About Garrett's Work
Previously, Garrett Fitzgerald served as Strategic Collaboration Director for the Urban Sustainability Directors Network (USDN), a peer network of local government sustainability directors and related staff from more than 200 communities across the U.S. and Canada. Garrett supported USDN in strategic planning, organizing collaborative activities, and engaging external partners to help USDN members advance their work. He is based in Washington DC.
Garrett was a Switzer Fellow in 2004 while completing his Master's in U.C. Berkeley's Energy and Resources Group. Garrett's graduate work focused on city-scale community sustainability assessment and governance. Garrett also led the first sustainability assessment of the U.C. Berkeley campus, and taught a new course through which students participated directly in the assessment process.
Garrett later served as Programs Director for ICLEI-USA, where he helped to create new tools and services to support local governments working on climate change mitigation and adaptation. While with ICLEI, Garrett received a Switzer Leadership Grant in 2007 to develop a new sustainable cities rating system, which has evolved into the nationally recognized STAR Communities Rating System (www.starcommunities.org). He is now a board member for STAR Communities.
More recently, Garrett served five years as Sustainability Program Manager for the City of Oakland, CA. Oakland is consistently ranked among the ten greenest large U.S. cities. In this role, he led an inter-departmental Sustainability Advisory Team, developed Oakland’s Energy and Climate Action Plan and sustainable city publications, and spearheaded a range of sustainable city projects (e.g., energy efficiency program strategy, planning for electric vehicles, urban forest development, solar permitting). See www.sustainableoakland.com for more on Oakland's sustainable city story.
Garrett has played leadership roles in several regional and national collaborations related to climate and sustainability issues, including the Urban Sustainability Directors Network; Green Cities California; ICLEI's Community Greenhouse Gas Reporting Protocol; Local Government Sustainable Energy Coalition; Adapting to Rising Tides Project; Bay Area Regional Energy Network; and East Bay Multifamily Building Energy Efficiency Solutions Project.