with the Federal Energy Administration. He has authored many articles, studies, and reports on energy-related issues, served on various boards of directors, and made presentations in many state, national, and international forums and conferences.
Castelli holds two degrees from the University of Pennsylvania, a bachelor of science in chemical engineering and an MBA in industrial/environmental management from the university’s Wharton School.
Beth Conover is a special advisor to Denver Mayor John W. Hickenlooper and Director of Greenprint Denver. She has worked for 20 years on issues of resource conservation and development.
From 1989-1991, Conover worked on community development and reforestation projects in Zimbabwe, southern Africa. From 1994-1997, she was co-author of the Stapleton Development Plan for the redevelopment of the former airport in Denver, Colorado, and Director of Parks and Environment for the Stapleton Development Corporation.
She was the owner of Headwaters Consulting, LLC, from 1998-2003, providing strategic planning and program development services to a wide range of public, private and nonprofit clients, including the Green Industries of Colorado, the State of Colorado, The Nature Conservancy, Cherry Creek Stewardship Partners and Mayor Webb's South Platte River Commission.
She joined Mayor Hickenlooper's administration as a policy aide in 2003 and became Special Advisor for Sustainable Development in 2005.
Conover is a graduate of Denver Public Schools (1982), has a B.A. from Brown University (1987) and dual master's degrees in environmental studies and public/private management from Yale University (1994). She lives in Denver with her husband, Ken Snyder, and two sons.
Judith A. Corbett is the founder of and, since 1982, has served as Executive Director of the Local Government Commission. She holds an M.S. in Ecology from the University of California, Davis and was co-developer of the highly acclaimed Village Homes development in Davis, California. Village Homes continues to attract international attention as a ground-breaking model for sustainable development. Corbett has co-authored three books on resource- efficient land use and building design, and published over 50 policy guidebooks for local government officials on topics ranging from hazardous waste reduction, recycling, energy conservation and resource-efficient land use patterns.
Judy has been a featured speaker at conferences throughout the United States, Mexico, Canada and Europe and serves as a boardmember for several organizations including the Congress for the New Urbanism and the Rail-volution Conference. She is a 2001 recipient of a German Marshall Fund Fellowship and was named a 1999 “Hero for the Planet” by Time Magazine. Most recently, Judy was recognized by the American Planning Association as the recipient of the APA's 2005 Distinguished Leadership Award for a Citizen Planner.
Tabitha Crawford is currently employed by Actus Lend Lease where she has led the Innovation Team the last two years. In this position she reshaped residential utilities billing policies and defined energy modeling methods, through collaboration with the Department of Energy, for the U.S. Army's Residential Communities Initiative. Tabitha created "SYNERGY" (Saving Your Nation's Energy)—a program focused on grassroots education and energy conservation for military communities, and has championed the Connected Homes program which partners with the Army and Boston University to provide socially sustainable programs not yet available to the public in: telemedicine, learning development, home energy and money management.
Ms. Crawford has also developed an active alliance with the Partnership for Advancement of Technology in Housing that includes: integrating sustainable design techniques, obtaining funding from Housing and Urban Development for environmental innovation, and bringing best practice construction techniques to suit the varying climates around the 34,000 homes being built and managed by Actus Lend Lease. Tabitha recently accepted the role of SVP Sustainability & Innovation for Actus Lend Lease upon her completion of the Community Development & Management Plan at Fort Knox—a $220 Million residential development.
Born in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, Tabitha has a Bachelors of Science in Business Administration from the University of Louisville (Louisville, KY), a Masters in Business Administration from the Dolan School of Business at Fairfield University (Fairfield, CT), and a Masters in Bank Management from the Graduate School of Retail Bank Management held at the University of Virginia (Charlottesville, VA). In recent years, Ms. Crawford has served on the Board of Directors for the Government Electronics Industry Association as well as the Government Advisory Board for the National Automated Clearing House Association.
Tabitha began her career in information technology at Capital Holding Corporation in Louisville, KY. Later, she served as Vice President of Government Services for Fort Knox National Company where was nominated for a Naval Design Award for her contribution to the Public Private Partnership Program for off-base housing referrals. Tabitha became a member and trainer for the Professional Housing Management Association—serving as a catalyst for developing effective military housing alternatives. She served as an advisor to the Navy Housing Policy Committee in 1999.
Ms. Crawford was named CEO of Military Assistance Company (MAC) in August 2000 where she developed the only direct link to the Department of Defense's payroll systems. This historical first created the mechanism to secure cash flow to Army, Air Force and Navy Privatized Housing Partnerships. While involved in the American Society of Military Comptrollers, Tabitha was additionally responsible for strategic relationships with clients including: AAFES, NEXCOM, Household International, General Motors, Daimler-Chrysler, and GE Capital.
Active in her local community, Tabitha is a member of the Association of the United States Army and the CORE Committee at Fort Knox. Ms. Crawford was made an Honorary Kentucky Colonel by Governor Ernie Fletcher in 2004 for her community and state involvement. Ms. Crawford is a new resident in Nashville, Tennessee with her husband, Mason, and two sons. Mason is an Agricultural Science Teacher who is actively involved in numerous community and state events through the National FFA Organization.
David Crockett, is an associate of the CitiStates Group the leading national consulting group for regional approaches to addressing issues in a holistic, sustainable way. The group of associates includes former elected leaders, economists, sociologists, journalists, transportation officials and other disciplines who have been innovators and pioneers in regional approaches. David has spoken and consulted in cities and regions in nearly every American state, Canadian province and internationally on Sustainable Development.
