Carolyn Bloede, Director, Sustainability Department
Carolyn finds inspiration in Margaret Mead’s words:
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed it’s the only thing that ever has.”
Carolyn sees a big part of the role of the Sustainability Department as conveners and facilitators. Pulling wisdom from the group, to come to consensus, and to move the work forward through collaboration.
Before joining San Mateo County in 2020, she was with Alameda County’s Sustainability Office for 17 years where she built the office from the ground up to deliver-results driven programs in climate action, green building, and resource conservation for the county government and the community. Carolyn brings 15 years of private sector environmental experience in remediation and air pollution control, energy efficiency programs for major retailers, pollution prevention programs for the military and Fortune 500 companies. She holds an M.S. in Engineering from San Jose State University, a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Colorado, and was selected to attend the Harvard Executive Education Program for Sustainability Leadership and to be trained by former Vice President Al Gore’s The Climate Reality Project. She was inducted into the Alameda County Women’s Hall of Fame for her sustainability leadership.