Greenleaf Communities Board of Directors

John Andersen is founder and President of Greenleaf Advisors, LLC, where he advises businesses, institutions, and communities on strategies that advance their sustainable development. John’s thirty-plus years of experience, serving businesses, capital clients, nonprofits, governments and institutions, demonstrates that it takes effective engagement across these sectors to achieve sustainable growth and solve complex problems. His current clients include regional governmental entities seeking to protect water resources, renewable-energy companies, private-equity investment firms, nonprofits, energy research institutions, and industrial-materials recycling and waste-energy recovery companies. Previously, John was an International and Managing Director at Jones Lang LaSalle, where he managed the company’s national land business and its strategic expansion into China. He was also the Great Lakes Director of The Nature Conservancy, where he worked across the region’s scientific, business, and government sectors to advance biodiversity conservation. John is a faculty member at DePaul University, where he teaches Sustainable Value Creation in the Kellstadt Business School. Additionally, John is President of Greenleaf Communities, a nonprofit research entity that recruits and organizes multi-disciplinary teams of scientists to investigate environmental influences on health and apply that knowledge to improve industrial practices and public policies. John holds an AB in Economics from Brown University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Warren Dick is a Professor Emeritus of soil and environmental science at The Ohio State University. He studied enzymatic and biological nutrient cycling in soil under various management systems. Recent research has focused on microbial ecology and on the use of gypsum for improving soil and water quality. Warren has mentored more than 35 graduate students, 12 undergraduate interns, 8 postdocs and 27 visiting scholars. He has published 31 papers that have been cited more than 100 times. He is active professionally and has served as Editor-in- Chief of both the Soil Science Society of America and the American Society of Agronomy. Warren currently serves as Editor of the journal, Agricultural & Environmental Letters. His recent activities have largely focused on establishing an environmental and agricultural university and training center in Ethiopia. Read more about BEAUTC.

Dr. Ali Fatemi is Editor-in-Chief for Global Finance Journal and is the Emeritus Chairman and Professor of the Finance Department at DePaul University, Driehaus College of Business. Dr. Fatemi taught sustainable value creation and is a leader in DePaul’s advancement of sustainability. His research deals with issues related to socially responsible investing, mergers and acquisitions, executive compensation, dividend policy and corporate governance.

Janet Hock brings an interesting mix of career experiences and scientific executive expertise to Greenleaf Communities. From 2007-2013, while leading the Maine Institute for Human Genetics and Health, she created a translational research program investigating environmental risks for cancer, integrating biobanking, genomics and geospatial information sciences. She is currently a Professor at The Polis Center at Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN, and at Tufts University School of Dental Medicine, Boston, MA.

Nancy Holm was the Assistant Director at the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC) which is a division of the Prairie Research Institute at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In her role as assistant director, she oversaw ISTC’s Sponsored Research Program which funds research projects through the State of Illinois’ Hazardous Waste Research Fund. Additionally, Nancy was involved with several research projects at ISTC on pharmaceuticals and personal care products in the aquatic environment and, most recently, fate and transport of microplastics in aquatic systems. She was also co-leader of ISTC’s Solar Module End-of-Life Initiative promoting proper recycling of decommissioned solar modules. Nancy holds a B.A. in Biology and Chemistry from Luther College and an M.S. in Oceanography and Limnology from the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

John W. Jimison is an energy attorney and consultant. He was the Managing Director of the Energy Future Coalition, a broad-based, non-partisan public policy initiative of the UN Foundation. Prior to joining the Energy Future Coalition in 2011, Mr. Jimison served as Senior Counsel to the Energy and Commerce Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives, advising Chairman Henry Waxman and the committee’s other members on a range of legislative issues in energy policy. His responsibilities included energy efficiency, regulatory matters, energy markets, and electric grid modernization. He is a graduate of the College of Wooster and Georgetown University Law Center, a member of the Washington, D.C., and Virginia Bars, a member of the Energy Bar Association, and a former Peace Corps volunteer in Somalia, East Africa.

Richard (Dick) Munson is the author of Tesla: Inventor of the Modern and Tech to Table: 25 Innovators Reimagining Food on food and farm innovators. He has been a senior director, focused on advancing clean energy in the Midwest, at the Environmental Defense Fund. He was senior vice president for Recycled Energy Development, a company that captured wasted energy and turned it into clean electricity and heat. Dick also served as executive director of the Northeast-Midwest Institute, which focused on brownfields redevelopment, Great Lakes water quality, and pollution prevention.

Dr. Darrell Norton retired as a Research Soil Scientist and Director for the USDA-ARS National Soil Erosion Research Laboratory (NSERL) located on the campus of Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana where he also is an Adjunct Professor of Agricultural and Biological Engineering. He started with NSERL in 1982 conducting research on various aspects of soil erosion related to physio-chemical and biogeochemical interactions between soil and rainwater.

