Black Excellence in Sustainability 2024

February 28, 2024

Michigan Sustainable Business Forum is celebrating Black and African American leaders in sustainability and sustainable business that are creating a more sustainable, inclusive and just future for our state. Each of these 16 professionals have played an important role in advancing our strategic priorities of climate leadership, social justice and the creation of a circular economy. 

We are grateful for the opportunity to highlight their work and recognize the enormous value each brings to our network of sustainability leaders. This year’s feature is a collaboration of MiSBF and Robert Simmons, a Grand Rapids Community Collaboration on Climate Change ambassador and principal of Voices for the Disadvantage LLC in Grand Rapids. 


Ned Andree
Project Coordinator
Community Collaboration on Climate Change

“I am motivated by climate justice. Those who have done the least to contribute to the problem are being excluded from the solution. My work at C4 drives me to change that. We want to bring the frontline BIPOC community to the table, equip and resource them, so they can become part of the solution for us all.”

Born and raised in Southwest Grand Rapids, Andree has a deep love for the city and the people who reside there. A retired teacher, he works tirelessly to educate, offer solutions, and help Grand Rapids mitigate, remediate, and adapt to climate change, fostering climate resiliency in the community. Through C4, Ned is bringing the BIPOC community to the table, demanding equity and justice in the climate change sector. 

Learn more about C4 here.

Belinda Barnes
Chief Recycling Officer
GreenBeings Recycling

“I want to be part of the solution for the problem of plastic pollution that is plaguing the entire world.”

An Army veteran active in the Metro Detroit Veteran Entrepreneur Network, Belinda launched GreenBeings Recycling LLC in 2013 and is responsible for operations, sales, and end-to-end management.  She is currently expanding into the manufacturing sector to develop sustainable building materials made from the recyclables her company collects. 

Learn more about GreenBeings Recycling here.

Bobby Boyd
Community Engagement (Midwest)
U.S. Department of Energy

“If you never stand out, you will always be forgotten.”

Bobby Boyd, a lifelong advocate for equality and inclusion, began his career as a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Manager in local government, earning numerous awards for his contributions.  Transitioning to the environmental justice movement, he served as the Equity Manager for Michigan Sustainable Business Forum, where he led equity work in the city of Benton Harbor and contributed to their sustainability goals. Driven by his fervent commitment to cultivating inclusive communities and fostering collaboration, Boyd endeavors to facilitate the equitable transition to clean energy. He is based in the Kalamazoo area.

Learn more about the DOE Office of Community Engagement here. 

Robert Cloy
Urban Waters Federal Ambassador
Grand Valley Metro Council

“This work is important to me because engaging with community members throughout the watershed strengthens community resiliency. It helps create a vision that the waterways, and by extension, the entirety of nature, belongs to everyone, and must be cared for by everyone.”

Cloy works as the Urban Waters Ambassador for the Lower Grand River Organization of Watersheds, an agency of the Grand Valley Metropolitan Council. His current work consists of reconnecting overburdened communities with their waterways, as well as promoting economic, environmental, and social benefits of healthy waterways. He also chairs the Urban Agriculture Committee for the City of Grand Rapids, previously serving as a Community Forester for a local nonprofit (he is certified an Arborist by the International Society of Arboriculture).  Cloy was recognized as an Emerging Leader fellow at GreenBiz 21, the world’s premier event for sustainable business leaders.

Learn more about the Grand Rapids Urban Waters Ambassador here.

Wardell Frazier Jr.
Community Affairs Specialist
The Rapid

“I take pride in my role as a community connector and am honored to have the opportunity to represent our community in influential spaces. This work holds great importance to me, as I am in a position to be a voice for those who may feel theirs is not being heard. I believe it is crucial that I contribute ideas resulting in significant and positive changes for the community, as I have been granted a seat at the table.”

An 18-year veteran of community development, Wardell Frazier Jr is responsible for cultivating partnerships, removing barriers, and expanding access to public transportation in the greater Grand Rapids area. He advocates for accessible and environmentally friendly public transportation options, and is building partnerships for solutions in employment, housing, and education, which are significant driving factors for a stronger economy. He is also the founder of S.W.A.G.: Succeeding While Achieving Greatness, a local non-profit that teaches youth and young adults life skills through a culturally relevant curriculum. 

