Laura Weiss – Team Chair
Laura is currently the founder of GO Box, a new service providing reusable to-go containers for the downtown food carts and their customers. Laura has followed her passion for environmental sustainability for her 25 years of professional experience. She has a Masters in Public Health from U.C. Berkeley and experience working on environmental policy for government agencies and advocacy organizations in Oregon, Washington State and Washington D.C., including 9 years as a Program Director with Oregon Environmental Council. She also has a MBA in Sustainable Business from the Bainbridge Graduate Institute. She recently made a brief foray into corporate employment, working for a large food service company as their West Coast Sustainability Manager. In her free time, she enjoys international travel (especially bicycle travel), cross-country skiing (with her 2 Mexican-adopted dogs) and yoga.
Shanna Brownstein – Co-Chair
Shanna Brownstein is the Manager of Policy and Government Affairs at The Climate Trust, a Portland-based nonprofit that focuses on reducing greenhouse gas emissions through project financing. She tracks and analyzes emerging state, regional, and federal policy as it relates to climate change, and works closely with several state and federal agencies on policy implementation. Prior to joining The Climate Trust, Shanna worked for Global Routes, a U.S.-based organization that creates and manages service programs in Asia, Africa and Latin America. She received a Master’s of Public Administration from Columbia University and a Bachelor of Arts in Government and International Studies from Colby College.
An avid hiker and cyclist, Shanna has led outdoor leadership trips in New England and abroad, and is a certified whitewater rafting guide. In her free time, she enjoys biking around town, exploring Oregon’s coast and mountains, playing with her dog Milford, and cooking/eating all of the delicious food in the Pacific Northwest.
Tom Bruenig – Team Member
Tom Breunig, became the Director of Marketing for Earth Advantage Institute in 2009. He came from the high tech industry and brings 20 years of marketing and communications experience to the team. Prior to joining EAI, he was a managing partner at the Adelsa Group, an international electronics business development and marketing firm. Before that he served as vice president of corporate communications for MemsCap, a French semiconductor firm, where he helped guide them from start-up through successful IPO. He began his career in publishing and then moved into media relations, working at Weber Shandwick and KVO Public Relations. He holds an M.A. in East Asian studies from Columbia University and a B.A. from Oberlin College.
Sattie Clark – Team Member
Sattie Clark is the co-founder of Eleek, Inc., an award-winning design and manufacturing business that Bloomberg Business Week calls “one of the most promising social entrepreneurs in America.” Eleek makes low-energy lighting and other decorative building products from recycled and locally sourced materials. Passionate about the intersection of policy and sustainable business, Sattie co-founded Voice for Oregon Innovation & Sustainability, a non-profit business alliance that supports sustainable, forward-thinking business leaders through policy advocacy, education, leadership cultivation, civic interaction and community building, as it strives to create a prosperous economic future for the region. Sattie serves as the president of the VOIS Board. Most recently, Sattie was appointed to the newly formed Multnomah County Advisory Council on Sustainability & Innovation. She was recently named Woman Entrepreneur of the Year by Portland Business Journal.
Chris Dennett – Team Member
Chris Dennett is presently part of the Corporate Account Management team at Regence Blue Cross Blue Shield and leads efforts to create a competitive knowledge advantage by analyzing and strategically understanding uniqe business and account needs including industry analysis and trending. His area of special interest is the analysis of mission-driven companies that emphasize environmental stewardship in their “triple-bottom line” business model. Chris is also the manager for the Pacific Northwest chapter of the Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2) and the chair of the E2 Communications Committee, an organization created ten years ago by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) that represents the independent business voice for the environment.
He and his wife settled in Portland in 2003 not knowing they picked one of the country’s greenest cities. Chris is convinced that good environmental policy is also good economic strategy and that protecting the environment while shaping economic prosperity is not only possible, but necessary.
Dan Lombardi – Team Member
Dan is a staff member with the Oregon Working Families Party (Oregon WFP). Members of the Oregon WFP include working people, school parents, small business owners, family farmers, representatives of community groups and labor unions — Oregonians from all walks of life and all areas of the state. The Oregon WFP is determined to get government focused again on the things that can make jobs better; families more secure; and communities more prosperous by focusing on the kitchen-table economic issues that are so important to working people in Oregon; but are too often ignored by politicians of all parties. Thanks to fusion voting, the Oregon WFP can support candidates of all parties – Democrats, Republicans, and Independents – who will fight for affordable health care, decent jobs, and quality schools.
Andrea Paluso – Team Member
Andrea is a co-founder and director of Family Forward Oregon and The Mother PAC. Both organizations are working to build a family-friendly Oregon, one that supports family caregiving, economic prosperity, social sustainability and equity. As a professional and a mother of two young children, Andrea has been struck by the widening gap between contemporary American families and the policies designed to support them. Andrea believes a new vision for Oregon is possible and that developing more family-supportive workplaces and communities is an essential part of the way forward.
Christy Splitt – Team Member
Christy Splitt is the Legislative Aide to State Rep. Ben Cannon. She grew up in Chicago and Northern California before graduating from UC Santa Barbara with a degree in History. She went on to get her Master’s degree in Education and became a high school civics teacher. After three years in the classroom, she decided to experience civics first hand by working in Oregon politics. Since 2007, she has worked for Rep. Cannon, Chair of the House Committee on the Environment and Water. During that time, Christy has worked on issues relating to climate change, renewable energy, product stewardship, environmental health, voter access, and more. In her spare time, she coaches Lincoln High School’s Constitution Team.
