PRINCIPALS:
STEVE COCHRAN
Steve Cochran is an internationally-recognized and nationally-prominent leader, speaker, writer and advocate in the field of sustainable enterprise, working with private industry, government, academia and the non-profit world to achieve that goal.
He is the co-founder of Sustainability Strategies, LLC: a Washington DC and Asheville NC-based strategic planning and management consulting firm that enables business – and any organization - to meet their goals and objectives, improve profitability, competitiveness, and market share without compromising resources for future generations. He also is a founding partner in the Washington-based National Center for Sustainability, with a planned-for opening in the summer of 2009.
Steve serves as a founding member of the board of the Washington DC-based United States Partnership for Education for Sustainable Development, with more than three hundred multi-stakeholder and cross-sector partner organizations. The US Partnership is the national response to the United Nations ‘Decade of Education for Sustainable Development’ (2005-2014).
In April 2009 he served as an elected North American delegate to the United Nations “World Conference on Sustainable Development” in Bonn, Germany. He also served as a ‘sustainable development policy’ delegate for North America to both the “G8 Civil Summit” in Moscow, and the United Nations “Global Civil Society Forum” in Dubai, in 2006. He was a delegate to the UN ‘Global Civil Society Forum’ in Monaco in February 2008. In October 2007, he was elected a North American delegate to the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe's Sixth Miniterial Forum, in Belgrade. In January 2008 he was elected to a two year term as one of two North American representatives to the United Nations Environment Programme's (UNEP) "Major Groups Facilitation Committee".
Earlier in his career, he served as leadership coach and Vice President for Technology at the Council for Excellence in Government, in Washington DC. In that capacity he created the "Technology Leadership Consortium", a collaboration of private, public and social sector organizations leveraging the understanding and use of information and communication technology as leadership tools serving government mission. Previoius to the Council, he managed, and directed the federal contracting interests of AT&T, Booz Allen & Hamilton, Centel Corporation, and EDS. He has directed major projects for private industry, academia, defense and civilian agencies of the government, The White House, The House of Representatives, The Library of Congress, and The Supreme Court. In public service, he was as the Director of Procurement at the United States Synthetic Fuels Corporation, during its brief but exciting life in the 1980's.
In addition to continuing to serve as a Principal of the Council for Excellence in Government and board member of the US Partnership, Steve is a member of the Technology Advisory Committee of the American Council on Education, in Washington DC. In Asheville, he serves on the boards of the Community and Economic Development Alliance (the “HUB” Plan), the board of the Clean Air Community Trust, and the Board of Visitors of Warren Wilson College, and is the co-founder of the Sustainability Alliance of the Mountains (SAM). In 2001 he became a founding director of the International Centre for e-Governance, in Edinburgh Scotland, a non-profit organization partnered with BT and the Scottish Council Foundation.
Steve was educated at Ohio State University, and The George Washington University in Washington DC.
CONTACT: scochran@sustainabilitystrategies.com – (828)-545-1467
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CHRISTINA NELSON (In Memorium)
Christina lost her battle with cancer on November 10, 2008
Christina Nelson specializes in designing, producing and evaluating programs and strategies to achieve organizational goals and objectives.
Prior to co-founding Sustainability Strategies, she was president and owner of the Digital Government Institute (DGI), which provides education on new business practices and how to recognize and implement them in an environment of constant change. DGI seminars and conferences are designed by an educational advisory board and committees of peers and industry, and are tailored to the emerging needs of government and industry professionals responsible for improving federal government services and performance.
Her consulting practice has created educational and outreach programs for publications, corporations, associations, educational institutions and government. Her clients include Adobe, Council for Excellence in Government, ENC Marketing, FCW Media Group, US General Services Administration, US Dept. of Labor, National Science Foundation, and Post Newsweek Tech Media Group.
Before she established DGI, Ms. Nelson was director of education for the National Association of Home Builders, a trade federation of 60,000 builders, 90,000 suppliers, and over 700 local and state associations. Her department produced 50 business management and marketing seminars annually, and over 100 annual convention educational programs. She oversaw two foundations, and solicited and administered government grants to underwrite selected seminars.
She was also director of industry relations and education for FOSE for Reed Exhibition Companies, and director of conferences/industry and professional services for the National Computer Graphics Association, the Cable Television Administration and Marketing Society, American Association of Homes for the Aging, AFSCME and the Airport Operators Council International.
Ms. Nelson is a co-founder of the Sustainability Alliance of the Mountains (SAM), and has served on committees and boards of the Association for Federal Information Resources Management, the American Council on Technology’s Industry Advisory Council, Women in Technology and the Capital Speakers Club.
She holds a B.A. from Mary Washington College of the University of Virginia.
CONTACT: cnelson@sustainabilitystrategies.com
(828) 255-8219
ASSOCIATE:
COURTNEY COCHRAN (In Appreciation)
Courtney began work for the National Wildlife Federation's 'campus ecology' program in Washington DC, in September, 2008
Courtney Cochran graduated in May ‘08 from Warren Wilson College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and an even deeper appreciation for the beautiful Swannanoa Valley and the power of community.
While at Warren Wilson, Courtney served for four years on the Environmental Leadership Center (ELC) work crew in the role of Publications Assistant. In her work at the ELC Courtney advised, edited and contributed to the ELC’s Catalyst newsletter, Heartstone journal and Internship Portfolio. She designed the “Green Calendar” which has become one of the most comprehensive environmental calendars of North Carolina and is referred to by three newspapers and eight non-profit organizations. She was also involved in launching four statewide forums to discuss, “Horizon 2100” a conservation agenda for North Carolina. Based largely on her work at the ELC Courtney received the Upper French Broad River Defense Association Outstanding Achievement Award in May of this year.
Post graduation, Courtney rounded out her work experience with Warren Wilson and the ELC by helping to organize the 2nd Annual Mountain Green Conference. Now she is happy to be working with and serving the mission of Sustainability Strategies LLC as she pursues career opportunities in Washington D.C.
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