Melissa Everett's Page

Melissa Everett has made a career of helping people, organizations and communities figure out their futures. Her primary focus today is as Executive Director of Sustainable Hudson Valley (www.sustainhv.org). As a counselor, coach, facilitator, educator, and nonprofit manager, she has worked in parallel with individuals and large systems, always with a focus on sustainable solutions for people, communities and the planet. Her Making a Living While Making a Difference: Conscious Careers for an Era of Interdependence has been published in three editions and reviewed as “one of the most visionary and integrated books in the career development literature... An enormous contribution to the field” by fellow author Ande Diaz. She will soon be publishing a companion guide for career counselors, and conducts an annual retreat for counselors interested in bringing the triple bottom line into conversations about work ethics.

Everett is a strong storyteller with powerful antennae for ideas worth sharing. Her spirited presentations have been well received on campuses across the US and in Europe. Selected as one of the 1,000 citizens trained by Al Gore’s Climate Project, she is a clear and convincing translator of science into strategy and strategy into action. She earned an innovative Ph.D., in sustainable development, from Erasmus University in the Netherlands, studying with an international student body made of midcareer professionals. As her home state of New York celebrates the 400th anniversary of the voyage of Henry Hudson, she is heavily involved in networking with Dutch researchers, builders, planners and community leaders on green development strategies for both countries.

Sustainable Hudson Valley (www.sustainhv.org), is a regional organization devoted to building a green economy and helping communities to create environmentally sound futures. SHV led the way in convening the first regional climate action summit for municipal leaders in August of 2007, and coordinates a network of local leaders working to cut their communities’ greenhouse gas emissions. Dr. Everett is on the steering committee for Rising Waters, a regional scenario planning effort to bring home the unpreventable impacts of climate change and build support for an adaptation plan to protect people, nature and economic assets. Sustainable Hudson Valley is at the center of regional efforts to strengthen the green building and energy sectors, and is creating a work force development strategy in this arena for a seven-county partnership. The organization is also a prime mover in the Bike-Friendly Communities movement.