His speaking themes of "Strategies of Imagination and Connections" and "Places of Imagination and Connections" reflect his innovative approaches to problem solving and are based on his life's work in business, civic, grassroots and elected public leadership roles. David's approach and his work have evoked quotes like:
- "One of the most creative, strategic thinkers…" IBM Advanced Business Institute
- "One of the most visionary local elected officials in America…" Neal Peirce, syndicated columnist, Washington Post Writers Group
David has served his city of Chattanooga as a businessman, a civic activist a grass roots leader, a Planning Commissioner, three terms in elected office as Chairman of the Chattanooga City Council and President of the Chattanooga Institute.
During that time Chattanooga went from being known as one of the most polluted and dilapidated cities in the nation to an international icon of public involvement and renewal of the urban, environmental, social and economic base of a city.
He has been the architect and leading advocate for linking social, environmental, economic and equity issues together in a single strategy for Chattanooga to be a national and international leader in building sustainable regions. Chattanooga's story has been documented in hundreds of newspaper, magazine book references as well as dozens of film documentaries in different languages.
The world's largest freshwater aquarium, a world class Riverwalk, a greenway network, one of the largest private land conservation efforts, cleaning the air, a downtown renaissance, a national model for affordable home ownership, hybrid and electric shuttles, maglev links to Atlanta are elements of the Chattanooga story that have brought nearly 1000 visiting delegations from around the world to study Chattanooga. But, the thinking and partnerships that brought these things to fruition is what has captured the world's attention. Chattanooga has a trophy case crammed with awards and accolades that include the award for cities from the President's Council for Sustainable Development and the Best Practice City in the World from the United Nations Summit of Cities (Habitat II) in Istanbul.
David has carried that message around the world speaking, consulting and serving on prominent advisory boards and task forces of groups including the President's Council on Sustainable Development, The Climate Institute, The President's Economic Roundtable, The Asian Pacific Economic Collaborative, National Advisory Council for Environmental Policy and Technology, "Challenger" Center for Space Education and many others.
His business career included a 20-plus year career as an IBM marketing executive and then as CEO of a start-up software company. Before joining IBM, Mr. Crockett served as an officer in the U.S. Army after earning a B.S. degree in Business from the University of Alabama. David is an avid outdoorsman, fisherman and hunter. He served as the host chairman for the Outdoor Writers of America Association convention.
Scott Denman is a seasoned public interest advocate whose expertise ranges from organizational development to land conservation and from advocacy communications to sustainable environmental and energy policy. Scott currently serves as Senior Program Officer for Reconnecting People and Places of the Wallace Global Fund, one of the most progressive family foundations in the country.
A versatile leader with more than three decades of experience with national, state and local conservation and clean energy advocacy, Scott directed the Safe Energy Communication Council, a national energy and environmental coalition, between 1983 and 2003. In addition to U.S. sustainable and clean energy initiatives, SECC’s successes included the termination of the Clinch River Breeder Reactor, the Liquid Metal Reactor Program and several other dangerous, wasteful federal nuclear power programs.
Under Scott’s auspices, SECC produced ground-breaking programs, books and major studies on renewable energy, electric utility reform, nuclear power and global warming as well as Power Boosters, a series of state-based books spotlighting energy efficiency success stories. Invited to testify on communications and environmental legislation before Senate and Congressional committees, Scott’s commentaries and opinions have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, The Nation, The New York Times and on CNN, NPR, CBS, FOX and many other print and broadcast news outlets.
Scott has conducted more than 260 formal media workshops and seminars for more than 6,500 environmental and citizen activists throughout the country. He has also designed and facilitated dozens of outdoor, experiential, team-building training sessions, with clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies, such as ATT to federal agencies, including EPA and USDA.
A passionate progressive, his volunteer work over the past decade has concentrated on smart growth initiatives and land preservation in Northern Virginia and the Blue Ridge Mountains region. Scott holds a Masters in Science from American University in Organizational and Human Resource Development and a Bachelors of Arts in Political Science from the College of Wooster in Ohio.
Contact: sdenman@wgf.org or call: (202) 452-1530, ext 112
Larisa Dobriansky is senior advisor to the law firm of Baker & Hostetler on environmental and energy matters relating to clean energy technology commercialization, with a principal focus on developing new financing instruments, policies, and institutional structures that can interact to spur technology innovation and manage risks associated with the deployment of advanced energy technologies. Special areas of expertise are designing market development strategies, structuring risk-sharing public-private partnerships to accelerate market transformation and facilitating local programs for integrating energy and environmental systems on a community-scale.
Prior to this position, Ms. Dobriansky served as deputy assistant secretary for National Energy Policy at the U.S. Department of Energy. There, she coordinated and provided strategic policy direction for Departmental activities to implement national energy policy objectives. As the lead for programs such as, the U.S. Clean Energy Initiative's Efficient Energy for Sustainable Development Partnership, Climate VISION and the APEC Energy Working Group's Task Force on Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Financing, she focused on promoting deployment policies and financing instruments that can enable strategic risk management and address barriers to the commercial adoption of clean energy technologies. In representing DOE and the U.S. Government in bilateral and multilateral forums such as, the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP), the U. N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, G-8 Summits and the U.S.-China Joint Working Group on the 2008 Beijing Olympics, she strived to foster effective public-private partnerships, technology transfer and market development especially through the building of local commercial infrastructure and enterprises.
As senior counsel in the Washington office of Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, L.L.P., her work dealt with a broad range of environmental and energy policy issues, corporate governance, project and carbon finance, and emissions trading. She joined that firm after serving in senior legal positions in the executive and legislative branches of the Federal Government (U.S. House Subcommittee on National Economic Growth, Natural Resources and Regulatory Affairs and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission).
