Melanie Nutter

Nutter serves as the director for the San Francisco Government's Department of the Environment. She joined SFE after working as the deputy district director for Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House. Prior to this position, she was the executive director of the San Francisco Democratic Party from 2003-2005 and was the principal of Nutter Consulting, a San Francisco based consulting firm that helps nonprofits and political organizations to raise funds, organize events, manage campaigns and recruit new supporters. Nutter has over sixteen years experience in nonprofit fundraising, events management, grassroots organizing and media relations. As a principal for Nutter Consulting, she consulted for many organizations including Music for America and SEIU Local 250. In 2002, she worked as the canvass director for the San Francisco Democratic Party's SF Vote Project and oversaw two assistant directors and 80 paid staff on Election Day. Before launching her own consulting practice, she was a senior consultant at Donordigital where she assisted nonprofits and political candidates in creating online fundraising and marketing campaigns. Nutter also spent two years helping nonprofits and political campaigns with their Internet strategies at 4Charity.com. Prior to her work in online fundraising and marketing, she spent six years as a grassroots political organizer with Greenbelt Alliance, the Public Interest Research Groups (PIRG) and Green Corps. She holds a B.S. degree in communications and environmental studies from Northwestern University.

Program Session
Can San Francisco Be America's First VERGE City?
VERGE describes a convergence taking place among energy, information, building, and transportation technologies that will revolutionize cities. Capitalizing on this convergence will require visionary political leaders, private-sector investors, and unprecedented partnerships among cities, companies, utilities, investors, and other institutions. San Francisco already has invested in green and smart technologies affecting vehicles, traffic management, building efficiency, and infrastructure. What will it take for the City by the Bay to be the showcase city for the coming convergence?