Kelsey Waidhas is a Sustainability Coordinator with the Atlanta Regional Commission. She leads ARC’s sustainability and climate programs, working one-on-one with cities and counties in metro Atlanta to identify their sustainability stories and to tell those stories through climate action. This includes connecting them to research and implementation resources through project-based technical assistance. Kelsey holds a Master’s in Natural Resource Management from Auburn University and a Master’s in City and Regional Planning from Georgia Tech. She lives in the City of Atlanta with her partner Perry, their dogs Smaug and Silver, and their cats Bunkie and Falkor.
To date, the Atlanta Regional Commission’s largest environmental program has been the Green Communities Program, which is a voluntary certification program for cities and counties that touches energy generation, water efficiency, waste and recycling, transportation, and more. Since 2009, over 20 cities and counties in metro Atlanta have earned certification under ARC’s program. ARC has also helped with various environmental efforts across the region and is incorporating climate mitigation and adaptation work into existing programming.
