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Daniel Wallach - Daniel is the Executive Director and Co-Founder of Greensburg GreenTown, a non-profit organization that conceptualized and helped lead the sustainable rebuilding of Greensburg, Kansas following a devastating tornado in 2007. Today, Greensburg is an internationally recognized model of a sustainably built community. In September of 2011, Daniel, along with Catherine Hart and others, opened the first affiliate GreenTown organization in Joplin, Missouri, to help integrate sustainability into the rebuilding process after a third of the town was wiped out by a tornado.

Wallach is a social entrepreneur and innovator whose goal is making capitalism and environmental health interdependent. He is a pioneer in sustainable disaster recovery and has been a vocal proponent of taking the opportunity presented by disaster to catalyze positive changes in the recovery process. Wallach's long-term vision is to establish sustainability advocacy organizations across the country, starting with areas affected by natural disasters.

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Catherine Hart - Catherine is passionate about sustainability, what it means for our lives and how we build community. She is the co-founder of Greensburg GreenTown, a nonprofit organization that she and Daniel Wallach established to help the people of Greensburg, Kansas rebuild sustainably after the town was destroyed by a tornado in May 2007. Greensburg has made a successful comeback with its new identity as America’s Model Green Community.

She is the General Manager of the GreenTown affiliate in Joplin, Missouri, where she has led the organizing of GreenTown Joplin, a group of sustainability-minded people from throughout the area. This committee, chaired by Joplin resident Andrew Whitehead, creates, manages, and promotes projects that integrate sustainable principles into the city’s rebuilding after the tornado of 2011. She relocated to Joplin in March 2012 to give the chapter full-time attention.

Catherine has been an active advocate for environmental stewardship since her college days at the University of Missouri-Columbia, where she worked with Missourians for Safe Energy. Earning a master’s degree in social work in 1979, she has worked as a community organizer, educator, hospice social worker, nonprofit manager, and counselor.

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Joah Bussert - Joah began working with Greensburg GreenTown in the fall of 2009 as an AmeriCorps fellow. After living and working in Greensburg for 2 years, he moved to Denver, CO to help co-found the Association for Sustainability and to continue coordinating projects in both Greensburg and Joplin, MO. 

He has a Bachelors of Architecture from Iowa State University and a never ending desire to learn new, green technologies, especially relating to the built environment. Joah’s passion for sustainable building stems from his parents’ world view that all people have a responsibility to care for the Earth. This responsibility extends from how we design and construct our physical environment to the simplest actions in how we live our daily lives. He believes no action is too small or less important in living sustainably.

 

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Ama Hapke - Ama was born and raised in rural Southern Illinois, but has recently migrated to Denver, Colorado and is greatly enjoying the sunshine.  As a child, her grandparents encouraged respect for the natural environment, as well as, the people who live in it.  These early values have developed into a strong interest in sustainability and a passion for community development. 

Ama, a proud Saluki, received a Bachelors in Political Science and a Masters in Public Administration from Southern Illinois University; her graduate thesis highlighted the economic incentives for public institutions to prioritize environmental sustainability in their policies and encourage the same with their clients and constituents.  She began working with Greensburg GreenTown in 2010 and is excited to develop a national network with Association for Sustainability.  She feels the network will be a powerful tool to help individuals gain access to honest information, making it easier to identify the best options for them and their families.