Board of Directors

Officers

Amanda Kuhl, President

Amanda leads the development and implementation of ClimeCo’s digitalization and automation strategy with the goals of creating value for clients and partners. She assists business leaders enhance long term value by guiding the integration of sustainability into their operations with a focus on commercial opportunities. Amanda joined ClimeCo after its acquisition of Global Affairs Associates (GAA), the women-owned ESG and sustainability consulting firm in Houston. Before GAA, Amanda worked to better social and environmental conditions in IKEA’s North and South American supply chains and improve the environmental footprint of its products.
Amanda co-hosts the ESG Decoded TM Podcast and frequently speaks publicly on ESG and related topics. She was a contributor to Climate Risks in the Texas Power Sector: Stakeholder Views and Management Approaches. Amanda earned a B.B.A. in Finance from the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas in Austin.

Steve Stelzer, Vice President

In his former role as the Program Director of the City of Houston Green Building Resource Center since 2008, Steve offered green building strategies to plans brought in by the public, developed and maintained green strategy displays and education programs, and maintained codegreenhouston.org, the green building portal of the City of Houston. Steve was a career architect in Houston prior to joining the City, with a BS in Architecture from the Ohio State University in 1976, and an MBA from the University of Houston in 1989. He is an advocate for backyard composting and moving the needle on zero waste and curbing pollution.

Brooke Campbell, CNP, CVA, Secretary

Brooke is the Director of Community Outreach and Disaster Recovery at the United Way of Greater Houston. She is a wife, best friend, AmeriCorps NCCC alum, rescue kitten mom, backyard gardener, instructional designer, international traveler, INTJ (information architect), better listener than talker, collaborative networker, and is obsessed with doing good. She is experienced in creating intentional service learning opportunities and building state AmeriCorps programs, including the development of work plans for AmeriCorps VISTAs. Brooke served as the Director of Volunteer Houston for four years, where she led the operation of a web-based volunteer recruitment platform, designed the corporate volunteer program, and consulted with hundreds of local nonprofits to improve their volunteer engagement programs. Brooke is trained in instructional design and has authored two professional training courses for a national nonprofit. She is a Certified Nonprofit Professional (CNP) and Certified Volunteer Administrator (CVA).

Members

Leo Brito

Leo Brito is the owner of Woodlands Escapes, a landscaping business in The Woodlands, Texas. A strong advocate for less waste and more efficient sustainable practices, he started Zero Waste Houston, a curbside food waste pick-up service in order to do his part to reduce the tremendous amount of waste in our society by facilitating the composting of food waste. He also does zero waste consulting and designs and installs native plantscapes. He is is TRUE Zero Waste certified and is a Master Composter, Master Gardener, and Master Naturalist.

In his spare time he loves to spend time with his wife and three children enjoying the beauty of our world and work in his large vegetable garden.

Susie Hairston

Susie is a mother, grandmother, environmental advocate, and teacher (now retired). She has been on the City of West University Place Recycling Board, and was appointed to the City of West U’s first Sustainability Task Force. A huge proponent for food waste composting, she has helped move West U towards increasing its food waste composting by helping organize a drop-off pilot, encouraging residents to sign up for curbside food waste pick-up, volunteering at school and city events to collect food waste, and helping develop a food waste diversion program for West U Elementary. She co-teaches a master recycler course, and in her past life, developed and taught an environmental studies course for high school students. She spends much of her free time reading about environmental issues, particularly climate change and plastics, playing with her grandchildren, communing with nature, and walking her dogs.

One thing Susie has realized over the years on her journey to try to make a difference is that you have to bring others along with you, form coalitions, develop community. That is why she joined the board of CEC, to help it grow its mission of connecting environmental organizations, community leaders, and concerned citizens to work on protecting our shared environment.

Coral Lozada, Ph.D.

Coral is a Sustainability Faculty Fellow in the Office of Sustainability at Houston Methodist Academic Institute. She has a PhD in coastal and marine systems sciences and her research background in mixed-methods approaches allows her to approach sustainability with an interdisciplinary perspective.

Much of her work has focused on how community perceptions and values influence resilience to both natural and man-made disasters, and how coastal communities adapt to changes in their livelihoods as a result of these disasters or shifts.

She looks forward to enhancing Methodist hospital’s resilience and contributing to its environmental sustainability using a One Health lens.

Alex McCray

Alex currently works for the City of Houston at the Houston Permitting Center in the Communications, Education & Outreach Division providing Houston building codes and permitting process trainings and efforts to revitalize the Green Building Resource Center. Previously at the City he was the Project Manager for Houston’s Construction Code Modernization (CCM) project, to adopt current building codes that lay the foundation for resilient buildings as laid out in the Resilient Houston Plan and Climate Action Plan.

Before moving to Houston, Alex lived in Atlanta, GA and served as Executive Director of the Olmsted Liner Park Alliance (OPLA) after serving as the Director for Mayor’s Office of Environmental Affairs for the City of Atlanta. He was awarded the Community Service Award by Atlanta City Council and awarded Atlanta Business Chronicle’s Environmental Ennovation. He has held many board positions and currently serves as Vice President on the Houston Chapter of the International Code Council.

Obiageli Onuba, MCD

Obiageli is a community engagement and environmental justice consultant. She focuses on facilitating relationships, and using conversations to effectively implement equity by looking at the systemsin place that created certain conditions to dismantle them using community building. She approaches her impact by utilizing lived experiences to dissect problems of the past to help solve problems of the present so they are no longer problems of the future.

Obiageli grew up in systemically underserved and underinvested communities on the southside of Houston, Texas. Experiencing injustice firsthand is what influences her work to ensure all voices are fully considered and heard as she works toward equity and a sustainable future.

She holds a Bachelors of Science in Construction Science and Master’s degree in Community Development from Prairie View A&M University. Some of her work includes community engagement and strategic implementation with vulnerable populations to build resilient communities, increasing mobility within communities and leveraging resources to
help build communities’ social capital and increase economic development.

Obiageli [oh-bee-uh-gail-ee] means one who has come to enjoy life — not to suffer. In her free time she enjoys finding the beauty in the world around her.

Stephanie Piper, Ph.D.

Stephanie is the Director of Texas Community Resilience at American Forests. She works at the intersection of ecology and community resilience, aiming to provide benefits and protection from climate change to all communities.

Her research interests include urban ecology, reforestation, extreme heat, and applying science to improve and protect the environment.

Before joining American Forests, Dr. Piper was a researcher at Houston Advanced Research Center, where she managed the largest single day heat mapping campaign in the US.

She completed her PhD in Plant Biology at the University of California, Riverside, where her research focused on urban air pollution and its effects both in the city and in adjacent natural areas.

Eden Taylor

Eden is a conservation communicator and dedicated advocate for environmental protection, serving as a board member for the CEC in the Houston/Gulf Coast region. She brings her expertise in communication and public engagement to the CEC, helping to advance its mission of connecting and supporting environmental organizations.

In addition to her role with the CEC, Eden is the Communications Manager for the National Wildlife Refuge Association. In this capacity, she manages the Association’s website, email marketing, and social platforms, leveraging these tools to broaden the audience and support for the National Wildlife Refuge System.

Originally from Pennsylvania, Eden earned a B.S. in Natural Resources Ecology & Management with a concentration in Conservation Biology from Louisiana State University. She is passionate about bridging the gap between conservation science and the public through compelling communication. In her free time, Eden enjoys hiking, wildflower photography, finding quaint places to read under trees, and paying attention to the smaller things in life that often get overlooked.