OFFICERS
Chair, Resilient Virginia Board of Directors
Ellen Graap Loth serves as Chair of Resilient Virginia. Ms. Graap Loth is 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.
Jennie DeVeaux, PMP, a disaster management and resilience professional, serves as the Secretary of Resilient Virginia. Ms. DeVeaux brings 35 years of experience spanning emergency management and national resilience programs at the federal, state, and local levels, as well as within the private sector. In leadership roles, she’s supported development, analysis, and implementation of federal and state homeland security and environmental programs. Ms. DeVeaux is currently a Senior Executive Consultant for Resilience at Witt O’Brien’s. Prior to that, she was a Vice President at ICF, where she led the firm’s portfolio of emergency management and national resilience preparedness, response, and recovery programs.
Ms. DeVeaux earned her Master of Science degree in Technology and Human Affairs from the Washington University in St. Louis and her bachelor’s degree in biology from Duke University. She is a certified Project Management Professional and member of the Natural Hazard Mitigation Association.
Vestal Tutterow, PA, CEM, is Treasurer of Resilient Virginia and manager in the High Tech and Industrial Systems Group at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. He has an extensive background in energy management and energy efficiency in both the industrial and commercial sectors.
Based in Vienna, VA, Mr. Tutterow currently manages a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) program encouraging increased implementation of combined heat and power systems. He has assisted in the development and implementation of a number of DOE programs and initiatives, such as Motor Challenge, Compressed Air Challenge, Better Plants, and Superior Energy Performance. Vestal’s thirty-five years of experience also includes engineering and management positions with an Army research lab, the Defense Logistics Agency, and the nonprofit Alliance to Save Energy, as well as with energy consulting firms. Areas of expertise include program management, energy analysis, and stakeholder engagement.
Mr. Tutterow has a bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science from Duke University, a master’s in Systems Management from the University of Southern California, and a sustainability-focused executive master’s in Natural Resources from Virginia Tech. He is a registered Professional Engineer, a Certified Energy Manager, a Certified Practitioner in Energy Management Systems, and a Certified International Sustainability Consultant.
BOARD MEMBERS
Resilient Virginia Board Member
Bill Bohn, a Board Member of Resilient Virginia, is the Chief Operating Officer for Sobis, Inc. a small business headquartered in Fredericksburg, Virginia. For the last 18 years, he has supported communities and projects around the world with hazard and climate change risk assessments, including over thirty hazard mitigation plans in the U.S. conducting risk assessments for natural hazards and identifying potential mitigation actions. He has supported the 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 ten chickens) on an urban farm in Lynchburg, Virginia.
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.
Resilient Virginia Board Member
Jonah Fogel is the Program Manager at the University of Virginia’s Environmental Resilience Institute. He handles a variety of activities including funding opportunity identification, communications, research team building, interaction with funding agencies and institutional research administration and leadership, provides support to the university-wide ERI Research Forum, and coordinates outreach activities and training. He works closely with ERI’s Directors, and ensures the ERI Steering Committee’s involvement in governance decisions of the Institute.
Jonah holds a PhD in Natural Resources with a policy minor, a Master’s of Landscape Architecture, and a BS in Hydrogeology. He’s taught at a graduate level and has more than a decade of experience in community-based education and development on topics of public administration and land use planning.
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.
Resilient Virginia Board Member
Chris Stone PE, F.NSPE, F.ASCE, LEED AP, is Senior Principal and Vice President – Resiliency at ClarkNexsen. His career is distinguished by his belief that our industry can make a transformative difference in the world and his deep commitment to community involvement. Chris is integrally involved in business development and focused on resilient design and infrastructure and its impact on cities.
Chris began his career as a structural engineer and project manager for a wide variety of project types ranging from academic, to military, to commercial and cultural, and held many leadership roles in professional and community organizations, including MATHCOUNTS, the National Society of Professional Engineers, and the Council on Federal Procurement of Architectural and Engineering Services. He has also served as president of the Virginia Beach Central Business District Association and as a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers Industry Leaders Council. In 2018, he was reappointed to serve another four year term on the Architects, Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, Certified Interior Designers and Landscape Architects (APELSCIDLA) Board by Virginia Governor Ralph Northam. A graduate of Virginia Military Institute, Chris also went on to earn a Master of Science from the University of Virginia.
Steve Sunderman, RA, LEED AP BD+C, BPI, is President of Terrazia, PC. and Co-Chair of the Resilient Virginia Board of Directors. Mr Sunderman is a licensed architect, LEED Accredited Professional with Building Design + Construction Specialty (LEED AP/BD+C), Building Performance Institute (BPI) Analyst and is a certified pervious concrete technician. He is a 1974 graduate of the University of Oklahoma with Bachelor of Architecture and Bachelor of Science in Environmental Design degrees.
His many years of diversified architectural experience include extensive design, project management, energy conservation and environmental education for a wide variety of stakeholders & building types throughout the United States and the Middle East. He has promoted alternative energy, environmental conservation and equitable facilities design since the early 1970’s, including educational seminars on sustainability & stormwater management. He is known for creating affordable high-performance facilities that achieve his clients’ financial goals and minimize risk without compromising their community and environmental responsibilities.
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.