Mark Lichtenstein is the executive operating officer, chief sustainability officer, and an Environmental Studies adjunct professor at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF). He’s a faculty associate in the Program for the Advancement of Research on Conflict and Collaboration at Syracuse University’s (SU) Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.
Lichtenstein has been engaged with sustainability and regenerative community engagements throughout the United States including Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Belize, Brazil, British Virgin Islands, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico. He focuses his efforts on post-disaster efforts in the Caribbean, testifying to the U.S. Congress in 2017 about the region’s post-hurricane response, and co-founding and advising ESF’s “Acorns2Action,” a student-led disaster response group. He was an active member of the Vieques Sustainability Task Force established by President Barack Obama, and an initiative of the White House Task Force on Puerto Rico. He is a member of the SUNY Puerto Rico Task Force and New York State Stands with Puerto Rico initiative. He is vice president and board member for Island Green Living Association, treasurer and board member for ViequesLove, and an Island Innovation Ambassador. He co-founded the Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands Recycling Partnerships.
Lichtenstein served eight terms as president, is an honorary board member, and lifetime achievement award winner of the National Recycling Coalition; co-led the formation of national and regional recycling organizations in the U.S.; and, conceived of, and is principal investigator for the New York State Center for Sustainable Materials Management, the first of its kind in the U.S. He is an advisory council member of Beyond Plastics based at Bennington College. He co-founded and led the first national sustainable materials management summit held at the University of Maryland, and developed and directed a regional sustainable materials management program in upstate New York, and marketed the first-ever recyclables traded through the Chicago Board of Trade.
Lichtenstein is a select member of the National Roster of Environmental Conflict Resolution Professionals administered by the U.S. government through the John S. McCain III National Center for Environmental Conflict Resolution. He is an advisory council member for Planet Forward hosted by George Washington University, led sustainability centers at SU, and served as an expert witness to the U.S. Environmental Finance Advisory Board. He is the founder of Embrace Impatience Associates, and the principal of Lichtenstein Consulting, providing training and consultation on board development, circular economy, communications, conflict management, environmental finance, facilitation, leadership, negotiation, recycling, resiliency, and sustainability.
He has a Master of Arts in Public Administration, and a Graduate Certificate of Advanced Studies in Conflict Resolution, both from SU’s Maxwell School, and graduate training in environmental science and a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Studies from ESF. He has certified mediator training, an interest-based negotiator and process facilitator, and a certified public participation specialist.