Our Community

Our Only Path Forward is Together

You’re in the weeds. You’re a department of one. You’re shouting in an echo chamber. You know there must be another option. You know how impactful buildings are, want to do something, but you don’t know what or how. mindful MATERIALS is the building industry’s collective opportunity to move the materials sustainability needle forward. Whether you are new to this work or have been fighting the good fight for decades and there is a place to learn, grow, and drive impact. mindful MATERIALS was created for the industry by the industry. Join us in our collective work.

Small but mighty

Our Team

Did you know that a group of unicorns is called a blessing? Well, consider us blessed at mindful MATERIALS. We’ve all independently arrived at this organization driven by that same nagging feeling that we could help accelerate progress if we all came together. We all bring something unique — and maybe a little magical — to this mix. We're a small but mighty team bolstered by the genius and support of our broader community of changemakers.

Lona Rerick

Chair

Associate Principal, ZGF Architects

Myrrh Caplan

Vice Chair

National VP, Sustainability, Skanska

Steve Kooy

Past Chair

Technical Director Health + Sustainability, BIFMA

Arthur Clarke

Secretary

Director of Sustainability + Impact, HTMX Industries

Brent Trenga

Board Member

Director of Sustainability, North America, Kingspan

Nora Rizzo

Board Member

Ethical Materials Director, Grace Farms Foundation

Rand Ekman

Board Member

Chief Sustainability Officer, HKS

Katie Rothenberg

Board Member

Vice President, ESG, AvalonBay Communities

Barbra BatShalom

Board Member

ED, Sustainable Performance Inst. CEO, BuildingEase

Jane Abernethy

Board Member

Chief Sustainability Officer, Humanscale

Driving change + innovation

Our Board

Our Board of Directors, comprised of leaders from across the building ecosystem, is pivotal in providing strategic governance and oversight, ensuring alignment with our mission, vision, and values as a charitable 501c3 non-profit.

Materials cool kids

Working + Engagement Groups

Mindful MATERIALS’ Working Groups contribute to mindful MATERIALS' strategic goals by supporting the creation, review, or dissemination of tools and resources. Engagement Groups exist to help connect the mindful community, encourage peer-to-peer learning, and share the latest on holistic materials sustainability.

Content Advisory Board

The Content Advisory Board (CAB) develops and updates the data (certifications, eco-labels, general information, etc.) that will be included in the Common Materials Framework and how that data is organized. The goal of the CAB is to provide a cross-section of industry stakeholder input and ensure industry alignment on the Common Framework.

Current Members:

Annie Bevan, mindful MATERIALS

Michaela Shaw, Hightower

Jack Dinning, Brightworks Sustainability

Jeff Frost, Brightworks Sustainability

Mary Dickinson, Perkins&Will

Maria Papiez, EwingCole

Rachelle Schoessler Lynn, Gensler

Ralph Bicknese, Hellmuth + Bicknese Architects

Lona Rerick, ZGF Architects

David Cordell, Perkins&Will

The CAB is not currently accepting new members.

Community Working Group

The Community WG helps to foster and expand the mM Community of volunteers - both nationally and internationally. The WG supports mM Staff and Volunteer WG/EG Chairs and Co-Chairs in maintaining engagement and adding value for all members of the mM Community. Members act as the first point of contact with parties interested in getting involved with mM and help shape and develop the CTA for different stakeholders to outline how individuals and companies can best get involved with and support mM’s work in their respective roles. Interfaces with all engagement groups to support them in making their platforms more valuable and engaging.

Group Chairs:

Antonio Holguin, Material Bank

Mandy Miller, Elkus Manfredi

Creative Working Group

The Creative Working Group is the magic touch on our work at Mindful Materials. This group gets folks excited about crafting and packaging messages to reach the hearts and minds of existing or new community members. This includes graphic visuals, website reviews, copy, resource support, brand maintenance, etc.

