Prosperity Indiana announces Allyson Mitchell as the organization’s Director of Sustainability. Mitchell will lead the organization’s strategies to integrate environmental sustainability into the network of nonprofit, government, and other community and business leaders committed to comprehensive community development. Andy Fraizer, Prosperity Indiana’s Executive Director, said “Allyson joining the team brings additional perspective and expertise to our work. Prosperous communities are socially just, environmentally sustainable, and transformed by local initiative.”

The Director of Sustainability develops programming that engages, coordinates, and convenes members to help them integrate sustainability principles and practices into their communities and organizations. The position is a technical assistance resource on sustainability, including energy systems, green infrastructure, community resiliency, building sciences, food systems, and waste management.

Before joining the staff of Prosperity Indiana, Mitchell owned a sustainability planning and consulting company and worked with Prosperity Indiana on the development and implementation of the first phase of the Solar Uniting Neighbors Program. She has an extensive background in environmental sustainability, public policy, design, and law. Mitchell has worked in the fields of landscape architecture, commercial real estate development, nonprofit management, and higher education. Formerly, she was a founding member of the City of Indianapolis’ Office of Sustainability. 

Mitchell graduated from Purdue University with a degree in Landscape Horticulture & Design and immediately went on to graduate studies at the University of Michigan’s School of Natural Resources & Environment to complete a Master of Landscape Architecture degree. In 2012, she graduated from Indiana University’s McKinney School of Law with a Juris Doctor (JD) degree. In her spare time, Mitchell teaches a graduate-level course, Sustainability Assessment, at Indiana University Purdue University – Indianapolis’ (IUPUI) School of Public and Environmental Affairs (SPEA). Mitchell is from Greensburg, Ind. and lives in Indianapolis with her husband and two young sons.