2026 BOD Elections
Nominations: Closed
Election: November 17th - December 15th
The NSS Board of Directors (BOD) is the governing body of the society. Members of the NSS BOD provide leadership for the Society and work together to serve the interests of our members and the field at large. Guided by the Bylaws, NSS BOD members work together and with members to ensure the society is prosperous, growing, and serving its mission and members. NSS BOD members are NSS fiduciaries who provide sound, ethical, and legal governance and financial management policies.
The BOD seeks to be diverse in all ways, including sector, discipline, experience, gender, race/ethnicity, and other dimensions. BOD members must have strong communication skills, integrity, accountability, and a stewardship mindset. Serving as a society board member is a rewarding and impactful volunteer opportunity. All BOD members must be members of the National Sustainability Society, as stated in the NSS Bylaws.
NSS Members should expect to receive the ballot by email by Monday, November 17. The ballot closes on Monday, December 15th.
After voting by the Membership, the slate of Councilors and President-elect is presented by the Nominating Committee for approval by the Board of Directors.
Election Process
Councilor - Each year, the membership nominates and elects candidates for two open Councilor seats. Councilors serve a three-year term, with two seats becoming vacant each year.
President - Every two years, the membership nominates candidates for the position of President-elect. The President-elect serves in this position for one year before being promoted to President for a term of one year, followed by a term as President-emeritus for one year.
Candidates for Councilor
Non-academic, three-year term
Franklin Carrero-Martinez
U.S. National Academy of Sciences
What makes our purpose or mission meaningful to you and how do your values align with the NSS shared values?
The NSS mission resonates deeply with me, because it is built on advancing transformative change through rigorous science, justice, and collaboration. These are values that have defined my career, from academia, to government to the not-for-profit sector. Having led multi-sector science-policy programs, shaped initiatives with global impact, I recognize that it takes accountable, intersectional, and creative leadership to drive sustainable systems change. Traits I have seen in NSS’ leadership. My commitment to elevating diverse voices, integrating evidence across sectors, and empowering others to co-create solutions fully aligns with NSS’s vision for a thriving, resilient future rooted in equity, stewardship, and interdisciplinary excellence. Serving as Councilor would allow me to foster the kind of connected, innovative, and inclusive community that the NSS champions—one that breaks silos and advances both people and the planet.
How do your prior leadership experiences prepare you to be an effective NSS board member?
My leadership experience equips me to serve the NSS board effectively. I have managed multi-sector science-policy programs and supported STEM education transformation from university to international levels. As Senior Director of the Sustainability Program at the Academy of Sciences, I bridged science, policy, and action, convening leaders to tackle urgent sustainability challenges. I led award-winning summits and produced influential reports that drove strategic sector transformations. My dedication to publishing, evidence-based dialogue, and fostering inclusive collaboration—combined with a record of innovation, partnership-building, and championing diverse perspectives—strongly aligns with NSS’s mission
What skills, connections, resources, and expertise do you have to offer to navigate this new professional society through its early years?
I bring expertise in convening cross-disciplinary teams, driving science-policy innovation, and leading strategic transformation at global and national levels. My work with the Academy of Sciences and international partners, along with high-impact publishing, provides resources and connections vital to NSS’s growth. I am adept at building inclusive networks that connect diverse stakeholders in pursuit of shared goals. I offer strategic vision, negotiation, crisis management, and collaborative leadership to guide NSS’s development and establish new partnerships. Regardless of the election outcome, I will continue facilitating connections that help advance NSS’s mission and accelerate sustainability impact from the outset.
Marilu Hastings
Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation
What makes our purpose or mission meaningful to you and how do your values align with the NSS shared values?
NSS’s purpose—to advance sustainable, science-based solutions that improve lives—resonates deeply with my own career devoted to aligning human progress with environmental stewardship. For nearly two decades I’ve led the Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation in translating research into action, bridging philanthropy, science, and community priorities. Like NSS, I believe innovation must serve people and place. My values—integrity, collaboration, and long-term impact—mirror NSS’s shared values of accountability, inclusion, stewardship, and community. Whether founding the Texas Clean Energy Coalition or the Permian Energy Development Lab, I’ve worked to unite unlikely partners around evidence-driven, pragmatic solutions. The NSS mission feels personal: it reflects both how I lead and why I lead—to ensure that science, compassion, and strategic investment work together for a more sustainable and equitable future.
