(July 6, 2009 – North Carolina Research Triangle) The Institute for Sustainable Development appointed a new Director and announced its new staff, including two Senior Fellows.

Chris Carmody, a social entrepreneur who was hired by the Institute in 2008 to launch its Green Plus program, will direct the programs of the Institute overall. Carmody has an MBA from Case Western Reserve University and 20 years experience in non-profit management and public policy. As Director, he will oversee the development of public-private sustainability programs to share with communities in the U.S. and globally.

“In Green Plus, the Institute has done a great job in providing a sustainable small business certification and education process,” Carmody said. “Our vision moving forward is to make sustainability truly accessible to organizations regardless of their size or means, and to share the unique stories of business as they pursue the triple bottom line,”Carmody concluded.

Green Plus was created to help small employers – businesses and non-profits – assess their sustainability in terms of organizational performance, the environment, and their engagement of their employees and communities. Exceptional performers in across all three categories of People, Planet and Performance are recognized as Certified Green Plus businesses.

The Institute named two Senior Fellows: Aaron Nelson and Shana Starobin. “The North Carolina Research Triangle community should be very proud of its leadership role in helping businesses and communities toward triple bottom line sustainability,” said Aaron Nelson. “This is the right team to take the Green Plus effort to other regions and other countries,” Nelson concluded.

Nelson is currently the CEO of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce and Executive Director of the Foundation for a Sustainable Community, which conceived of and incubated the Institute’s Green Plus program. In 2008, the Foundation was recognized with the National Siemens Sustainable Communities Award - an award of Siemens and the Business Civic Leadership Center. Nelson will provide advice on strategic partnerships between the Institute, chambers of commerce and other business membership organizations.

Shana Starobin, a social entrepreneur and PhD student at Duke University, was also named Senior Fellow. Starobin will coordinate the development of the Institute’s Sustainability Enterprise Clinic, its national Sustainability Fellows program, and will oversee the development of new online tools to educate smaller enterprises on issues of sustainability.

Kirsten Hausman, who served as a Program Director for the Foundation for a Sustainable Community, was named Director of Client Relations and Communications. Anne McKune, who served as Associate Director of the Foundation, will continue as Director of Development and Strategic Partnerships.

“The Lancaster Chamber of Commerce & Industry recognizes that the well being of our members and our environment are integral to our economic prosperity,” said Tom Baldrige, President of The Chamber. “We are working to connect businesses with resources to help them implement green practices in their purchasing, day-to-day operations and employees’ lifestyles. Green Plus is a great tool to connect our members with expertise.”

Smaller enterprises comprise the vast majority of employers in the United States and are responsible for most new job creation – but have the least time and money to afford sustainability expertise. The Institute for Sustainable Development created the Green Plus program in recognition of this fact to help small businesses become more competitive while being better stewards of their communities and their environment.

The Institute for Sustainable Development is an initiative of universities, chambers of commerce, business and philanthropic foundations to connect small business with academic and peer expertise in sustainability. Partners include the Duke Center for International Development, the UNC Center for Global Initiatives, the UNC School of Social Work, the Chapel Hill – Carrboro Chamber of Commerce, the Durham Chamber of Commerce, GlaxoSmithKline, Lenovo and the Fenwick Foundation.

In 2007, the business plan for the program was commissioned by Tony Waldrop, Vice Chancellor for Research and Economic Development at the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill, and the plan was developed by the Center for Sustainable Enterprise at UNC Chapel Hill’s Kenan-Flagler School of Business. Since then, the Institute has worked with centers at UNC and Duke University, chambers of commerce in the southeast and Midwest, businesses and philanthropic organizations to build the Green Plus program.

Chris Carmody, Director of the Green Plus program, said, “Green Plus was created in large part to help chambers help their members succeed while being better stewards of the environment and their communities, and to give them affordable access to world class expertise.” “The Lancaster Chamber of Commerce & Industry is a real leader among chambers in terms of triple bottom line sustainability,” Carmody continued. “We look forward to working with them and are excited about the new connections we think will occur between Pennsylvania and North Carolina businesses through this partnership,” Carmody concluded.

ISD Summer Fellows, from left to right: Brooks Rainey Pearson, Dale Hammer, Amanda Campbell, Elizabeth Liedel, and Teddy Salgado

The Institute for Sustainable Development named its six 2009 Summer Sustainability Fellows: Amanda Campbell, Dale Hammer, Elizabeth Liedel, Brooks Rainey Pearson, Teddy Salgado, and Napoleon Wallace. The Fellows, currently graduate and undergraduate students at Duke University and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, bring a wealth of experience from their work background and their studies in business, environmental studies, law, planning and public policy.

