The Institute gratefully acknowledges the contributions of our past External Advisory Board members. The following emeritus members remain active in sustainable enterprise areas and welcome contact from Erb community members seeking professional development advice and networking assistance.
| Bama Athreya Executive Director, United to End Genocide |
 Dr. Bama Athreya is the Executive Director of United to End Genocide. United to End Genocide is the new collaboration of Save Darfur Coalition and the Genocide Intervention Network. Dr. Athreya has a life-long commitment to human rights and ending genocide and human rights atrocities. In the early 1990s, she lived in Indonesia where she worked with human rights activists, including activists exposing atrocities in East Timor, West Papua and Aceh. In the late 1990s Athreya led a campaign to expose mass atrocities in Exxon Mobil’s area of operations in Aceh. During the mid-1990s, Athreya lived in Cambodia where she witnessed the fragile recovery as the United Nations Transitional Authority worked to re-establish rule of law and foster peace after Cambodia’s brutal years of civil war and genocide. Bama was previously the Executive Director of the International Labor Rights Forum (ILRF), where she advocated for stronger protections for workers’ rights with governments, multinational corporations and international organizations. Dr. Athreya is a Member of the Council on Foreign Relations and of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations. She holds a B.A. in Comparative Literature from the University of Pennsylvania and received her Ph.D. in Cultural Anthropology from the University of Michigan. In 2009 she was appointed by Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to a special Consultative Group on Forced and Child Labor. Athreya has published extensively on the issues of corporate accountability and human rights in global supply chains, and has provided public commentary on CNN, MSNBC, National Public Radio, and other major media outlets. |
| Nancy Bacon Senior, United Solar Ovonic/Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. |
 Nancy M. Bacon, serves as a consultant to United Solar Ovonic Corp. and ECD working principally in government relations and business development. Ms. Bacon represents ECD and United Solar on the boards of the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI), the Solar Energy Industries Association and the United States Industry Coalition (USIC) and is a member of the Management Committee of Cobasys a Joint Venture between ECD and Chevron. Ms. Bacon was until April 1, 2008 Senior Vice President of ECD where her responsibilities included government relations, business development including finance and presentation of business and strategic plans to major international corporations for the commercialization of ECD technologies. In 1997, Ms. Bacon was recognized by Crain’s Detroit Business as one of Detroit’s Most Influential Women. Ms. Bacon has a B.S. in Accounting and is a certified public accountant (CPA). Prior to joining ECD, she was a manager at Deloitte & Touche. |
| Dave Berdish Manager, Social Sustainability/Ford Motor Company |
 David Berdish has been at Ford since 1983 and has worked Production, Program Management, Finance, Quality, Business Planning and Organizational Learning. He received a BA from the University of Michigan and a MS from Virginia Commonwealth University. His work has been featured in several publications and he has presented at systems thinking conferences around the world. David is responsible for the development of the Ford Motor Company Business Principles. The Principles will integrate the “triple bottom line” of economics, environmental, and societal performance into current Ford operating processes. He is also leading the design and development of a Human Rights Code of Conduct and related processes. David regularly teaches courses for the Erb Institute and is also on the faculty of the Prince of Wales Business and Environment Programme. |
| Karen Flanders Sustainability Practice Leader, Wisdom Works Group, Inc. |
| Karen Flanders is the Sustainability Practice Leader for Wisdom Works, a strategy development firm that advances wellbeing and sustainability in companies and communities worldwide. To her role, Karen brings over 20 years of experience working on sustainability issues within corporations, non-profits and intergovernmental organizations, both domestically and internationally. karen is an accomplished professional with 25 years of international and domestic experience developing and embedding sustainability strategies in corporate, non-profit and public policy sectors (WWF, Coca-Cola, HRH Prince of Wales, UN). Special expertise in integrated stakeholder engagement strategies and strategic partnerships that advance sustainability objectives. Named one of the “Top 10 Women of Sustainability” in the clean-technology and sustainability sectors (2012); Who’s Who in America (2008); Top 15 Women in Business by the Forté Foundation & Pink Magazine (2007). |
