David Dell, Ph.D. (Chairman) has a unique background combining research, management consulting, executive leadership, and investment banking. Through publications, conference presentations and news citations, he has been recognized as a thought leader in Sustainability, Outsourcing, M&A integration, HR , Corporate IT strategy, and other areas. Currently as CEO co/founder of Sustainable Profitability Group, Dr Dell is active in developing new energy investments. As chairman of HRTechTeam he provides guidance for best practices in HR technology. In his personal practice Dr. Dell serves on the boards of growth companies and non profit organizations, and is a trusted adviser to senior business leaders.  As Research Director for The Conference Board.,for the Concours Group and Diebold Group Dr. Dell was engaged in numerous  reports on best practices for leading corporations. He led multiple research projects in human resources, information technology, sustainability, and merger integration.  He has served companies in transition and turnarounds as interim CEO, Chief Technology Officer as well as Chief Talent Officer and been an officer and director of 2 NASD National listed companies. As an investment banker focusing on funding, acquisitions, divestitures and joint ventures of emerging technology companies he has helped secure over 100 million in funding and helped investors avoid thousands of attractive traps.  Early in his career David managed a consortium of 500 colleges and Universities International Studies Programs and in that capacity published  guides and advice on funding support. In the 1990’s he created and published Education Interface, a multivolume comprehensive listing and index of thousands of corporate, foundation, and government programs for educators and educational institutions.  He currently chairs 2 non-profit organizations:  Sustainable Hudson Valley, and the Tibetan Classics Translators Guild of New York. David has  a Ph.D. from Columbia University in the languages and culture of India.

Melissa Everett, Ph.D. (Executive Director) is an outreach and
communications strategist working at the intersection of climate action, green
industry and community development.    As Executive Director of
Sustainable Hudson Valley since 2004, she has helped to build a movement of
local innovators who are reducing their communities’ carbon footprints and
building the market for clean energy industries.   Her
accomplishments with SHV include:

· Convening the first regional climate action summit
for local and regional officials, a standing-room-only gathering in 2007 that
galvanized many local action campaigns;

· Co-founding the Hudson Valley Climate Change
Network of agency professionals and local leaders;

· Convening annual retreats for climate action
leaders to strategize and renew themselves;

· Leading the Ulster County Legislature’s Global
Warming Advisory Committee which gave rise to the county’s progressive energy
policy;

· Leading the Ulster Tomorrow Green Technology
strategy committee;

· Helping to convene the first significant regional
exploration of adaptation to unpreventable climate change, Rising Waters;

· Building political support for the Climate Smart
Communities Pledge in the city of Kingston, and helping to translate climate
action into economic opportunity through the Kingston Green Corridor
Initiative;

· Creating Clean Energy Technology Training Resource
Centers in five counties;

· Conceiving and designing the Ten Percent Challenge
campaign.

Trained in counseling and
group facilitation through the Concord Institute in Massachusetts, Melissa is a
skilled organizational developer and consensus builder. She has taught
innovative courses in leadership and community service at Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute, involving undergraduate engineering students in service
learning projects on campus and in the community. She received her Ph.D. in
2006 from the International, Off-Campus Program of Erasmus University's Centre
for Environmental Management and Sustainable Development in the Netherlands, a
pioneering program for mid-career professionals worldwide. Her thesis research,
now being developed into a book, focuses on the dynamics of "community
turnarounds" and the role of social relationships.  She was one of
the original 1,000 prominent citizens trained by Al Gore in The Climate
Project.  The author of three books and many articles, Melissa has given
lectures and workshops on three continents. Breaking Ranks, her study of
conscientious objectors, won the Olive Branch Award from the NYU Center on War,
Peace and the News Media. She published the third edition of Making a Living
While Making a Difference: Conscious Careers for an Era of Interdependence,
in 2007 and was honored with the Bronze medal for Best Book in Foreword
Magazine’s annual rankings. Melissa is an avid rollerblader and swimmer. 
She lives in Rosendale, New York. 

Lea Cullen-Boyer is Westchester County Sustainability Coordinator and creator of the popular social networking website Green Guru Network (www.greengurunetwork.com).   

J. Michael O’Hara is the Enegy Consultant for the City of Hudson.  He is an environmental systems designer and educator who trained with Gunter Pauli of the ZERI Foundation. His professional background most recently includes work as the Commissioner, Public Works for the city of Hudson, NY. In that role, he chaired the Hudson Cool Cities committee in 2006 which produced a baseline carbon inventory for the city and led to the signing of the “U.S. Mayors' Climate Protection Agreement” by the Mayor of Hudson. He is a long time participant in SHV's projects. He is a founding member of Columbia County Futures, a local community development organization. He was a candidate for mayor of Hudson in 2007, running on a platform which included sustainable economic development. In prior years, his consultancy has supported US electronics manufacturers needing to comply with new European environmental regulations, and other manufacturers in control systems design.

Patricia Goodwin works as a writer, producer and creative director in New York City and Ulster County. Previously, Patty co-founded Broadstreet, an internationally recognized creative services company, where for 20+ years she was Executive Vice President and Creative Director. In addition to event, video, print and web work for such prestigious corporate clients as Time Warner, Blackstone, Pfizer, and Daimler Chrysler, Patty has created informational videos for the Alzheimers Association, the Prostate Cancer Foundation and the Empowerment Institute. She was Executive Producer and Creative Director for NYC2012's presentation to the U.S. Olympic Committee which helped New York City win its bid to become America's nominated host city for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games. Cherishing her roots in the Hudson Valley and deeply committed to fostering sustainability here, Patty is proud to be part of the very first team of neighbors to reduce their carbon footprint using The Low Carbon Diet: A Thirty Day Program to Lose 5,000 Pounds, and is working to bring this easy, fun and important program into widespread use. She also sits on the Stewardship Council of Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, the board of the Woodstock Land Conservancy and the advisory committee for Feminist.com.

Tom Kacandes is CEO of Solar Advantage Solutions, a company focusing on solar installations to ensure local government operations security and emergency preparedness, as well as other applications.  He most recently served as Director of Hudson Valley Operations at Prism Solar Technologies. Tom is a nationally recognized expert on recycling based industries and green economic development with an MBA from the State University of New York at Albany. With extensive experienced in government and the private sector, he has helped to build the business of key regional companies including Taylor Recycling and Tech City Properties. 

Victor-Pierre Melendez, a 5 year Kingston resident received his bachelor's degree in Environmental Science & Marine Biology from the University of Tampa, Florida, and his M.S. from the Bard Center for Environmental Policy.  He directs the Green Cities initiative for Hudso River Sloop Clearwater, and works in depth on a range of issues from environmental justice to green infrastructure. Over the span of the last 3 years he has worked in the City of Kingston's Economic Development department, performing business and commercial space inventories in Uptown Kingston and Scenic Hudson as an Outreach coordinator and community educator in the Ulster and Westchester County areas. Victor has sat on the Diversity Committee for the New York State Outdoors Education Association which serves environmental educators from the entire state of New York. As an entrepreneur, Victor has managed a café and art gallery/dance studio in the Downtown Waterfront district of Kingston, through which he hosts many environmental awareness and educational events for the surrounding communities.

Herb Oringel, a 44 year veteran of the IBM Corporation, coordinates the Northern Westchester Energy Action Consortium.