“The Institute’s Sustainability Fellows program is central to our mission,” said Chris Carmody, Director of the Sustainable Business Initiative. “This interdiscplinary team will help small employers with practical sustainability expertise, and we hope their field experiences here will provide a new experience for them as well,” Carmody concluded.

Along with Duke University, UNC Chapel Hill and the Chapel Hill – Carrboro and Greater Durham Chambers of Commerce, the Institute Summer Sustainability Fellows program is supported by several companies and philanthropic foundations: GlaxoSmithKline, Lenovo, The Fenwick Foundation and the Redwoods Group.

Amanda Campbell

Amanda is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in City and Regional Planning with a specialization in land/use and environmental planning at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Before coming to UNC, she was a Park Naturalist at Gulf Branch Nature Center, for Arlington County, Virginia. Accomplishments included leading programs for adults on water conservation, integrated pest management, Energy Audits 101, and backyard wildlife habitats. She also pursuaded the county’s Energy Manager to fund an energy audit for nature center, which led to renovations, and a more comfortable, energy-efficient building. She has a Bachelor of Science in Biology, and minors in Environmental Studies and Music from James Madison University, VA.

Dale Hammer

Dale was born and raised in northwestern New Jersey and has considered himself a Tar Heel his entire life.   He spent his freshman year at Providence College in Rhode Island and is currently a rising senior at UNC Chapel Hill majoring in environmental studies and political science.  Dale considers himself an environmentalist and serves as service chair of Phi Sigma Pi national honor fraternity where he organizes stream clean-ups and other community service activities.  After graduation, he plans to continue his education at UNC School of Law and pursue a career in environmental law.   Dale looks forward to the opportunity to intern at Green Plus where he hopes to gain valuable experience in the field.

Elizabeth Liedel

Elizabeth Liedel is a joint degree candidate at Duke University, pursuing an MBA at the Fuqua School of Business and a Master of Environmental Management at the Nicholas School for the Environment. She is on the Executive Committee of the Duke Microfinance Leadership Initiative and is active in Fuqua’s Net Impact chapter, the Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital Club, and the Association of Women in Business. She also serves on the Board of Directors of the Appropriate Infrastructure Development Group (AIDG), a Boston-based non-profit that incubates small businesses which manufacture green technologies to improve access to clean water, sanitation and renewable energy for the global poor. Prior to returning to school, Elizabeth worked in major gifts fundraising for Combined Jewish Philanthropies. She has a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Smith College, where she has also served on the Board of Trustees.

Brooks Rainey Pearson

Brooks Rainey Pearson is a dual degree student at UNC working toward a law degree as well as a master’s degree in City and Regional Planning.  Brooks graduated from UNC in 1999 with a bachelor’s degree in Anthropology and spent six years in the Outer Banks where she owned and operated three yoga and Pilates studios before returning to Chapel Hill for school in 2006.  Since her return, Brooks has pursued her interest in land use and environmental law.  She was the vice president of the Environmental Law Project, was published in the Environmental Law Symposium Journal, and completed an independent study on the tax law of conservation easements.  Brooks hopes to build a career helping organizations and municipalities grow sustainably.

Teddy Salgado

Teddy Salgado is a master’s student at Duke’s Fuqua School of Business pursuing his MBA with concentrations in Social Entrepreneurship and Decision Sciences.  His professional interests include business strategy and development, particularly with environmentally and socially sustainable organizations. Teddy recently traveled to Nicaragua to work with a solar energy company, Tecnosol, on expansion plans. He also worked with a Durham-based community development venture fund, Talent Capital, on a business development project.  Prior to business school Teddy was the Business Analyst in Children’s Hospital Boston’s department of cardiology where he managed operations for several research studies and served as a finance committee member for the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute’s (NHLBI) Pediatric Heart Network. Teddy graduated magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania where he completed a B.A. in mathematics with a music minor.

Napoleon Wallace

Napoleon Wallace is a master’s student at UNC Chapel Hill’s Kenan-Flagler School of Business. Napoleon has an extensive background in finance, working as a high-yield credit analyst for Wachovia Capital Markets for four years and as the commercial banking credit analyst for M&F Bancorp for two years. He has a strong interest in the intersection between entrepreneurship and sustainability, and has been engaged with HIP Investor, SJF Advisory Services, CSE Consulting and the Center for Competitive Economies during his first year of business school. Napoleon is currently one of Kenan-Flagler’s 2009 Carolina Entrepreneurial Fellows.