Climate Prosperity Strategies About Us

Dr. Marc A. Weiss is Chairman of Climate Prosperity Strategies LLC, Chair of the Climate Prosperity Alliance, and Chairman and CEO of Global Urban Development. Also, he is Executive Editor of Global Urban Development Magazine, a member of the Steering Committee of the United Nations Sustainable Development Knowledge Partnership, and a member of the Steering Committees of the United Nations-Habitat World Urban Campaign and Best Practices and Policies Program. He previously served as a Public Policy Scholar and Editor of Global Outlook at the Woodrow Wilson International Center, as the Coordinator of the Congressionally mandated Strategic Economic Development Plan for Washington, DC, as Special Assistant to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in the Clinton Administration, as Director of the Real Estate Development Research Center and Associate Professor of Urban Development, Planning, and Preservation at Columbia University, and as Deputy Director of the California Commission on Industrial Innovation. He is the author or co-author of many books, articles, and reports, including a widely acclaimed book on urban development and planning, The Rise of the Community Builders, and a best-selling international textbook, Real Estate Development Principles and Process, published by the Urban Land Institute. He has been a consultant on sustainable economic and community development in cities and regions in the U.S. and throughout the world, including South Africa, China, Brazil, Spain, Sweden, the Czech Republic, and the Virgin Islands. He earned an M.C.P. and a Ph.D. in City and Regional Planning from the University of California, Berkeley, and a B.A. with Honors in Political Science from Stanford University, plus he attended the London School of Economics.

Vice Chairman: Lawrence Bloom

Lawrence Bloom is Vice Chairman of Climate Prosperity Strategies LLC, Vice Chair of the Climate Prosperity Alliance, a Senior Fellow and member of the Board of Directors of Global Urban Development, Co-Chair of the GUD program committee on Generating Sustainable Economic Development, and Chairman of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) Green Economy Initiative on Green Cities, Buildings, and Transport. He also is Chairman for United Kingdom Affairs of the Intergovernmental Renewable Energy Organization, a member and former Chairman of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Urban Management, and a member of the Jury for the Globe Award for Sustainable Cities. In addition, he serves as Executive Chairman of Bhairavi Energies, a private corporation researching and investing in bio-remediation and in renewable energy and clean water technologies. He previously served on the Executive Committee of the Intercontinental Hotel Group, managing its $3 billion global real estate portfolio, and he created an environmental manual for the Intercontinental Hotels that was endorsed by HRH Prince Charles and is now being used in 4.5 million hotel rooms worldwide. In 1989 he created the Global Action Plan, which is now the charity partner of the Sky Corporation.

President: James Hurd Nixon

General Counsel: Nancy Sedmak-Weiss

Nancy Sedmak-Weiss is General Counsel of Climate Prosperity Strategies LLC, a member of the Executive Board of the Climate Prosperity Alliance, Secretary-Treasurer of Global Urban Development, and Managing Editor of Global Urban Development Magazine. She served as Managing Editor of the Labor Relations Reporter at the Bureau of National Affairs (BNA) in Washington, DC, from 1985-2001, and from 2001 to 2003 she was Principal of PRC International in Moscow and Prague. She is the co-author of Primer on Equal Employment Opportunity (published by BNA) and of numerous other books and articles on labor and employment law in the U.S. and Europe. She is a member of the Pennsylvania Bar, and she received law degrees from Georgetown University, Catholic University of America, and the University of Leicester in the U.K.. She earned her B.A. from Chatham College.

James Hurd Nixon is President of Climate Prosperity Strategies LLC, Vice Chair of the Climate Prosperity Alliance, President of Global Urban Development, Co-Chair of the GUD program committee on Generating Sustainable Economic Development, President of New Voice of Business, and Co-Founder and Chair of Sustainable Systems. Sustainable Systems is the lead consultant to the Bay Area Council for the Bay Area Family of Funds, consisting of $250 million in private equity real estate and venture capital seeking a market rate of financial return combined with substantial economic, social, and environmental benefits. In addition, Sustainable Systems manages the Communications Technology Cluster Business Center in downtown Oakland (CA). Mr. Nixon has served as a lead consultant to the City of San Antonio (TX) for the Mission Verde sustainability plan, headed the consultation team that produced the Southwest Florida Climate Prosperity Strategy for the Southwest Florida Regional Planning Council, and co-coordinated three international conferences on Building the Sustainable Economy. He is the author or co-author of Sustainable Economic Development, published by Urban Sustainability Associates (a national network that he helped co-found), The Double Bottom Line Handbook (with financial support from the Ford Foundation), and Building the Sustainable Economy: An Opportunity for Oakland. He previously served for 12 years as Senior Vice President of Progressive Asset Management, a socially responsible investment company, and he holds both Series 7 and Series 24 securities registrations.