Ms. Dobriansky received her B.S.F.S cum laude in international relations and economics in 1973, J.D. in 1977 and L.L.M. in securities regulation and taxation in 1990 from Georgetown University. She is a member of the District of Columbia and Virginia Bars.
Jan van Dokkum is president of UTC Power. He assumed his current position in October 2002.
Van Dokkum has been instrumental in advancing UTC Power’s on-site power generation product and service offerings, including fuel cell, geothermal and combined cooling, heating and power applications for commercial and industrial markets. In addition, he has focused the company’s fuel cell activities toward transportation, working with the world’s leading automotive OEMs and seeking out other early uses for fuel cells in transit bus, marine, space and defense applications.
Prior to joining UTC Power, van Dokkum was with Siemens for 17 years where he served as president and chief operating officer at Siemens Power Transmission & Distribution, Inc. from 1997.
Van Dokkum earned his bachelor and master degrees in electrical engineering from the Institute of Technology, Albertus Magnus of Breda, The Netherlands.
Van Dokkum is a member of the U.S. Department of Energy, Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technical Advisory Committee (HTAC). He serves on the board of directors of WestStart-CALSTART, and is chairman of the California Fuel Cell Partnership. He is a senior member of IEEE and serves on the executive committees of the Hydrogen Executive Leadership Panel (HELP) and National Association of State Fire Marshals (NASFM).
John R. Ehrmann is a founder and Senior Partner of the Meridian Institute. He has pioneered the use of collaborative processes for over two decades at the local, national and international level. He has led projects in national and international forums; in public policy arenas involving legislation, negotiated regulations and Federal Advisory Committees; in organizational management settings; in communities and site-specific disputes; and with stakeholder groups advising individual companies. For the most part, his work has focused on the environment, natural resources issues, health and the economic and social challenges associated with developing sustainable practices for communities and industries.
In addition to his extensive involvement in facilitating collaborative processes, John also works to promote the use of collaborative decision-making. He lectures and has published numerous articles on collaborative decisions in public policy issues. He also serves as an adjunct faculty member for the University of Wyoming and provides advice to the Ruckelshaus Institute and School of Environment and Natural Resources on the use of collaborative problem solving in natural resource decision-making.
John received his undergraduate degree from Macalester College and his Ph.D. in Natural Resource Policy and Environmental Dispute Resolution from the University of Michigan , School of Natural Resources . His doctoral dissertation involved developing a practice-based model of the policy dialogue, which can be applied to both practice and research. Between 1983 and 1997, John was executive vice president at the Keystone Center , Keystone, Colorado . In September 1997, he became one of the founders of the Meridian Institute.
Christine A. Ervin
Christine Ervin’s career as an environmental leader spans executive positions across national, state and nonprofit sectors. She is widely credited for being a major force in today’s vibrant green building markets.
As first President and CEO of the U.S. Green Building Council, Ervin led its growth from 200 members and three staff in 1999 to become a highly influential coalition of 4,500 companies and organizations, 50 staff and 70 local chapters and affiliates. During her five-year tenure, the Council launched the LEED® green building rating system, the Greenbuild ™Conference and Expo which drew 12,000 attendees in 2006, and numerous governance enhancements to help reach mainstream markets.
In 1993, Christine was appointed by President Clinton to serve as Assistant Secretary of Energy for the nation’s $1 billion portfolio of clean energy technologies for transportation, buildings, major industries and power systems. Initiatives during her tenure included: EPA-DOE ENERGY STAR™ partnership; national center on sustainable communities; a streamlined appliance standards program; high performance buildings; and voluntary market-based programs ranging from Million Solar Roofs to private sector financing for energy retrofits. Her office played a key role in the President’s Climate Change Action Partnership.
In 1991, Christine was appointed by Governor Barbara Roberts to direct the Oregon Department of Energy and to lead a state task force on livable communities. Her portfolio included state programs to advance energy efficiency and renewable energy, oversight of the Trojan nuclear power plant, Hanford Waste Reservation policy and siting of new energy facilities.
Christine’s interest in market-based programs took root at the World Wildlife Fund/ Conservation Foundation in 1989-91 where she focused on eco-labeling, life cycle assessments and consensus recommendations for pollution prevention. Previously, she directed budget policy for the State of Missouri, advising Governors and the legislature on statewide program and policy issues.
Christine’s Portland-based firm, Christine Ervin/Company, focuses on speech engagements for a wide range of audiences on green markets, climate change and strategies for ushering in a new industrial economy. She also consults on selective projects, serves as an Editor-at-Large with GreenerWorld Media and serves on numerous public and private Boards including the American Council for Renewable Energy (ACORE), Turner Construction’s Sustainability Advisory Board and Oregon’s Climate Change Integration Group. Her upcoming book, Certified Green, explores the dynamic world of green market transformation.
Between 1995 and 2005, Jane served as the founding director of Biodiversity Project – a nonprofit communications organization dedicated to raising public awareness about the diversity of life on Earth, its value to human well-being, and the need for public action to stem the tide of loss. Jane led projects to incorporate insights from public opinion research, education theory, social marketing, frameworks analysis and other approaches into public communications about biodiversity. This work served as a catalyst for new communications and education projects at leading zoos and aquariums, and across a diverse community of advocacy groups working on issues from sprawl to endangered species protection. In 2002 she received a Bay Foundation Biodiversity Leadership Award, which recognizes "individuals with proven capacity to help stem the loss of biological diversity."