How do your prior leadership experiences prepare you to be an effective NSS board member?
My leadership experience prepares me to serve effectively on the NSS board. As Executive Vice President of the Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation, I’ve led a $450 million philanthropy through strategic, operational, and generational transitions. I chair the University of Texas Energy Institute Advisory Board and serve on the National Academy of Sciences Roundtable on Sustainability—roles requiring governance skill and cross-sector collaboration. I’ve also founded initiatives such as the Texas Clean Energy Coalition and the Permian Energy Development Lab, translating complex science into action. These experiences honed my abilities in board governance, financial oversight, and systems thinking, and stakeholder management. I bring a proven record of turning vision into measurable impact through science-based decisionmaking, strong partnerships, and pragmatic innovation—skills essential to helping NSS establish its mission and credibility in its early years.
What skills, connections, resources, and expertise do you have to offer to navigate this new professional society through its early years?
I bring the strategic, organizational, and relationship capital essential to help a new professional society like NSS thrive in its formative years. My experience launching new initiatives—such as the Texas Clean Energy Coalition, the Respect Big Bend coalition, and the Permian Energy Development Lab—has taught me how to move from concept to credibility: building governance, partnerships, funding, and public trust. I offer deep expertise in philanthropy, science-based strategy, and cross-sector collaboration, with strong national networks across academia, industry, and policy. My skills in board governance, operational design, and stakeholder alignment can help NSS develop its systems, culture, and mission clarity. I also bring communications experience as a published thought leader and convener who translates complex ideas into shared purpose. I could help NSS amplify its durable partnerships, financial stability, and a reputation for excellence from the start.
Omar Gadalla
Axel Johnson, Inc.
What makes our purpose or mission meaningful to you and how do your values align with the NSS shared values?
I grew up disadvantaged, so social justice is core to who I am. Having faced injustice and barriers early in life, I am deeply committed to equity and inclusion. For nearly 30 years, I’ve devoted my career to environmental sustainability—working across nearly every facet of environmental science, from cleaning Superfund sites and sampling polluted streams to piloting innovative treatment systems for biological, metals, and nutrient removal. These experiences have given me a holistic understanding of how social and environmental issues intersect. I believe lasting progress requires cross-sectoral, transdisciplinary collaboration that integrates science, policy, and community voices. My life and career reflect a commitment to advancing a just, resilient, and sustainable world—where both people and the planet can thrive together.
How do your prior leadership experiences prepare you to be an effective NSS board member?
In my current role, I built a sustainability program from the ground up across eight companies in diverse industries. Participation was voluntary, so I had to create a system that inspired engagement and demonstrated clear value with limited resources. Over seven years, the program has achieved full participation, with two companies becoming carbon neutral and nearly 100 projects completed to reduce waste, water use, and emissions. Collectively, we’ve cut CO₂e by 40%, and the program is now a company flagship. My ability to mobilize and inspire people beyond their daily roles to achieve meaningful, measurable impact would serve the NSS well as a board member.
What skills, connections, resources, and expertise do you have to offer to navigate this new professional society through its early years?
One of the NSS’s key goals is to engage more private industry—a space I know well from my years in environmental consulting across nearly every major sector. I understand how businesses operate and how to align sustainability with their strategic priorities. In addition, I bring a strong marketing background, including content development and media production. Videos I’ve produced have garnered over 250,000 views, demonstrating my ability to communicate complex ideas in engaging ways. My combined expertise in industry operations, sustainability, and marketing would be a strong asset in advancing the NSS’s growth and outreach goals.
Academic, three-year term
David Abraham
Rice University
What makes our purpose or mission meaningful to you and how do your values align with the NSS shared values?
As an urban planner and sustainability researcher, I resonate deeply with NSS’s mission to cultivate resilient communities through science, innovation, and public service. My work, spanning equitable development, sustainability indicators, and health impact assessments, has consistently aimed to bridge data with real-world transformation. NSS’s values of equity, integrity, innovation, collaboration, and service align with my own, as demonstrated through my leadership in inclusive resilience planning, ESG frameworks, and mentoring students across disciplines. Like NSS, I believe advancing sustainability requires diverse voices and community-rooted solutions. Through research, teaching, and public engagement, I am dedicated to supporting NSS’s mission to create a more just and sustainable future for all.
