Our Team

Office of Sustainability Team

Meet the Office of Sustainability team!

Members of the Georgia Tech Office of Sustainability.

Office of Sustainability team members

leadership

Jennifer Chirico, PhD, MPH

ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT (AVP) OF SUSTAINABILITY

Dr. Chirico is a life-long yellow jacket bringing over 20 years of experience in sustainability as the inaugural Associate Vice President of Sustainability at Georgia Tech. Prior to returning to Tech, she was one of Hawai’i’s foremost experts on sustainability as the founder and CEO of a Certified B-Corp for 10 years and won multiple awards as the best sustainability consultant in Hawaii. She worked with some of the largest companies in the world, government agencies, and universities, leading sustainability initiatives in clean energy, climate planning, zero waste, water conservation, regenerative agriculture, ESG reporting, sustainable technology, and strategy. She served as a university lecturer in sustainable business programs at the University of Hawaii and Hawaii Pacific University from 2010-2020. In 2017, she was a visiting scholar for 6 months at universities across Europe presenting on sustainability and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

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Upon completing her doctorate, she served as the Executive Director of the first sustainability institute at the University of Hawaii from 2010-2014, raising millions of dollars in green workforce development and directing the first clean energy and water programs in the state. In between graduate schools, she worked as a senior consultant with Booz Allen Hamilton, consulting on projects with the IRS and CDC, and as an investment consultant with Anon, managing large scale portfolios for Fortune 500 companies.

She published the book “Thinking Like an Island: Navigating a Sustainable Future in Hawai’i” with the University of Hawai’i Press and has published book chapters on air quality, the UN SDGs, and systems thinking and adaptation. She founded the Maui chapter of Women in Renewable Energy (WiRE) and served on the boards of the Sustainability Association of Hawai’i, TEDxMaui, Malama Maui Nui, and helped develop the first sustainability metrics for the state of Hawaii that led to the Aloha + Challenge and the UN SDGs.

Dr. Chirico holds a PhD in Public Policy with a major in Environmental Policy from Georgia Tech, a Master’s in Public Health (MPH) with a major in Environmental Health, and a Bachelor’s of Science in Management and minor in Finance from the Scheller School of Management at Georgia Tech. She is LEED GA accredited and holds certifications in the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), WaterSense, Climate Action Planning, and Home Energy Survey Professional (HESP).

Office COORDINATION

Rania Hamzeh

Assistant to the AVP

Emma Blandford

Program and Portfolio Manager, Sustainability Next

Abby Bower

Program Support Coordinator

SUSTAINABILITY ENGAGEMENT

Drew Cutright

Director, Sustainability Engagement

Drew works with stakeholders and leaders across campus and beyond on sustainability projects, events, reporting, policy, buildings, and communications. She has been at Georgia Tech for seven years, serving as a Managing Strategy Consultant in Georgia Tech Strategic Consulting and Program Manager in Sustainability & Building Operations and in the Office of the Executive Vice President of Administration and Finance. In her most recent role, she served as a partner on the Sustainability Next and Global Student Experience & Partnerships Institute Strategic Plan initiatives and as Program Director of the University Global Coalition (UGC).

Jordan Barron

Campus Sustainability Project Manager

Kamilah Roberts

Program & Operations Manager

Vanessa Suarez

Sustainability Coordinator

2024 STUDENT TEAM

Renee Alnoubani 

Kendeda Fellow

Megan Fannin

Kendeda Fellow

Cindy Huynh
Kiran Kapileshwari 

Kendeda Fellow

Charlie McHenry
Nicole Nunez
Lauren Otobor

Kendeda Fellow

Annabelle Sarkissian

Kendeda Fellow

Paige Suk
Tony Tan
Sadat Uddin

THE KENDEDA BUILDING

Shan Arora, J.D., LFA

Director, Kendeda Building for Innovative Sustainable Design

Shan is recognized globally as an effective advocate for the design, construction, and operation of regenerative buildings that have net-positive impacts on the environment. As Director of The Kendeda Building, the region’s first regenerative Living Building, he engages people across cultures, ages, and vocations to amplify the message that in a resource-depleted world, it is not enough to do less harm. We must give back to nature more than we take.

UTILITIES MANAGEMENT

Jermaine Clonts

Associate Director, Utilities Management

Jermaine Clonts is the Associate Director of Utilities Management at Georgia Tech, where he manages a purchased utility budget of approximately $30 Million, oversees meter maintenance contracts and tracks key performance indicators related to utilities, energy, and finance. With 13 years of engineering experience Jermaine Clonts brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to his role.

Teresa McDonald

Utilities Analyst

David Ta

Utilities Project Manager