City of Mobile, Alabama Transitions Sustainability Leadership: 6 Things to Know

The City of Mobile, Alabama has named Lance Slater as director of resilience and sustainability. Slater essentially succeeds Casi Callaway, who is departing to join a non-profit that assists local governments with sustainability and resilience leadership.

Here are six things to know about Slater's experience, the city's sustainability strategy, and Callaway's next move.

1. City Scope and Scale: Mobile, a port city on Alabama’s Gulf Coast, has roughly 200,000 residents. The overall Mobile metropolitan area is roughly 430,000 people. The Port of Mobile handles roughly 55 million tons of international and domestic cargo for exporters and importers, delivering $98.3 billion in economic value to the state in 2022 alone, the city said.

2. Sustainability Strategy: The Office of Resilience is responsible for imbedding resilience into the City of Mobile in such areas as environment, community, economy and infrastructure.

3. Lance Slater's Experience, New Role: Slater has been a project manager with the City of Mobile for more than three years. Once fully transitioned to his new role, Slater will pick up where Callaway left off, the city said. One of Slater's first tasks will be working with community members, local stakeholders, and local agencies to develop and implement a Resilience Plan based on the Resilience Assessment completed in late 2023.

4. Key Perspectives: In a prepared statement, Mayor Sandy Stimpson said: “Lance has proven he can tackle major projects through his work on big initiatives like Brookley by the Bay and the Three Mile Creek Watershed Restoration Project. He is prepared to step into this position and lead, and we appreciate his willingness to take on new challenges and serve the people of Mobile in a new capacity.”

Brookley by the Bay is a 98-acre waterfront park along Mobile Bay's western shore, just east of Mobile Aeroplex at Brookley. The Three Mile Creek Watershed Restoration project involves engineering and construction to stabilize a bank and stream, and dredging and restoration of a park lake. The project was launched to improve water quality and help to protect the area’s estuarine and marine water resources, the city said.

Added Slater: “It’s exciting to see resilience being embedded into the city’s operations, and I am looking forward to the opportunity to lead the effort. Implementing a Resilience Plan for Mobile will be a significant undertaking, but I have learned a lot working on complex and transformative projects throughout my time with the city. I am ready to make a larger impact through my service to the community."

5. Casi Callaway's New Role: Callaway, Alabama’s first chief resilience officer, will become director of operations and member services for the Southeast Sustainability Directors Network (SSDN). That organization supports more than 120 local governments with sustainability and resilience leaders.

6. High Praise: In a prepared statement about Callaway's service-led career, Mayor Stimpson said: “For more than three decades, Casi Callaway has been focused on making this community stronger and better, and we are grateful to have worked alongside her over the last few years. I have no doubt she will continue to serve her hometown in her new position with SSDN, and we wish her nothing but the best going forward. We are also committed to continuing the work we started with her to ensure the City of Mobile continues to thrive decades into the future.”

Added Callaway: “Mayor Stimpson and the City of Mobile provided an incredible opportunity to learn how local government works and what resilience and sustainability can mean for a community. I am looking forward to supporting local governments as they build out sustainability and resilience programs in their communities across the southeast. I am also grateful to SSDN for the opportunity to remain a Mobilian and to continue supporting the great things happening in our city in this new role.”

City of Mobile Sustainability Strategies: 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 figure will certainly be even higher for major cities and municipalities -- many of which are working overtime to align sustainability goals with climate and environmental initiatives.

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.