Enrique Valdivia, Esq., Treasurer of the Board

Enrique has practiced environmental law at Texas RioGrande Legal Aid in San Antonio, Texas since 1985. Enrique is a member of the Edwards Aquifer Authority Board of Directors, representing District 7, which covers a northwest-central portion of Bexar County. As secretary, Mr. Valdivia serves on the board’s Aquifer Management Planning Committee, Executive Committee, and chairs its Permits/Enforcement Committee. He was elected to the board in 2006 and re-elected in 2010.

Enrique, a resident of San Antonio, is a practicing attorney with Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid, Inc. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy from Carleton College, and Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Wisconsin School of Law.

Enrique has served as board president of San Antonio non-profits Aquifer Guardians in Urban Areas (AGUA), the Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance, and Fuerza Unida. He also serves on the boards of Texas Fund for Economic & Environmental Education and Jump Start Performance Company.

Dr. Michael Blackhurst, Board Member

Dr. Michael Blackhurst is currently a Research Development Manager at the University Center for Social & Urban Research at the University of Pittsburgh. He is also a Research Consultant for the Ethos Collaborative. His research is robustly interdisciplinary, drawing especially from engineering, economics, and statistics. Dr. Blackhurst oversees applied and basic research and consulting projects in the energy and environmental sectors. His record demonstrates strong leadership in developing robust, data-driven decision-support resources for a wide array of stakeholders. Current research and consulting domains include energy and water demand-side management for the buildings sector, regional climate change mitigation and adaptation, regional water resource planning, and environmental life cycle assessment. His work has been profiled in the New York Times and National Geographic. Dr. Blackhurst has eight years of experience leading a diverse array of engineering consulting services for public sector clients.

Dr. Blackhurst received his B.S. from Carnegie Mellon University in 1999. After receiving his M.S. from The University of Texas-Austin in 2001, he earned a Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon University's Civil and Environmental Engineering Department and the Engineering and Public Policy Department. He completed his Post-Doc at Carnegie Mellon in 2011. He held an appointment as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin from 2011-2014 before joining Pitt.

Christopher Colón, Board Member

Hailing from Youngstown, Ohio, Chris Colón brings a rich cultural heritage with roots traced back to the Taíno people of Puerto Rico and Welsh immigrants. With a career spanning over 20 years, Chris has excelled in various roles, including social worker, business development professional, and counselor within the healthcare industry of the Mahoning Valley. Recognizing the profound healing impact of nature on both his clients and personal well-being, Chris transitioned his professional focus to environmental advocacy. Presently, he holds the position of Northeast Ohio Regional Director for the Ohio Environmental Council, where he directs his efforts toward championing environmental justice and advocating for a clean energy future. He also co-founded Thrive Mahoning Valley in 2018, where he continues to serve as Director.

In addition to his professional commitments, Chris takes pride in his role as a devoted husband and father of two boys. As part of his self-care routine, he engages in the meticulous craft of refining recipes, explores parks and green spaces, and maintains an unwavering commitment to the Las Vegas Raiders.

Bala Kumar, Esq., President of the board

Bala is originally from Pensacola, Florida, but moved to Pittsburgh for law school at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. He is currently a resident in the South Hills of Pittsburgh. He received his B.A. in English from the University of Florida in 2009 and his J.D. from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law in 2012 with a Certificate in Environmental Law. At Pitt, he was a Certified Legal Intern in the Environmental Law Clinic and an Editor of the Tax Law Journal. He worked as a legal intern with the Zoning Board of Adjustment in Pittsburgh. He is currently a title attorney at M.W. Gary & Associates.

Professor randall walsh

Randy Walsh is an Associate Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Arts and Sciences. Randy’s research interests involve public economics, urban economics, environmental economics, applied micro economics, economic history, and racial disparities. Randy currently serves on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Science Advisory Board Environmental Justice Technical Guidance Review Panel. He has also served on the Allegheny County Health Department’s Air Toxics Commission. He received his Ph.D. from Duke University and his B.A. from the University of New Hampshire.

