The International Living Future Institute Expands Leadership Team
Executive Directors for the Institute and Cascadia Green Building Council have joined the organization under Jason F. McLennan’s leadership as CEO.
PORTLAND, Ore., May 22, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — In response to growing global support for its signature programs, the International Living Future Institute announced today that it is creating new leadership positions to advance its mission-critical objectives.
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A new Institute Executive Director will manage day-to-day operations and oversee strategic efforts around all of the Institute’s signature programs. The new Executive Director, Richard Graves has extensive experience establishing and supporting green building programs in national and international settings. A registered architect with degrees from Rice University and Virginia Tech, Graves was the U.S. Green Building Council’s Senior Vice President of Community. He has over a decade of field experience working on leading-edge green building projects and is a staunch advocate for transparency and responsibility in the building industry.
In addition, Cascadia Green Building Council, a subsidiary of the Institute and a chapter of the Canada and U.S. Green Building Councils, will now be under the guidance of Mona Lemoine, formerly the Institute’s Education and Training Director. In her new capacity as Institute Vice President and Executive Director of Cascadia Green Building Council, Lemoine will guide green building programming within Alaska, British Columbia, Washington and Oregon and will liaise directly with the Canadian and U.S. Green Building Councils. This new position brings Lemoine, who has a Master’s in Architecture, back to her roots as a founding director of the Manitoba Chapter of the Canada Green Building Council and as Cascadia’s British Columbia Director.
The organization has also promoted Amanda Sturgeon, AIA as the Living Building Challenge’s new Program Director and made her an Institute Vice President. Sturgeon has a long history in green building and was formerly the National Sustainable Design Co-Director at Perkins + Will Architects. Sturgeon and Lemoine join Sarah Costello, Vice President of Development and Communications as Vice Presidents of the Institute and, together with Richard Graves and Jason McLennan, they constitute the new leadership team.
“We are incredibly excited about the next stage of our evolution as an organization,” says CEO Jason F. McLennan. “Over the next few years, we will be helping to establish partner institutes in other countries and will be launching many game-changing programs. As our programs expand globally and deepen locally, it is absolutely critical that we have a strong and focused leadership team in place.”
The new leadership team will also create an opportunity for McLennan, who will remain CEO, to focus on innovation and the next series of cutting edge tools and programs for the Institute, Cascadia and the whole green building movement. McLennan, who created the Living Building Challenge, will dedicate his energies to developing new projects, including the Living Building Challenge 3.0. He will also dedicate a portion of his time to hands-on involvement in active high-performance projects, including some that are pursuing Living Building Challenge certification. For McLennan, a long-time designer and former principal at BNIM Architects, this re-connection to the private sector is critical to the long-term relevance of the programs he has shaped.
Institute Board Chair, Ralph DiNola, agrees: “Providing Jason with the space and time to do what he does best – innovate and develop ideas and game-changing programs – ensures that we will remain on the green building movement’s leading-edge for the next decade. I’m also confident that Jason’s deep involvement in specific, private-sector projects will ensure that the Institute’s programming keeps pace with developments in the field.”
“I’ve had the privilege of working closely with Richard, Mona, Amanda and Sarah,” says McLennan. “And I can’t imagine better, more qualified people to captain our international and regional programs.”
About International Living Future Institute:
The International Living Future Institute is an environmental NGO committed to catalyzing the transformation toward communities that are socially just, culturally rich and ecologically restorative. Comprised of leading green building experts and thought-leaders, the Institute is premised on the belief that providing a compelling vision for the future is a fundamental requirement for reconciling humanity’s relationship with the natural world. It operates the Living Building Challenge and other critical leading-edge programs. Its CEO, Jason McLennan has been named an Ashoka fellow and is a member of the Clinton Global Climate Initiative.
www.livingbuildingchallenge.org
SOURCE International Living Future Institute
