Siddhesh Joshi (Editor)

Kevin Sweeney (consultant)

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Name
  
Kevin Sweeney


Kevin Sweeney (Born August 29, 1958) is a management consultant with expertise in environmental issues, corporate social responsibility and strategic planning. In 1999, Sweeney launched Transforming Business, a consultancy aimed at helping companies organize and articulate their ethical practices and bring their environmental and social innovations to market. He lives and works in the San Francisco Bay Area.

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Sweeney currently serves as Staff Director for the Rosenberg Alzheimer’s Project, which supports scientists with novel approaches to a cure for the disease. Through his work with the Rosenberg Alzheimer’s Project, he is helping launch the Brain Health Registry, a new project intended to reduce the time and costs associated with clinical trials for neurological disorders.

He is a partner at North Bay Therapeutics, which is developing supplements focused on brain health and memory.

Sweeney is currently on the faculty at the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley where he holds a bachelor's degree in political science. He has taught courses on corporate social responsibility and stakeholder engagement.

Management & Consulting

For much of his career, Sweeney has focused on supporting and influencing environmental and energy policy. He was chief of staff at the Alliance for Climate Protection, the group founded by Al Gore. He directed the National Security and Climate Change Project, which released a groundbreaking report (with eleven retired admirals and generals) highlighting the security implications of climate change. He also directed the Irish American Climate Project, which combined peer-reviewed science with observations from Irish poets, visual artists and others to explain climate change issues in a cultural context.

Sweeney’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) clients have included Nike, Hewlett-Packard, Nokia, Chiquita, Ford Motor Company and many others. He led the team producing Nike's 2004 CSR report, widely credited for signaling a major shift in the company's approach to transparency and labor rights.

As an executive at outdoor apparel company Patagonia, Sweeney directed environmental strategies, marketing efforts and portions of the company’s logistics staff. He led the company’s green efforts at a time when Patagonia was emerging as a global environmental leader and, at the request of the President, played a significant role in establishing the Fair Labor Association, which remains a leading labor rights organization.

Politics

Sweeney has played leading roles in many campaigns, including several statewide initiatives. Most recently, he helped shape and execute strategy for the successful No on Prop 23 campaign - an effort that preserved California's landmark climate legislation.

In 1993, Sweeney was appointed by President Bill Clinton as the Special Assistant to Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt. In that post, he worked closely with White House staff to develop and articulate Administration positions on environmental issues. Sweeney also played a leading role in protecting the Endangered Species Act and in reintroducing wolves to Yellowstone National Park.

He was press secretary for U.S. Senator Gary Hart, in the Senate and on the presidential campaign trail, and was a key architect of Hart’s surprise showing in the 1984 Iowa caucuses. He served as press secretary for then-Rep. Edward Markey.

Published Work & Media

As a writer, Sweeney’s articles on business, political and social topics have appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and many other newspapers. He has also written for Salon.com where his Climate of Hope article sparked a lengthy and rich discussion both online and offline.

He was a reporter for WAGA-TV, then the CBS affiliate in Atlanta.

Sweeney’s memoir, Father Figures, was published in May 2003 by HarperCollins and ReganBooks.

References

Kevin Sweeney (consultant) Wikipedia