IAIA's new Executive Director
A MESSAGE FROM IAIA PRESIDENT SARA BICE
Dear IAIA members, colleagues and friends,
The Selection Committee and I are delighted to announce David Bancroft as IAIA’s next Executive Director, working from the Washington, DC, USA area.
About David
David is a well-known environmental and sustainability professional, a master partnership builder, fund raiser, and ‘nonprofit guru’. David brings a wealth of experience in successfully leading non-profit organizations through transition. His professionalism, enthusiasm and knowledge are superbly suited to advance IAIA’s growth and development.
David has been involved in solar energy projects in Peru and Bolivia, water quality work at Lake Lanao in the Philippines, and bioenergy development in Yunnan Province, China. David’s involvement in impact assessment dates back to his college studies. He earned his first degree in environmental science from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay (go Packers!), before completing his Master’s degree in Technology and Policy at Washington University in St Louis, Missouri.
David is the Founder and President of the Council on Environmental Affairs (COEA). COEA provides consulting services on innovative policy ideas concerning clean air, clean water, renewable energy, sustainability, climate change and food. During 2008, he served on the Obama for President Campaign as a member of the Energy and Environment Work Group. Prior to that, David was President of the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay. At the Alliance, his dynamic leadership revitalized the organization, and began a period of programmatic growth addressing agricultural, storm water and watershed restoration issues. As Executive Vice President of the Solar Energy Industries Association, David helped spearhead the creation of the Million Solar Roofs program. That initiative was announced by President Clinton at the United Nations in 1997, as the first and only U.S. commitment to help fulfill the global climate change goals of the Kyoto Protocol. Earlier in his career, David spent five years as the Deputy Executive Director of the Council of Great Lakes Governors, a consortium of eight governors and two Canadian Premiers focused on the environmental protection and economic development of the Great Lakes Basin. He also served the University of Wisconsin Foundation’s corporate and foundation relations for nearly a decade, developing and managing public relations.
David is also an author, known for his book, Obama Green: The Environmental Leadership of President Obama. The book tracks the environmental promises of the Obama Campaign to the environmental actions of the Obama Administration, across multiple issues, including climate change, green jobs, renewable energy, energy efficiency, clean air, clean water, transportation and agricultural issues.
We are very excited to welcome David to the IAIA family! And he is equally excited to be a part of IAIA and to work with our diverse and dynamic members, supported by HQ and our Board of Directors.
Those of you attending our upcoming 'Improving impact assessment and management in the mining sector' symposium in London on 4-5 December will have the opportunity to meet David very soon. If you have not already booked your spot, a few places are still available. Registration closes 15 November.
A few very important 'thank yous'
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Board for their support and dedication during this period of transition. Especial thanks goes to the Selection Committee, Marla Orenstein, Luis Montanez, Maria Da Cunha, Aaron Goldschmidt and HQ rep Jen Howell. These individuals have given an inordinate amount of time and great care to the selection process, achieving a result to take pride in. Thank you to our recruitment specialist, Dana Sebal of Teamwrk360, whose enthusiastic professionalism facilitated us to sift through over 200 applications to find our next leader. Thanks goes to Acting Executive Director Susan Joyce for her courage to step in during uncertain times and for her steady steerage of the Association in the interim. And thanks, as always, to the HQ staff, who’ve kept the wheels turning even as change was under way.
Looking forward to IAIA's bright future,
Sara Bice
President (2018-2019)
