Program Lead and Steering Committee

Hannah Ahmed currently works for The Arbor Group at UBS, a team dedicated to socially responsible investing. Hannah is in charge of all marketing efforts for the team, which include monthly investment seminars and client focus groups. She also develops financial plans for clients and enjoys doing research on sustainably focused companies. Hannah graduated from Harvard University with concentrations in English and Environmental Science. While in school, she wrote many papers regarding practices that businesses could implement to build their reputation, decrease costs and benefit the environment such as the use of native landscaping at office sites and the use of "green" materials when building from scratch or doing a remodel. Two of her favorite books are Natural Capitalism by Paul Hawken, Amory and Hunter Lovins and Our Ecological Footprint by Mathis Wackernagel and William Rees.

Serge Alfonse is a strategic business leader and entrepreneur with 15 years of experience as a thought leader with deep knowledge in the following areas: enterprise consulting, project/program and portfolio management, change management, team management and development, process optimization and engineering, and quality management. As a dynamic leader he welcomes challenge, drives for results, and thrives on solving difficult business problems for his clients. Prior to joining Samaran Partners, Serge held the dual roles of PMO Director and Consulting Practice Area Leader and held a seat on the executive team at VMC Consulting, a VOLT Information Science company. Before VMC, Serge consulted in the technology and enterprise quality management arena for fortune 100 in the life science, semi-conductor, automotive, food and beverage, and general manufacturing industries. Serge holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Wisconsin and a Masters of Sciences in Information Technology from the University of South Florida, and is a certified Six Sigma Black Belt.

Charlie Cunniff Program Director at Seattle Office of Sustainability & Environment, Director - Seattle Climate Partnership at City of Seattle.

Tysan Dutta is a graduate of Vassar College and the Antioch Seattle Environment and Community Masters.  Her work within the wine and restaurant industry has included operations for restaurants in New York, Portland and Seattle.   She has been an instructor for the International Sommelier Guild, educating on viticulture and vinification—including organic and biodynamic vineyard practices—and accrediting Sommeliers in LA, Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver BC.  She has focused on sustainability in the hospitality industry, working most notably for five years as the Sommelier at the acclaimed Herbfarm Restaurant in Woodinville.  She most recently was the opening General Manager of Fonté café in Seattle with level 2 Green Restaurant Certification.

Gary Lichtenstein Principal, LightStone Consulting, LLC formed Lightstone Consulting as a sole proprietorship LLC in 2005. Lightstone Consulting, LLC provides GHG inventory and other Carbon Footprinting services, along with Sustainability and Environmental Management Systems, and as a formally trained facilitator, organizational development services. Currently, Mr. Lichtenstein is under contract with the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) as a technical assessor in the ANSI GHG Validation/Verification Body Accreditation program. As a sub-contractor to Scientific Certification Systems (SCS), Mr. Lichtenstein performs as a Lead Verifier in their GHG Carbon Footprint Verification service. He also provides contract auditor services for Scientific Certification Systems in their Materials Content division. Lightstone Consulting is an associate of ECO Resources Group, an adaptive management consulting organization and Carbon Services Northwest, a carbon services consulting company.  Mr. Lichtenstein continues his involvement with community based organizations, currently serving as the Vice President of Sustainable West Seattle. Mr. Lichtenstein holds a Master’s degree in Environment and Community from Antioch University in Seattle, WA. His Bachelor’s of Science degree in Chemistry is from the University of New Mexico. He successfully completed ISO 14001 (Environmental Management Systems) training in 2007 and holds certifications from The Climate Registry and as a Lead Verifier for the Carbon Action Reserve.

Mallary Tytel, Ph.D, M.B.A., is president and founder of Healthy Workplaces, a national consulting firm that focuses on human systems dynamics, organizational culture, coaching and sustainability. Her work is based upon complexity science, systems thinking and models of adaptive action. She is the former CEO of an international non-profit development corporation; has served as a key advisor to senior-level personnel within the U.S. Department of Defense; and created and delivered innovative leadership training in over 40 communities worldwide. She has a Ph.D. in Public Health Promotion and Organizational Systems from the Union Institute and University, an M.B.A. from the University of Connecticut and is a certified executive coach and mediator. She is a regular contributor to BusinessWeek.com and in her spare time she mentors budding women entrepreneurs. She is the author of Vision Driven: Lessons Learned from the Small Business C-Suite (Gold Canyon Press, 2009), and is working on her second book about culture change.

A Few of our Participating Organizations

Taylor Shellfish Farms, Inc.

Seattle Steam Co.