Alumni Sustainability Affinity Group

Hope Sustains was established to engage all concerned alumni as a reference and resource for the college鈥檚 educational mission focused around the increasingly critical issue of sustainability, helping to shape and support our alma mater鈥檚 own sustainability goals.

We hope that this newly formed Hope College Alumni Sustainability Affinity Group (HopeSustains) will connect and enrich Hope alumni who care about God鈥檚 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 鈥渃lassmates.鈥� 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鈥檚 sustainability goals and to enhance Hope鈥檚 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鈥檚 stated sustainability goals.

2023鈥�2024 Board of Directors

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

2022鈥�2023 Board of Directors

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

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