The Creative WG works closely with the Community WG (and all others) to help polish and package their outreach and engagement strategies. For example, they create visual templates for volunteer highlights and structure the content, or they review the website to identify update needs.

The Creative Working Group is currently not meeting.

Manufacturer Engagement Group

Navigating the implementation and effectiveness of your sustainability efforts as a manufacturer has a lot of shared challenges and opportunities. Come together with peers to learn the latest from mM and industry experts, share knowledge, and identify collective opportunities to leverage the CMF, drive changes in manufacturing, and grow awareness and action among specifiers.

Group Chairs:

Rachel Berkin, Tarkett

Kendra Martz, Construction Specialties

AEC Engagement Group

The A&D Engagement Group comes together as a collective to discuss the importance of holistically sustainable specifications and share knowledge and resources to enable each member to design and specify more sustainably and successfully. Members also play a key role in elevating awareness and action by the broader community.

Group Chairs:

Alexandra Christiana, HMFH Architects

Rebecca Best, Material Bank

Introducing

The Forums

mindful MATERIALS Forums assemble proven materials leaders in the building industry, from the owner, AEC, and manufacturing sectors, to find common ground, identify alignment opportunities, build shared resources and knowledge, and accelerate impact by sending a clear market signal.

Owner Forum

Owner Forum members are early adopters, actively investing in areas that foster sustainability and accountability. They recognize the significance of minimizing their organizations’ environmental impacts and see a need to align their voices to scale holistic, industry-wide change.

AEC Forum

AEC Forum members are at the forefront of innovation, actively investing in several crucial areas. They diligently assess their progress toward fulfilling material pledge commitments while developing, solidifying, and rolling out materials programs within their organizations—in some cases, even publicly.

Manufacturer Forum

Manufacturer Forum members are early adopters: manufacturers prioritizing the pursuit and upkeep of holistic, third-party verified certifications and have embedded sustainability into their product development processes, underscoring their commitment to quality and sustainability.

Learn More About the Forums →

Our Work Would Not Be Possible

Continuous improvement and accessiblity of the Common Materials Framework, development of the Collaboration Hub, endorsement of the need for a common language, clear market signal and connected data, creation of free, accessible resources and events, and broader advocacy for sustainable materials are all made possible through the incredible generosity of our sponsors and Forum members.

Meet Our Sponsors

Meet Our Forum Members

Our Mindful Partners

We're seeking to partner with all organizations seeking to reduce impact across the built environment. Here are some examples:

Collaborate

We Saved You a Seat

Now you know who we are, what we do, and who all the other materials cool kids are (everyone on this page, including you). Interested in becoming more involved?

Learn More

Latin America

Hub Leader: REGENBE

The Regenerative Built Environment Institute (REGENBE), led by Victor Montero-Dien and Mauricio López Campos, exists to leverage development and design to support the vitality of people and places. Through advocacy, consulting and facilitation of inspirational summits like Quantum Leap 2030, REGENBE is changing the landscape of design in LATAM&C.

Canada

Hub Leader: CAGBC

CAGBC’s Sustainable Materials Accelerator tackles systemic issues that inhibit the availability, procurement and installation of sustainable materials in Canada. Their collaboration with mindful MATERIALS enables them to promote the infrastructure Canadian organizations need to make better product sourcing decisions and publicly commit to materials action.

India

Hub Leader: FIVD

FivD is a design technology consulting firm with offices in Dallas, New Delhi and Mumbai. It is actively seeking to raise awareness of materials action in the India marketplace. There is an opportunity for collaboration between these two organizations to raise awareness of mindful MATERIALS as a collaboration hub, data hub and industry-led movement to enable global collaborative change within the built environment by making better materials choices.

Our International Hubs (Beta)

Mindful worldwide. We’re working with organizational partners in a few pilot regions to explore expansion of mindful MATERIALS guidance globally, and increase awareness of the need for a common language, clear market signal, and connected data ecosystem. Meet our international partners below.