History of ISSP
In early 2006, the idea of an organization dedicated to the promotion and support of the emerging group of sustainability professionals was first being discussed at the Zero Waste Alliance. So many other professions have their own professional association. Where was ours? After searching the Internet and talking with existing organizations that might be positioned to become one, we determined that we might need 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:
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Networking: To be able to find other people who shared your interests or were working on similar projects
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Sharing Best Practices and Tools: To have a repository for case studies, sample policies and job descriptions, and other resources.
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Professional Development: Conferences and workshops
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: Conferences and workshops
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. The executive team put in untold hours getting an initial website up and running but eventually exceeded the technical knowledge to finish it. The Zero Waste Alliance, and its parent orgranization the International Sustainable Development Foundation, generously incubated us in the first two years offering administrative support and the official structure of an incorporated non-profit organization. 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. By early 2008, we already had about 200 members from around the world and began a webinar series.
