My name is Paul Gregory and I was born and raised in Pictou, Nova Scotia (pop 3200)

I’ve always had a close connection to nature. From a young age, I was the kid riding my bike through the woods around our place, and bribing friends to come with me. As an adult, I thought that I needed to be a voice for the environment…and sometimes that voice was pretty loud, almost like a shout. As I’ve matured, I’ve shifted my focus to global warming, and leveraged my ability to connect with people to bring about change in more effective ways.

What I’m best known for is for my network of sustainability practitioners across Canada. I find that over a beer or a cup of tea, almost anyone is willing to chat about their work experiences or their take on how to make the big change we all seek. From district energy systems to sustainability plans and everything in between, I’ve been working with all levels of government, business and non-profit organizations over the last 20 years to try to reduce the global carbon footprint.

For the last four years, I’ve been working as the Director of Outreach at the Green Party of Canada. An important part of the role is helping organizations understand how the national political system works to more effectively move their priorities forward. One exciting example is the platform to transition to 100% renewable energy, creating green tech jobs in the process.

Previously, I worked as the National Advisor for the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) for fourteen years. In this role, I helped communities access funding and provided advice on energy efficiency and lowering greenhouse gas emissions. The strength of this program was the ability to build a network of sustainability practitioners across Canada. By linking municipal environmental leaders with their peers, they could share best practices, learn from other’s mistakes, and stay inspired.

Through my ups and downs, from race car driver to a climate change campaigner for the Greenpeace, I’ve learned that I don’t have to be the smartest one in the room to be successful. What I do have to do is find that person, and get their advice. This ability to listen and strategically synthesize information has been a key ingredient of my success.