The Center for Green Schools is excited to announce the award recipients of the 2024–2025 Leaders in Sustainability and School Air Quality Fellowship programs. Throughout the upcoming school year, the 10 fellows selected will benefit from peer networking and resource sharing; in-person and regular virtual trainings, including at the Green Schools Conference; and individualized coaching to support their achievement of professional goals.

Join us in welcoming this year’s cohorts of school district leaders!

The Leaders in Sustainable Schools Fellowship cohort

The 2024–2025 cohort comprises fellows from East Coast to West Coast who represent mostly large school systems. Collectively, cohort members serve 541 schools and over 300,000 students. Across these five districts, an average of 16% of families live below the federal poverty level.

The new Leaders in Sustainable Schools Fellowship cohort.

These five leaders were selected for their professional background in resource conservation and change management, as well as their school systems' commitment to furthering their work to drive down carbon emissions. Over the next year, the Center for Green Schools will facilitate trainings and discussions to support the specific goals of each member of the cohort. In addition to waste management and energy conservation policy and program management, the 2024–2025 cohort will be focused on developing more comprehensive sustainability or greenhouse gas emissions reduction plans for their districts. Some will also be prioritizing education and engagement among leaders through school-based green teams and district-wide sustainability events. Throughout the year, these leaders will be accessing resources, connections and new ideas to help advance their sustainability goals.

The members of the 2024–2025 cohort are

Clark Seipt, director of sustainability, Loudoun County Public Schools, Virginia.
Chelsea Malacara, sustainability project specialist, Milwaukee Public Schools, Wisconsin.
Curtis Leonard, energy and sustainability specialist, St. Vrain Valley School District, Colorado.
Erica Mertens, energy conservation and sustainability program manager, Tahoe Truckee Unified Schools, California.
Megan Garner, sustainability manager, School District of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The Leaders in School Air Quality Fellowship cohort

This year’s cohort is made up of individuals representing a diverse group of school systems from across the country. Collectively, they serve 886 schools and nearly 500,000 students. Across these five districts, an average of 14% of families live below the federal poverty level.

The new Leaders in School Air Quality Fellowship cohort.

The members of the 2024–2025 cohort are

Aaron Hope, energy manager, Durham Public Schools, North Carolina.
David Singler, energy and sustainability program manager, Chicago Public Schools, Illinois.
Jason Bing, director of capital programs, Ann Arbor Public Schools, Michigan.
JaQuan Cornish, project manager, Oakland Unified School District, California.
Lisa Dutton, environmental health and safety manager, Chesterfield County, Virginia.

Each of these leaders and their districts have demonstrated dedication to creating healthy and sustainable schools and collectively bring experience in implementing energy efficiency programs, green building design and operations, and environmental health management across large school systems. Through the fellowship program, this cohort will build their technical knowledge and skills around the nexus of energy efficiency and indoor air quality best practices, learning from each other, peers in the field and industry experts. Additionally, the trainings, coaching and connections accessed through the fellowship will serve to support each fellow’s goals for improving effective communications skills, student and staff engagement and training, managing and leveraging data, and more.

Learn more about the center’s fellowship programs

Welcome the 2024–2025 School Sustainability and Air Quality Fellows