Lucia Athens

Chief Sustainability Officer, City of Austin. Lucia has over 25 years of experience in greening government & buildings, and is the author of the book Building an Emerald City with Island Press. She has led the City of Austin’s Office of Sustainability for 4.5 years, and previously led Seattle’s green building initiative. Her bread and butter is driving change in large organizations, greening codes & policies, creating game changing pilot projects, and sustainability myth busting. What gets her up in the morning is building strategic partnerships, leadership from the heart, and inspiring new visions of a possible future. Once you get her going, Lucia loves to meet at local food trailers to talk about systems theory and chaos, mental models, and the Rethink Austin app. She describes herself as a “spark plug for positive change” and a “practical idealist.” She will want you to share your personal vision statement when you meet her.