The Impact

We catch up with Adrian Huq – a new, and decidedly accomplished, member of our Board of Directors. Adrian has done – is doing – so many wonderful things that it’s hard to keep track: they are currently a grad student at the Yale School of the Environment; they are a cohort member of the Nonprofit Management Program for Emerging Leaders of Color under the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven; they serve as cofounder of the New...

Brian Hess is a Wildlife Biologist with the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP), where he specializes in non-game wildlife, particularly large raptors, reptiles, amphibians, and various other herpetofauna (and, yes, we had to look that word up). He is a leading authority on Connecticut's growing bald eagle population and the public face for many related outreach efforts. He shares his public fa...

Joanna Wozniak-Brown joins us to discuss Sustainability and Resiliency Week - the second annual week of events that celebrate work across Connecticut that protects our economy, natural resources, and our communities taking place from September 28 through October 4. Joanna serves as the Climate & Infrastructure Policy Development Coordinator at the Connecticut Office of Policy & Management, a role in which she leads the deve...

John-Henry Burke, Sustainable CT Fellow Extraordinaire, takes over the Big Microphone this month to make some noise about noise pollution in Connecticut. His guests include acoustician Amy Ziffer, along with our WestCOG friend Mike Towle. Our Fellows have been working hard this summer on, among many other things, assessing which communities have noise ordinances on the books, and developing a database of their respective details. T...

Bill McKibben, author, educator, and tireless advocate for the earth and our environment joins us to discuss his latest initiative: Sun Day - a nationwide tribute to the sun, solar energy, and other renewable energy to take place on the autumnal equinox, September 21. Also joining us for this episode are Third Act Connecticut organizers Davida Foy Crabtree and Lynn Stoddard, Sustainable CT's founder and former executive direct...

The June episode of our podcast will introduce some of our newest Sustainable CT Fellows: Maya Aviles, Thomas Busemeyer and Anna Hilary. We place highly qualified college students across the state’s Councils of Governments (COGs) to help cities and towns become registered, certified, or recertified with Sustainable CT during the summer. Fellows are directly engaged in supporting cutting-edge sustainability initiatives, local govern...

Mallory Howard is the Assistant Curator at the Mark Twain House & Museum in Hartford - which just so happens to be where we'll be having our 2025 Spring into Summer Celebration on June 4. Mallory knows more about the Twain House and Sam Clemens' time in Hartford than any one human should legally be allowed to know. Please join our May podcast for a delightful conversation about historical preservation, the Gilded Age,...

We catch up with David Dickson, Director of the University of Connecticut Center for Land Use Education and Research - a/k/a UConn CLEAR. UConn CLEAR provides indispensable resources to land use decision makers in support of better land use decisions, healthier natural resources, and more resilient communities. Dave also happens to be a member of the Sustainable CT Board of Directors. It's a fun and informative conversation ab...

Danielle Chesebrough knows a thing or two about responsible investments. She's the First Selectman of Stonington and a member of Sustainable CT's Board of Directors. And before holding these notable positions, Danielle spent eight years as a Senior Analyst of Investor Relations with the United Nations Global Compact. We ask her (among many other interesting and important questions) why she thinks a state investment in Sus...

This year marked the 25th Anniversary Annual Environmental Summit. Hosted by the Connecticut League of Conservation Voters, it was a milestone in bringing together advocates, lawmakers, policy experts, and passionate community members to chart the future of Connecticut’s environmental movement.

And the IMPACT was there - interviewing, witnessing, and learning. If you weren't able to attend on January 7 - and even if you were - ...

Laura Francis, Interim Director of South Central Regional Council of Governments, joins us to discuss the role of COGs in achieving Connecticut's sustainability goals. With 30 years of experience in Durham town government (15 as First Selectman), Laura brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to any table. And that's a good thing, too, because she also happens to be the Co-chair of Sustainable CT's Board of Direct...

Carl Fortuna's service to the community reads like a hearty alphabet soup: MIRA (the Materials Innovation Recycling Authority), CCM (the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities), COST (the Council of Small Towns), River COG (the Lower Connecticut River Council of Governments), and let's not forget CIRMA (the Connecticut Interlocal Risk Management Agency). Topping it off, he's been the First Selectman of Old Saybrook...

Thomas Clynch is something of a Renaissance Man - a principal at Civic Mind, the creative agency dedicated to social progress and corporate citizenship, and the founder of the new Hartford Times - he is also the founder of Yoga In Our City, a Community Match Fund project. We talk about many things, as Renaissance Men will, but we definitely wanted to hear what TJ had to say about his experience working with Sustainable CT through t...

If you think "socially responsible investing" just might be an oxymoron, you wouldn't be alone, but you will be enlightened when you listen to James Osborn, founder of Envest - the first (and so far, the only) Certified B Corporation financial advisory firm in the state of Connecticut. James’ roots run deep in sustainability and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG), Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) and fin...

Sustainable CT Fellows Adrian Huq and Jackie Flaherty take over the big microphone this month to interview collegiate movers-and-shakers in the sustainability movement. Their guests include: Dylan Steer, President of EcoHusky, lead organizer with Fossil Fuel Free UConn, and UConn Office of Sustainability intern; Amelia Kearney, Founder and Former President of Tunxis Sustainability Club, and Communications Lead at Sunrise Movement C...