How do your prior leadership experiences prepare you to be an effective NSS board member?
My leadership experience spans public agencies, academia, and cross-sector collaborations, preparing me to make meaningful contributions to the NSS Board. As Assistant Director of Strategic Planning at a major toll authority, I’ve led multimillion-dollar infrastructure projects that integrate sustainability, equity, and resilience. I’ve participated in national panels for the National Academies Transportation Research Board and chaired the ENVISION Education Committee, where I fostered innovation in environmental planning. My experience guiding diverse stakeholder groups, whether through ULI task forces, academic consortia, or community resilience projects, has honed my ability to build consensus, navigate complexity, and prioritize actionable results. These roles have instilled in me a governance mindset rooted in data, integrity, and mission alignment, core tenets of NSS leadership.
What skills, connections, resources, and expertise do you have to offer to navigate this new professional society through its early years?
I bring a unique blend of strategic foresight, technical expertise, and national networks critical to shaping NSS’s foundational years. With leadership roles across government, academia, and professional associations, I’ve built and scaled sustainability programs, designed performance indicators, and led interdisciplinary teams to advance equity and resilience. My experience securing multi-agency grants, guiding cross-sector infrastructure coalitions, and serving on national advisory boards (e.g., ULI, National Academies) equips me to strengthen NSS’s visibility, partnerships, and operational roadmap. Other current affiliations: APA Sustainable Communities Division Board; ULI Public Health Leadership Fellow; ENVISION Chair of the Educational Committee.
Krista Bailey
Penn State University
What makes our purpose or mission meaningful to you and how do your values align with the NSS shared values?
What first attracted me to the NSS was the multi-sector approach to advancing sustainability. While I learn a lot from colleagues in my own sector of academia, there are partnerships, collaborations, innovations and initiatives best done by and for diverse sectors. I believe that each new discovery, research publication, or business would benefit from close transdisciplinary working relationships. The NSS values of accountability, justice, diversity, stewardship and community affirmed my interest in the organization and desire to learn more and to be involved in some way. My personal values are grounded in community, empathy, stewardship, honesty, kindness, and enhancing diversity in ecological and social contexts. My values inspire and support my civic engagement and conservation actions, and affirm my priorities of supporting others (friends, family, colleagues) and building community by connecting with diverse populations across shared interests.
How do your prior leadership experiences prepare you to be an effective NSS board member?
My prior experiences serving on local non-profit boards and executive committees, leading a sustainability center on a campus, and working as part of a Big Ten university sustainability team focused on education, operations, engagement and community outreach have prepared me to be an effective board member. I am a trustworthy colleague who seeks clarity and honesty in communications, can speak truth to power, and who can empathetically listen and advocate for positive changes.
What skills, connections, resources, and expertise do you have to offer to navigate this new professional society through its early years?
The skills, connections, resources, and expertise I have to offer that I believe will support the NSS are: strategic planning assessment & evaluation communication connections to sustainability communities in three states (Pennsylvania, Indiana, and Michigan) over a decade teaching sustainability in higher education sustainability reporting expertise experience working in municipal and university sustainability offices In addition, I used to co-host a local PBS show featuring sustainability practices and features in the community that the general public might not recognize or know about, such as LEED building features, diversity-celebrating and community-oriented businesses, rain garden technologies, and conservation practices. I became a trusted voice for the public on this and respected by those featured on the show for identifying what each offered for the greater good in their own unique and powerful way.
Elizabeth Doran
University of Vermont
What makes our purpose or mission meaningful to you and how do your values align with the NSS shared values?
The NSS is the professional organization I wish had existed as I was conducting and completing my doctoral studies and moving through my early career years within the academe. In my work, I value exceptional sustainability scholarship this transcends disciplinary boundaries, is creative, and serves the public good through connections to practice. By elevating such scholarship, and connecting practitioners that share these values, the NSS is unique within the ecosystem of professional societies. As such, I know the NSS will fulfill its mission as it grows a diverse membership that find in it a professional home to connect, learn and advance the science and practice of the field.
