Director of Sustainability of Boulder County

As Sustainability Director of Boulder County for the last ten plus years, Susie Strife has led Boulder County’s efforts to strengthen its status as a national leader in sustainability. In this role, Susie directs and manages all Boulder County’s sustainability efforts, policies and programs with a special focus on clean energy, finance, and climate action.   Susie launched her career developing the country’s first countywide clean energy financing program, earning her ‘Person of the Year’ award during her first year on the job.  Shortly thereafter, Susie received a $25 million Department of Energy grant to jumpstart the energy efficiency and clean energy marketplace across Colorado, creating the award winning EnergySmart service that several utilities across the country have used as model demand-side management energy program.

Susie also launched the first-of-its-kind pooled purchasing program for solar, electric vehicles and electric bikes, accelerating the adoption of clean technology across Boulder County.   Most recently, along with colleagues at the City of Boulder and Boulder County, Susie created “Communities for Climate Action” (CC4CA) which is the first community-based coalition in the state of Colorado lobbying for climate protective policies.  CC4CA was instrumental in passing the most sweeping climate and energy focused legislation in state history during 2019.