Melanie Nutter is the Principal of Nutter Consulting, a boutique consultancy providing strategic planning services to advance smart and sustainable city goals and objectives. Since 2014, Nutter Consulting has served over 25 municipal, nonprofit and business clients on a range of projects from sustainability program design to technology roadmaps.
Nutter is the former Director of the San Francisco Department of the Environment and served for Mayor Gavin Newsom and Mayor Edwin Lee from 2010 through 2014. During her tenure, San Francisco achieved an 80% waste diversion rate, reduced its carbon emissions to 14.5% below 1990 levels and was named the Greenest City in North America by Siemens and the Economist Intelligence Unit. Nutter also championed smart city strategies to help the City meet its sustainability goals.
From 2005-2010, Nutter served as the Deputy District Director for the U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Nutter functioned as the district policy liaison to Speaker Pelosi’s DC policy advisors on issues including the environment, energy, transportation, environmental health, women’s issues, and food policy.
Nutter founded and is Chair Emeritus for the Energy and Environment Circle for Full Circle Fund. Nutter also served on the Planning Committee for the Urban Sustainability Director’s Network (USDN) and Co-Chaired USDN’s Innovation Fund. She currently serves as the Chair for Ecodistricts and a Board Member of Meeting of the Minds. Nutter also served as an Advisory Board member for the Smart and Sustainable Cities Working group for the American National Standards Institute.
Nutter holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree from Northwestern University in Communications and Environmental Studies and is a graduate of Green Corps and Emerge CA.