Storm Cunningham Biography

[see bottom of page for abbreviated bio]

• Author, The Restoration Economy (Berrett Koehler, 2002), and reWealth! (McGraw-Hill, 2008). Storm also writes chapters for other books, 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).

• 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 primary function of the firm is training the public and private sectors to be better partners in revitalization, and connecting the right private resources to the right public projects at the right time.

• Founder, Revitalization Institute, the academy for community renewal and natural resource restoration.  Revitalization Institute is a non-profit research and education organization based in Toronto.  Its mission is "to advance integrated renewal of communities and natural resources worldwide".

• Columnist, ReNew Canada magazine.  Storm writes the popular "StormWatch" column for each issue of what many consider the world's leading periodical on the practice of community revitalization, infrastructure renewal, and natural resource restoration.

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 newest 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 the Presidential candidates 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 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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