Sustainable Connections Staff
Derek Long, Executive Director
360-647-7093 x101Derek Long has a track record of entrepreneurism and program development in government, for profit and non-profit sectors. Most recently he co-founded Sustainable Connections in 2002 and is the current Executive Director. Derek was the Program & Development Director from 2002 to 2009 where he started and grew many key programs and initiatives as well as holding the primary responsibility of funding the organization.
Derek served as the first co-National Coordinator of the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE) from 2002 to 2003, a national alliance of local business networks. BALLE’s mission is to create, strengthen and connect local business networks dedicated to building strong Local Living Economies.
In 1999, Derek co-founded Viatru (formerly World2Market.com), as a company to create opportunities for consumers to shop for products consistent with their values. This Fair Trade retail services firm helped companies source products from organizations that were leading the world in progressive business practices that included environmental protection, worker participation and pay, as well as charitable giving within their communities.
Derek’s position with the Federal Reserve Bank from 1997 to 1999 involved the management of multiple financial and logistical systems, developing productive interdepartmental working relationships and driving a vision of the Bank's developing role as an industry leader in electronic payments. He also had a successful first career in marketing and sales management with Rhone-Poulenc-Rorer. He earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree with honors from the University of Toledo in 1991.
Derek currently serves on the Waterfront Advisory Group, was a member of the Countywide Affordable Housing Task Force and served six years on the Board of Directors of the Community Food Co-op. He hikes, bikes, camps, runs, skis and essentially spends as much time as possible with his wife Michelle (BALLE Executive Director) and young daughter Hadley “Lulu” Long, for fun.
Michelle Grandy, Communications and Think Local First Manager
360-647-7093 x110Michelle Grandy completed her degree in Communication from Western Washington University right here in beautiful Bellingham and hasn’t been able to stop talking yet which very well suits her role as Communications and Think Local First Program Manager. Michelle holds great admiration and love in her heart for local businesses having spent twelve years before coming to Sustainable Connections working for a locally owned print shop as a graphic designer and then as a marketing analyst for the oldest independently owned grocer in Washington State. She also dips her toes in the pool of local business ownership as the other half of EVL Enterprises.
Michelle serves on the planning committee for Bellingham's St. Patrick's Day Parade, Park(ing) Day planning committee and is Vice Chair on the board of Make.Shift.
When not too busy chatting about the benefits of Thinking Local First and of being a member of Sustainable Connections or volunteering she can be found riding her bike, out on the soccer field, or completing her next DIY home improvement project.
Nick Hartrich, Green Building & Smart Growth Program Manager, LEED AP, CSBA
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Nick Hartrich serves as the Green Building & Smart Growth Program Manager for Sustainable Connections and is responsible for coordinating program development to the NW Washington Branch of the Cascadia Green Building Council. He is experienced in green building certification programs such as the Living Building Challenge, LEED, BuiltGreen and ENERGY STAR. Nick is uniquely talented at facilitating vibrant and valuable educational events, workshops, tours and design charrettes with the ability to creatively engage government, industry and neighborhood advocates. Nick has been intimately involved with the creation and implementation of the TZW Initiative and has helped to transform construction waste recycling across Whatcom County.
Before joining Sustainable Connections, Nick worked with Portland, OR based environmental and efficiency firm ECOS Consulting. At ECOS, Nick served as a lighting lead for the ENERGY STAR lighting program for the Puget Sound and NW Washington area which included collaboration with Puget Sound Energy, Snohomish PUD, Seattle City Light and Tacoma Power providing showroom and builder training, technical assistance, lighting design and energy analysis.
In 2003, Nick joined the BIA of Whatcom County and played an instrumental role in the development and facilitation of Whatcom County’s first residential green building program (BuiltGreen) by leveraging ENERGY STAR partners and programs. He actively participated as a member of the BuiltGreen Washington advisory committee and acted as staff lead to the Master Remodelers Council.
Nick is a LEED Accredited Professional, a certified Sustainable Building Advisor and has been accused of thinking outside the conventional "box". He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication at Western Washington University in 2002. He currently serves on the City of Bellingham's Design Review Board and the BTC Building & Construction Advisory Committee. With the last few moments in the day, Nick coordinates grassroots efforts for Wildlife Media and BEARTREK.
Alex Ramel, Policy & Energy Manager
360-647-7093 x112Alex Ramel joined Sustainable Connections in 2008. In his position as Policy and Energy Manager, Alex is facilitating the implementation of clean, renewable and efficient energy strategies. Presently, most of his time is spent developing and implementing the Community Energy Challenge, but even bigger ideas are brewing for the future.
Alex joined SC from ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability where he helped dozens of local governments conduct baseline greenhouse gas emissions inventories. He was one of the lead authors of the Local Government Greenhouse Gas Protocol, which is the nationally recognized standard for emissions quantification. He has developed or supported the development of many local climate action plans, identifying the most effective steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Prior to that he worked for the City of Bellingham’s Office of Environmental Resources where he developed Bellingham’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory and Local Climate Protection Plan, and worked closely with Sustainable Connections to implement the Bellingham Green Power Community Challenge. He received a degree in Environmental Policy and Planning from Western Washington University's Huxley College of the Environment in 2005.
