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BACKGROUND
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
FOUNDING MEMBERS
BOARD OF ADVISORS
STAFF
FUNDERS
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NEI'S BACKGROUND
We,
the people, must redeem/The land, the mines, the plants, the rivers/The
mountains and the endless plain --/All, all the stretch of these great
green states --/And make America again!
-Langston Hughes
New Ecology, Inc. ("NEI") was founded
in 1999 to spearhead sustainable development in distressed urban communities
in New England. In four years, we have developed an innovative program
responsible for several important on-the-ground accomplishments. One
of just a handful of organizations across the country dedicated to joining
the pursuit of environmental quality with economic development in urban
communities, our work has evolved from largely experimental in nature
to a more distinct and intentional theory of change, promoting strategies
that represent best practice in the emerging area of sustainable development.
NEI seeks to change the urban development system by intervening substantively
in that system to reposition our selected constituencies - Community
Development Corporations ("CDCs"), private developers, and
universities - as well as the underlying public policy networks to more
effectively advance sustainable development outcomes, faster and at
a greater scale. Our work has been grounded in these constituencies.
Since 1999, we have been involved in over two dozen projects with CDCs,
private developers, and universities, each of whom plays an essential
role in shaping the physical and economic landscape of the greater Boston
region, of Massachusetts, and beyond. In addition, NEI has helped influence
public policy to support sustainable development. Our program design
establishes an intentional, collaborative, and integrated strategy for
change. We believe it represents an important model, one that will significantly
help improve the quality of life and the environment in cities and beyond.
THE PRINCIPLES
OF NEI
Below are the organizational principles by which NEI conducts its day-to-day
business, delivers its programs, develops its strategic plans, and measures
its success.
NEI's Board and Staff commit to:
1. Recognizing that human communities and the
physical environment are interdependent systems, and that social and
economic health and environmental quality are mutually reinforcing.
2. Insisting on the importance of robust democratic process to environmental
decisionmaking at all levels, from the neighborhood and firm level to
the regional, national, and global level, and that traditionally marginally
or disfranchised voices especially must participate in that decisionmaking.
3. Striving for constant improvement in knowledge and practice by encouraging
direct and open communication between a diverse group of colleagues
and stakeholders from the private sector, government agencies, non-profit
organizations, and community groups.
4. Accepting responsibility for the consequences of organizational and
program decisions upon human welfare and ecosystem health.
5. Seeking to find opportunities in challenges and avoid knee-jerk responses
to new situations.
6. Creating solutions to problems that restore environmental quality
and eliminate waste, provide meaningful and direct economic opportunities
for community residents, and build the capacity of communities to support
and ensure a healthy, sustainable future.
7. Respecting the importance of place in designing and implementing
environmental protection and economic development strategies.
8. Believing in the possibility of good faith and the ability of all
people, organizations, and institutions to change for the better and
to respect the interdependence of human and non-human nature.
9. Understanding that we live in a world of grays, not black and white,
but this does not preclude the possibility of seeking and achieving
results that accord with our best social and environmental principles.
10. Abiding by and incorporating the above-mentioned principles
to the greatest extent possible and, in the event NEI's ability to do
so is compromised in a particular situation, NEI will take all steps
necessary to correct the situation or will withdraw from it.
1999 New Ecology Inc.
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BACKGROUND
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
FOUNDING MEMBERS
BOARD OF ADVISORS
STAFF
FUNDERS
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NEI BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Seth Jaffe, Esq., Partner, Foley Hoag, LLPBoston,
MA
A partner in the environmental department of Foley
Hoag, LLP, one of New England’s leading law firms, Seth was a member
of the Massachusetts Brownfields Advisory Committee and has extensive
experience in environmental and real estate law. Seth graduated from
MIT and Yale Law School. Residence: Newton, MA
Anne Kelly, Esq., Principal, Creative Resolutions,
LLC, Boston, MA
Anne has been working on innovative environmental
protection and economic development initiatives for several years in
her capacity as head of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental
Protection’s Environmental Strike Force, Special Assistant to former
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Regional Administrator John DeVillars,
Deputy
General Counsel at the Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental
Affairsand most recently as Principal
in her consulting group Creative Resolutions LLC. Anne received her
B.A. from Michigan State University, a law degree from the Thomas M.
