About CSN

Who We Are

We connect, convene and facilitate dialogue among key business leaders of Northeast Ohio's 150 largest corporate citizens, enabling them to learn and share sustainable best practices to create value for their companies and the community. Our team strives to stimulate economic development, job creation, social welfare and environmental stewardship throughout our region.

To establish our region as a global model of a 21st century community with a thriving economy, high-quality of life, and a regional brand based on innovative, sustainable enterprises in all business sectors.

To promote economic development by helping Northeast Ohio's 150 largest corporate citizens become innovative and sustainability-driven by integrating economic, environmental, and social growth opportunities into their business strategies.

A Little Background...

The Corporate Sustainability Network (“CSN”) co-founded by Dave Nash, a corporate environmental and energy attorney at McMahon DeGulis, LLP, and Lisa Hong, a civic entrepreneur, environmental advocate and former lobbyist, has been pursuing the goal of making sustainable business and technology an essential plank in the economic development platform in Northeast Ohio since 2002. CSN’s working premise is that social and professional relationship networks can be leveraged to further the mission of civic organization quickly, cost-effectively, and with significant community impact.

Our vision is carried out through a mission to promote sustainable economic development by helping Northeast Ohio’s 150 largest corporate citizens to become innovative and sustainability-driven by integrating economic, environmental, and social growth opportunities into their business strategies. Since it’s founding, CSN has worked tirelessly to accomplish this mission by connecting, convening, and facilitating corporate stakeholders towards collaborative projects and inciting action toward sustainable regional economic development. By encouraging collaborative projects that have a ‘triple bottom line’ benefit, the all-volunteer CSN team strives to stimulate economic development, job creation, social welfare, and environmental stewardship throughout Northeast Ohio.

In 2004, CSN established an innovative alliance with Cleveland State University's (“CSU”) Nance College of Business to convene the Corporate Roundtable. The Corporate Roundtable is a creative venue in which mainstream business can discuss and share ideas on how to create value for their companies while enhancing economic, environmental and social values through sustainable strategy, practices, products, and technology. The Corporate Round Table comprises key business leaders from many of the region’s largest national and multi-national corporate citizens who maintain global or division headquarters in Northeast Ohio. Initially moderated by Steve Percy, the retired CEO of BP America, the Corporate Roundtable has quickly grown as a living laboratory to exchange ideas and share knowledge around sustainable business practices and technologies.

Paul Alsenas
Director
Cuyahoga County Planning Commission

Trisha Brown
Director, Development and Outreach
Corporate Sustainability Network

Margie Flynn
Principal
BrownFlynn

Colette Hart
Director, Outreach and Business Centers
Cleveland State University Nance College of Business

Chuck Miller
Regional Market Manager
Sam's Club

Thomas M. Morley
President
The Lube Stop, Inc.

Sally Parker
Principal
currere

Steve Percy
CEO, retired
BP America

Terry Pim
Director
Systems Technology Research Institute, Inc.

David J. Rosenberg
Market Development Leader, Americas
GE Energy

Michael Salkind
Principal
Indus International

Ken Silliman
Chief of Staff to the Mayor
The City of Cleveland

Rick Taylor
Director of Environmental, Health, Safety and Energy
Parker-Hannifin Corporation

Terry Thiele
Director, Sustainable Product Strategies                        The Lubrizol Corporation

Chris Varley
Goodyear

Christina Vernon-Ayers
Director, Office for a Healthy Environment
Cleveland Clinic Foundation