Lifelong social entrepreneur, considered one of the founders of the sustainable business movement.
Inaugural member of Sustainability Hall of Fame (with Amory Lovins, Karl-Henrik Robert, Bob Willard and the late Ray Anderson) by the International Society of Sustainability Professionals, and "one of the 10 most influential sustainability voices in America" by The Guardian.
As founder & CEO of Natural Logic Inc, helps leading companies in a wide range of industries design, implement and measure profitable sustainability strategies. A business strategist with more than 45 years experience in business & policy innovation, combines broad experience in strategy, systems ecology, economic development, management cybernetics, and public policy.
Recently completed a five year secondment as the first Chief Sustainability Officer, City of Palo Alto. Charged to "develop a world class sustainability strategy…and lead Palo Alto be being the greenest city in America." Led development of Palo Alto's Sustainability and Climate Action Plan, including "80x30" greenhouse gas reduction goals, and plans to achieve them.
"Natures' ecosystems have nearly 4 billion years of experience in the development of efficient, adaptive, resilient, and sustainable systems. Why should companies reinvent the wheel, when the R&D has already been done?" (Gil Friend, 1991)
Board: Inquiring Systems Inc. Advisor: BFlow, Sustainability Accounting Standards Board. Lectures widely on business strategy and sustainability issues. Author, The Truth About Green Business (FT Press),The New Bottom Line; coauthor, Biofuels Development and Soil Productivity. Contributor, Worldchanging: A User’s Guide to the 21st Century, Sustainable Enterprise Report, Sustainable Enterprise Fieldbook, Sustainable Food Systems, Stepping Stones.
Specialties: Strategy, innovation, leadership, systems design, management cybernetics, industrial ecology, sustainable development, measuring what matters, training, coaching, speaking.
Gil Friend is tagged in 6 stories.