Learn more about The Rapid here and S.W.A.G. here.

Ashley A. Hines
Executive Director
Benton Harbor Community Development Corp.

“My work is important to me because it empowers people to leverage their collective power to create necessary community change. I believe in the power of community, connection, and collaboration and the BHCDC is a vessel uplifting those values in order to combat systemic issues that plague our community and communities like ours.”

Ashley Hines is a project manager, change agent, and community visionary with a passion for innovative system building and advocacy for Black communities. An alumni of Morgan State University, a Historically Black College and University, Hines spent a decade working on nationally important civic engagement, community development and food systems projects in the Baltimore and Washington D.C. area.  In 2020 she returned to her hometown to launch Benton Harbor Community Development Corporation. To achieve the shared vision of a thriving community, BHCDC facilitates people-centered and community-led programming in the areas of homebuying education, food sovereignty, mental health, social cohesion, and community development.  Whether it’s curating experiences that center Black people or striving to work with communities to build systems against systemic racism, Hines’ work continues to be a love letter to Black people; honoring, highlighting, and preserving Black culture and community.

Learn more about Benton Harbor Community Development Corporation here.

Synia Jordan 
Founder and CEO
Legacy & Love, LLC

“My ROOTS run deep, nurtured by faith, hope, strength and the blood of my ancestors. There’s nothing like knowing who you are, who you are and what you are here to do.”

Synia Jordan took a contaminated and boarded-up building in Grand Rapids and turned it into Samaria J’s Salon.  The 2023 West Michigan Sustainable Business of the Year honoree is a hub for community and collective work that has been able to bring leaders together, propagate new ideas for the community, and advocate for environmental and racial justice. She hosts or supports the Grand Rapids African American Community Task Force, Sistas in Development, Community Collaboration on Climate Change, and the Southwest Business Association, which has collaborated with other stakeholders to address heavy-truck traffic in the Roosevelt Park neighborhood.  

Learn more about Legacy & Love LLC here.

Alita Kelly
Founder + Alchemist,
Jade Rabbit

“Sustainability is our way to preserve humanity’s legacy of love, hope, and evolutionary adaptation. I do this work because being in the right relationship to the Earth brings out the best in all of us and making sure we all have access to that feeling is the heart of environmental justice and my heart’s calling.”

Kelly is a serial entrepreneur with several businesses under her belt including a strategic planning firm (Jade Rabbit), grocery store (South East Market), farm-to-table catering company, and more. The 2020 MiSBF Future Sustainable Business Hall of Fame honoree, Kelly is currently revitalizing a 10-acre apple orchard in Northern Michigan and leads several agricultural initiatives involving but not limited to mutual aid programs for farmers, farm-to-school initiatives, and urban agriculture projects such as the MLK Freedom School in Grand Rapids.  South East Market was the 2022 West Michigan Sustainable Business of the Year. 

Learn more about Jade Rabbit here. 

Vickie Lewis
President/CEO
VMX International

“We can orchestrate change and reverse environmental damage to Mother Earth.  In our work, we have to: Think Big, Dream Big, and Believe Big until change happens.” 

VMX International is a prominent part of the nation’s circular economy. Leveraging existing relationships with automakers, Apple, and other partners, the company recycles production scrap, hazardous material, and consumer waste, addressing environmental concerns, promoting responsible consumption, and fostering economic resilience.  Because VMXI understands the financial and environmental impacts of recycling, Lewis is establishing herself in the clean tech space by opening a separate facility to manage electric vehicle battery recycling. It will be the first of its kind to open in Detroit, and the first in the country to be owned and operated by a black woman. 

Learn more about VMX International here.

Darren Riley
CEO
JustAir

“I am thankful for this recognition and honored to continue the work of our people and all those who came before me.”

Riley was in his mid-twenties when he developed asthma after living in Southwest Detroit, one of the most polluted communities in the country. The experience led him to co-found JustAir, an air-quality monitoring platform that provides access to real-time information at a neighborhood scale.  JustAir is an important partner to environmental justice communities and allies across the nation, with tools that are helping communities stay safe and track data that can create change.  It currently has deployments in Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Colorado and several Southeast Michigan communities. 

