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Board of Directors

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Board of Directors

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OFFICERS

Bill Bohn, Chair of Resilient Virginia and Chief Executive Officer for Community Resilience Consulting, LLC
Bill Bohn,
Chair, Resilient Virginia Board of Directors

Bill Bohn is Chair of Resilient Virginia and the Chief Executive Officer for Community Resilience Consulting, LLC, a small business headquartered in Lynchburg, Virginia. For the last 20 years, he has supported communities and projects around the world with hazard and climate change risk assessments, including hazard mitigation and climate adaptation plans in the U.S. He has supported USAID, World Bank, IFC, and IDB conducting climate change risk assessments and adaptation plans in Africa, Asia, Caribbean, Middle East, North America, and South America.

He supported the development of the Community Resilience Course for the National Disaster Preparedness Training Center, the Coastal Climate Change Adaptation Course for NOAA’s Coastal Services Center, and was an author of the World Bank’s Community Reconstruction Handbook. He also helped develop and facilitate a one-day Flood Resilience Workshop for EPA’s Smart Growth Program. He currently supports FEMA headquarters with testing, developing training materials and technical manuals, and teaching their risk assessment software, Hazus. Mr. Bohn has an undergraduate degree from Virginia Tech in Aerospace and Ocean Engineering and graduate degree in Geographic and Cartographic Sciences. He lives with his wife and three kids (and two goats and several chickens) in Lynchburg, Virginia.
William Abrahamson, Vice-Chair, Resilient Virginia Board of Directors
William Abrahamson,
Vice-Chair, Resilient Virginia Board of Directors

William Abrahamson is Vice-Chair of Resilient Virginia and a Senior Associate at Grimm+Parker Architects in Charlottesville where he focuses on the development of multifamily products and market expansion in Central Virginia. As an architect, he has worked on mixed use, multi-family, higher education, residential, and commercial projects; designed and managed masterplanning and landscape architecture projects specializing in rural land conservation, Low Impact Design (LID) strategies, and land management consultation; and innovated prefabricated building delivery dedicated to sustainable design, affordable quality, and cutting edge construction technology. William earned a Bachelor of Art in Studio Art from St. Olaf College and a Masters of Architecture from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Jessica Lassetter, Secretary, Resilient Virginia Board Member
Jessica Lassetter,
Resilient Virginia Board Member

Jessica Lassetter is a Senior Environmental Specialist/Civil Engineer III with the City of Alexandria’s Stormwater Management Division. Jessica has a Masters in Natural Resources, and a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science from Virginia Tech. Jessica has over 20 years of professional experience in environmental science, policy, and planning, with a specialization in water resources management. Jessica currently administers the City’s Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) permit focusing on water quality and most recently worked to launch the City’s Flood Action program and update the Energy and Climate Change Action Plan. Before joining the City, Jessica played a key role as Vice Chair of the Alexandria Environmental Policy Commission, contributing to the inception of the Eco-City Alexandria initiative. Her career spans roles in private, non-profit sectors, and regional government in Charlottesville, VA.

Prior to joining the City, she worked for the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation where she managed several Federal partnerships focused on conservation efforts across the U.S. Jessica currently serves on the National Board of EcoWomen, a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering women/trans/femme-identifying individuals in environmental leadership.
Bob Burkholder, Treasurer, Resilient Virginia Board of Directors
Bob Burkholder,
Treasurer, Resilient Virginia Board of Directors
Bob Burkholder is Treasurer of Resilient Virginia and has served private and public clients as a managing principal, project manager, and civil engineer for almost three decades. He understands clear communication is a key component in managing successful projects and excels at communicating and collaborating with clients and team members. As the leader of Clark Nexsen’s Infrastructure practice, his diverse portfolio includes managing and designing projects spanning urban redevelopment, utility and storm water master plans, land use studies, GIS, and wireless communications. Bob earned a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Old Dominion University. He is a member of the Virginia Beach Advanced Technology Center School Planning Council, ODU Civil and Environmental Engineering Visiting Council, the President-Elect for the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) Virginia, and is a Director on the Board for the Unmanned Systems Association of Virginia.

BOARD MEMBERS

Curtis Brown,
Resilient Virginia Board Member

Curtis Brown is co-founder of the Institute for Diversity and Inclusion in Emergency Management (I-DIEM) a non-profit organization dedicated to increasing diversity in the field of emergency management and promoting the application of equitable practices to improve disaster outcomes for vulnerable communities. Brown serves as the first African American to become State Coordinator of Emergency Management for the Virginia Division of Emergency Management (VDEM). Prior to his roles as State Coordinator and Chief Deputy at VDEM, Brown served as Deputy Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security in Governor McAuliffe’s administration, Regional Emergency Management Administrator for the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission, and professional staff on the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security.