Alex also serves on the Board of the Whatcom County Conservation Voters and on the Whatcom Community College / Bellingham Technical College Worker Retraining Advisory Committee.
Laura Ridenour, Food & Farming Manager
360-647-7093 x106Laura Ridenour has been integrally involved in food, farming and the business of sustainability her whole life. Part of her childhood was spent on a farm in rural Tennessee, and at age eleven she began attending trade meetings and tastings for her father's natural foods business in Northern California.
Finding a love of sustainable agriculture and non-profit management in her early-twenties, Laura has worked as a board and staff member for numerous farmer-led and food-based NGOs for over 15 years, including the Community Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF), the Organic Farming Research Foundation and the Community Food Security Coalition. She has managed harvest festivals and in-the-field chef dinners, been a farmhand and hustled veggies at farmers' markets, as well as lobbied for healthy school food in Washington DC and for anti-hunger legislation in Sacramento, CA.
Most recently, while living in Fort Collins, Colorado, Laura helped initiate the Be Local Northern Colorado (BALLE chapter), facilitated a food system assessment project, founded Tour de Farms - a bicycle tour of farms that bloomed into a business, co-created the first local food map, and served on state-wide committee to form a Colorado food policy council (established in 2009).
She holds a B.A. in Food Systems and Social Change from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and a Certificate in Ecological Horticulture and Organic Farming from the UCSC Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems. Laura’s (in process) Masters in Sociology at Colorado State examines how key food system players generate knowledge about local food.
Laura currently serves on the Whatcom County Public Health Advisory Board, the Community Co-op Farm Fund and Micro-Loan committees, the WSU Small Farms Team, and the steering committee to form the Whatcom Food Network. When not solving complex food system issues, Laura is most often sharing meals, exploring the wild outdoors, and finding reasons (or none at all) to don costumes and ride bikes.
Mariah Ross, Sustainable Business Development Manager
360-647-7093 x105Mariah Ross is passionate about the successful integration of sustainable practices into business. She has worked in both her professional and volunteer life as a change agent to bring about these practices in business. Before joining SC in the fall of 2009, Mariah was the Sustainability Director with a local electronics company who is a leader in the community in showing how recycling can be successfully implemented in both office and manufacturing spaces. Mariah also has a successful sales and marketing background and has enjoyed working as an intrapraneur to develop new business units in her career so far. She is so excited to switch her focus with business and sustainability into the local community.
Since 2006 Mariah has served as the Green Chair for the Ski to Sea race committee leading the creation of a successful recycling program for all of Ski to Sea weekend and creating a carbon offset program for all racers. While not at work, Mariah loves the outdoors and can be found mt. biking, hiking or gardening in the warmers months and skiing in winter. She also has a passion for singing, cooking and yoga.
April Claxton, Office Manager & Volunteer Coordinator
360-647-7093 x104April Claxton first joined the SC team as a volunteer. The team so appreciated her work that it wasn't long before she had a desk of her own. While volunteering for SC she also worked as the manager for a local outdoor adventure business where she gained a huge appreciation for what it means to run a local business. Prior to moving to Bellingham, April worked for a variety of non-profits on the East Coast and in Montana. While there she coordinated campaigns, developed and oversaw large volunteer programs and honed her skills and love for systems and working behind the scenes to help organizations be as productive as possible. Her time away from the Northwest also made her appreciate the area and she is very happy to be back and to be making a home in Bellingham. April is also involved in the Bellingham Traverse as the volunteer coordinator and serves of the board of ReUse Works.
Erin McCain-Anderson, Event Coordinator
360-647-7093 x108Erin McCain-Anderson is excited to have found her place as the SC event coordinator, working with like-minded peers in a progressive and change making organization. Erin was born in raised in Bellingham and feels a strong relationship to the people, places, and values of the community. Her passion for building a stronger and more connected community has fueled her work for the last 15 years with her time as a program coordinator with the city, working with independent businesses and teaching environmental education.
As an event coordinator Erin has a unique persepctive and new ideas on how to connect business owners and individuals with the resources available at SC. And, as she likes to have a good time, her events always have an element of fun.
When at home, Erin loves to be in her garden, reading and cooking, all in the company of her fabulous family.
Amanda Sipher, Development Coordinator
360-647-7093 x109Amanda Sipher takes great pleasure in serving as a resource to others, and feels extremely fortunate to have found a position that allows her to do just that. Prior to joining SC's staff as Development Coordinator in December 2010, Amanda managed development, financial, advocacy, and marketing activities for various public, private, and nonprofit organizations in Oregon and Washington. As both a professional and volunteer, Amanda truly enjoys building relationships with others and working collaboratively to achieve common goals.
