New Leadership

Build It Green Welcomes New Executive Director, Jeremy Madsen

Build It Green’s Board of Directors is pleased to announce the selection of Jeremy Madsen to serve as BIG’s Executive Director.  

Madsen is a nonprofit executive with over two decades of leadership experience in tackling complex intersectional issues, building partnerships and coalitions, leading strategic initiatives, and managing overall organizational effectiveness. He champions climate and clean energy solutions and is an authority on sustainable and equitable development. He believes that it is at the community level where many of the world’s most complex social and environmental problems can be solved and those solutions scaled.

"Jeremy’s expertise with guiding diverse coalitions in finding common ground will be a strong asset as BIG works to address the environmental and social crises facing the housing ecosystem.”

- Karen Kho, Board President
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Madsen takes the helm as Build It Green is advancing a new strategic direction grounded in inclusivity, community engagement and collaboration. BIG is in the process of convening coalitions that are delving into possibilities at different scales — from smaller homes known as accessory dwelling units to regenerative design approaches that can improve lives at the neighborhood scale. 

Madsen previously served 10 years as CEO of Greenbelt Alliance, a San Francisco Bay Area-focused advocacy group focused on protecting the natural and agricultural lands that make the Bay Area special and promoting the right development in the right places. Under his leadership, Greenbelt Alliance became a recognized authority on sustainable and equitable urban and suburban development. More recently, Madsen was at the Energy Foundation where he focused on cultivating atypical advocates such as corporate leaders for climate protection and clean energy. 

"In the broad community that makes up the housing ecosystem — from architects and builders to policymakers and advocates — more and more of us are recognizing the potential to shift from merely avoiding and neutralizing negative impacts to using development as a regenerative tool for both people and planet."

- Jeremy Madsen, Executive Director
In joining Build It Green Madsen said, “I could not be more excited to lead Build It Green as the organization identifies the ways in which it can best contribute to this emergent school of thought and action.”

If you have any questions or would like to reach out to Jeremy directly you may do so at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 510-590-3360 x103.

About Build It Green:
Build It Green, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization based in Oakland, CA, has been a building culture catalyzer for more than 15 years. BIG built its reputation on bringing residential green building into the mainstream with credible, accessible resources and innovations including the GreenPoint Rated home certification program. Today, Build It Green is working with diverse coalitions to envision new approaches to home and neighborhood building that foster health in the broadest sense — as an interconnected web of personal, community and bioregional well-being.