Cooley School of Law and her master’s in public policy from Harvard’s
Kennedy School where she was a Bradford Fellow. Residence: Lexington,
MA
Kyle McKinney,
Property and Casualty Insurance Broker, Global Insurance Network, Needham,
MA
Kyle founded a solid waste recycling firm while
an undergraduate at MIT and later became the Chief Operating Officer
of the Lena Park Community Development Corporation in Dorchester. With
deep family roots in Roxbury, MA and a passionate urban gardener, Kyle
works with CDCs and other community organizations to help analyze and
underwrite the environmental and other property risks associated with
development in urban neighborhoods. Kyle is a graduate of MIT and the
Stanford Business School. Residence: Andover, MA
Gloria Cross Mwase, Senior Project Manager,
Jobs For The Future, Boston, MA
Gloria
is a Senior Project Manager for
the Building Economic Opportunities Group at Jobs for the Future. She
brings over ten years of project management and coordination experience
in the nonprofit sector. Among her publications are studies that explore
the role of community-based organizations in employment training and
economic development. Her projects include Breaking Through, which promotes
strategies that help low-literacy adults succeed in careers by accessing
higher education and training through community colleges, and Investing
in Workforce Intermediaries, which supports partnerships that recruit,
train, place, retain, and advance new and incumbent workers in key industry
sectors. Prior to coming to JFF, Dr. Mwase worked as a local representative
for the Annie E. Casey Foundation, where she served on the Funders Group
for SkillWorks, a workforce intermediary in Boston. Dr. Mwase has taught
at Cambridge College and the University of Massachusetts Boston. She
earned a B.A. in economics from Tougaloo College and both an M.S. and
Ph.D in public policy at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Residence:
Medford, MA
Rebecca Regan,
COO, Boston Community Loan Fund, Boston, MA
Formerly of the Community Banking Group at Fleet
Bank, and as current COO of Boston Community
Capital's Boston Community Loan Fund, Rebecca has extensive experience
with real estate and community development projects and related investment
in hard-hit urban areas. Rebecca served on the Finance Subcommittee
of the Massachusetts Brownfields Advisory Committee and is a leading
proponent of the competitive advantage of inner-city communities. She
received her B.A. from Wellesley College and M.B.A. from Babson College.
Residence: Wayland, MA
William Shutkin, Esq., President and CEO, The
Orton Family Foundation, Manchester Village, VT
Bill is currently the President and CEO of the
Orton Family Foundation which seeks to transform the land use planning
system as a pathway to vibrant and sustainable communities. He is NEI
Founder and former Presiden, and Co-founder and former Executive Director
of the environmental justice law center Alternatives for Community &
Environment and teaches environmental law and policy at MIT and is an
adjunct professor at Boston College Law School. He is the author of
The Land That Could Be: Environmentalism and Democracy in the Twenty-First
Century, which won the 2001 Best Book Award from the American Political
Science Association. Bill received an A.B. from Brown University, a
J.D. and M.A. from the University of Virginia, and completed doctoral
studies in Jurisprudence and Social Policy at the University of California,
Berkeley. He was a law clerk to the chief judge of the federal district
court of Vermont. Residence: Peru, VT
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BACKGROUND
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
FOUNDING MEMBERS
BOARD OF ADVISORS
STAFF
FUNDERS
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FOUNDING
MEMBERS
Doug Foy, Esq., Chief, Commonwealth Development,
Boston, MA
Doug is the Chief of Commonwealth Development
in Massachusetts, acting as a liaison between Gov. Romney and the departments
of housing, transportation and environmental affairs. He was formerly
President of the Conservation Law Foundation, New England’s oldest
and largest environmental law organization. Among his many notable environmental
successes, Doug is a pioneer in the effort to promote ecologically sound
development in the region. He is a graduate of Princeton University,
Cambridge University and Harvard Law School. Residence: Sherburne, MA
Diana Propper, Partner, Environmental Advantage, New York, NY
Diana is Founder and Partner of Environmental
Advantage, a pioneering for-profit consulting firm that works with businesses
to help them incorporate best environmental management practices in
their operations. Formerly, Diana was a senior staff member at Cultural
Survival. Diana earned a B.A. from Duke University and an M.B.A. from
Harvard Business School. Residence: New York, NY
Greg Watson, Director, Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust, Westborough,
MA
Greg is former Executive Director of the Dudley
Street Neighborhood Initiative, one of the country’s most innovative
community organizations, and now heads the Massachusetts Renewable Energy
Trust. Greg was the Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of
Agriculture under Governor Michael Dukakis and is widely regarded as
an innovator in the fields of environmental education and sustainable
development in New England. He is a graduate of Tufts University. Residence:
Falmouth, MA
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BACKGROUND
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
FOUNDING MEMBERS
BOARD OF ADVISORS
STAFF
FUNDERS
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BOARD OF
ADVISORS
Ned
Abelson, Esq., Partner, Goulston & Storrs, Boston, MA
Ned is a recognized leader in the field of brownfield
redevelopment in New England and was a member of the Massachusetts Brownfield
Advisory Committee. He is a partner at Goulston & Storrs, the region’s
premier real estate law firm, where he heads up the environment department.
