Meet Stuart Wood | Executive Director/ PhD

We had the good fortune of connecting with Stuart Wood and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Stuart, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
When I joined Sustainable Claremont, it was my hope to be part of a local sustainability organization where I could help empower greater local, regional and even large-scale change. With an amazing Board, staff, network of CBO partners, and community of volunteers, we have grown larger than I could have imagined. This includes expanding our tree planting from one city, Claremont, to now include the likes of Glendora, La Verne, Los Angeles, Montclair, Pomona, Rancho Cucamonga, San Bernardino, Tustin, and Upland. Similarly–we have grown from a single community composting program–to a composting operation that serves 5 schools and processes nearly a ton of food waste per month! With programs such as our Earth Day, Sustainability Talks, and Green Home Tour–we have been able to reach more people, with more sustainability resources, than ever before.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
My path started in academia. After completing my PhD in Politics, with a dissertation on climate change, I aimed to either find a job as a tenure track professor, or in a climate related organization as a writer/ researcher. I worked as an adjunct professor–teaching politics/ environmental politics and other courses, as well as an environmental writer/ communicator for several years. Due to some severe health issues, I had to leave the workforce for nearly a year in 2017. Upon returning to the workforce, I was looking to join a local organization where I could use my skills and have an impact. I was incredibly lucky to join Sustainable Claremont. The lesson I learned is that we never know where life is going to take us, and that it’s incredibly difficult to plan a path forward. For me, what has helped is having certain values that I looked for and hoped to find in the workplace. I am incredibly lucky to have found that. People should not feel that their work defines them. There are alternative ways to support one’s values outside of the workplace. And every job is a climate job.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
The best part about Southern California is that there are so many great things to do. If in the Claremont area, I would of course start the day in downtown with an espresso at Iron and Kin Coffee. I’d spend a good part of the day at the California Botanic Gardens and then head back to walk through the Claremont Village. I would definitely pop into the Folk Music center, grab some ice cream at Bert and Rockies, check out the wares at ReSpun Retro, and then grab my favorite veggie pizza from Pizza n Such.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My personal journey and success is due to so many amazing people around me. I have had such an amazing team of employees and Board members since I came on to Sustainable Claremont. We have volunteers, who are the on-the-ground help that we rely on to do the heavy-lifting of planting trees. This shout-out is to the community of sustainability folks who keep pushing everyday!

Website: https://sustainableclaremont.org/

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