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Business View Magazine
agement and Environmental Studies.
Christopher says that he also tracks the skill sets that
those programs offer “and then I match them to the
marketplace, and that’s how students are beginning to
find jobs in sustainability here in West Michigan. Grand
Valley is very unique in that it keeps over 85 percent
of its students in Michigan. We educate our students
in applied best practices and they stay here,” he says,
proudly. So, in Christopher’s quest to train the next
generation of sustainable practitioners, the Executive
Director has been a dynamic force in reaching out to
other organizations and forming partnerships wher-
ever he can find like-minded institutions that share a
common agenda. In 2005, Christopher’s Office start-
ed a partnership with the City of Grand Rapids. “Our
relationship with the City that has progressed into a
trustful working partnership over the years where our
students are being placed in associate positions with
the City in transformational research and analysis,
social media, and applied sustainability best practice
areas that improve overall social, environmental, and
economic impact,” says Christopher.
“Outreach is probably one of our strongest areas,” he
reports. “In 2005, Grand Valley was a charter mem-
ber in forming our Community Sustainability Partner-
ship (CSP) in Grand Rapids. Today, the CSP has 250
endorsing partner organizations across all sectors.”
These member organizations have committed to work
together to restore environmental integrity, improve
economic prosperity, and promote social equity in the
community with the goal of creating and sustaining a
positive quality of life for future generations.
“Grand Valley sits on the leadership team, and the
Chair has been the Mayor of Grand Rapids. So, what
we’ve been able to do is to take sustainability plan-
ning and reporting in a side-by-side relationship that
we started back in 2004-05 with the city.” The CSP,
according to Christopher, is “a networking and capac-
ity building organization that shares the applied best
practices of sustainability” with all public, private, mu-
nicipal, and academic sectors. GVSU is also a member
of the West Regional Michigan Community Sustain-
ability Partnership, which is made up of six regional
CSPs, partnerships, and coalitions that are committed
to developing sustainable neighborhoods and com-