How do your prior leadership experiences prepare you to be an effective NSS board member?
As a leader with more than two decades of non-profit board governance experience with both mission oriented and membership serving organizations, I am personally well prepared to work collaboratively to develop and execute the NSS strategic plan, deliver mission driven programming, uphold fiduciary responsibility, and communicate this work across audiences. But my experience tells me that success and longevity lie in leveraging the collective talents, expertise, connections, resources and, most importantly, enthusiasm of the community toward our shared vision. The strength of the NSS is in its members. To this end, as an inaugural board member and co-Chair of the Development Committee, I have worked to formalize expanded opportunities to engage members in the shared work of maturing the organization and will continue to seek engagement and feedback from across the organization as we come together to continue to build a professional society that is both sustainable and impactful.
What skills, connections, resources, and expertise do you have to offer to navigate this new professional society through its early years?
As an early to mid-career sustainability scientist, I believe I bring a unique perspective about how the NSS can serve the development of the next generation of sustainability scholars and leaders. My enthusiasm for this organization to achieve its mission is unparalleled. Combined with my more than two decades of non-profit board governance experience including service in multiple leadership positions with both mission oriented and membership serving organizations, mean I bring a deep knowledge of strategic planning, non-profit finance and fundraising, and board governance and operation to bear in my role as board member of the NSS. These skills will well serve the organization as it continues to set its strategic direction, establish norms and expectations for its operation, and grow the membership and membership benefits to best serve our diverse community.
David DuBois
Ball State University
What makes our purpose or mission meaningful to you and how do your values align with the NSS shared values?
Twenty years ago I wrote a sustainability grant for a small Iowa community that enabled them to develop a strategic plan for sustainability and to hire their first sustainability manager. In doing research for the grant, I was shocked to discover how few resources were devoted nationally to the global sustainability challenge. I then redirected my career towards creating a sustainable, just, and thriving world. Thus, environmental, social, and economic stewardship are, and have been, central to my life’s mission for two decades. My recent work focuses on developing a community innovation challenge. This adaptation of strategic planning aspires to better enable communities to boldly engage the major challenges we face, and to better envision a near-term future of abundance for all. It employs new methods for connecting organizations across sectors; and a simple visualization of comprehensive community data. Thus, community, inclusion, and accountability are values I embrace.
How do your prior leadership experiences prepare you to be an effective NSS board member?
I served on boards for diverse organizations, from a college of engineering and sustainability to founding arts organizations. I appreciate the variety of organizational needs and structures as they serve multiple constituencies and evolve over time. These experiences help me contribute useful, flexible perspectives on program and organizational development. I designed and led curriculum across a variety of participants and contexts. For example, I designed and led sustainability circles for peer groups of corporate sustainability managers. I bring a concrete understanding of models of individual, organizational, and community change. I’ve designed and led a number of community-wide initiatives. For example, I served on the board and wrote the business plan for the development of the world’s first Stephen Sondheim Theater. These experiences led to a creative capacity to develop innovative business plans and to connect coalitions of diverse organizations to achieve shared goals.
What skills, connections, resources, and expertise do you have to offer to navigate this new professional society through its early years?
There are three core competencies that I can offer to the development of NSS. These include: 1. A cluster of skills around strategy, business models and fundraising; 2. Designing and implementing programs for individual, organizational, and community change; 3. Supporting content development, especially from an applied research perspective. I developed a competency in using a ‘tri-sector’ mindset for developing strategy and business models. This may be valuable in building out the network of organizations that will participate in and support NSS. I’ve collaborated regularly with Jens Molbak and his team at New Impact in Seattle and found his tools to be useful in identifying fruitful connections and resources. As an organizational psychologist focusing on sustainability, I have experience in the development of sustainability ‘mindsets’, which appear to be core to individual and organizational change, and have a hands-on perspective of the work of sustainability professionals.
Meghann Jarchow
University of South Dakota
What makes our purpose or mission meaningful to you and how do your values align with the NSS shared values?
