CV
Sharon E Richardson
MPA
President and Founder, Resilient Lands Matter
Advisor, advocate and activist, business to business, projects include advancing SC Office of Resiliency and SC Floodwater Commission Goals for Resilient Ready economy, that leverages public-private collaborative partnerships to build out Carbon Neutral Circular Economy, and advancing investments in Green Infrastructure and nature-based solutions on corporate, public and family working lands. Champion for nature based solutions that advance economic development goals and build liveable communities that thrive for future generations.
Background Overview:
Visionary executive leader, achieving hemispheric conservation impact while monetizing conservation based revenue streams for companies and landowners. 30 years in Sustainability and Conservation, in geo-political ecosystem of land protection, environmental policy, state and local planning combined with multi-sector expertise in land management, nature base conservation finance and restoration. Client Portfolio: Landowners helped> 100families, municipalities and counties, local and national non-profit conservation groups, corporate entities; IMPACT:Acres protected > 100,000 acres. Raised and saved over $45M for land conservation, and raised $10M in corporate , foundation and private philanthropy to grow operating budgets and drive capital campaigns..Team Leadership and Executive Cognitive Strengths: Maximizer; Arranger; Learner; Intellection; Belief (Cliffton Strengths Assessment)•
Champion for nature based green infrastructure solutions that advance sustainable economic development goals to build liveable communities that thrive for future generations.
Client Portfolio:
30 years experience helping more than 100 landowners, including multi-generational families, municipalities and counties, local and national non-profit conservation groups, corporate entities:
IMPACT
· Acres permanently protected > 100,000 acres.
· Secured > $55M for land conservation,
· Solicited > $10M in corporate, foundation and private philanthropy for operating budgets and capital campaigns..
Academic Highlights:
• Bachelor of Arts, Psychology; Middlebury College, Minors: African American Studies and Religion
• Masters Public Administration; Univ. of Vermont, with natural resources emphasis, forest and wetlands management, hydrological modeling for forested watersheds, policy and state budgeting and finance
· Additional Training
o MIT: Circular Economy: Transition for Future Sustainability, certificate Dec 2022
o MIT: Cultural Awareness for Global Awareness, certificate Nov 2022
o Minority Business Accelerator Program, Charleston Chamber of Commerce, 2024
o In Place Impact Program, Charleston, Winter 2020
o Duke Univ. Nicolas School of the Environment, Conservation Finance Network
o Climate Reality Leadership Training, 2017 and 2018
Professional Distinctions:
• Riley Fellow Diversity Leadership Initiative, Furman Institute (Lowcountry, Fall 2019 and Fall 2020
• Governor McMaster appointment to SC Floodwater Commission, 2018
• Post & Courier- Golden Pen Award, September 2022
• City of Charleston Climate Action Plan 2021- Carbon Sink Committee
• Radical Life Coach in Resiliency: Groundbreaker, LaChiara Method and Infinity Healing
• Brand Ambassador, Life Wave, a patented phototherapy technology in stem cell regeneration
Relevant Speaker Events :
· River Corridors: Gateways to Freedom (National Parks Service and Slave Dwelling Project, 2022);
· Heavy Lifting: How Conservation Lands Can Embed Climate Resiliency at the Regional Scale (ASLA: Landscape Architecture National Convention, 2019, regular Land Trust Rally, various years between 2000-2015)
· Public Speaking: presentations to > 100 organizations, clubs, conferences, churches, universities, press conferences, national, state and regional conferences.
Scholarly Research and Writing
• Co-Author: Valuing Nature-Based Solutions- The Case of Waties Island. Client- SC Office of Resiliency. January, 2024.
• Co- author “A Clash of Cultures the Landscape of the Sea Island Gullah”. University of Massachusetts Amherst ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. 2007
• Author of a case study of the ACE Basin in Protecting Land: Conservation Easements, Past, Present and Future. Island Press, 2000.