Previously, Jane worked for the Sierra Club's Midwest office, serving as a field organizer, Congressional lobbyist and policy specialist. She founded the Sierra Club's Great Lakes program and helped lead the successful ten-year effort to protect 100,000 acres of Michigan Wilderness. Jane also served as director of Ecoregion Programs – a national program to develop conservation strategies for the major ecologically defined regions of the U.S. She received the Michael McCloskey award in 1994, for "a distinguished record of achievement in national or international conservation causes."
Jane loves quilting, gardening, watercolor, and Shakespeare performed live and uncut. She is married to Bill Davis, who serves as executive director of the State Environmental Leadership Program. They have an 11-year-old son, Colin, who hates global warming. They live in Madison, Wisconsin.
Garrett Fitzgerald provides leadership for ICLEI U.S.A.’s domestic programs and technical staff from its Oakland, CA U.S. headquarters. As a member of ICLEI’s Cities for Climate Protection® (CCP) Campaign team, Garrett provides technical and policy assistance to CCP local governments across the country to help them identify and reduce greenhouse gas emissions while creating associated economic, health and social co-benefits. Garrett also contributes to the development of ICLEI’s software tools and programs, including the 2007 launch of ICLEI U.S.A.’s Sustainable Community Performance program. Garrett served ICLEI previously as Project Manager for U.S. Sustainability Initiatives and as a Technical Program Officer. Garrett holds a Master of Arts in energy and resources from the University of California, Berkeley; and a Bachelor of Philosophy in environmental energy engineering from The Pennsylvania State University. He has numerous publications in the areas of sustainability indicators, renewable energy, and clean energy funds.
Rebecca L. Flora is the executive director of the Green Building Alliance (GBA), a non-profit organization that drives market demand for green building through education and project facilitation. She was responsible for GBA’s initial organizational strategic plan and office start-up in 1997, and is currently managing the start-up of GBA’s green building products initiative. Under her leadership, GBA received a 2001 Three Rivers Environmental Award in the Public Awareness category. Also noteworthy is her role as a LEED AP for Pittsburgh’s $350 million LEED gold certified convention center project, the first green convention center in the world.
Previously, Ms. Flora served as executive director of the South Side Local Development Company (SSLDC), a community development organization that provides business development, planning and housing services to Pittsburgh’s historic main street and riverfront neighborhood of the South Side. During her tenure, the SSLDC was the 1996 winner of the Great American Main Street Award. Also while there, Ms. Flora completed the master planning of an eight-acre tract of former industrial riverfront land for housing redevelopment and directed the development of Phase II - New Birmingham, a 32-unit, energy-efficient housing development that was a Three Rivers Environment Awards finalist. Additionally, she served as a planning consultant to the South Side community for the early master plan of the South Side Works development, a 130-acre former steel mill site.
Prior to the SSLDC, Ms. Flora worked for the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) of Pittsburgh, serving as project manager for the Washington’s Landing and Pittsburgh Technology Center projects, both of which included the reclamation and development of former industrial, riverfront property. Before coming to Pittsburgh, she was employed as a planner for K.W. Poore & Associates, a planning and consulting firm in Richmond, Virginia.
Ms. Flora holds a Masters in Urban and Regional Planning from Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Environmental Science from Plattsburgh State University of New York. She is the chair-elect for the U.S. Green Building Council, a member of the USGBC’s LEED Neighborhood Development Core Committee, an advisory board member for the University of Pittsburgh’s Mascaro Sustainability Initiative, and serves as a board member for both Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens and the Pittsburgh Partnership for Neighborhood Development. Ms. Flora also serves as an adjunct faculty member of Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz School of Public Policy and Management where she teaches graduate studies in sustainable community development. She was named an “Environmental Hero for 2004” by Interiors & Sources magazine and as one of “The Top 50 Cultural Forces in Pittsburgh” by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Rebecca’s passion for her work in green building is driven by her desire to leave the world a better place for her two daughters and for future generations.
Maureen Hart is president of Sustainable Measures, a private consulting firm based in West Hartford, CT. She is serving as a member of the Summit Continuity Team. Her firm is dedicated to promoting sustainable communities, primarily through the development, understanding and use of effective indicators and systems for measuring progress. Its clients include communities, non-profit organizations, federal, state, regional, and local governments, foundations and private sector businesses.
Maureen is an internationally known expert on sustainability indicators and the author of the Guide to Sustainable Community Indicators, which is being used by many communities and organizations working on understanding and measuring progress toward sustainability.
She has developed and presented training courses and workshops on sustainability and indicators both nationally and internationally. She has provided technical assistance to community indicator projects, evaluated indicators and indicator sets, conducted research on measuring sustainability, consulted with businesses and business-related nonprofits on sustainable production indicators, and has helped foundations and other grant-making organizations define strategies and evaluate funding decisions for projects related to sustainable development. Current projects include working with the US Forest Service on indicators for planning and implementing green infrastructure and sustainable forestry and managing the Calvert-Henderson Quality of Life Indicators web site.
Sadhu Johnston is the Commissioner of the City of Chicago Department of Environment. He was appointed by Mayor Richard M. Daley in July of 2005 after serving as the Assistant to the Mayor for Green Initiatives for one and a half years. His responsibilities include the overall management of DOE, which administers programs to protect and restore Chicago's natural resources; reduce waste; clean up brownfields; promote energy efficiency and reliability; educate the public about environmental issues; and enforce the City's environmental protection laws.
As the Assistant to the Mayor for Green Initiatives, other responsibilities included the coordination and facilitation of green efforts throughout the City. He has been involved in the policies, programs, and regulations related to green building, recycling, green roofs, public education, and the development of the City's Environmental Action Agenda.
