The History of ISSP

2006

     The idea of an organization dedicated to the promotion and support of the emerging group of sustainability professionals was first floated at the Zero Waste Alliance.  So many other professions have their own professional association. Where was ours?

After speaking with existing organizations that might be a candidate, we determined that we needed to start a professional society from scratch. An initial marketing effort was launched in the second half of 2006 to determine if we were the only ones that thought it was a good idea and discovered that many other people were eager to have such a resource.  The biggest needs, according to our market research, included:

• Networking: To be able to find other people who shared your interests or were working on similar projects.
• Sharing Best Practices and Tools: To have a repository for case studies, sample policies and job descriptions, and other resources.
• Professional Development: To have access to conferences and workshops dedicated to sustainability practioners

By the end of 2006, a core group of committed Zero Waste Alliance associates had come together to seriously look at the feasibility, outline the framework and determine a timeline for launching. This  team put in untold hours getting the organization and an initial website up and running. The Zero Waste Alliance, and its parent organization the International Sustainable Development Foundation, generously incubated ISSP in the first two years offering administrative support and the official structure of an incorporated non-profit organization.

2007

     By early 2007, we had an advisory board of respected sustainability professionals from around the world to help vet the design and a couple corporate sponsors underwriting the costs of getting the organization started.  Approximately 50 founding members from around the world started populating the site with useful material in 2nd quarter of 2007.  In October 2007 we opened the doors for inaugural members for a soft launch.

2008

     In 2008, we matured enough as an organization to form our own 501C3 with an international board of directors. We had several hundred members from five continents.

2009

2010