He led research in the NSERL to evaluate various industrial byproduct materials for use in controlling erosion and managing water in agricultural production systems. Much of his research has focused on relatively clean high Ca and S containing materials from air purification systems from coal-fired power plants. Dr. Norton and co-authors including many of his PhD students have published more than 270 articles and technical reports and has been widely invited to present results of his research at scientific congresses all over the world. He holds a BSc. ’75 and MSc. ’76 from Purdue University and a PhD ’81 from The Ohio State University.

Darrell consults with Greenleaf Advisors on the GYPSOIL project and other soil matters.

Bill Obenshain is Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Center for Financial Services at DePaul University. The Center for Financial Services is a center of excellence for the Chicago area financial services community that delivers to students and practitioners the academic and extra-curricular programs that fulfill industry talent requirements and address the practical and theoretical interests of industry professionals. Before joining DePaul, Mr. Obenshain spent 38 years in the financial services industry with Continental Bank and Bank of America. He held positions in Chicago, New York, Brussels and London. He was the founder, in 1995, of Bank of America’s private equity business in Europe. From 1995 to 2006, he was Managing Partner of BA Capital Partners Europe. Before joining Continental Bank, Mr. Obenshain served in the U. S. Navy for five years. He earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Dartmouth College and an MBA at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business.

Hugh Reams was a Senior Advisor at Shannon Advisors, which raises institutional capital from pension funds, endowments, foundations and high net worth family offices for buyout and venture capital funds. Prior to Shannon, Hugh was a Managing Director at Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette (DLJ), Credit Suisse, and LaSalle Investment Management. Raising more than $12 billion from institutional investors for buyout and venture capital clients including cleantech funds.

Hugh graduated with an economics degree from Denison University and an M.B.A. from Indiana University

Brian Richter has been a global leader in water science and conservation for more than 30 years. He is the president of Sustainable Waters, a global water education organization, where he promotes sustainable water use and management with governments, corporations, universities, and local communities. He previously served as Chief Scientist for the Global Water Program of The Nature Conservancy, an international conservation organization.

Read more about Sustainable Waters.

Read Brian’s blog.

Alice has served on the Wilmette District 39 Board of Education since 2011 and is currently the chairperson of the facilities and strategy committees.  She served as President of the Board from 2015 to 2017.  Prior to serving on the Board of Education, she served nine years on the District 39 Educational Foundation, which she led as chairperson in addition to assuming fundraising and event leadership roles.

Alice has also held leadership positions with many other non-profit organizations including the New Trier School Board Caucus, The Volunteer Center, Michigan Shores Club, The Nature Conservancy, The American Cancer Society and Family Matters.

In her professional life, Alice worked in brand management and finance.  She holds a BS in Business Administration from Georgetown University.  Alice and her husband, Peter, live in Wilmette and have four children.

Dr. Sabina Shaikh is a part of the faculty at the University of Chicago in the Program on Global Environment, where she directs the Environment, Agriculture and Food group. She was previously a Senior Consultant at CardnoENTRIX focusing on the economic valuation and development of mechanisms for the provision of ecosystem services in both the private and public sectors.

Read more about the Environment, Agriculture and Food group.

Robert (Bob) Spoerri is President of Beneficial Reuse Management (BRM), a firm that creates partnerships between industrial companies that generate materials suitable for beneficial reuse. Land owners and others use these materials in projects and products. BRM is the parent company of GYPSOIL, a byproduct gypsum supplier. Prior to BRM, Bob was President of Jones Lang LaSalle.

Read more about Beneficial Reuse Management.

George S. Stone has developed Hill & Stone, a 100-plus year old family-owned business, into one of the largest independent insurance agencies in the Midwest. Several thousand clients benefit from Hill & Stone’s unyielding commitment to meeting their personal and corporate insurance needs. George brings valuable insight into sales, marketing, and client service to assist Greenleaf Advisors in serving its clients and growing its business. George also owns and manages a family tree farm business, Swimming Bear Corporation, which has been committed to Silvaculture since 1923. George brings valuable insight into sales, marketing, and client service to assist Greenleaf Communities in serving its clients and growing its business.

Read more about George and Hill & Stone.

Since retiring from Jones Lang LaSalle in 2006, John Wallerius has been retained by JLL as a consultant to manage high-impact projects related to enhancing the firm’s competitive advantage or retaining high-value clients. Prior to retiring, John was Managing Director at JLL responsible for the firm’s national accounts and $500 million in revenue. In addition to his consulting practice, John is active on corporate boards, The Shedd Aquarium and several NFPs.