Brown received a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science from Radford University, a Master of Public Administration from Virginia Tech, and a Master of Arts in Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness from Virginia Commonwealth University. He is a graduate of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) National Emergency Management Executive Academy and the Executive Leaders Program through the Naval Postgraduate School’s Center for Homeland Defense and Security. He is a Certified Emergency Manager through the International Association of Emergency Managers.
Bella Purdy, Resilient Virginia Board Member
Bella Purdy,
Resilient Virginia Board Member

Bella Purdy is a senior climate resilience planner and project manager at Weston & Sampson, located in Richmond. She has a master’s in city planning and is a certified planner with the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP). Bella is known for her ability to effectively manage complex projects, her clear communication, and sensitivity to the unique needs of the communities with whom she works. Bella regularly works with municipalities, agencies, and organizations to develop climate adapted designs, land use regulations and design guidelines, and resilience and climate action plans. She is also dedicated to developing equitable engagement processes that get to the heart of residents’ concerns about climate change. She was a technical expert for the City of Cambridge’s Cool Factor Zoning Ordinance — one of the nation’s first regulations focused on reduction of urban heat island through performance-based zoning standards. Her work on resilient regulations was recently featured in the American Planning Associations Planning Magazine.

Bella is currently managing several resilience plans and projects through the VA Community Flood Preparedness Program and North Carolina Resilient Coastal Communities Program. Bella is from the Shenandoah Valley and attended the University of Virginia for her undergraduate degree.
David Robertson
David Robertson,
Resilient Virginia Board Member

David Robertson serves as the Founding Director of the Executive Master of Natural Resources (XMNR) graduate degree program in Leadership for Sustainability and as Associate Director at the Center for Leadership in Global Sustainability at Virginia Tech, where he has worked since 1997. David has nearly three decades of experience as a professional educator and sustainability leader focusing on systems change for sustainable development, environmental justice, and climate resilience. He has served as a skill-based volunteer with numerous non-profit organizations, including as an active member of the American Society of Adaptation Professionals (ASAP).

David received an undergraduate degree in Art & Architecture from Montana State University prior to completing a Master of Landscape Architecture and Ph.D. from the College of Natural Resources and Environment at Virginia Tech. His research and engagement work appears in the popular, academic, and professional press, including journals such as Environmental Science & Policy, Environmental Management, Conservation Biology, and Society & Natural Resources. His international experience includes leading service learning projects and integrated research, education, and engagement programs in numerous countries in the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Europe.
Ellen Graap Loth,
Past Chair, Resilient Virginia Board of Directors
Ellen Graap Loth is Past Chair of the Resilient Virginia Board of Directors and the Federal Services Market Leader for ECT, Inc., an environmental consulting firm. She is based in Charlottesville, Virginia. Ellen started her career in the environmental industry assisting clients in managing hazardous waste, and has since gained extensive experience providing a wide range of environmental services to commercial, industrial, and government sector clients. In her current role, she manages projects aimed at improving all aspects of environmental management, including regulatory compliance, stewardship, and the analysis and mitigation of environmental impacts. Ms. Graap Loth is a Certified Professional Environmental Auditor, and she has supported clients in establishing environmental management systems and has trained client staff to perform internal audits. Ellen enjoys traveling and has worked on projects in Belize, Canada, Haiti, Germany, Poland, Hungary, Belgium, Italy, Benin, and most of the United States, including Hawaii and Alaska.  Ellen received a BS in Natural Resources from Cornell University and a sustainability-focused executive Master of Natural Resources from Virginia Tech.
Annette Osso, Resilient Virginia Managing Director
Annette Osso,
Resilient Virginia Managing Director

Annette Osso, LEED AP, is a resiliency and sustainability professional with an extensive background in working across multiple sectors to effect change. She currently serves as the Managing Director of Resilient Virginia, which has the mission of of accelerating resiliency planning in Virginia communities through education and technical assistance. Resilient Virginia is an evolution of Virginia Sustainable Building Network (VSBN).

As President of VSBN for 18 years, Annette Osso built an effective program to educate professionals, citizens, and communities about green building and sustainability throughout Virginia. She also worked with public and private partners to organize the Virginia Sustainable Future Conference series, bring the EarthCraft Virginia program into the state, and marshall the adoption of commercial building sustainability guidelines. Before VSBN, Annette Osso spearheaded seminal Green Building efforts, including the development of a joint US DOE, US EPA, and USGBC publication, the Sustainable Building Technical Manual, and the adoption of environmental, energy, and sustainability programs at the federal, state and local levels.