LaRee DeFreece

LaRee DeFreece, JD, LEED AP, is a founding Board Member of Sustainable St. Louis. She joined HOK in October 2008 and currently serves as Vice President, Business Director, Global Sustainability Consulting Services.

In 20 years of work with corporate real estate portfolios, both as in-house counsel and in operational roles, Ms. DeFreece became interested in the sustainability of existing buildings. Of particular interest were the upcoming cap and trade legislation and the impact of such legislation on the billions of square feet of existing portfolios. As LaRee pursued her research and learning in this area, she became increasingly impassioned about the incredible opportunities to retool the way business, healthcare and education are conducted. As a result, Ms. DeFreece began teaching and speaking about the risks and opportunities presented by various sustainability initiatives. In her role with HOK, LaRee brings the experience of being an end user of portfolio services, an understanding of how sustainability initiatives impact large portfolios and organizational design, an ardent desire to share and teach best practices.

Leah Dettmers

Tim Eby

Tim Gaidis

Liz Forrestal

Liz Forrestal is a founding Board Member of Sustainable St. Louis and is Executive Director of Missouri Votes Conservation, a non-profit statewide organization that advocates for pro-environment legislation and political candidates. She has an extensive background in environmental advocacy and communications. Prior to her job with MVC, she worked as a staff interpretive planner for the Saint Louis Zoo and as a consultant for a number of wildlife conservation organizations. She has created communications and marketing strategies for non-profit environmental organizations and city governments.

Liz is a board member of Audubon Missouri; a member of the Focus St. Louis Environmental Task Force for Local Governments; and a member of the Government Advocacy committee of the U.S. Green Building Council (St. Louis Chapter). She was past chair of the Clayton (MO) Environment Committee, and has served on the boards of a St. Louis area private school, and various other local boards. Liz regularly contributes environmental commentaries to KWMU Radio, the National Public Radio affiliate station in St. Louis. She holds a B.A. in zoology from Smith College and an M.S in science communications from Boston University.

Deborah Chollet Frank

Deborah Chollet Frank is currently Vice President, Education and Sustainability for the Missouri Botanical Garden. She has over 25 years experience in energy and environmental issues, education and policy. Previously she served as Director of the EarthWays Center, a division of the Garden that promotes sustainability through environmental education and improving the built environment. Ms Frank was a founding member of the U.S. Green Building Council-St. Louis Chapter and formerly served on the Missouri Governor’s Energy Policy Council. She is a member of the US Green Building Council Advisory Committee, the Focus St. Louis Environmental Task Force for Local Governments and the Webster Groves School District Building Advisory Committee. Prior to joining the Garden, Ms Frank directed the Missouri Energy Resources Project for the Cooperating School Districts of St. Louis and worked as an Associate at William Tao & Associates, Consulting Engineers. She holds a BA in Political Science/Environmental Studies from State University College, Oneonta, New York, a MA in Engineering and Policy from Washington University, St. Louis, MO and is a LEED™ Accredited Professional.

Monica L. Fries

Monica L. Fries is a founding Board Member of Sustainable St. Louis and has practiced environmental law for over 25 years, and began her environmental law career as an intern at USEPA Headquarters in Washington, DC. She has served as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Ohio in the Environmental Enforcement Division, as a staff attorney and later the Solid Waste Program Attorney for the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, and environmental counsel for Olin Corporation’s Chemical Division in Stamford, CT. Most recently she practiced environmental law for over 14 years as a member of Husch Blackwell Sanders. Monica is also a director of History Associates Incorporated, a privately-held historical research and archival solutions company where she chairs the Board Governance Committee. Monica serves as a member of Focus St. Louis Sustainable Task Force and is admitted to practice in New York, Ohio & Missouri.

Steve Nagle

Rick Hunter

Rick Hunter, LEED AP, CGP is Managing Principal of Microgrid Energy, a renewable energy consultant and installer. Prior to founding Microgrid, Rick was a Principal at Sage Homebuilders, a leading residential green builder in the St. Louis area.