Prior to working for the City of Chicago, Sadhu served as the Executive Director of the Cleveland Green Building Coalition. The organization's accomplishments included a green renovation of an historic bank known as the Cleveland Environmental Center. The Center, which serves as a home for various non-profit organizations features a green roof with native endangered plants, a geothermal heating and cooling system, healthy indoor air quality, and many other green building features.
Keith Laughlin has been president of Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (RTC) since February 2001. RTC is a national organization with more than 100,000 members dedicated to transforming unused rail lines into multipurpose trails. Since its founding in 1986, RTC has worked with communities to create almost 14,000 miles of rail-trail. Keith is responsible for overseeing all aspects of RTC's trail building, policy advocacy and public education work.
Before joining RTC, Keith had more than 20 years of governmental experience in Washington, D.C. He served for eight years in the White House Council on Environmental Quality as Associate Director for Sustainable Development. Before joining the executive branch, Keith was a senior staff person in the U.S. House of Representatives for 14 years.
Hunter S. Lovins is the president and founder of Natural Capitalism Solutions and co-creator of the Natural Capitalism concept. In 1982 she co-founded Rocky Mountain Institute and led that organization as its CEO for Strategy until 2002. Under her leadership, RMI grew into an internationally recognized research center, widely celebrated for its innovative thinking in energy and resource issues. By the time Hunter left, the institute had grown to a staff of 50 people and a $7 million annual budget, half of it earned through programmatic enterprise. In 2001, Hunter was named one of four people from North America to serve as a delegate to the United Nations Prep Conference for Europe and North America for the World Summit on Sustainable Development. She served as a Commissioner in the State of the World Forum's Commission on Globalization, cochaired by Mikhail Gorbachev, and Jane Goodall. Lovins has co-authored nine books and dozens of papers, and was featured in the awardwinning film, Lovins On the Soft Path. Her latest book, Natural Capitalism, co-authored with Amory Lovins and business author Paul Hawken, was released in September 1999. It has been translated into a dozen languages and was the subject of a Harvard Business Review summary. Recent articles by Hunter have appeared in World Link, World Business Academy Review, American Prospect and Los Angeles Times. Trained as a lawyer (JD, Loyola University School of Law, Los Angeles), Lovins has managed international nonprofits, created several corporations, and is in great demand as a speaker and consultant. Her areas of interest and expertise include Natural Capitalism, globalization, economic development, governance, land management, energy, water, green realestate development and community economic development. She has taught at dozens of universities, including an engagement as the Henry R. Luce Visiting Professor at Dartmouth College. She is currently Professor of Business at Presidio School of Management in the first accredited MBA program in Sustainable Management.
Sustainibility in Action
Lovins has consulted for governments and the private sector, briefing senior management at such organizations as the international finance corporation, Interface, Inc., Bank of America, Allstate, Calvert Social Investment Fund, Royal Dutch/Shell Group, and numerous utility companies. Lovins' public-sector clients have included the U.S. Defense Civil Preparedness Agency of the pentagon, Environmental Protection Agency, the Bonneville Power Administration, the Solar Energy Research Institute, and the German Federal Environment Agency. She has addressed such audiences as the U.S. Congress, The World Economic Forum at Davos, the World's Fair Energy Symposia, the Industrial Designers Society's WorlDesign, the Epiphany service at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, the State of the World Forum, Bioneers, the Global Economic Forum, the World Watch State of the World Conference and hundreds of conferences and college symposia. She has appeared on numerous television shows including "60 Minutes," "Good Morning America," Pat Robertson's "700 Club," Today, Bill Moyers' "NOW," and hundreds of news programs.
Awards
Lovins shared a 1982 Mitchell Prize for an essay on reallocating utility capital, a 1983 Right Livelihood Award (often called the "alternative Nobel Prize"), a 1993 Nissan Award for an article on Hypercars, and the 1999 Lindbergh Award for Environment and Technology. She has received several honorary doctorates. In 2000 she was named a "Hero for the Planet" by Time Magazine, and received the Loyola University award for Outstanding Community Service. In 2001 she received the Leadership in Business Award and shared the Shingo Prize for Manufacturing Research.
Corporate Service
Lovins has served on the Boards of one government, three private corporations and many public interest groups. She advises numerous companies and nonprofits, including GreenMountain.com. She was a founding director of RMI's second for-profit spin-off, E source, until its 1999 sale for $18 million to the Financial Times group.
Personal
In her spare time, Hunter is a volunteer firefighter and an EMT. She is also President of Nighthawk Horse Company and is active in training polocrosse horses and competing at polocrosse and rodeo.
Doug Newman serves as the Director for the NECSC and is also the principal in a Chicago-based consulting practice specializing in energy- and resource-efficient community design and development. He also serves as an Adjunct Professor at San Diego State University in San Diego, California. Mr. Newman has 25 years of experience in national environmental policy analysis and program development and in planning and managing collaborative environmental and energy research initiatives. Mr. Newman has also developed and delivered professional training programs on energy-efficient sustainable community development in the United States, China and Australia. Prior to the formation of the NECSC, he served as the manager of energy and environmental programs for the Gas Technology Institute and served in a number of senior career posts in the U.S. government, and as a private-sector business consultant and entrepreneur.
His government posts included: Special Programs Manager for three Administrators of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, responsible for the development of environmental technology transfer initiatives and leveraged fundraising through public-private partnerships; Member of the President's National Council on Public Works Improvement, providing expertise on innovative financing for construction of municipal wastewater treatment plants; Founder and Staff Director of the Administrator's national external advisory committee on environmental technology, education and training; Co-Creator and first Programs Director of the Congressionally-chartered National Environmental Education and Training Foundation; and Director of External Affairs for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), managing business, industry, legislative and intergovernmental affairs for the nation's principal Earth sciences agency.