Aurora Sharrard, Phd, leed ap bd+c

Dr. Aurora Sharrard is the Director of Sustainability at the University of Pittsburgh, leading implementation of the Pitt Sustainability Plan, which formalizes decades of university-led and partnered green initiatives.  In pursuit of the Plan’s 61 goals, Dr. Sharrard leads Pitt’s Office of Sustainability; cross-departmental sustainability staff; and University-wide sustainability strategy, activities, policies, collaborations, and partnerships.  Building on past progress and successes, Dr. Sharrard and her colleagues work daily across the spectrum of sustainability, including reducing greenhouse gas emissions, incorporating sustainability into the curriculum, providing access and opportunity to all, transparently communicating progress, and embedding a culture of sustainability into the University of Pittsburgh so that it’s a sustainability leader in every scale, from campus to international. 

In her time at Pitt, Dr. Sharrard has led and partnered on many University sustainability achievements, including commiting to carbon neutrality by 2037; two local, renewable power purchase agreements; signing the Cool Food Pledge; adding textile recycling to campus; achieving Bee Campus USA designation; advancing the Pitt Green Office, Lab, and Events program; creating two course sustainability attribute codes; and developing the University’s first live sustainability dashboard.

Prior to joining the University, Dr. Sharrard worked at Green Building Alliance (GBA) for 11 years, ultimately serving as its Executive Director.  She led the nonprofit in advancing innovation in the built environment by empowering people to create environmentally, economically, and socially vibrant places.  GBA is one of the oldest regional green building and organizations in the United States, with a focus on innovative, evidence-based, and collaborative work throughout Western Pennsylvania. 

In her time at GBA, Dr. Sharrard most notably co-founded the Pittsburgh 2030 District, which boasts 550+ buildings aspiring towards measured high performance of 50% reductions in energy use, water consumption, and transportation emissions by the year 2030.  The University of Pittsburgh was a Founding Property Partner of the Pittsburgh 2030 District’s Oakland boundary – and embraced 2030 Challenge goals University-wide with the Pitt Sustainability Plan. A nationally recognized green building and sustainability expert, Dr. Sharrard has also provided strategic and technical support to innumerable regional green building and sustainability projects, including Hazelwood Green, the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, and Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens. 

From 2007 forward, Dr. Sharrard led several GBA programs, including:

• Pittsburgh Climate Initiative (PCI) - Dr. Sharrard convened PCI and its Higher Education Climate Consortium (HECC) for a number of years, helping deliver three Pittsburgh Climate Action Plans and two citywide greenhouse gas inventories.  Pitt is still an active HECC partner and Aurora is a HECC Co-chair. 

• Pittsburgh Green Story – Media-focused effort promoting the region’s sustainability achievements.

• DASH: Database for Analyzing Sustainable and High Performance Buildings - Evidence-based online software compiling building performance information to better enable triple bottom line decision-making. 

• Product Innovation Grants - $1.2 million in awards to 24 manufacturer/university partnerships working to commercialize innovative green building products across Pennsylvania. 

Dr. Sharrard serves on boards for the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, Fair Shake Environmental Legal Services, and Will Allen Foundation. She also serves on the Allegheny Conference on Community Development’s Sustainability Committee and the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education’s (AASHE) Advisory Council.  She has multiple academic and nonacademic publications and still peer reviews for funders and academic journals.

Aurora holds a Master’s and PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering with an emphasis in Green Design from Carnegie Mellon University, as well as a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from Tulane University.  She has been recognized with the Pittsburgh Magazine 40 Under 40 Award, Pittsburgh Business Times’ Women in Energy Award and BusinessWomen First Award, and the 40 Under 40 Pennsylvania Environmental Leaders Award.  Dr. Sharrard was also a finalist for the Greater Pittsburgh Athena Young Professional Award and is an alumna of Leadership Pittsburgh.  She is a LEED AP BD+C and is Living Future Accredited (LFA).    

Aurora has called Pittsburgh home since 2003, living with her husband Jesse and sons, Angstrom and Faraday.  She loves breakfast, enjoys costumes, and looks forward to someday completing renovations on her 115-year-old house.

Jonathan Cohen, ESq., Board Member

Jonathan is an oil and gas title lawyer for a private mineral aggregator. Having received a B.A. in International Relations from Penn State in 2009, he moved to Pittsburgh to attend law school, graduating in 2012 from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.

During law school, he was an intern at the Immigration Law Clinic, worked as the Head of Academic Commentary for JURIST Legal News & Commentary (www.jurist.org), and completed an internship under the supervision of Joseph M. James of the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas. Jonathan is licensed in Pennsylvania and West Virginia and has worked on complex title issues regarding ownership of oil and gas rights since 2013.