Denise Fairchild, President, Emerald Cities Collaborative, Inc., Washington, DC; Los Angeles, CA (Sustainability)

Denise Fairchild is the inaugural President of Emerald Cities Collaborative (ECC), a  national nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., with affiliates in major urban  centers across the United States. She is charged with advancing ECC’s “high-road” mission to green our cities, build resilient local economies and ensure equity inclusion in both the  process and outcomes of a new green and healthy economy. Denise is nationally recognized for her 40-  year successful track record and innovative programs in sustainable and community economic  development, domestically and internationally. In 1995 she founded and directed the Community and  Economic Development (CED) Department at Los Angeles Trade-Technical College, as well as an  affiliated nonprofit community development research and technical assistance organization, CDTech. She founded the Regional Economic Development Institute (REDI), an initiative of Los Angeles Trade-  Technical College, to provide inner-city residents with career and technical education for high-  growth/high-demand jobs in the L.A. region, with a focus on the green economy. From 1989-1995 she  served as Executive Director of LISC-LA, helping to build out the region’s community development  industry creating nonprofit housing, jobs and businesses that strengthened and improved the health and  environments of L.A.’s low-income communities of color.