Honolulu Names Chief Resilience Officer: 4 Things to Know

The City and County of Honolulu, Hawaii, has named Ben Sullivan to succeed Matthew Gonser as executive director and chief resilience officer, working within Honolulu’s Office of Climate Change, Sustainability and Resiliency (CCSR). Gonser exited to take a similar position in Los Angeles, California.

Here are four things to know about Honolulu's sustainability strategy, and Sullivan's professional experience.

1. Office Focus: The Resilience Office is designed to:

• Track climate change science and potential impacts on city facilities;
• coordinate actions and policies of departments within the city to increase community preparedness;
• develop resilient infrastructure in response to the effects from climate change; and integrating sustainable and environmental values into City plans, programs, and policies.

2. Sustainability Strategy: According to the city and county's 2024 annual sustainability report:

• The municipality's first-ever Climate Action Plan, adopted in June 2021, includes 47 near-term actions in the transportation, energy, and waste sectors that the city can take between 2020 and 2025 to drive down green house gas emissions island-wide.
• The overall goal is to generate net-negative emissions by no later than 2045. As of 2024, 89% of the plan’s actions are either initiated, in progress, or completed. The city expects to update the Climate Action Plan in 2025, the report said.

3. Ben Sullivan's Professional Experience: Sullivan had been the office’s deputy director since June 2023, and earlier worked as an energy program manager within CCSR. Sullivan also served as an energy and sustainability coordinator in the Kaua‘i County Office of Economic Development. He studied environmental design at the University of Colorado at Boulder, the announcement noted.

4. Executive Perspectives: In a prepared statement, Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi said: “Ben Sullivan has proven to be a strong leader with remarkable knowledge, ability, and vision. I look forward to all the ways he will continue to collaborate with our team and with our many community partners to advance the great work that Matthew Gonser and the office have put into motion over the last four years.”

Added Sullivan: “There are many challenges ahead for O‘ahu as we build our resilience to climate impacts and realize a cleaner and more affordable energy future for our residents. I am honored to work for Mayor Blangiardi in this new capacity and with the talented team he has assembled. Even more so, I am humbled to work with the dedicated staff across the City and County, and the people of O‘ahu as we all create a more resilient future together.”

Chief Sustainability Officers: Why Technology Partners Should Care

By 2027, 25% of Global 2000 companies will have assigned a chief sustainability officer (CSO) responsible for meeting their organization’s ESG goals and making ESG-related IT purchasing decisions, according to IDC.

The bottom line: Technology partners need to extend their sales, marketing, engagement and support strategies to successfully fulfill those CSO customer needs, Sustainable Tech Partner believes.