Amanda's lifelong love of learning has led her to complete a BA in Economics from Western Washington University, as well as graduate degrees in Arts Administration and Nonprofit Management from the University of Oregon. Her research investigates sustainable and smart practices in community development, cultural policy, behavioral economics, and resource development.
Aside from seeking funding opportunities to support SC's innovative programs, Amanda spends her time browsing around her favorite local bookstore, playing violin and ukulele, supporting arts organizations, discovering built and natural environments, and enjoying her family and friends.
Abby Hade Terpstra, Membership Coordinator360-647-7093 x103Abby Hade Terpstra is thrilled to make the side-step from volunteer to employee at SC. She found the organization shortly after moving to Bellingham in 2006 and has been spending time there ever since. A born-and-raised Midwesterner, Abby got her degree in Outdoor Education: Natural History on the shores of Lake Superior before heading out for adventures in Vermont and Washington. Her career path has lead her from tallgrass prairie naturalist to insect zoo director, from AmeriCorps environmental educator to Community Land Trust assistant, from organic produce deliverer to wilderness therapy logistics coordinator. Abby tributes her roots – first jobs include pulling weeds in her mother’s garden and sweeping construction sites for her father’s green building company – to her commitment to a healthy, sustainable, and community-oriented lifestyle.
When not reveling in organization using color coding, alphabetical order or size differentiation, Abby can be found taking brisk walks or slow hikes, pouring over cookbooks for new ideas, gawking at huge mountains and tall trees, reading, keeping up with her family, and trying out any manner of new hobbies.
Nancy Orlowski, Energy Program AssistantNancy Orlowski is grateful to have joined Sustainable Connections in 2010. In her new position as Energy Program Assistant, Nancy developed a database application, of which she administers the supporting data for facility assessments for the commercial conservation services of the Community Energy Challenge. Having lived and raised a great family in Bellingham for the last 30 years, she also enjoys growing her garden, boating in the islands, volunteering in the community and walking in the wild.
Sara Southerland, Food & Farming Outreach Coordinator
360-647-7093 x114Sara Southerland is passionate about serving the community around her and connecting people with the environment and community we live in and the food we eat. Throughout her volunteer and work experience, she has led and assisted with numerous environmental outreach and education efforts and campaigns throughout Washington state.
Sara was born and raised in Fort Worth, TX and completed her degree in journalism from The University of North Texas. Soon after, she headed to Washington to utilize her education with an environmental and community-based lens. Holding positions as an environmental educator, outreach and volunteer coordinator, Sara has helped lead a successful region-wide outreach campaign for energy efficiency, a Sustainable Connections TZW campaign, worked with Grays Harbor area schools and businesses to implement pilot recycling programs, created and led an environmental science after school program, organized a variety of community events and co-published the first Chehalis Basin Watershed Pledge.
As previous SC volunteer, Sara is delighted to be a part of and contribute to the Food and Farming program and the vibrancy of Whatcom County’s food system. When she’s not planning the next food and farm based hurrah, Sara loves to dance, sing, cook and preserve food, play keyboard, hike, bike, ski and try new things.
Emily Kubiak, Energy Program Assistant
360-647-7093 x113Emily Kubiak is very interested in the common ground where reducing environmental impact increases personal and economic well being. She is excited to help Whatcom County businesses save money and energy as the Energy Program Assistant. Born and raised in the Northwest, Emily strongly believes in putting down roots in your community and making a difference where you live in order to drive larger change in the world.
From her humble beginnings staging one woman litter clean-ups and Earth Day parades as a child, Emily continued to develop her interest in environmental and sustainability issues and attended The Evergreen State College to study environmental science. She eventually transferred to Huxley College of the Environment at WWU, where she graduated with a BS in Environmental Science and a Minor in Sustainable Design. Since graduating, she has been lucky to find meaningful work near her home in Bellingham, first as a Recycling Education and Outreach Coordinator for Whatcom County Solid Waste and then as an Energy Conservation Education Specialist at the Housing Authority of Skagit County.
In her spare time Emily loves to cook and share delicious meals, get crafty in many mediums, talk and listen, watch and read geeky things, exercise and move her body, listen to and play music, and generally have a blast with her lovely friends.
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Martin joined Sustainable Connections in 2009 as the Commercial Conservation Specialist for our new Energy Efficiency Challenge program. Martin’s diverse background includes Peace Corps service in Africa and renewable energy work in South America, both of which provided Martin with a global perspective on resource consumption. He most recently spent two years designing solar power systems for a local Bellingham firm, and for five years was the technical administrator for large utility commercial building recommissioning program, helping to reduce energy consumption and expenditures in dozens of commercial buildings. Martin’s undergraduate degree is in mechanical engineering, with post-graduate study in energy conservation and renewable energy.
Martin enjoys hiking, reading, rebuilding his old house, and spending time with his family, and can be seen bicycling around Bellingham, rain or shine.
Click here for staff contact information and for a listing of Board members and Advisory Councils.
Though we have a bias for ACTION - we also try to think deeply...