He is a graduate of Brown University and the University of Pennsylvania
School of Law.Residence: Wellesley, MA
Veronica
Eady, Esq., Lecturer
of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning at Tufts University,
Medford, MA
Before joining Tufts,
Veronica worked as the Director of the Environmental Justice and Brownfields
Programs for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs
where she crafted the first-ever environmental justice policy and program
for Massachusetts' environmental agencies. Veronica is also the former
executive director of Alternatives for Community and Environment, an
environmental justice law and education center in Roxbury, Massachusetts.
She serves on EPA's federal advisory committee for environmental justice,
and the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council as Chair of
the Waste and Facility Siting Subcommittee. Veronica is a graduate of
the University of Southern California with a bachelor's degree in journalism,
and she earned her law degree from the University of California Hastings
College of the Law.
Don Falvey, President, Franklin Management Co., Tucson, AZ
Don is President of Franklin Management Company,
the country’s first socially-responsible investment firm. He serves
on the boards of several non-profit organizations and is a committed
environmentalist, with a particular interest in urban revitalization.
Don is Chair of the Board of Directors of Tucson Youth at Risk. Don
is a graduate of Yale University. Residence: Tucson, AZ
Peter Forbes, Fellow, Trust for Public Land, Boston, MA
Peter is the former New England Director of the
Trust for Public Land, one of the nation’s premier land conservation
organizations. Peter has earned a reputation as an innovator, combining
traditional land conservation strategies with a commitment to building
the social and economic fabric of New England’s communities. Peter
is a graduate of Dartmouth College. Residence: Fayston, VT
James Goldstein, Director of the Sustainable
Communities Group, Tellus Institute, Boston, MA
A leading advocate for sustainable industries
in Massachusetts, James has extensive experience working with community
organizations, businesses and municipalities on eco-industrial initiatives.
James has helped develop several innovative projects aimed at greening
inner-city businesses and is a leading proponent of eco-industrial practices.
James holds a graduate science degree from Clark University. Residence:
Needham, MA
Scott Harshbarger, Esq., President, Common Cause, Washington, DC
Scott is President of Common Cause, the nation’s
leading non-profit working for campaign finance reform and stronger
voter participation. He is the former Massachusetts Attorney General,
earning the reputation as one of the nation’s most creative and
dynamic leaders, spearheading numerous pathbreaking initiatives in the
areas of criminal justice, public health, environmental protection,
and consumer affairs. Scott has a bachelor’s and law degree from
Harvard University. Residence: Westwood, MA
Matt Kiefer, Esq., Partner, Goulston & Storrs, Boston, MA
Matt is a partner at Goulston & Storrs specializing
in land use and real estate development. He is an expert on such topics
as the New Urbanism, conservation easements, and historic preservation
and has been at the forefront of private sector eco-industrial initiatives.
Matt was a Loeb Fellow in Advanced Environmental Studies at Harvard
University and has advised several green businesses. Matt has an undergraduate
degree from Boston University and a law degree from the University of
Michigan. Residence: Jamaica Plain, MA
Michael Last, Esq., Founder, Nexus Environmental
Strategies, Boston, MA
Michael is founder of Nexus Environmental Strategies,
an environmental consulting firm specializing in eco-industrial projects.
A leader in the field of environmentally responsible corporate management,
Michael is the Founder and President of the Santa Fe Council for Environmental
Excellence. He is a graduate of Lawrence University and Harvard Law
School. Residence: Wellesley, MA
Joel Loitherstein, President, Loitherstein Environmental Engineering,
Framingham, MA
Founder and President of the environmental consulting
firm bearing his name, Joel has worked on numerous brownfield redevelopment
projects and for many years has provided pro bono or low-cost technical
assistance to Massachusetts communities in hard-hit areas dealing with
hazardous waste contamination. Joel is a Licensed Site Professional
and former president of the Licensed Site Professional Association.
