Meet the 15 women who are changing the field of sustainability as we know it

An expert in alternative housing, a CDC leader, and a director of architecture programming at one of the most prestigious universities in Latin America—the faces of this year’s third annual Women in Sustainability Leadership Awards are varied and inspiring, to say the least. We celebrated these and a dozen more women when we gathered all of the winners together with other industry experts to meet and mingle over cocktails, dinner, and an awards ceremony held during this year’s Greenbuild International Conference and Expo on Oct. 4 in Los Angeles. Speakers for the evening were Rachelle Routman, Chief Sustainability Officer at Halstead International and MetroFlor, and Ana Guerrero, Chief of Staff to Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti.

Once again, this year’s group of winners comes from all over the globe and continues to do exciting things, breaking new ground with innovative ideas in the field of sustainability. Winners were chosen by a judging panel that includes Rochelle Routman of MetroFlor, Kimberly Lewis of the USGBC, Amanda Sturgeon of the International Living Future Institute, Angela Foster-Rice of United Airlines, Leith Sharp of Harvard University, and Chris Howe and Laura Heidenreich of Green Building & Design. 

The 2016 winners are:

  • Lisa Bate, Regional Managing Principal (North America), B+H Architects
  • Liz York, Associate Director for Quality and Chief Sustainability Officer, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
  • Mary Tod Winchester, Vice President Administration/Operations, Chesapeake Bay Foundation
  • Kelly Vlahakis-Hanks, President and CEO, Earth Friendly Products (ECOS brand)
  • Nicole Isle, Chief Sustainability Strategist, Glumac
  • Holley Henderson, LEED Fellow, Green Building Expert, Author, Consultant and Speaker, H2 Ecodesign
  • Susan King, Principal, Studio Leader: Housing and Education, National Sustainable Practice Leader, Harley Ellis Devereaux
  • Carolyn Aguilar Dubose, Director, Department of Architecture, Iberoamericana University (Mexico City, Mexico)
  • Kathleen Smith, Vice President, Living Building Challenge, International Living Future Institute
  • Barbara Deutsch, FASLA, Executive Director, Landscape Architecture Foundation
  • Nancy Sutley, Chief Sustainability and Economic Development Officer, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power
  • Karen Kubick, Director of the Wastewater Enterprise Capital Improvement Program, City and County of San Francisco’s Public Utilities Commission
  • Barbra Batshalom, Founder and CEO, Sustainable Performance Institute (SPI)
  • Andrea Goertz, Chief Communications and Sustainability Officer, TELUS
  • Dominique Hargreaves, Executive Director, USGBC-Los Angeles

The evening was presented by gb&d magazine in partnership with the USGBC with support from the MetroFlor Corporation, Steelcase, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, and United Airlines.