Sustainability & Environmental Affinity Group

Welcome to Inforum's Sustainability + Environmental Affinity Group

Join us for the launch of Inforum's newest affinity group that's all around sustainability and environmental work! The goal of this group is to provide learning and inspiration about work in this area being done in Michigan. This month we are very excited to hear from Helen Taylor. Helen is the State Director for The Nature Conservancy in Michigan, and she will share insights on this burgeoning area of opportunity for win-win across environmental, economic and social outcomes.

The world is already seeing increasing impacts of a changing climate and one important means of mitigating these impacts is through natural climate solutions (NCS), through land management practices in forests, farmlands, grasslands or wetlands that reduce or remove greenhouse gas emissions. In fact, NCS could deliver more than one-third of the emission reductions required by 2030 to keep global warming below two degrees Celsius. In Michigan, working lands used for large-scale land-based economic activity, such as forestry and agriculture, provide much of this NCS potential, and an opportunity for collaboration between the public and private sectors and organizations like The Nature Conservancy—especially as we witness more and more corporate and public sector commitments to achieve a net-zero carbon footprint.

Helen Taylor, The Nature Conservancy, Michigan State Director

Helen has spent more than 30 years working on Great Lakes protection, policy and conservation. She joined the Conservancy in 1996 to lead its Great Lakes Program, and since 1999 has served as state director of its Michigan chapter. 

Prior to joining the Conservancy, Helen worked in the environmental policy field with a concentration in Great Lakes issues, pollution prevention, waste and public/private partnerships and engagement. She worked for ICF, Inc. and Clean Sites, Inc. (now known as the Delta Institute), consulting to industry, government (municipalities, state and federal agencies), and environmental organizations.

Helen is a gubernatorial appointee to the Environmental Rules Review Committee and previously held appointments to the Michigan Land Use Leadership Council and Agriculture Preservation Fund Board. She also served for eight years as a Commissioner of the Great Lakes Commission and on former Governor Rick Snyder’s 21st Century Infrastructure Commission. Helen currently serves on the board of trustees of the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation.

Helen holds a degree in philosophy from Northwestern University where she graduated with honors, and enjoys spending as much time as possible outdoors, exploring Michigan’s beautiful lands and waters with her husband and two sons.

View Attendee List

Affinity Group Chairs

Alissa Sevrioukova, Chief of Staff, Public Affairs Manager DTE;

Cynthia Williams, Global Director, Sustainability, Homologation & Compliance, Ford Motor Co.

Susan Marin, Vice President, Corporate Information Manager Flagstar Bank

Inforum's Sustainability & Environmental Affinity Group

The goal of this group is to provide learning and inspiration about work in this area being done in Michigan. One outcome the group is working toward will be building relationships between Inforum members and organizations focused on sustainability as an extension of our inSTEM initiative.

This group is made possible through the support of the Fred A. and Barbara M. Erb Family Foundation.