He received his advanced degrees in environmental science from Northeastern
University.
Deval Patrick, Esq., Vice President and General
Counsel, Texaco, Inc., White Plains, NY
Deval is the former Assistant U.S. Attorney for
Civil Rights and is currently Vice President and General Counsel of
Texaco. He has a long-standing interest in economic development and
environmental issues in low-income and minority communities, and as
an Assistant Attorney General promoted environmental justice issues.
Deval graduated from Harvard College and Harvard Law School. Residence:
Milton, MA
Kit Perkins,
Charlotte, VT
Kit
has been at the forefront of the growing movement
for sustainable communities. She has over 15 years experience in urban
planning and community development, including expertise in small business
development, real estate market analysis, community organizing, and
multi-stakeholder facilitation. She is a founding member and trustee
of Sustainable Seattle, one of the nation's foremost sustainability
initiatives, where she helped author the groundbreaking document, Indicators
of Sustainability, and was an active member of the Boston Indicators
of Change, Progress and Sustainability Work Group. She has also served
as a Senior Planning Consultant to the Vermont Forum on Sprawl and the
Town of Charlotte, Vermont, and was Senior Planner for the City of Port
Townsend, Washington, initiating an award-winning community visioning
process called "Port Washington 2020: Getting Together." Kit
earned a B.A. in urban planning with honors from the University of Vermont
and a Master of Urban Planning from the University of Washington, where
she won the Department of Urban Design and Planning Outstanding Student
Award. She has traveled extensively throughout Latin America and helped
start a cooperatively owned, environmentally safe, Latino owned and
operated cleaning business in Boston. Kit was the New Ecology,
Inc. Vice President from 1999-2003.
Zygmunt Plater, Professor, Boston College Law School, Newton, MA
Zyg teaches environmental law at Boston College
Law School and consults with environmental organizations across the
country on sustainable development and land use law. For over two decades,
he has helped communities organize around and solve environmental problems
and is author of a leading case book on environmental law and policy.
He holds a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University, a law degree
from Yale Law School and a doctorate in law from the University of Michigan.
Residence: Newton, MA
Geeta Pradhan, Director, The New Economy Initiative,
The Boston Foundation, Boston, MA
Geeta has over ten years experience in urban and
environmental planning in Boston and is the founding Director of Sustainable
Boston, an award-winning initiative of City of Boston Environmental
Services Cabinet aimed at promoting sustainable development projects
and environmental awareness. The New Economy Initiative: Using Technology
to Empower Community, is a response to the impact of technology on the
communities and organizations that the Boston Foundation serves. Ms.
Pradhan earned her Bachelor of Architecture degree from the School of
Planning and Architecture in New Delhi, India, and her Master of Architecture
in Urban Design from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design.
Residence: Jamaica Plain, MA
Larry Susskind,
Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA
Larry is one of the world’s foremost experts
in the fields of environmental policy, dispute resolution and sustainability.
As head of MIT’s Environmental Policy Group in the Department of
Urban Studies and Planning, Larry focuses on the decisionmaking by which
society manages natural resources and ensures sustainable development,
with special emphasis on intergovernmental and organizational constraints
on policy and program implementation and conflict resolution surrounding
environmental quality. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Columbia
University and doctorate from MIT. Residence: Southborough, MA
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BACKGROUND
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
FOUNDING MEMBERS
BOARD OF ADVISORS
STAFF
FUNDERS
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STAFF
From
1990-97, Ed Connelly,
NEI's President,
held
leadership positions at the Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation,
a $34 million, quasi-public solid waste management enterprise. While
there, he oversaw the operation of a 140,000 ton-a-year recycling facility,
was responsible for marketing more than $4 million a year in recyclable
commodities and charged with the redesign and reconstruction of the
largest recycling facility in New England. Prior
to that, Ed has served as assistant town administrator for the town
of Sharon, Massachusetts, legal counsel to the Massachusetts Department
of Labor and Industries, and an assistant district attorney for Essex
County in Massachusetts. Ed
is a graduate of the University of Chicago, where he studied public
affairs, and Boston College Law School.