I understand sustainability as asking the questions, “What kind of world do we want?” and “How can we effect change to create that world?” The mission and values of NSS align with my goals for sustainability and sustainability education including justice, equity, transformative change, collaboration, and humility. The focus of the NSS on sustainability professionals – understanding how we should be training sustainability professionals and what roles these sustainability professionals need to fill in society – is important and needed. I would like to be part of the leadership of the professional organization that is doing that work.
How do your prior leadership experiences prepare you to be an effective NSS board member?
I came to USD in Fall 2012 to start our academic sustainability program. There was limited sustainability work being done, so my work has included building and supporting efforts to enhance sustainability in the area. I co-founded and am Chair of Greening Vermillion. I am President of the Board of Directors of Spirit Mound Trust, which assists with the management of Spirit Mound Historic Prairie. I directed USD’s university-wide Howard Hughes Medical Institute Inclusive Excellence grant. I secured funding for and started the Department of Sustainability & Environment and the graduate program (MS and PhD in sustainability) at USD. I am Vice President of the Board of Directors of the Upper Midwest Association for Campus Sustainability. I developed and lead USD’s Grounding Science project – titled “Grounding science education in Indigenous knowledges, food systems, and sustainability” – which includes offering a 10-week Teaching Sustainability faculty training.
What skills, connections, resources, and expertise do you have to offer to navigate this new professional society through its early years?
Below are examples of national sustainability education efforts in which I have been involved in the past year. • Key Competencies and Best Practices for Sustainability Degree Programs (GCSE; workshop in Washington, DC) • Program Evaluation for Sustainability and Sustainability-Related Program: A Program Director’s Cohort (AASHE; 6-month training) • Sustainability Education Program Directors’ Cohort (Arizona State University; 1-month training) • BioScience (journal) Editorial Board • AASHE Fellow (April 2024 through April 2025) • Carnegie Elective Classification for Sustainability (Carnegie Foundation; USD completed pilot classification; Jarchow now serving as reviewer) •Sustainability Education Accreditation Commission (USD completing pilot accreditation; Jarchow will serve as reviewer) I also bring the perspectives of doing sustainability work in places where it is not broadly supported and in places where education is provided more limited financial support.
Alicia Harley
Harvard Kennedy School
What makes our purpose or mission meaningful to you and how do your values align with the NSS shared values?
During college, when I realized sustainability science connected my childhood commitment to protecting vulnerable communities with scientific rigor and problem-driven research about how to actually achieve these goals in practice, I knew the field was my forever home. Having grown up in the field of sustainability science, I am acutely aware it has long lacked a community that could bring together the strengths of disparate research programs under a larger umbrella—which is why I'm excited about NSS. My research on strategic capacities for sustainable development keeps coming back to this: achieving SD goals requires a really big tent of people working together across all types of boundaries. That's exactly what NSS is trying to build—a space where researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and communities can co-create knowledge and learn from each other. I genuinely believe NSS can help us move from studying transformation to actually building it together.
How do your prior leadership experiences prepare you to be an effective NSS board member?
My leadership experience comes from coordinating multi-stakeholder collaborations. This includes managing cross-sectoral research partnerships with academic partners, government agencies, and communities across multiple countries, as well as leading the Capacity Building for Sustainable Development research project that integrates sustainability science scholarship with the experience of sustainability leaders building social capacities. Beyond research leadership, I bring institutional governance experience from Harvard's Sustainability Plan Review Committee (2015-2016) and Presidential Committee on Sustainability (2020-2022). I also bring fundraising experience from serving on the committee that successfully endowed the Ray A. Goldberg Professor of the Global Food System chair at Harvard. These experiences prepared me to contribute to building NSS as a thriving organization that bridges scholarship with real-world impact.
What skills, connections, resources, and expertise do you have to offer to navigate this new professional society through its early years?
Cross-sectoral fluency: My research bridges academic analysis, policy design, and field practice. I understand how different disciplines and sectors communicate and build productive partnerships. Public engagement: I'm developing an open-access sustainability course to make sustainability education more accessible. I'm interested in how NSS can engage in cultural spaces and public conversations upstream from policy—helping people see how sustainability speaks to concerns about fairness, love for future generations, and complex tradeoffs. Strategic thinking on capacity building: My research on strategic capacities provides frameworks for what organizations like NSS need to build and maintain. Conference experience: I've organized smaller conferences and enjoy co-creating meaningful experiences that bring the community together to foster sustainability goals.
