Starting February 1st, the City of Portland will have a new chief sustainability officer and the person hired for the role might be familiar to many BikePortland readers. It’s Vivian Satterfield, a transportation and environmental justice activist who previously worked at nonprofits Verde NW and OPAL Environmental Justice Oregon.
You might also recall Satterfield from our podcast interview with her in October 2021. To have someone like Satterfield in this key role guiding the City of Portland’s strategy to battle climate change and reduce carbon emissions is a very promising bit of news.
According to the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability the chief sustainability officer is responsible for Portland’s climate action programs. The job description specifically noted that her role would include, “Reducing carbon emissions from buildings and the transportation sector,” and “Collaborating with land use and transportation planning programs to integrate climate and sustainability priorities into other citywide plans and initiatives.” Given her experience on transportation issues and existing relationships with Bureau of Transportation staff, Satterfield is likely to hit the ground running at time when we desperately need action and progress on these fronts.
And for what it’s worth, Satterfield is also an everyday rider who gets to work on an electric bike.
Here’s to hoping she kicks Portland’s transportation-related climate change policies and projects into high gear! Congrats Vivian!