In addition to his public service, Mr. Newman founded and operated two consulting businesses specializing in community-based environmental management, organizational development and marketing and Earth sciences education. His commercial clients included Discovery Communications (the Discovery Channel Network), General Electric, GeoSphere, Pratt & Whitney-Canada, Samsonite-American Tourister, SES-ASTRA and the U.S. Department of Commerce - National Ocean Service. Mr. Newman holds Masters Degrees in Urban and Regional Planning and in Public Policy and Administration from the University Wisconsin at Madison, and a BS in Urban Studies/Planning from the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis.
Steve Nicholas is director of the Seattle Office of Sustainability and Environment, which works to accelerate environmentally sustainable practices by City government and the community at-large. Steve and his team lead a number of urban sustainability programs, including Mayor Nickels’ climate protection and urban forest restoration initiatives. Steve was a co-founder of the nonprofit Sustainable Seattle in 1992, and in 2004 co-chaired then-Governor Gary Locke’s Sustainable Washington Advisory Panel. His previous lives include a three-year stint as director of the Institute for Sustainable Communities’ NGO capacity-building program in the former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia, and two years managing watershed stewardship and salmon conservation planning for the King County Department of Natural Resources. He holds a bachelor’s degree in public policy from Colby College, and a master’s degree in public policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.
John Parker recently joined HDR|HLB Decision Economics Inc. as Principal Economist in our Toronto Canada office. John is an applied econometrician with extensive management experience. He has worked in the financial services, software, and energy sectors. He has acquired the skills necessary to negotiating complex business deals and the planning and start-up of several companies. John has a unique ability to direct others and to build, use, and explain quantitative models. By using useful abstractions from reality he can help people better understand their markets, competitors, pricing, prospects, and internal processes. He enjoys writing and making presentations to audiences of any size. John enjoys being creative, using humour, and telling stories as a way to make strategy, quantitative economic, and business analysis relevant and meaningful to his audiences.
Matt Petersen, Global Green USA President, CEO and board member, joined Global Green USA in 1994.
Building on Petersen’s leadership and expertise in politics, environmental issues, and consensus building, Global Green USA has successfully built bridges between citizens, business, and government while bringing sustainable development to a tangible, practical level within in a global context.
Armed with the guiding mission to foster a global value shift toward a sustainable future, Petersen has helped build the United States affiliate of Green Cross International (GCI) into an emerging force for the environment in the U.S. and abroad. Petersen has designed Global Green USA, the only national environmental organization headquartered in greater Los Angeles, with an entrepreneurial approach.
He has helped develop and guide the organization’s growing programs of eliminating weapons of mass destruction; fighting climate change; promoting green building and renewable energy; and ensuring access to clean water for all of humanity. He started the organization’s work with green building through a partnership with Habitat for Humanity in 1995. Petersen also coordinates President Gorbachev’s Green Cross-related media and political activities in the U.S. He is a representative to the Council of GCI, and Chairs the GCI Energy and Resource Efficiency Program.
In the aftermath of the Gulf Coast hurricanes, Petersen put forth a vision and mobilized resources to create the Global Green "Healthy Homes and Smart Neighborhoods" initiative which resulted in: the New Orleans Sustainable Design Competition with Jury Chair Brad Pitt; the NOLA Green Schools Initiative funded by the Bush Clinton Katrina Fund; and work with Habitat for Humanity throughout the Gulf Coast to create more energy efficient housing.
Petersen has created two annual environmental awards programs presented with Mikhail Gorbachev entitled the Millennium Awards, held in Los Angeles, and the Designing A Sustainable and Secure World Awards, held in New York City. Honorees are recognized for their advancements in the corporate sector, NGO, government, and entertainment. Petersen also spearheaded the “Take A Hybrid to the Oscars” campaign, which received worldwide media attention, and “Rock The Earth”, a public outreach event, that featured Leonardo DiCaprio calling on President Bush to attend the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg.
Petersen is an advisor to the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation and a Member of the Pacific Council on International Policy. He serves on the Institute for Market Transformation toward Sustainability’s board of directors, the Environmental Media Association (EMA) advisory board and the Automotive X Prize Advisory Board.
Previously, Petersen has served as a Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and as Executive Director of Americans for a Safe Future, where he helped lead a successful campaign to promote alternative radioactive waste policies. Before building and leading environmental organizations, Petersen worked as a political campaign manager for candidates at the local, state, and federal level. He also served on the executive committee of Businesses and Environmentalists Allied for Recycling (BEAR, a project of Global Green USA).
Petersen is also active in his community as a member of the Santa Monica Task Force on the Environment. He holds a BA in Political Science from California State University at Chico and an MA in Public Administration from the University of Southern California.
He and his wife, Leila Conners Petersen, President and CEO of Tree Media Group, an internet and web development company, live in Santa Monica with their son Aidan. Both drive a Prius.
Stephen "Tim" Quigley Jr.Profession: Public Sector/Community Service Sector Executive Management
City of Residence: San Jose
How Long: 40 years
Goals: Southbay prime community service organization resource to connect volunteers with community needs, and promote volunteerism - Function as community volunteer clearinghouse for all county 1550 public benefit non profit organizations; Deliver employee volunteer programs for high tech industry; Partner with County Office of Education and provide intervention and prevention services for at risk students for 109 high schools, and; Serve as Silicon Valley Community Service subject matter expert and advocate.
