Vision

Improve the climate impacted life and well being of local BIPOC communities by collaboratively creating sustainable and resilient solutions alongside a global network of engineers and partners.

Our guiding pillars

Climate Training

We build an ever-growing ecosystem of collaborators, that educate BIPOC leaders about the best sustainability and resiliency practices so their projects can transform communities.

Startup Schools

We inspire and train emerging generations and young professionals with an opportunities focused on entrepreneurial development and venture creation.

Project Development

We bring a strong Theory of Practice to our work, by creating projects based on extensive research and policies, operationalizing external strategies to solve local problems, and collaboratively setting milestones to keep projects moving forward.

Funding and Financing

We leverage our extensive network of collaborators and global programs to help us interconnect global leaders and funders with diverse BIPOC sustainability community projects.

Who we are

Cris Liban

Cris B. Liban, P.E., Ph.D.
Founder and managing principal

Dr. Cris B. Liban grew up in the Philippines. While he was driven to excel in school, he also sought out opportunities to learn about improving living conditions, especially of the poor and underserved. Visiting a squatter’s colony in Manila as a child, Cris discovered an affinity with the maligned, with the poor and those who have nothing.

Immigrating to the United States in 1988, Cris attained success in both private consulting and public service. He currently serves as the Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) of LA Metro. As CSO, Cris' responsibilities are unique as he sets the environmental, sustainability, and resiliency vision for the agency while overseeing the implementation of more than 150 programs to fulfill that vision. He never forgot his past. He has fully integrated multiple social initiatives and programs into his work.

As an advocate for social change, Cris has conceptualized and co-founded in 2019 the International Coalition for Sustainable Infrastructure (ICSI). ICSI aims to bring global engineering action into more than 10,000 communities around the globe. His current project, Engineer Action Rising, complements that goal by bringing community-developed and culturally sensitive climate change solutions globally, focusing on Black, Indigenous, and People of Color communities.

He holds a doctorate in environmental science and engineering from UCLA; a master’s in civil and environmental engineering from Loyola Marymount University; and a bachelor’s in geology (magna cum laude) from the University of the Philippines-Diliman. He is a licensed civil engineer in California.

More about Dr. Liban at https://www.linkedin.com/in/crisliban/