He serves on the board of directors of People's Power and Light, the
Rhode Island-based energy consumers' alliance. Ed lives with his wife
and son in Sharon. During
Ed's tenure at CleanScape, the Rhode Island company won the 2001 Senator
John H. Chaffee Award for Environmental Excellence, the 2002 Jesse Smith
Noyes Foundation Institutional Development Award and the 2003 Grodin
Center Employer Award.
A long-time Massachusetts
resident, Ed most recently has served as president and general manager
of CleanScape, an award-winning urban revitalization enterprise in Providence,
R.I., that he founded seven years ago. With a budget of $1.5 million
and a staff of 30, CleanScape is an innovator in the field of sustainable
economic development - particularly in distressed urban areas. It is
the for-profit subsidiary of the South Providence Development Corporation.
Ed's priorities for
NEI include:
- Enhancing the technical
and financial expertise that NEI provides to CDCs;
- Expanding the Green
CDC Initiative regionally and even nationally;
- Developing ways
to establish a network of sustainable development practitioners to
influence the development decisions of government agencies and the
private sector; and
- Seeking more effective
ways to finance sustainable development projects.
Lauren Baumann, Senior Associate,
is a graduate of the Tufts Department of Urban and Environmental Policy
and Planning. Having focused her studies on Sustainable Communities
and actively pursued opportunities to implement these concepts, Ms.
Baumann is well versed in the theory and practice of sustainability.
As a Masters student, Lauren pursued an interest in comparative sustainability
by immersing herself in ground-breaking initiatives in the Boston metropolitan
area and by traveling to places such as Cuba and Sweden to investigate
the way sustainability manifests in these unique countries. As an Intern
and Associate for New Ecology, Lauren has developed a strong knowledge
of green building and affordable housing issues and is excited to have
the opportunity to further contribute to these ever-important fields.
Ms. Baumann received her undergraduate degree in Biology from Cornell
University.
Jonathan Cherry, Associate, is a graduate student in the Department
of Urban Studies and Planning at MIT. He is a registered architect in
the State of Massachusetts and a LEED accredited professional. He studied
architecture at Rice University, receiving a BA in 1999 and a Bachelor
of Architecture in 2001. He has worked since then in Portland, Oregon
and Boston, focusing on the sustainable design of affordable housing,
public spaces, and other community projects. Jonathan is currently writing
a Master's thesis on the integration of wind turbines in cities, focusing
on development strategies that would benefit urban neighborhoods. He
hails from Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Alison Corwin, Associate,
is a graduate student in the Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning
(UEP) program at Tufts University. In 2000 she received her BA in Political
Science and Environmental Studies from St. Lawrence University. She
has since worked in the financial services sector in the legal and compliance
departments. More recently Alison managed the New England affiliate
program for the Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC)
and worked on economic development issues at the Center for Women &
Enterprise. Her studies and interests include land use, sustainable
community development, green building, climate change, energy efficiency
and transportation. She is currently writing her thesis on the impact
travel demand management strategies have had on vehicle miles traveled
in an effort to determine their effectiveness as a climate change mitigation
strategy. Alison is a LEED accredited professional.
Kari Hewitt, Associate, is
a graduate student in the Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning
(UEP) program at Tufts University. She received a B.A. in Sociology
from Smith College in 2004. Her experience includes campaign and non-profit
work around numerous social justice issues, including two years spent
working in Amherst, MA on issues of access to health care in Massachusetts.
Kari's interests in environmental justice and sustainable communities
led her to New Ecology. Her research interests at Tufts include climate
change and climate justice and planning for sustainable communities.
She has completed field projects in the Boston area with organizations
such as Alternatives for Community and Environment (ACE) on environmental
and transportation justice issues. She is currently writing a thesis
on corporate strategies for climate change mitigation, specifically
looking at dependency on the carbon offset market.
Jessica Miller, Associate,
is a graduate student in the Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning
(UEP) program at Tufts University. She received her B.A. in 2004 in
Psychology and Art History, at Johns Hopkins University. Before moving
to Boston to begin UEP in 2006, she worked in an art gallery in New
York City, which pushed her to look for an environmentally progressive
field that would allow her to satisfy both a passion for the arts and
an interest in sustainable development. At UEP she has focused on green
building and interned in the summer of 2007 at the Battery Park City
Authority, a public benefit corporation which plans and oversees the
largest concentration of green buildings in the country. She received
her LEED accreditation in August 2007. She is currently working on a
thesis focused on innovative city policies that encourage the use of
green roofs.
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