Candidate for President-elect
Elena Irwin
Ohio State University
Elena Irwin is a Distinguished University Professor at The Ohio State University with tenure in the Department of Agricultural, Environmental and Development Economics, and the director and co-founder of the university’s Sustainability Institute. An environmental economist, she specializes in the economics of land-use change in urban, urbanizing, and agricultural regions, with a focus on integrated spatial models of land, water, and ecosystem services.
Launched in 2019, the Ohio State Sustainability Institute is a university-wide research and education institute with 380 faculty and researcher affiliates from the natural, physical and social sciences, public health, engineering, business, planning, policy, law, and the humanities. As director, Elena builds inter- and transdisciplinary teams around the institute’s priority research areas: energy and decarbonization, sustainable waters, healthy communities, and circular economy. She also co-leads the university-wide Sustainability Education and Learning Committee, which has launched multiple sustainability programs and courses at both undergraduate and graduate levels using Ohio State’s Six Dimensions of Sustainability framework.
Elena is a strong advocate for translating sustainability scholarship into policy and practice. She was an appointed member of the U.S. EPA Scientific Advisory Board from 2021-2024 and is a fellow of both the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists and the Applied and Agricultural Economics Association. She has led or co-led interdisciplinary research projects totaling more than $30 million in external funding from the National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and other funders. She currently serves as co-PI on a USDA Sustainable Agricultural Systems project that develops improved models of farmer decision-making and analyzes policies to increase soil carbon sequestration in the U.S. Midwest.
Growing up in West Virginia, Elena saw the environmental destruction, poverty, and injustices of a natural resource-intensive economy, which sparked her lifelong commitment to sustainability. Elena earned her undergraduate degree in history and German from Washington University and her Ph.D. in agricultural and resource economics from the University of Maryland. Outside of work, she enjoys hiking, biking, and listening to local music, including performances by her son’s bands.
Board of Directors
President: The President of the Society serves as Chair and shall preside over meetings, represent the Society in official matters, and provide overall leadership to the Board.
Secretary: The Secretary maintains accurate records of meetings, handles correspondence, and maintains official documents for the Board.
Treasurer: The Treasurer manages the financial affairs of the Society, maintains financial records, and provides regular financial reports to the Board.
The President, Secretary, and Treasurer will serve a term of two years.
Councilor (6 seats): The Councilors will represent the interests of the membership and serve as voting members on the Board of Directors. Seats will include representation from government, private sector, NGO/civil society, students and early career professionals, and have three at-large members
**We especially encourage the nomination of students and early career professionals for councilor seats.**
Board Member Responsibilities
Establish Direction
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Set and promote the vision, mission and strategic plan of the NSS.
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Articulate, model, and foster NSS’s core values and principles.
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Stay abreast of emerging issues of relevance to the NSS.
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Act in the best interests of the organization, not for any particular constituency, sector, or discipline.
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Delegate authority for organizational and staff management
Provide Governance Oversight
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Be knowledgeable about the bylaws, policies, strategic plan, and governance responsibilities of the NSS Board.
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Ensure fiscal prudence and ensure financial accountability.
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Monitor NSS performance relative to established plans, goals, budgets, laws, and standards
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When conducted, receive an annual audit of NSS by an independent auditor.
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Approve and monitor the annual budget.
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Consider issues of capacity (financial and human resources) and strategic position when making decisions.
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Set procedures to hire, support, and evaluate staff.
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Understand the collective nature of Board authority.
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Chair a committee
Engage (internally and externally)
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Steward the NSS in all spaces and with all stakeholders
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Encourage others to get involved in the NSS
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Maintain a supportive and collaborative relationship with fellow board members, staff, funders, and partners and allies in sustainability across all sectors.
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Prepare for and actively participate in all Board of Directors meetings. The BOD meets on a regular basis throughout the year, by Zoom, and in person at the annual conference.
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Follow all NSS policies and model all NSS values.
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Function at a strategic, not tactical, level, once executive director has been hired.
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Participate in evaluation of the Board’s performance and the NSS as a whole.
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Support and promote the plans, programs, and outputs of the NSS.