Executive Director, Center for Sustainable Development (CSDi)Trainer and consultant for climate professionals, nonprofits and activists in designing and developing climate action plans.Author: A Field Guide to Community Based Adaptation published by Routledge, Oxford, England.Editor: Climate Solutions: Breaking news about positive, hands-on, practical actions to take to combat global warming.https://training.csd-i.org/climate-change-news-for-positive-change/I caught the climate bug.In college, I became very interested in the environment. It was the early days of the environmental movement when people were beginning to point out environmental challenges—like population growth and DDT. I traveled to 30 developing nations and saw firsthand the beginnings of the deterioration of the environment.I wanted to do something to protect the environment, and in the 80s I became a pioneer in passive solar heating. This led to a successful 25-year business career in passive solar heating.I decided to begin giving back by using my business skills to coach nonprofits and NGOs in how to clearly define community challenges and to solve them using evidence-based solutions: Sustainable solutions with proven track records.My long-time interest in the environment morphed in the 90s into an interest in—no, an obsession—with climate change. These were the early days of people's concerns about global warming—and at first, I didn't really know what I could do to help.Over several years my climate concerns grew. 15 years ago, my desire to have a positive impact led me to found CSDi. Through our training programs, I observed the increasing challenges brought on by global warming that students were experiencing. I shifted my personal focus to developing Climate Action Plans with nonprofits, governments, rural communities, and engaged community members.I have always enjoyed taking big challenges and finding simple, effective solutions that a range of people can grasp and move forward with.- I always put community members at the center of all that I do.- I excel at launching big initiatives with given constraints.- My ideas are good, but I seek evidence in data for my decisions.I can align, lead, and grow world-class teams to create the better good.- I speak exec and community member.- I tell stories that motivate.- The buck always stops with me.I learned through CSDi that in less than 10 years I could work with over 500 organizations in 154 countries in developing climate action plans that positively impacted over half a million people.