Katie Rothenberg and Nora Rizzo Join mindful MATERIALS Board of Directors
For Immediate Release
mindful MATERIALS (mM) is excited to announce the appointment of two new members to its Board of Directors: Katie Rothenberg, VP of ESG at AvalonBay Communities, and Nora Rizzo, Ethical Materials Director of Grace Farms Foundation.
“These amazing leaders further diversify and deepen the incredible expertise and experience represented at mindful MATERIALS. We are thrilled they are joining at such an important juncture, as mM works to unify the industry and scale the availability and quality of holistic material sustainability data. Katie and Nora’s backgrounds and insights into this industry will help guide mindful MATERIALS in achieving its strategic mission to inspire, motivate and empower everyone to choose materials that prioritize health holistically,” says mM Board Chair, Steve Kooy.
Katie has over 15 years of experience in sustainable real estate construction and operations and now leads ESG initiatives at AvalonBay Communities, a multifamily REIT. She brings deep knowledge of what it takes to execute material sustainability on projects from both a contracting and owner perspective and understands the importance of having a trusted, neutral platform to find common ground and effect change.
“Material choice is so incredibly important – and effectuating programmatic change in this space requires collaboration and partnership. mindful MATERIALS’ work as a nonprofit to convene the industry and build critical resources like the Common Materials Framework (CMF) is already driving unprecedented alignment,” notes Katie. “I’ve experienced firsthand the challenges of identifying more sustainable materials, securing supply chains, and building team alignment. The CMF and advocacy work by mM will make sustainability data clearer and more effective, helping leading companies go further — and supporting others to simply get started.”
As the Ethical Materials Director at Grace Farms Foundation, focusing on the Design for Freedom Movement, Nora deeply understands the need to address responsible material sourcing beyond a single sustainability attribute. Her work to elevate awareness of forced labor, child labor, and social injustice in the building materials supply chain continues the momentum necessary to achieve the goal of true market transparency.
“Working as a sustainability professional for over 15 years, I have seen more than a few trends in our industry. One that I hope is here to stay is the shift from competition to collaboration,” says Nora. “This collective action, innovation, and resource sharing will allow us to tackle some of the most pressing humanitarian issues of our time. My experience in social equity, responsible sourcing, and ethical supply chains will complement the remarkable work mM has done in bringing partners together and creating a space for this type of movement to flourish.”
To learn more about mM’s Board of Directors, and its work broadly, visit mindfulmaterials.com.
About mindful MATERIALS Inc.
mindful MATERIALS Inc. (mM) is dedicated to reducing, and ultimately reversing, the embodied impacts of the built environment by seeking to inspire, motivate and empower everyone to choose materials that prioritize health holistically. Its vision is a materials economy that respects and protects the health of all people, communities, and ecosystems.
mM furthers its mission through a global cross-sector Collaboration Hub, convening to share learning and drive informed decisions around an aligned, digitized Common Materials Framework (CMF) for health, sustainability, and resilience. To learn more, visit mindfulmaterials.com.
mindful MATERIALS, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, contributions to which are tax deductible to the fullest extent permitted by law.