Over the next few weeks, we will run a Q+A blog series showcasing the ten incredible change-makers who represent our 2019 Living Future Heroes. Introducing Joel Cesare, Sustainable Projects Manager at the City of Santa Monica:

Q: How did you become involved with ILFI?

A: I worked in the Bay Area at Skanska for two years and had colleagues working on the Bertschi School project in Seattle. In 2014, I interviewed to be Green Building Advisor for the City of Santa Monica, and was told that if I got the job I might be able to work on the City Hall project – which was considering LBC. They had just hired a team to do the feasibility study, and at the time this was a lukewarm, “let’s see what’s possible” commitment. Once we learned that LBC was possible, we really took on a mindset that nothing was going to stop us. There was a core group of us who recognized Santa Monica had the opportunity to do something special.

Q: What do you consider your “aha” moment which drove you to get involved?

A: Shortly after registering and committing to a LBC project, I attended the 2014 Living Future unConference. There I was introduced to the fascinating, world-changing people involved in the movement. The topic of the first session I attended at LF14 was on peak phosphorus, and I thought, ‘yes, this is my kind of group.’Buildings as resource producers, not consumers. Once you embrace that paradigm shift, there’s no going back. 

Q: Tell us how your background resulted in your career today?

A: I went to school on the East Coast with the goal of studying Law, but took some Geology coursed and realized I was an environmentalist. After graduating I moved to California to get to the ocean; my goal was to be a surfer. I got into Environmental Insurance and quickly realized I wasn’t solving environmental problems or doing anything positive for humanity. At that point, I enrolled in grad school at the Bren School at UC Santa Barbara, where I did my Master’s thesis on green buildings. Since then I’ve been able to work on innovative sustainability projects all over the world. 

Q: How do you see yourself creating a Living Future in the next five years?

A: I’m so inspired by this work and motivated by the challenges of doing a Living Building – I’m eager to see this scale. I want to see how I can take everything I’ve learned and spread it to places that might seem slower to adopt the Living Future movement. I also look forward to continuing to grow the One Watershed program we created at StokeShare, the organization I co-founded to build community around sharing action sports equipment. We crowdsource outdoor gear to connect at-risk youth to nature through action sports. I grew up in nature – I credit that upbringing to my professional career protecting the environment and want to help everyone have access to that lifestyle.

Q: Finally, what’s your call to action to this community?

A: My call to action to the Living Future community is that we need to be bolder, louder and more committed to scale. ILFI has done a tremendous job taking green building standards to the next level, but it sometimes still feels a little niche. We need bigger and more diverse projects, and to think boldly and urgently about scaling this movement.

Written By

ILFI Staff