Executive Director's Update  

Greetings!

"I'm so glad you're with Sustainable Atlanta! I was wondering if they were still around..." has been the constant refrain in my first two months of meetings around the community. So to those who have also been wondering, we are here and I'm so excited to be a part of this new chapter for the organization. These past two months have been so inspiring! I'm just amazed at the diversity and depth of great work happening around our city.

For our many friends, thanks for continuing your valuable work in sustainability these past few months as Sustainable Atlanta stepped back stage and regrouped. For those whom I had the pleasure of working with during my time in DNR's Sustainability Division, we can't wait to engage you in our work in Atlanta. And for those new to Sustainable Atlanta, welcome to our network! We can't wait to explore the many ways that we can help connect and leverage your sustainability efforts around the community.

Before I work up to answering the often heard "so what are you going to be working on?" question, let me share some of the progress being made back stage since last December. In addition to supporting our board during our transition we've kept the fire burning under our existing partnerships. First, we've continued working with Clean Cities Atlanta to support communications around a petroleum reduction program designed to increase the use of alternative fuel vehicles and advanced technology vehicles in Metro Atlanta. We've also continued our collaboration with the City of Atlanta and Southface to help both regulators and regulatees prepare for compliance with the incredibly progressive new Georgia Energy Code, which went into effect in January. Many thanks to Scott Briskey and Synkai Harrison for keeping these important efforts moving during our transition.

These ongoing projects have helped to lay the foundation for our increased focus on supporting Mayor Reed's Power to Change Sustainability Plan. As we return to center stage, we look forward to sharing the tremendous progress being made by the Office of Sustainability team towards the Power to Change goals; to channeling the conversations begun in our successful EnvisionATL events last fall into community engagement in this plan; and to working closely with the City and Southface, our local sustainability powerhouse, to plow new sustainability ground through innovative pilot projects.

We rejoin the sustainability conversation this summer with a renewed commitment to both amplify and translate the conversation, to reach new audiences and facilitate our collective effort towards common goals. Let's keep talking!

With warm regards,  

Suzanne Burnes 

Executive Director