Accomplishments: Grandfather of two
Father of four
B.S. Engineering, US Naval Academy
M.A.(s) Public Administration, University of Oklahoma
SONS Fellow, JFK School of Government, Harvard University
Retired Naval Officer (31 years)and Aviator(22,000 flight hours)
Vietnam Veteran (3 tours),Mayaguez, Lebanon, Gulf I Veteran
Former Commanding Officer, Naval Air Station Moffett field
Former President, NATO Defense College, Rome, Italy
Former President, Silicon Valley Defense/Space Consortium
Former Executive Director, Silicon Valley Global Trading Center
Former President, Pacific Skyline Council, Boy Scouts of America
Skills: Accomplished public speaker
Experienced executive administrator
Talented trade and workforce negotiator
Mayor Graham Richard
Wired and inspired. That’s the mantra of Fort Wayne Mayor Graham Richard. Wired, because Fort Wayne is becoming one of the most technologically connected cities in America. Inspired, because Richard is on a mission to turn city government into a lean, results-producing, customer-focused driver of an economically thriving city.
In his second term as mayor of Indiana’s second-largest city, Richard has helped taxpayers save more than $10 million through improvements and efficiencies in city government services. He’s helped leverage more than $200 million in investments to revitalize the urban core, including a Regional Public Safety Academy that already is attracting national attention.
A former Indiana state senator, business owner and strategic advisor, Richard brought that expertise to city government in 2000 when he began his first term as mayor. He’s also brought high performance to city government using Lean Six Sigma. The business practice, made popular by GE and other high-powered companies, is one of the business tools Richard has used to build a better city to gain and retain jobs.
Technology is at the core of Fort Wayne’s transformation. Thanks to over a $90 million investment from Verizon, more than 128,000 Fort Wayne residents and businesses are connected to high speed fiber optics. All Fort Wayne schools are connected with fiber, the first city in Indiana to be fully wired.
The city’s iTeams are charged with finding ways to use technology to improve citizens’ lives. iTeams are launching new programs that are helping bridge the digital divide, making virtual medicine a reality and bringing new technologies to help serve citizens better and faster.
Mayor Richard has written several articles on Fort Wayne’s initiatives and recently completed his first book, “Performance is the Best Politics,” which features the story of Fort Wayne’s transformation to a high performance government.
He has delivered keynote presentations and speeches to many audiences, including “How to Use Lean Six Sigma to Produce a High Performance Government” at Lean Six Sigma Summits in Miami, Las Vegas, Vienna, Virginia, Palm Springs, California, and Washington, D.C. In December 2005, the Brookings Institution hosted Mayor Richard for a presentation on “Fort Wayne: Wired and Inspired to Compete in the Flat World.” Mayor Richard also addressed the Winter 2006 U.S. Conference of Mayors on the same subject. In 2006, Mayor Richard keynoted several national conferences including Leadership Oklahoma, the Broadband Properties Summit in Dallas, FiberFirst Minnesota, and the Community/Muni Broadband Solutions Summit in Chicago.
Matt Ries is the Managing Director of Technical and Educational Services at the Water Environment Federation. In this capacity, he oversees WEF's Technical Programs Group that develops the technical program for WEFTEC, the largest water quality event in North America, and WEF's specialty conferences, workshops, and webcasts. He also manages WEF's training and educational programs designed for water quality professionals.
Before joining WEF, Matt spent over 10 years in consulting working on large-scale infrastructure planning, design, and construction projects in the water and wastewater sector. During this time, Matt worked on the first two wastewater treatment plant projects to register for LEED certification.
Matt has a BS in Civil Engineering from Valparaiso University and a MS in Environmental Engineering from the University of Notre Dame. His undergraduate and graduate research focused on the application of appropriate water and wastewater technologies for use in rural areas and developing nations. He is a licensed professional engineer in Virginia and Maryland.
John Sibley
Atlanta native John Sibley grew up in a family committed to community service and the stewardship of Georgia’s land. He graduated from Westminster Schools, Wesleyan University and Yale Law School and then served for four years in the Navy as a member of the Judge Advocate General’s Corps.
John practiced law in Atlanta for 12 years before joining the staff of Governor Joe Frank Harris as director of the Growth Strategies Commission in 1987. He led that effort and the Governor’s Development Council until 1991 and helped the state formulate its first set of guidelines for managing growth.
Throughout his career, John has worked on public policy for the state. He has served as law clerk for the Georgia Supreme Court and as counsel to committees of the state Senate. Through appointments from Governors Busbee, Miller, Barnes, and Perdue, he has served as chairman of the State Health Planning Review Board and of the Governor’s Commission on National and Community Service and on the board of the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority.
In the private sector, John has practiced not only as a lawyer, but also as a registered mediator and as a consultant to community-based strategic planning. For ten years, he also ran a profitable dairy and beef cattle farm in Walker County, Georgia, for his family.
John’s public and private experience has been grounded in building coalitions and achieving consensus in diverse constituencies. He turned these skills toward environmental protection on a full-time basis in 1998, when he joined the Georgia Conservancy as vice president for environmental policy. The Conservancy promotes environmental education, clean air, clean water, land conservation, and smart growth. He became president in December of that same year and served until he retired in 2005. Throughout his tenure at the Conservancy, John was named one of the “100 Most Influential Atlantans” by the Atlanta Business Chronicle, and one of the “100 Most Influential Georgians” by Georgia Trend.
John currently serves on the boards of the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority, Georgia Conservancy, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, and Preserve at Callaway, as well as on the Policy Subcommittee for the Livable Communities Coalition. He is a member of the Rotary Club of Atlanta and State Bar of Georgia.
Ken Snyder
"Ken Snyder and his staff continue to bring invaluable technical knowledge to the Metropolitan Area Planning Council's MetroFuture project. Their ability to tailor solutions to our objectives and challenges, as well as their commitment to a job well done make them much more than a project consultant - they are members of our team."