Rick takes an active role in various organizations with a focus on sustainability, including sitting on the Board of Directors for the USGBC – St. Louis Regional Chapter, the Creve Coeur Climate Action Task Force, and the Steering Committee for the Green Building Council of the local HBA. Rick, his wife and 3 children reside in Clayton, Missouri.

Max McCombs, Advisory Director

Dan Jay, Treasurer

Dan Jay is an architect and Managing Principal at Christner, where he leads the corporate and commercial side of the firm’s practice. Dan joined the firm in 1979 with a combined Master of Architecture and Master of Business Administration. Besides sitting on the City of St. Louis Planning Commission Dan has served on the boards of two theatres, two schools, the US Green Building Council and Sustainable St. Louis.

Roderick Nunn, Vice Chair

Rod Nunn is Vice Chancellor of Workforce and Community Development for St. Louis Community College where he serves as the chief economic development officer. Mr. Nunn provides strategic direction for the development and management of talent acquisition, talent development, resource and economic development assets in response to the needs of business and community partners. He also directs departments and services such as the customized training division; the Center for Business, Industry and Labor; Community Services, which serves specialized populations such as laid-off workers; and Institutional Development, which coordinates grants and contracts.

Mr. Nunn previously served as Missouri’s first director of education and workforce innovation and as director of the Missouri Department of Economic Development’s Division of Workforce Development. He has extensive background in leading multi-million dollar business/industry-based education and training programs in Missouri and Illinois. He also has earned national and state recognition for creating and implementing innovative workforce solutions. Mr. Nunn holds a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Illinois at Springfield, and a bachelor’s degree in music from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. He also completed the Program for Senior Executives in State and local Government at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Eric Schneider

Eric Schneider is the Senior Director of Public Policy Research at the St. Louis Regional Chamber and Growth Association (RCGA) and has been with the RCGA since 2001. He directs the activities of the St. Louis Climate Prosperity Project which seeks to evolve the St. Louis bi-state metropolitan region from a Rust Belt to a Green Belt economy that becomes home to a growing cluster of green businesses and existing companies responding to the growing green market. In addition, he researches and analyzes public policies and legislation affecting the St. Louis metropolitan region for RCGA members. As editor of the RCGAdvocate e-newsletter, he communicates to RCGA members the impact of federal, state legislation on the St. Louis region. With member involvement, he develops the RCGA public policy agenda and other research papers for distribution to elected officials and government leaders.

Eric received a master’s degree in planning from the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota and a bachelor of arts degree in economics from Grinnell College, in Grinnell, Iowa. Eric has previously held positions as a planning and marketing manager with hospital organizations in Minneapolis and St. Louis, a city planner for Minneapolis’s suburbs, and an agate clerk/sports reporter for the Washington Post.

Courtney Sloger, Secretary

Courtney Sloger is a member of the Government & Community Affairs Department at Metro.  In addition to Sustainable St. Louis, she is currently a member of the Focus St. Louis Environment & Sustainability Task Force, the Greater St. Louis Transit Alliance, and serves as a campaign partner for Transportation for America.  She intends to continue working with Missouri Votes Conservation and other St. Louis environmental groups to promote sustainable land use and transportation policy in Missouri and the St. Louis region.  She holds a B.A. in Psychology from Grinnell College.

John W. Traeger, Chair

John W. Traeger is a founding Board Member of Sustainable St. Louis and is a Partner at the St. Louis, Missouri Law Firm of Gallop, Johnson & Neuman, Chair of the Firm’s Environmental Practice Area, Chair of the Firm’s New “Green Business Practice,”and serves as internal General Counsel for the Firm. He specializes in the areas of environmental, administrative and corporate law with extensive experience in dealing with federal, state and local environmental regulatory authorities. John previously served as in-house counsel for Ralston Purina Company as environmental legal counsel; counsel for the corporation’s engineering department; and, as corporate counsel for Ralston’s subsidiary Continental Baking Company. Mr. Traeger is a frequent speaker and author on topics involving environmental law and environmental sustainability. Mr. Traeger received his law degree from St. Mary’s University School of Law in San Antonio, Texas in 1981 and is licensed to practice law in the states of Missouri and Texas.