Professionals who make a difference

Doug Foy — BS, Princeton University; JD, Harvard University — As a super-secretary in Governor Mitt Romney's cabinet, Doug oversaw transportation, housing, environment, and energy agencies, with combined annual capital budgets of $5 billion, and a total workforce exceeding 11,000. This unique position enabled him to put into practice many of the policies he developed over twenty-five years as head of the Conservation Law Foundation, New England’s premier environmental advocacy organization. Widely acknowledged as a leading environmentalist, Doug received the President’s Environmental and Conservation Challenge Award, the country’s highest conservation award, and the Woodrow Wilson Award for Public Service. An avid outdoorsman since his 1968 U.S. Olympic rowing team days, Doug enjoys the environment he's working to conserve.

Mike Jesanis — BS, MS Clarkson University; MBA Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania — During a twenty-three year career in the energy industry, Mike led a transformation of a small regional integrated utility into the country's second largest energy delivery company and the growth engine for a multi-national energy company. During his career, he has been a champion of competitive energy markets and of increasing the ability of customers to manage energy efficiently. In addition to his business career, Mike has been active in higher education, as a past chair of the Board of Trustees of Becker College where he was awarded an honorary doctorate and currently as a Trustee of Clarkson University.

Steve Burrington — MA, University of Edinburgh; JD, University of Michigan — In key government and non-profit roles, Steve has won national recognition for leadership and creativity in tackling energy, development and environmental challenges. As Massachusetts park commissioner – the Commonwealth has the 6th largest park system in the country – Steve led the consolidation of previously independent agencies to transform the state's stewardship of its diverse natural resources. Previously, as vice president and general counsel for the Conservation Law Foundation, Steve directed the organization’s advocacy programs, including its energy policy development. He has written widely on energy and the environment.

Andrew Gottlieb— BA, Harvard University; MBA, Boston University — With 20+ years of environmental protection experience in government and elected terms in municipal office, Andrew knows his way around private-public partnerships. As chief of Commonwealth Development, he coordinated Massachusetts energy, housing, environmental, and transportation policies. Earlier, Andrew conceived the successful estuaries preservation program, and built an innovative revolving fund into the nationally recognized model for watershed protection funding. Service oriented by nature, Andrew is a trustee of Cape Cod Community College and volunteers as a youth hockey and baseball coach.

Anne Tate— AB, Princeton University; MArch, Harvard Graduate School of Design — Anne has been a pioneer in sustainable planning and the Smart Growth movement for almost twenty years, consulting on planning and public process with communities from Maine to Florida. In 2003-2004, she joined Douglas Foy to serve as his Special Advisor on Sustainable Development and spearheaded two of the signature efforts of the Office for Commonwealth Development, writing the Sustainable Development Principles and creating the Transit Oriented Development Initiative in partnership with the MBTA. A Professor of Architecture at the Rhode Island School of Design, Anne is the Founder and Director of City-State, the Urban Design Lab at RISD, dedicated to linking imagination to capacity by bringing the creative design and research innovations of RISD and Brown University to the realms of public policy and private development partnerships.

Virginia McGee Richards— BA, Davidson College; JD, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill — For fifteen years, Virginia worked as environmental lawyer for the U.S. EPA and for the private law firms Jones Day and Kilpatrick Stockton LLP. Her clients included municipal governments, Ports Authority, brownfields developers and international manufacturers. Her practice included regulatory work as well as advising international manufacturers on sustainability practices required by the E.U. She serves on the Board of Visitors of UNC's Institute of the Environment and as a Trustee of the Southern Environmental Law Center.

Alice Denison— BA, Mount Holyoke College; MFA, Massachusetts College of Art and Design — Alice served as chief of staff in the Massachusetts Office for Commonwealth Development from 2003 to 2006. Before that, she was a vice president at the Conservation Law Foundation, in charge of development and administration, for nearly a decade. After leaving CLF, she helped its entrepreneurial arm, CLF Ventures, create an environmentally oriented automobile insurance agency. She is currently working with a team of consultants to implement energy efficiency measures in independently owned affordable housing.

Eric Kriss— BA, Amherst College; MBA, University of Chicago — Recognized as a leading advocate for open source software, Eric is bringing the concept of grass roots, peer group development to electric vehicles as president of Kriss Motors. In the 1980s, Eric helped launch Bain Capital, now one of the world's largest private equity firms.