Urban Sustainability Directors Network (USDN)

Founded in 2008, we are a non-profit organization connecting local government sustainability practitioners across the United States and Canada. Our network supports over 2,000 individuals from more than 250 cities and counties, reaching over 330 communities and 115 million residents.

We develop programs, build partnerships, and create connections to strengthen sustainability practitioners. We help test, share, and expand innovative solutions, with staff and members influencing the field towards broader systems-level change. Our work focuses on adaptive leadership, racial equity, building energy, climate resilience, equity-centered community collaboration, renewable energy, climate action planning, and low-carbon mobility.

Membership is open to U.S. and Canadian municipal sustainability directors who are local government staff responsible for community-wide sustainability programs. We ask prospective members to have proven practices to share and to participate actively. Members report that being part of the network helps them work faster, find solutions, get new ideas, avoid past mistakes, build relationships, and advance their professional field. Our member-driven activities focus on climate change mitigation, preparedness, and social equity.

These activities include:

• Peer Learning: Virtual and in-person networking, learning from others’ successes and challenges, and accessing data and resources.
• Collaboration: Innovating around shared challenges, learning together to adopt similar practices, and influencing the field as a group.

Our High-Impact Practices (HIPs) are program priorities designed to help members improve equity, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and build resilience. These are the areas where our members are actively engaged and seek our support.

Our mission is to create equitable, resilient, and sustainable communities. We achieve this by advancing local government sustainability and empowering practitioners to drive change. We envision an equitable, resilient, and sustainable future for everyone.

Our core beliefs:

• An inclusive and equity-centered approach is essential for our mission.
• Local governments have an influential role and a responsibility in building equitable, resilient communities.
• Lasting change happens locally, through collaboration between local governments and the communities they serve.
• Sustainability practitioners can accelerate significant change by working together and with their communities.
• By collaborating, practitioners and partners can better diagnose societal issues and find solutions. Our model accelerates change by connecting practitioners to each other and their communities.

We operate with a team of 11-50 employees across multiple states, including Oregon, North Carolina, Texas, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Wisconsin, Florida, Indiana, New York City, and Nevada. We work remotely.

Our culture focuses on strengthening our effectiveness, aligning our strategy, and supporting our operations to advance our mission. Our core values include transparent information sharing, intentional collaboration, and putting equity at the center of our work. We aim to build a healthy and supportive workplace, creating teams and systems that benefit both our people and our performance.

We don’t currently have information about specific employee benefits or perks to share.