Learn more about JustAir here. 

Kareem Scales
Founder and CEO
Scales Consulting

“In the realm of sustainability, I am humbled to join the Michigan sustainable business forum in honoring Black and African American Leaders.”

The 2020 MiSBF Future Sustainable Business Hall of Fame honoree, Kareem Scales is the Development Manager for Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition, where he leads all of the organization’s fundraising development and donor relations. A nationally recognized change agent and innovative strategist with a passion for creating transformational change in underserved communities, Scales served as the Executive Director for the Greater Grand Rapids NAACP before establishing Scales Consulting.  His focus lies in capacity building and empowering underserved communities by shifting power and resources to those who live, work, and serve in these areas.

Learn more about Scales Consulting here. 

Crystal Scott-Tunstall
Affiliate Professor
Grand Valley State University

Inclusion and equity are key to reaching the goal of sustainability.  I enter this space mindful of all who work to reach this goal, past and present. It is important to me to do my part in continuing to lay a foundation for future sustainability practitioners, especially those who come from People of Color communities.”

Crystal Scott-Tunstall is a Professor and Internship Coordinator in the Environmental and Sustainability Studies Program at Grand Valley State University. Shel has a Bachelor of Science in Plant and Soil Science and a Master of Science in Urban Forestry and Interpretation from Southern Illinois University. Scott-Tunstall is also a member of the City of Grand Rapids Urban Agriculture Committee, the NAACP Environmental Justice Committee, the Kent County Food and Nutrition Coalition, New City Neighbors Urban Farm Board of Directors, the Mi STEM advisory board, and co-chairs the Kent County Food Policy Council. 

Zach Verhulst
Managing Principal
Pure Architects

“Our purpose is to use architecture to do good in the world. We leverage humility and empathy to understand who we are designing for.”

Verhulst believes that through design we have the ability to work smarter, learn better, connect deeper, and live healthier while creating a robust and prosperous future for our communities. He was the 2019 Young Architect of the Year for AIA Grand Rapids, a member of the 2019, 2022, and 2023 Grand Rapids Business Journal’s “40 Under 40”, and sat on the 2022 AIA National Task Force on the Framework for Design Excellence. 

Learn more about Pure Architects here.

Renee Wallace
CEO
Doers Edge

“Composting is love, one thing makes another thing, so life is sustained! My hope is that everyone chooses a pathway for taking the loving action of composting to help address the wicked challenges that compost is perfectly suited to overcome.”

Wallace advances strategic change through Detroit-based entrepreneurial entities Doers Edge LLC, FoodPLUS Detroit, ReMark Composting Solutions and Transform Community Leadership Institute & Change Lab.  The serial founder is committed to advancing composting in urban cities and is one of Michigan’s most visible circular economy leaders.  She plays a central role in the advancement of organics recycling in the Detroit area, the Michigan Organics Council, NextCycle Michigan, NRDC Food Matters Great Lakes Cohort, and MI Healthy Climate Plan; while advancing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the US Composting Council and facilitating the Great Lakes Leadership Academy, among many other initiatives in Michigan and abroad. 

Learn more about Doers Edge here.

Floyd Wilson III
Senior Client Advisor
Foresight Management

“Even if you are not ready for the day, it cannot always be night.” 

Floyd Wilson supports organizations on their sustainability journey.  The adage “you can’t manage what you don’t measure” is core to his approach. Whether designing certification strategies, developing sustainability roadmaps, or helping companies’ authenticity share positive impact with their community, Floyd’s expertise empowers companies to move confidently into the future. 

Learn more about Foresight Management here.

Jonathan Wilson
Regional Manager
DTE Energy

“Over the years, DTE Energy has made significant progress toward fulfilling our commitment to sustainable business practices and doing the right thing for the environment. It is an honor and privilege to support this work.”

Jonathan Wilson is DTE’s lead West Michigan representative for economic development, foundation giving, media relations and volunteerism.  He oversees the second largest region in the state and works closely with economic development organizations to further DTE Energy’s mission of becoming an agent for growth in the region. 

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