Our Story
Our staff have decades of experience designing and constructing stormwater projects, developing stormwater incentive programs and related policies at the municipal, state, and federal level, and supporting the development of stormwater technologies.
That’s why, with a shared goal of improving water quality and ecosystem health and creating more climate-resilient communities, The Nature Conservancy (TNC), the world’s largest nongovernmental conservation organization, formed Brightstorm in 2018.
Together with our corporate and government partners, we’re delivering improvements related to water quality and security, stream flows, erosion, ecosystem health, and flood risk.
Our Corporate Collaborators
Brightstorm’s corporate collaborators represent some of the largest private land holdings in the United States.
Our Execution Collaborators
Brightstorm’s execution collaborators are leaders in stormwater management software, engineering, construction, and analytics.
Our Team
Brightstorm’s staff and advisors have decades of experience in water resources engineering, technology development, environmental regulation, policy and markets, corporate sustainability, and conservation science.
Craig Holland
TNC’s Senior Director of Investments & Brightstorm’s Lead
Specializing in green infrastructure investment and deployment, Craig has spent more than 15 years developing private financing mechanisms for water. He founded District Stormwater, LLC, a Washington D.C. green infrastructure project developer that is now part of The Nature Conservancy. Craig has also served as an advisor for water initiatives in Berlin, Detroit, New York City, and Philadelphia. He has also provided recommendations on accelerating green urbanization to the Chinese government. An author and contributor to many papers, Craig is a member of the Environmental Financial Advisory Board to the U.S. EPA, a member on the World Economic Forum’s Expert Task Force for Nature-Positive Cities, and he’s served on the Federal Stormwater Taskforce.
Matthew Rea
Director of Strategic Partnerships
Matt has over 19 years of experience in water resources consulting, project management and delivery. He currently oversees all project implementation and operations for Brightstorm.. Matt helped to integrate one of the largest asset owners in the nation with innovative thought leaders at the EPA and TNC to launch Brightstorm, where a first-of-its kind P3 approach was developed and subsequently delivered. Throughout his tenure at Brightstorm, Matt has fostered additional relationships with large retailers, REITs and landholders to bolster the supply side for Brightstorm, while working with regulators and potential clients on the technical engineering aspects of innovative water projects. Prior to TNC, Matt was one of the initial employees of the innovative water technology company Opti. In his consulting career, Matt successfully managed a multi-million-dollar annual environmental compliance program while working as an environmental consultant for Walmart.
Valerie Strassberg, P.E.
Director of Urban Water Infrastructure
Valerie deploys her decades of experience in developing and engineering water solutions for public and private clients. As The Nature Conservancy’s first Healthy Cities Program Director for the state of Michigan, Valerie led initiatives to address urban stormwater challenges with nature-based solutions. She worked closely with the City of Detroit and partners to create policies, plans, and projects that incentivize green stormwater infrastructure implementation that effectively manages runoff and maximizes water quality. She currently serves on the board of Wayne State University’s Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, and the community based non-profit Detroit Future City.
Jaysea Jennings
Data Analyst
As Brightstorm’s Data Analyst, Jaysea leverages the foundations of computational sustainability to provide her team with the data resources needed to enhance stormwater management in built environments. Specializing in geospatial data, she employs the full ESRI suite of tools for strategic planning, and project implementation. Jaysea builds tools and sharable map products to bolster effective communication both internally and externally.
Jay Harrod
Communications Lead
Jay is responsible for developing and overseeing the implementation of Brightstorm’s strategic marketing and communications plans. Jay has spent more than 19 years supporting communication efforts for TNC, where he specializes in all things water—from stream restoration, water scarcity solutions and nature-based solutions that reduce flood risk to fisheries and the modernization of dam operations that enhance downstream ecosystem services. At TNC he also served as communications lead for several multi-partner initiatives, including the Great Rivers Partnership, America’s Watershed Initiative and Naturally Resilient Communities. Prior to TNC, Jay served as Communications Manager for Arkansas Parks and Tourism, and he owned a tourism consulting business.
Our Advisors
Mark Bryer
Senior Advisor
With more than 25 years of experience in natural resource conservation and water resource engineering, Mark advises Brightstorm on issues related to policy and regulation, conservation science and project impact, and stakeholder engagement. Mark serves as Director of TNC’s Northeast Division, and he previously served as Director of TNC’s Chesapeake Bay program, coordinating the organization’s investments across six states and Washington, D.C. to improve water quality and conserve critical habitats in North America’s largest estuary. He has also served as Chair of the Healthy Watershed Committee for EPA’s Chesapeake Bay Program. Currently President and CEO of District Stormwater, LLC, a green infrastructure project developer in Washington, D.C., Mark also serves on Maryland’s Oyster Advisory Commission and Maryland Sea Grant’s External Advisory Board.
Naabia Ofosu-Amaah
Corporate Programs
Naabia supports Brightstorm by making connections to The Nature Conservancy’s existing corporate work in the water space, which includes watershed-level and coalition engagements, and support of improved corporate practices in water management. Since 2017, Naabia has served as TNC’s Senior Corporate Engagement Advisor for Global Water, engaging companies to further TNC’s water goals. Prior to TNC, Naabia spent seven years at the Global Environment & Technology Foundation (GETF), where she managed public-private partnerships in water, including The Coca-Cola Company’s $65M Replenish Africa Initiative (RAIN) and programs with the U.S. Agency for International Development, Diageo and WaterHealth International.
Mark Wiedman
Senior Advisor
Mark Wiedman, Senior Managing Director, is Head of International and Corporate Strategy for BlackRock and is a member of the Global Executive Committee. Mark is responsible for BlackRock’s businesses in Europe, Asia Pacific, and Latin America. Mark leads the Sustainable Task Force, with a current focus on financing the transition to a low carbon economy. In earlier roles at BlackRock, Mark started the firm’s Financial Markets Advisory group, advising financial institutions and central banks on capital markets exposures; he was also Global Head of iShares and Index Investments. Before BlackRock, he was Senior Advisor to the Under Secretary for Domestic Finance at the U.S. Treasury and a management consultant at McKinsey & Company.
Katie Gaut
GIS Data Analyst & Cartographer
Katie is the founder, owner and lead GIS analyst of Blue Water GIS, a Brightstorm partner firm. She has specialized in the ESRI suite of geospatial tools for more than 15 years, and her work has included explorations around the globe, from the estuaries of Alaska and Bajato the jungles of Hawai’i and Costa Rica. Katie also has more than a dozen years of experience in water data analysis, and her firm currently specializes in geospatial data tools and science communication. Blue Water GIS has created data-driven project prioritization tools for government, non-profit and for-profit organizations across the country, harnessing the power of data visualization to help teams make informed decisions.
Rowan Roderick-Jones
PE CSci ENV SP
Rowan Roderick Jones has more than 22 years of experience working on diverse water management projects from stormwater and flood risk management to water supply and wastewater treatment. Prior to founding Watershop 360, a Brightstorm partner firm, Rowan served for five years as Director of Green Infrastructure Partnerships with The Nature Conservancy, working with cities and regional planners to structure market-based policies, develop finance and delivery mechanisms and deliver nature-based solutions to achieve urban stormwater management goals. Rowan also worked for 15 years as a water and environmental consultant delivering integrated water infrastructure at regional, city and site scales for the international design firms Arup and AECOM. Rowan is a licensed civil engineer in California and a Chartered Scientist in the U.K.