Joseph Clair

Background

About Joseph Clair

Innovative and inspirational leader of leaders in diverse corporate, start-up, and non-profit organizations with a track record of building and growing organizations, improving mission delivery, and identifying / developing top talent. Passionate about improving the quality of life for all through sustainability and energy management initiatives, Joseph is a recognized and sought-after thought leader and facilitator working in human-centered design, sustainability, energy efficiency, renewable energy, electrification, and carbon consulting. Known for empathetic leadership, team building, visioning abilities as well as an entrepreneurial approach to organization change management, Joseph has a proven track record of impact wherever he goes. Most recently, Joseph served as the Chief Operating Officer at Slipstream guiding the $40M non-profits operations through a leadership transition and strategic planning process during which Joseph strengthened the structure and support systems of the organization to provide the foundation for 15% growth over the next three years. Prior to that, Joseph founded the DataBased+ studio at the building systems design firm, dbHMS, and served as its first Principal. The studio combined traditional sustainability planning, building performance analysis, and smart building solutions into a coordinated, human-centered design practice providing practical pathways to achieving ambitious outcomes at scales from multifamily housing to airport terminal projects. This work grew out of Joseph's independent consulting practice where he worked with non-profits and community organizations to identify and deliver sustainable solutions to community issues through collaborative "community-first" approaches. Joseph served as the first Director of Campus Energy and Sustainability at Illinois Tech, where he led the development of the university's first Campus Sustainability Plan and emissions reduction plan, securing STARS Silver recognition in the process. Additionally, Joseph served as the Managing Engineer at Chicago Public Schools co-creating the green building roadmap for new construction that delivered the largest single development of green building space in the country through the twenty-five new schools of the Modern Schools Across Chicago which all received LEED certification at levels ranging from Certified through Platinum. At the same time, Joseph led the effort to secure clean electricity for all of the schools and established smart building and design standards that serve the district to this day.