| Sara Kendall Vice President, Corporate Affairs, Sustainability, and EHS, Weyerhaeuser |
 Kendall has overall responsibility for the Weyerhaeuser’s federal and regional public affairs, communications, community investment, sustainability, and environment, health and safety functions. Prior to assuming this role, Kendall was vice president – Environment, Health and Safety, and Sustainability. In that role, she was responsible for the company’s EHS programs such as remediation, safety and regulatory affairs in addition to the company’s sustainability initiatives. She retains those responsibilities. During her career at Weyerhaeuser, Kendall also has served in the law department and worked in the company’s Timberlands and Wood Products businesses. Kendall joined Weyerhaeuser in 1989 after serving as a natural resource legislative counsel for U.S. Senators Dan Evans and Slade Gorton. She is a graduate of Northwestern University and earned her law degree at Georgetown University. She also holds a Master of Forest Science from Yale University. |
| Peter Mertz CEO, Global Forest Partners LP |
 Peter C. Mertz is Chief Executive Officer of Global Forest Partners LP. Mr. Mertz’s responsibilities include setting the strategic direction of the firm and the development and implementation of investment strategies. Prior to founding GFP, Mr. Mertz served as Managing Director of UBS Timber Investors where, since 1997, he directed the firm’s timberland investment capabilities. In addition to his responsibilities as CEO, Mr. Mertz is Chief Investment Officer; is the chairperson of the Investment and Compensation Committees; and serves on the Boards of eight private equity timberfunds. Mr. Mertz is a certified forester and member of the Society of American Foresters. He also serves as a Trustee and a member of the Investment Committee for the Montshire Museum of Science. His affiliations with the University of Michigan include serving on the Advisory Board for the Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise, the Visiting Committee for the School of Natural Resources, and the National Advisory Board for the Michigan Congenital Heart Center. Mr. Mertz holds a B.S. in Forestry and an MBA from the University of Michigan. He resides in Hanover, New Hampshire with his wife Carolyn. |
| Paul Murray VP Sustainability and Environmental Affairs, Shaw |
 Paul Murray is currently the Vice President of Sustainability and Environmental Affairs at Shaw Industries Group, Inc., a carpet manufacturing company in Georgia. Before this position, Paul spent 22 years as the Director of Environmental Safety and Sustainability at Herman Miller. He created the Environmental Quality Action Team that has helped the company to reduce waste, use more sustainable products, build LEED-certified buildings and increase renewable energy. Herman Miller has received many awards for their environmental efforts including being named one of the top 100 global companies for sustainability. Paul grew up in Selby, a small farming community in north central South Dakota. He attended Northern State College in Aberdeen, South Dakota, where he earned an undergraduate degree in chemistry; he also holds a Master’s in management from Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Initially credentialed as a high school teacher, Paul taught math and chemistry, and served as a high school coach, before leaving his teaching career to work as a research chemist with PPG Industries and Boise Cascade Corporation. |
| Scott Noesen President and CEO, WorldView Consulting LLC |
 Scott Noesen is President and CEO of WorldView Consulting LLC, a firm that helps businesses and non-profit institutions integrate sustainable thinking and processes into all phases of their activities. Scott retired from The Dow Chemical Company in December of 2008, after 33 years of service. As Director of Sustainability and Business Integration, he was responsible for directing and integrating Sustainability activity into the core business processes of the company – with an emphasis on implementing one of Dow’s critical Sustainability 2015 Goals – Sustainable Chemistry. Noesen also managed Dow’s Corporate Environmental Advisory Council (CEAC) – a standing council of various external stakeholders that provides guidance to Dow on corporate sustainability issues. He is also Dow’s Liaison Delegate to the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). Noesen has extensively participated in various external forums on the subject of Sustainability and has been a key contributor on a number of related external advisory boards and programs, including the Erb Institute, University of Michigan’s Center for Sustainable Systems, Sustainable Enterprise Institute Advisory Board at the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler School of Business, and The Center for Corporate Resilience at the Ohio State University. |
