Green Ant Advisors

David Meyers, PhD, MBA

Dr. David Meyers is a serial entrepreneur and environmental finance expert with over 25 years of experience in sustainability issues spanning business strategy and management, environmental economics, international conservation and development, environmental impact, training, education, and research in ecology and evolution.  Most recently David was the founding CFO/COO for Mission Markets, a financial services company providing online marketplaces for impact investing and environmental assets.  In 2005, David founded and was CEO of Madagascar Bamboo, a triple bottom line bamboo flooring manufacturer.  Madagascar Bamboo was the first company to produce industrially transformed bamboo products in Africa.  Previously, David founded and ran Bluenet Ventures, a technology incubator in New Haven which provided startup space, business planning and consulting to a range of early stage companies.  Throughout his career David has worked and traveled internationally spending well over a decade in Madagascar and has visited or worked in over 35 countries.  While in Madagascar he helped the country plan and execute a tripling of the area under conservation, established the Makira Conservation Area – a 500,000 hectare protected area using REDD+ methodology (before it had a name), and provided strategic and practical support to the government, foundations, non-profits, and the parks service.

Dr. Meyers has provided consulting services to the UNDP, World Bank, USAID, a range of NGOs and corporations.  He began his career conducting research on endangered primates and has written multiple scientific publications and co-authored the definitive guide to the lemurs.  He holds a PhD in Biological Anthropology and Anatomy from Duke University and an MBA from the Yale School of Management.  David speaks fluent French and conversational Malagasy.

Douglas Cohen

Douglas Cohen is a sustainability catalyst for a regenerative future. He ignites and facilitates companies, communities and individuals to envision and pursue their flourishing futures. His work takes advantage of his 20-year career as a strategic organizational development process guide and facilitator. As a multi-sector leadership coach, he works closely with industry and regional sustainability vanguards – from government, business, civil society, and education – to create solutions and collective pathways to implementation. Mr. Cohen trains clients in organizational learning and whole systems design through an action learning laboratory format that creates transformative experiences grounded in sustainability principles.

Doug is Board Member and Chair of National Youth Initiatives for the US Partnership for Education for Sustainable Development (UN/UNESCO Decade of Education for Sustainable Development). Under this initiative, he co-founded “The Inspired Futures Campaign,” that spans the Higher Education, K-12, Teacher Education sectors, and young professionals up to 30 years old. The US Partnership is working “as a clearing house – helping to connect, highlight, and foster collaboration among partners – and serving as a catalyst to convene groups and build community to support existing and emerging initiatives”. Through the campaign, Doug helps to nurture and equip young people to serve as sustainability-focused change agents, problem solvers, and community builders.

With his focus on community and youth leadership Doug is a valuable contributor to many international and regional initiatives promoting sustainability literacy, energy efficiency, sustainable design, climate science, media literacy, green jobs, political transformation, and social entrepreneurship. He has founded and has joined the following programs: Activate New Mexico, Portland State University’s Sustainability Leadership Council, NASA’s Media Literacy for the DEVELOP Student Internship Program, the Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network, Sustainable Morristown Collaborative, and the Cross-Federal Agency Education for Sustainability Committee. For all of his engagements, Doug is a connector, bringing together a vast network of sustainability thought leaders, communications consultants, curriculum designers, community activists and business leaders.

Johann Berlin

Johann Berlin is dedicated to social and environmentally conscious enterprise with experience in early-stage business development. He is currently focusing on strategic business development for ventures that fill niche market needs of the LOHAS market. Over the past 6 years, Johann has focused primarily on business development, fund raising, and creating sustainability strategies. His projects have included:

• Joanne De Palma Incorporated: New York based interior design firm and sustainable furniture manufacturer.

• W1SD0M: is a deal-screening platform that matches investors and advisors with social and environmental entrepreneurs.

• Sustainable City Solutions: a web-service platform to help cities become more sustainable through work, information flow and mapping of successful solutions.

Johann is on the Board or plays an advisory role with the following organizations:

• Advisor to Nouvelle Vie Haiti: advising on business development, risk analysis, marketing and fundraising for youth leadership social venture in Haiti through the International Association for Human Values.

• Adviser to Circle of Care: conducting modeling and scalability analysis and business development of Ashoka project designed to reintegrating elderly into communities.

• Advisor to the City of Fairfield: oversaw Water Facility Feasibility Study, conducting strategic analysis for renewable energy feasibility studies and financing models

• Board Member, Fairfield Sustainability Commission: creating working sustainability models and strategic goals and partnerships for the city of Fairfield, Iowa with a mayor-appointed group of community leaders

• Board Member, Fairfield chapter of the BALLE network (Business Alliance for Local Living Economies): conducting strategic planning for developing local chapter, and technology assessments on a national coalition team

Naomi Pearson

Naomi Pearson is a Graphic Communication and Branding Designer with a focus on advancing environmentally preferable strategies that inform the design process. A member of the Society for Environmental Graphic Design’s Sustainability Forum, Pearson has been instrumental in creating guidelines for the field. She is a contributing writer for the journal, “segdDESIGN”, and was Guest Editor of SEGD’s 2010 special sustainability issue. As a member of Green Leaders Global, Pearson works with business leaders on action plans for integrating social and environmental innovation. She is a speaker on sustainable design issues and recipient of numerous awards recognizing her contribution to the practice of green design.

Pearson’s expertise in the design field is backed by 17 years of working for firms such as Pentagram Design, Two Twelve Associates where she was the Manager of Sustainable Design, Interbrand as a Sustainable Consultant, and for the Wildlife Conservation Society. As host of the radio show “Design Evolution” on Voice America’s Green Talk Network, she interviewed innovative designers, scientists, and educators about the evolution of good design for a sustainable future. She holds a BFA in Graphic Design from Carnegie Mellon University.

Jonathan Cloud

Jonathan Cloud has been helping catalyze action toward sustainable development in municipalities, communities, and businesses since the early 1970’s. He consults to municipal, state, and national governments, nonprofits, colleges and universities, and corporations. His expertise and interests include energy and environmental technologies, community financing mechanisms, local food systems, sustainable innovation, entrepreneurship, community engagement, and transformational leadership for social change. Jonathan has been an entrepreneur, consultant, educator, community organizer, policy analyst, journalist and researcher in several fields of environmental and social change. He worked for the Canadian Government in policy, research, program management, and evaluation on energy and environmental issues. Jonathan ran a solar design and construction firm pioneering green building techniques, urban agriculture, and other areas of sustainability, in both Canada and the U.S.

Jonathan is founder of the Sustainable Business Accelerator and serves on the boards of several nonprofits. He is a member of the Institute for Sustainable Enterprise at Fairleigh Dickinson University. He holds a master’s degree in sociology from York University in Toronto and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. He is a dual citizen who has lived and worked in multiple countries under a range of socioeconomic circumstances.