Ken Snyder is Executive Director of PlaceMatters, a non-profit organization working to promote high performance approaches to citizen collaboration, community design and development. He is a nationally recognized expert on a broad range of technical and non-technical tools for community design and decision-making.
Over the past 7 years, Ken has organized and facilitated six national conferences on tools for land use planning, community design and decision making. He has authored a number of articles including: Putting Democracy Front and Center (in Planning, July 2006), Tools for Community Design and Decision Making (a chapter in Planning Support Systems in Practice, Published by Springer in 2003); Visualization Tools to Improve Community Decision Making (an APA PAS Memo published in November 2003); and Decision Support Tools for Community Planning (the cover article in PM: Public Management, November 2001).
Prior to working for PlaceMatters, Ken work for the Orton Family Foundation, heading up their Planning Tools Program. Ken also worked for the US Department of Energy as a Community Development Program Specialist. In 2000, he served as co-chair of a committee on information and tools for the White House's Livability Council, developing policy recommendations for the Clinton-Gore report on Building Livable Communities.
Currently, Ken is Chair of the American Planning Association's Technology Division, and sits on the Board of the National Charrette Institute. In 2001, he was selected as a German Marshall Fund Environmental Fellow where he traveled to Europe to study professional peer approaches to land use and transportation planning.
From 1988-1991, he worked for the National Audubon Society where he traveled internationally representing Audubon at international negotiations on climate change. Building on this experience, he organized and taught a graduate level course on International Environmental Negotiations while at Yale. He has a double degree from Oberlin College in Biology and Environmental Studies and a Master's Degree from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies in Conservation and Development.
Randall E. Solomon is the founder and executive director of the New Jersey Sustainable State Institute. Mr. Solomon's policy experience includes positions as a policy advisor on sustainable development for the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, director of the States Campaign for the Resource Renewal Institute in San Francisco, and policy director for the non-profit New Jersey Future. He has participated on advisory boards for federal and state government, civic organizations, and has advised major corporations. In other positions he was a field researcher in ecology, a National Park Ranger, and served in the first class of AmeriCorps national service volunteers. He has a BS in Biology from the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey and an MS in Public Policy from the Bloustein School at Rutgers University. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in public policy at the Bloustein School, focusing on the social and institutional factors that govern the success of statewide and community sustainability efforts. He writes and speaks frequently on sustainable development, land use policy, and using indicators in public decision making.
Carol Werner serves as executive director of the Environmental and Energy Study Institute. Ms. Werner came to EESI in late 1987 and was the director of EESI's Energy & Climate Change Program through January 1998. Ms. Werner has more than 20 years of public policy experience on energy and environmental issues.
Carol serves on the steering committees of the Sustainable Energy Coalition, the Surface Transportation Policy Project, the U.S. Climate Action Network; and the Environmental Advisory Committee of the Business Council for Sustainable Energy. She also currently serves on the Department of Energy's (DOE) State Energy Advisory Board, the board of the New Uses Council, the World Council of Churches Task Force on Climate Change, the National Center for Appropriate Technology, the editorial board of Biocycle, and is one of the stakeholders in the DOE/USDA Bioenergy Initiative. Carol was previously a member of DOE's Federal Advisory Committee on the Commercialization of Renewable Energy Technologies.
Before joining EESI in late 1987, Ms. Werner developed an energy efficiency/oil security project for Environmental Action. From 1985-1987, she served as the legislative director of the Northeast-Midwest Congressional Coalition.
John Williams, is a Senior Vice President and Business Group Leader at HDR Engineering in White Plains, New York. Mr. Williams began his career in 1979 as a community liaison representing the State of New York on the expansion of the Long Island Expressway through Queens. That project marked the beginning of a career built around a dedication to community service. Nearly 20-years ago he became involved in guiding communities through the development of public/private ventures (some would call them privatizations) of a broad array of public service functions and facilities. In 1994 Mr. Williams was asked to serve as Chief Operating Officer for a new joint venture company involving one of the nation's largest engineering firms in partnership with one of the world's largest water privatization companies. It was via that experience that Williams concluded that there must be another choice when it comes to helping communities do "more with less" with regard to water treatment and distribution. In 1996 he formed a new consulting wing within HDR staffed with specialists that help public utilities to improve service and performance efficiency. Mr. Williams' work has been tested via direct competition with some of the world's largest private companies. His teams have saved communities nearly $1 billion over the past ten years.
More recently, Mr. Williams has focused on the use of private capital to develop new public facilities and infrastructure. His projects include the $1.6 Billion Moynihan Station which is under construction in New York City. He is helping Broward County rethink the development of key assets in the center of Ft. Lauderdale and is engaged in a number of economic development efforts on Long Island.
Mr. Williams also heads a group of professionals within HDR who are focused on the development of renewable energy facilities including wind, solar, hydro, biomass, ethanol and waste-to-energy plants. He leads HDR's carbon reduction efforts that include planning for low carbon solid waste systems and low carbon community development. He is the firm's representative with The Climate Group and on the Columbia Earth Institute's Global Roundtable on Climate Change.
Mr. Williams earned his degree from West Virginia University. He is on faculty at Columbia University's International School of Public Affairs where he offers a workshop in public policy analysis entitled, "The Other Side of Privatization." He has also served on the faculty at Columbia's Graduate School of Architecture, Urban Planning and Preservation where he taught a class entitled, "Planners as Advisors to Government." His projects are the recipient of nearly a dozen major awards including ICMA's Innovation in Government Award and Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government recognized another as a finalist for its 2003 Innovation in Government Award. Mr. Williams is the author of more than 80 published articles and coauthor of a book.