About Us

Our Mission:

  • To increase the profits of the businesses that are having the least impact on the environment and through "Business-to-Business" mentoring and strength in partnership, encourage more sustainable business practices.
  • To educate and influence the public to think more about the goods and services they use in their own communities and to encourage more sustainable choices

Our Story

The Green Alliance was born from a partnership of community environmental advocacy and business ingenuity. Green Alliance founding businesses, Simply Green Biofuels and Purely Organic Lawncare, were trying to break into markets dominated by fossil fuels and toxic herbicides and pesticides, when they realized that an alliance might bring more tangible results. Simply Green owner Andrew Kellar and Purely Organic head James Reinertson knew that Seacoast residents using biofuel were probably interested in organic lawn care and vice versa - Kellar and Reinertson promptly began offering each other's customers mutual discounts and sharing best business practices and marketing techniques.

At the same time, community activist, Sarah Brown was working in Portsmouth and Kittery on environmental issues - focused on individual energy use and personal environmental impact. As the advocacy widened to include towns and then business - Brown saw that some businesses were leading the way in sustainability. As business goes, so goes the individual...right? But how to bring attention to those local businesses that are doing the right thing for our planet? And, how to encourage more timid businesses to "go green" and provide support in that process? The Green Alliance, of course!

 

 

Our Team

Sarah Brown - Green Alliance Project Director

Sarah Brown has been an environmental advocate in her community for the last 10 years. She has served on Kittery's Town Council and the Zoning Board of Appeals. Sarah created Kittery Progressive Action, a community action coalition which responds to and organizes around, progressive issues in Kittery, Southern Maine and Portsmouth. She also formed St. John's Stewardship of the Earth Committee in Portsmouth; a group which educates the Seacoast community on environmental issues. Brown spear-headed Cool Kittery, which convinced the Town Council to sign the Mayors Agreement on Climate Change and then regrouped to become Kittery's current Energy Efficiency Committee - a town-sanctioned board that is now working to reduce Kittery's energy use and promote conservation in the schools and the community.

Before moving to the Seacoast, Brown worked for 5 years as a journalist in Moscow, Russia for CNN, BBC, NBC and the Associated Press. Pre-Russia she worked at CNN's New York bureau. Brown has a degree in Russian Studies from Columbia University. She lives in Kittery with her husband and three young daughters.

Jim Cavan - Director of Media and Public Relations

Jim joined the GA in February 2009 as support staff with a focus on social media marketing and writing. He has since become a full-time team member, serving as the Director of Media and PR. Since coming to the GA, Jim's work has been published in a number of regional newspapers, magazines, and online, along the way helping raise the profile of GA Business Partners and green happenings throughout the Seacoast.

A native Michigander, Jim is a 2005 graduate of UNH, where he studied philosophy and sociology. Jim has long maintained a keen interest in environmental social and political issues, having canvassed for NHPIRG and the Sierra Club as well as completing a senior honors thesis on issues of social and environmental sustainability. Jim hopes to continue his work strengthening the GA's social marketing potential through regular blog updates, online networking, as well as contributing GA-related stories to local media publications.

When not fighting the good fight for the GA, Jim also works part-time for a Dover-based rare book and map seller. In his free time Jim enjoys spending time with his fiance Deana, playing basketball, disc golf, yoga, cooking, and getting worked up over politics.

Scott Szycher - Assistant Director

Scott joined the GA in August 2010 to assist with content development, Business Partner outreach efforts, and Green Card Holder expansion programs. With a background in marketing and sales, he has developed content and implemented marketing programs for companies in the environmental services, health and wellness, and wireless communications industries. 

A lifelong New Englander, Scott holds an M.B.A. in Marketing from Northeastern University, and a B.A. in Sociology from Tufts University. He is heavily involved in issues such as renewable energy, naturopathic healing, climatology, and energy efficiency, and is a member of numerous environmental advocacy groups. Scott is looking forward to supporting sustainable communities and economies through his work for the GA.

An avid skier, hiker, and mountain biker, Scott enjoys a variety of activities with his wife and son throughout New England. Some of his musings on sustainability, climate change, and the economy can be found at www.beyondeconomics.org.