About Greenleaf Advisors
Greenleaf Advisors is dedicated to advancing a Healthy and Sustainable World by bridging enterprises and people across disciplines to achieve their goals while protecting our vital resources – land, water, energy, and material. Our consulting and transaction advisory services enable clients to thrive through their contributions to a more sustainable future.
Our strength comes from the expertise of staff, partners, and Board of Advisors. We address complex challenges related to natural resources and ecosystem services they provide through interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral collaboration. By engaging leaders in science, policy, capital, and business, we drive impactful and enduring sustainability outcomes.
Mission and Vision
Greenleaf Advisors’ mission is to foster a health society a healthy society by developing business strategies and nurturing partnerships that protect natural resources and enhance the quality of life for all.
Our vision is to live in a world where business and society are aligned in centering a thriving society and healthy planet to improve quality of life for all.
Values
- Respect. We respect stakeholders from all sectors and their diverse perspectives.
- Sound Science. We respect both natural and social sciences in guiding business and policy decisions.
- Reliability. We offer advice that is grounded in and consistent with our implementation experience.
- Trust/Integrity. We leverage open, transparent relationships for collaboration and shared gains.
- Innovation. We support innovation of market-based solutions to a healthy and sustainable world.
- Leadership. We champion those with courage to create positive change in the face of difficulties.
- Community. We value community engagement to progress a healthy society.
- Nature. We value nature and the full variety of life on earth (biodiversity).
Why do leading organizations choose Greenleaf Advisors?
People
Our staff, service partners and board bring a deep foundation of experience and commitment to sustainability and client service, while building a healthy and sustainable world.
Experience & Trust
We have built respectful relationships within the business, scientific and government sectors, as illustrated by our extensive track record.
Expertise
We communicate effectively across the full range of community interests, including science, business, policy and capital, to create sustainable solutions. We are cross functional and multi-disciplined.
Results
We deliver results in the marketplace for clients, enabling strong financial performance and enterprise value alongside environmental and social impact.
Greenleaf Advisors Story
John Andersen founded Greenleaf Advisors in 2002 as a sustainability firm dedicated to providing consulting and transaction services that advance corporate interests while protecting environmental resources such as land and water. The firm’s first assignment was to help John’s previous employer, Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), a global leader in real estate, with a sustainable development project. As an Illinois Trustee of The Nature Conservancy, John was soon invited to lead its work protecting the lands and waters of North America’s Great Lakes—the largest freshwater ecosystem on Earth. With partners from the nonprofit, scientific, corporate, and policy sectors, John’s team addressed five of the six primary threats to freshwater biodiversity: climate change, pollution, invasive species, habitat destruction, and altered hydrology.
Through this work, John recognized significant disassociation between sectors and disciplines, underscoring the need for a bridge builder to foster collaboration for the common good. In response, he repositioned Greenleaf Advisors with a new mission: “Bridging enterprises for a healthy and sustainable world.” The firm’s work has always been rooted in sound science and collaboration, aimed at informing community, corporate, and investment practices, as well as public policy. In 2009, Greenleaf Advisors fully integrated scientific, policy, and business communities to develop sustainable, stakeholder-driven solutions, inviting onto its board experts in all disciplines and sectors (land, water, energy, waste/materials, climate).
Today, Greenleaf Advisors works across North America, helping companies attract clients, expand markets, and secure supportive national and state policies. We also advise state and regional governments on water resource protection, offering technical advice, strategic planning, and stakeholder engagement. Additionally, we support universities and research organizations in advancing agricultural best practices to protect soil and water resources through project management, facilitation, and outreach.
We pride ourselves on bringing together diverse parties to achieve sustainable, mutually beneficial outcomes, helping enterprises thrive and gain a competitive edge through sustainable practices. We invite all interested parties to contact us to explore opportunities for collaboration in advancing a healthy and sustainable world.
Greenleaf Communities
In 2011, we founded Greenleaf Communities, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) sister organization focused on advancing a healthy and sustainable world by applying research intelligence to policies and practices that reduce environmental stress on human health. Environmental impacts on water and food security, along with climate change-related events, are already influencing population movements and increasing disease, adversely affecting human health.
Greenleaf Communities brings together multidisciplinary teams of scientists, technologists, and community leaders to collaborate across various fields to reduce environmental harm and ensure the sustainability of natural resources for human benefit of human. We invite participants and supporters to join our growing community committed to preventing unnecessary human harm.
For more information, visit the Greenleaf Communities website.