Alumni Sustainability Affinity Group

We hope that this newly formed Hope College Alumni Sustainability Affinity Group (HopeSustains) will connect and enrich Hope alumni who care about God’s creation and environmental justice.

The group was conceived by a generational range of  acknowleged alumni changemakers who place a high value on the power of  education to impact the world for the better through their respective work in government, corporate, non-profit and faith-based institutions and spheres of influence.

Under the direction of its officers and board of directors, Hope Sustains aims to channel the dedication and resources of  its alumni to enhance the focus on creation care within the mission of Hope College.

As Hope College emerges as one of  the leading sustainability players through the Great Lakes Colleges Association, the Holland community, West Michigan, and beyond, our alumni affinity group members pledge to foster lifelong relationships with each other and the college in assisting Hope to fulfill its overall mission and the strategic goals of the Office of  Sustainability.

Hope Sustains

Hope Sustains not only speaks to what the college is doing now in terms of  ensuring a safer, livable and greener  campus, but also what Hope has meant to many of us in how it prepared and has sustained us for meaningful lives of  service. Hope College has kindled in many of us a spirit of  collegial creation care through our respective faith walks and our lifelong cross-generational interactions as “classmates.” Hope has provided living tools that have inspired so many alumni in sustaining our lives, our chosen endeavors and our planet. Hope Sustains is a mission, a vision and a call to action for all of us to be proactive and remain diligent in our quest for a greener and liveable future, not only for the coming generations of Hope students, but for us all.

Engagement

Through engagement in fundraising, in campus sustainability projects and events, and through community outreach, the affinity group seeks to provide focus and direction for the college’s sustainability goals and to enhance Hope’s commitment to creation care leadership in sustainability to the larger communities of  Holland and Western Michigan. Through the efforts of the Alumni Sustainability Affinity Group, Hope alumni will be actively engaged in learning about campus activities around sustainability, serve as an educational resource for faculty, students and staff, and lend their individual and collective expertise in shaping and supporting the college’s stated sustainability goals.

2023–2024 Board of Directors

• Kyle Funk ’18, co-chair — National League of Cities, transportation and infrastructure policy specialist
• Nick Gibson ’17  co-chair – Trane, project manager
• Anne Deckard ’73 Hiskes, co-chair — (retired) Grand Valley State University Dean Brooks College of  Interdisciplinary Studies; professor emerita of philosophy, the University of   Connecticut
• Richard Hiskes ’73 outreach and engagement — professor emeritus, University of  Connecticut, political science and human rights; retired Grand Valley State
  University professor of political science and human rights
• David  Beattie ’73, communications — b.comm creative, director, ESG branding/marketing
• Karl Hoesch ’07 — doctoral candidate at the School for Environment and Sustainability at the University of Michigan
• Sarah Josuns ’02 Kessler  — City of  Clearwater, Florida, lead environmental specialist
• Kaila Robertson ’19 Bylsma — Meijer, information technology
• Jeffrey Vredenburg ’11 — City of  Sarasota, Florida, sustainability manager and adjunct professor, Ringling College of  Art and Design
• Dr. Steven Bouma-Prediger ’79, ex officio faculty liaison — Hope College, religion department and Green Team chair
• Nicholas Duthler ’09, ex officio staff  liason – Hope College project manager
• Michelle Seppala Gibbs, ex officio staff liaison — Hope College Director for the Office of Sustainability

2022–2023 Board of Directors

• Anne Deckard ’73 Hiskes, co-chair — (retired) Grand Valley State University Dean Brooks College of  Interdisciplinary Studies; professor emerita of philosophy, the University of   Connecticut
• Kyle Funk ’18, co-chair — National League of Cities, transportation and infrastructure policy specialist
• Kaila Robertson ’19 Bylsma, secretary — Meijer, information technology
• Richard Hiskes ’73 outreach and engagement — professor emeritus, University of  Connecticut, political science and human rights; retired Grand Valley State
  University professor of political science and human rights
• David  Beattie ’73, communications — b.comm creative, director, ESG branding/marketing
• Nick Gibson ’17  – Trane, project manager
• Sarah Josuns ’02 Kessler  — City of  Clearwater, Florida, lead environmental specialist
• Junu Shrestha ’01 — World Bank, senior environmental specialist
• Jeffrey Vredenburg ’11 — City of  Sarasota, Florida, sustainability manager and adjunct professor, Ringling College of  Art and Design
• Dr. Steven Bouma-Prediger ’79, ex officio faculty liaison — Hope College, religion department and Green Team chair
• Nicholas Duthler ’09, ex officio staff  liason – Hope College project manager
• Michelle Seppala Gibbs, ex officio staff liaison — Hope College, director, Office of Sustainability

Newsletters

• Winter 2023
• Fall 2023
• Spring 2023
• Winter 2022 

Sign-up for our alumni network and the email list: https://bit.ly/HopeSustainsAlumni