Storm Cunningham Biography

[see bottom of page for abbreviated bio]

• Author, The Restoration Economy (Berrett Koehler, 2002)

• Author, reWealth (McGraw-Hill, 2008).

• Founder, Revitalization Institute.  Launched in 2004, Revitalization Institute (RI)started as an international network of colleges and universities doing research and curriculum development related to community revitalization and natural resource restoration. RI is now in the process of partnering with these institutions to provide the world's first certification program for revitalization professionals.

• CEO, Resolution Fund, LLC.   Resolution Fund is a Washington, DC-based firm that helps communities, counties, tribes, regions, and nations ignite rapid, resilient renewal of their economy, their natural resources, and their quality of life.  The are the creators of Revitalization Forum, the world's first web tool for comprehensive community revitalization.

Storm Cunningham has been called "the world’s thought leader on community revitalization and natural resource restoration" by George L. Ochs, Managing Director, Global Real Assets, JP Morgan. Ochs calls Cunningham's 2008 book, reWealth: "The secret weapon...for economic recovery at both local and global scales."

Cunningham is the author of 2002’s The Restoration Economy, which has been hailed by government and business leaders around the world as "Extraordinary", “Remarkable", "A modern classic", "A landmark work", "Required reading", and "The most important and valuable business book I have read in many years." 

His second book, reWealth, was published by McGraw-Hill in 2008. The Foreword was written by legendary 4-term Indianapolis mayor Bill Hudnut, now a Senior Resident Fellow at the Urban Land Institute. Bill Leary, former Director of Natural Resources, White House Council on Environmental Quality, says of reWealth: "This is the book world leaders should be talking about!  In reWealth they will find the path to revitalizing our economy, restoring our environment, and renewing the quality of our lives."

Storm also writes chapters for the books of other authors, most recently Project Management Circa 2025 on the future of the project management profession (Project Management Institute, 2009: hardcover, 519 pages) and Restorative Redevelopment of Devastated Ecocultural Landscapes (CRC Press, June 2010: hardcover, 430 pages).

Storm might be the only revitalization facilitator who addresses all aspects of renewal; natural and cultural resources, urban and rural communities, industrialized and lesser-developed countries, etc.  On any given day, he might be working with educators, fishery biologists, city planners, agronomists, watershed managers, transportation engineers, environmentalists, economic development organizations, real estate developers, GIS software firms, project managers, mayors, ecosystem restorers, brownfields experts, historic preservationists, or catastrophe recovery agencies.

He is retained on a regular basis to speak or consult with federal agencies (such as Environment Canada), state/provincial governments, metropolitan areas & rural communities, and Fortune 500 companies.  [Just two examples: The U.S. State Department (through the American Embassy in Warsaw) sponsored Storm's Polish speaking tour (and series of meetings with mayors) in 2006.  In November of 2007, Storm was a keynoter (as was Bill Clinton) the Ontario Economic Summit, an invitation-only event for the province's most influential public and private leaders.]  Storm also lectures at leading academic institutions worldwide on a regular basis.

Storm Cunningham was—from 1996 to 2002—Director, Strategic Initiatives at the Construction Specifications Institute, a 50+ year-old association of 18,000 architects, engineers, contractors, and manufacturers.  They provide training and certification for construction specifiers and document specialists, and their formats are the standard for quality commercial construction in the U.S., Canada, and several other countries.  During this time, he was CSI's staff liaison to the U.S. Green Building Council.

He was previously CEO of a small manufacturing company that developed aquaculture systems based on a pioneering water purification technology invented at the Smithsonian Institution.

 A former Green Beret SCUBA medic, he is an avid SCUBA diver, motorcyclist, and amateur herpetologist.  His passion for integrating economics and nature goes back to his undergraduate business major and biology studies at Windham College in Vermont. He lives in Arlington, Virginia, USA.

Abbreviated Bio

Storm Cunningham is the author of 2002’s The Restoration Economy, which has been hailed by government and business leaders around the world as "Extraordinary", “Remarkable", "A modern classic", "A landmark work", "Required reading", and "The most important and valuable business book I have read in many years." 

His second book, reWealth, was published by McGraw-Hill in 2008. George Ochs, Director of Real Asset Investment at JP Morgan calls Storm "the world’s thought leader on community revitalization and natural resource restoration" and calls reWealth: "The secret weapon...for economic recovery at both local and global scales."

He is CEO of Resolution Fund, LLC in Washington, DC.  Resolution Fund helps communities, counties, tribes, regions, and nations ignite rapid, resilient renewal of their economy, their natural resources, and their quality of life. He is founder of Revitalization Institute, the non-profit academy for community renewal and natural resource restoration, based in Toronto.

Storm Cunningham was—from 1996 to 2002—Director, Strategic Initiatives at the Construction Specifications Institute, a 50+ year-old association of 18,000 architects, engineers, contractors, and manufacturers.

A former Green Beret SCUBA medic, he is an avid SCUBA diver, motorcyclist, and amateur herpetologist.  He lives in Arlington, Virginia, USA.

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