ICLEI’s work has never been more important as the world continues to largely ignore the peril of climate change and the critical need to
become far more sustainable. Too many national governments – most notably ours – have few, if any, substantive mitigation and adaptation policies, so it is essential that cities take bold action. ICLEI’s efforts help empower our communities to accelerate the great progress we’ve been making, through its educational resources, networking, forums, representation at international events, and collaboration with like-minded organizations.
I’ve served on the ICLEI USA Board since 2014 and the RexCom since 2015, attending the annual committee meetings and ICLEI World Congresses, and speaking at numerous sessions at those events, COP21, Habitat III, and others. With my RexCom colleagues, we’ve helped ensure that ICLEI USA’s goals and priorities are reflected in ICLEI’s international activities.
I’m a former mayor of Boulder, Colorado, and served on the City Council for 18 years. Boulder is known internationally for innovative and aggressive programs and policies on sustainability, energy, and resilience, and for developing widely shared best practices. I’ve also served on the Board of the National League of Cities and chaired its Energy, Environment, and Natural Resources committee. Since its founding in 2015 I’ve been on the Leadership Council of the WaterNow Alliance, a nonprofit that helps cities understand and effect sustainable water solutions.
There’s much work to be done – particularly the urgent necessity of adapting cities to be withstand the inevitable
impacts of climate change — and I’d appreciate a final term on the RexCom, to complement my ongoing position on the ICLEI USA Board and help us achieve our critical goals.
I have served as Mayor of Hastings-on-Hudson, NY since 2019, and before that as Trustee since 2009. Under my leadership, Hastings is currently the highest-ranking Climate Smart Community (CSC) in New York State. We have adopted the New York Stretch Energy Code, signed up for Community Choice Aggregation (CCA), expanded financing for energy efficiency, passed a Low-Embodied Carbon Concrete Resolution, invested in electric vehicles, alternative fuel infrastructure and resiliency planning, implemented a complete streets policy, promoted “buy local” initiatives, supported volunteer-run community repair and reuse programs, dedicated over 89% of municipal-owned open space as parkland, commissioned studies that assess our climate vulnerabilities, created a Mayor’s Climate Youth Council, and adopted a Climate Emergency Declaration. I am a proud ICLEI-USA Race to Zero Leader. Other roles include serving on the Executive Committee of the Westchester Municipal Officials Association (WMOA) where I Co-Chair the Sustainability and Housing Sub-Committees. I am also a member of the Environment, Energy and Technology Policy Committee and the Women’s Advisory Committee of the New York Conference of Mayors (NYCOM). I have used my platform as Mayor to champion sustainability initiatives, not just in my own municipality but also among neighboring municipalities, as well as in the region, nationally and internationally. I believe that climate change is the single most important issue we face as a global community and the burden of addressing it falls most heavily on local governments. By sharing knowledge, innovative ideas and best practices we can support one another in making a demonstrable difference. ICLEI embodies this ethos, and I pledge to do my utmost to support its efforts.
I have the pleasure of being the mayor of the town where I grew up – Fort Collins, Colorado. Fort Collins is an international leader for how to make sustainability work at the local level. If chosen to serve on the Regional Executive Committee for North America I will bring Colorado pragmatism and a global perspective to help advance the vision of ICLEI member communities.
I believe deeply in the importance of education for all, having earned degrees in Sociology, Geography, and Special Education, as well as a PhD in Literacy & Language. I developed an international lens throughout my career, including as a Peace Corps volunteer in Morocco (1990-92) and living and working in education in Mozambique (2002-08). These experiences enhanced my commitment to shared global sustainability leadership.
Before being elected Mayor in 2021, I served four terms as a Colorado State Representative beginning in 2015, focusing on climate-related issues such as water and agriculture. At the local level, strong community support in Fort Collins has led us to set leading-edge targets that drive policy and investment in a sustainable future. Recently, our City Council adopted an additional greenhouse gas reduction target on our way to carbon neutrality.
A few highlights of my time as Mayor include: recognized by the Climate Reality Project with a leadership award; presented at the ICLEI World Congress in Malmo, Sweden; presented at ICLEI’s Zero Carbon Cities Forum in Tokyo, Japan; and gave two presentations at the U.S. State Department’s Cities Summit of the Americas in Denver, Colorado.
As a committed leader for sustainability I have a proven record of bridging divides to help communities implement practical solutions. I’d be honored to serve as a member of ICLEI’s RexCom for North America.
Barbara Buffaloe is the Mayor of Columbia, MO, the fourth largest city in Missouri. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Missouri Innovation Center, and as an ex-officio member on the Board of Directors for REDI and the Columbia Chamber of Commerce.
Mayor Buffaloe is Chair of the Environment Committee of the US Conference of Mayors and will be part of a delegation representing US Mayors at COP28 in December 2023. Mayor Buffaloe is part of the 7th cohort of Mayors for the Bloomberg Harvard Civic Leadership program.
Before being elected Mayor of Columbia, she served as Columbia’s first Sustainability Manager. Mayor Buffaloe coordinated the development of Columbia’s Climate Action & Adaptation Plan that lays out a vision and strategies to address risks posed by climate change and contributes to international efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. She has presented on the topics of climate action at numerous conferences, including the US Department of Energy’s Better Buildings Summit, the Midwest Climate Collective’s Climate Summit, and the Advancing Renewables in the Midwest conference.
Mayor Buffaloe serves as advisor to the Board of Directors for the Urban Sustainability Directors Network (USDN) and is past Board Secretary. Mayor Buffaloe co-founded the Heartland Local Government Sustainability Network, a network of City and County sustainability managers and directors from seven Midwestern states whose charge it is to create additional momentum for promoting sustainability throughout the Heartland. She believes in the power of regional collaboration and knows that ICLEI’s network of communities can make a difference by partnering on projects and programs together.
Brigid Shea is former award-winning reporter at NPR stations who has proved her grit by fighting climate change in Texas since 1988. Along the way she helped save Austin’s iconic Barton Springs, organizing a massive city-wide ballot initiative which resulted in the historic SOS law to save Barton Springs. As a former Austin City Council member, she helped create the first wind project in Texas and championed consumer, electoral, and environmental reforms.
Since being elected to the Travis County Commissioners Court in 2014, her work to reverse climate change and better prepare residents for climate impacts has won 3 National Association of Counties (NACo) Achievement Awards; one for creating a neighborhood wildfire drill, the second for dramatically improving the reach of emergency warning systems, and the third for significantly reducing Greenhouse Gas emissions through an ambitious remote work policy at the County.
Currently, Brigid serves as the US Board Chair of ICLEI, Local Governments for Sustainability; Vice Chair of NACo Environmental Energy Land Use Steering Committee; member of NACo Resilient Counties Advisory Board; member of NACo Large Urban Counties Caucus; Executive Committee member of the Greater Austin-San Antonio Corridor Council, Compact Co-Chair for the Texas Electric Transportation Resources Alliance; and member of FEMA’s Resilient Nation Partnership Network.
She previously served on the national board of Clean Water Action, the State Board of Texas Campaign for the Environment, and is a former member of the Austin Chamber of Commerce Clean Energy Council. She has been an advisor to the LCRA, Seton Hospital, and the City of Austin.
She was selected for the 2019 Women in Government Leadership Program of Governing magazine. Her carbon-reduction work won the TCEQ Environmental Excellence award in 2010. She also received a by the Texas Energy Summit.
Brigid is a native of North Dakota. She is married to John Umphress, a former Green Building specialist with Austin Energy and beekeeping entrepreneur, and together they have two sons.