Jeremy Hays

Jeremy is the Principal at Upright Consulting Services. His practice draws on years of experience working with diverse stakeholders to design and implement equitable models of economic and workforce development in the environmental sector.

In his nonprofit career, Jeremy worked with scores of cities and communities across the country to pioneer inclusive approaches to creating shared prosperity and healthy communities. He directly managed large-scale, equity-focused processes that guided the implementation of over $40 million in economic stimulus funds in northwest cities, creating hundreds of jobs and other community benefits. He has helped draft federal workforce policy and managed a nonprofit business support program that served hundreds of minority and women entrepreneurs.

Jeremy is passionate about translating commitments to racial equity and sustainability into measurable outcomes and increased capacity for change agents in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. He combines expertise in stakeholder engagement, program design, technical solutions, and leadership development to help clients solve problems and institutionalize effective approaches to equity and sustainability issues.

Jeremy previously held positions: as the executive director of the national nonprofit Green For All; as a public participation expert for the Assistant Secretary for Environmental Justice at the California EPA; as the national organizing director for the Apollo Alliance – a coalition of labor unions, businesses, environmental groups, and civil rights organizations; as a project manager for the Governor’s Oregon Solutions program; as the Chief Engagement Officer for the Dream Corps – a social justice accelerator; and as an organizer or technical assistant on a variety of community development and environmental justice initiatives.

He has a Master of City Planning and an M.A. in international sustainable development from UC Berkeley.