Responsible Purchasing Network Staff

B.S. Environmental Studies, Cornell University

Alicia’s experience working on sustainability issues spans more than two decades. She has provided technical support to procurement agents and environmental program staff in many states and municipalities. She has helped develop model green purchasing policies and specifications for a wide-range of environmentally preferable goods and services such as low-mercury/energy-efficient fluorescent lamps, asthma-safe cleaning products, and compostable food service ware.

Alicia formerly worked as the Deputy Director of the New Jersey Office of Sustainability and founded the Green Purchasing Institute. She currently chairs San Francisco’s Sweatfree Procurement Advisory Group and has served as an advisor to many other organizations, including the National Healthy Schools Network, Green Guide for Health Care, GoodGuide, the Product Policy Institute, Environmental Working Group, and the European Environmental Bureau.

Among the publications Alicia has co-authored includes Cleaning for Health: Products and Practices for a Safer Indoor Environment, RPN’s Responsible Purchasing Guides to Fluorescent Lighting and LEDs, and Buying Smart: Experiences of Municipal Green Purchasing Pioneers. The Green Purchasing Institute’s Buying Smart report details how states and municipalities across the U.S. have found that their environmentally preferable purchasing initiatives often yield economic as well as environmental rewards.

Susan Kinsella
Senior Research Analyst

M.A. Speech Communication/Diffusion of Innovations, San Francisco State University
B.S. Psychology/Sociology, Purdue University

Many purchasers already know Susan through her work as Director of Conservatree, especially its comprehensive website about environmentally preferable paper products. Her collaboration with RPN brings to its membership her nearly three decades of specialized expertise in sustainability issues associated with paper manufacturing, recycling systems, non-paper recycled products, source reduction, and EPP policy and program implementation. She has worked with purchasers and policy-makers to identify best practices for their agencies, researched cutting-edge product development, and helped lay much of the early groundwork for state and national EPP programs. She also founded the Environmental Paper Network. At RPN, Susan focuses on projects designed to further state and local governments’ access to cost-effective environmental products of all kinds, emphasizing recycled content and the potential to reduce solid waste. Recent projects have focused on janitorial tissue products, rechargeable batteries, and compostable food service ware. With her son now in college, Susan hopes to get back to writing short stories.

Kelly Panciera
Research Associate

M.P.P. Environmental Policy/Nonprofit Management, Johns Hopkins University
B.A. Sociology, University of Connecticut

Kelly has over 15 years experience in the materials management field, with a focus on sustainable purchasing. She is currently Principal of Green Spectrum Consulting, which specializes in communications, research, and data analysis in the areas of waste prevention, sustainable purchasing, recycling, and product stewardship. Previously, she served as the Association of Oregon Recyclers' Communications Director and the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality's Program Coordinator for Oregon E-Cycles, one of the first electronics extended producer responsibility programs in the U.S. This is Kelly's second stint at RPN, having started her career here from 2002-2006 helping to build the network’s member base and to develop tools to promote the purchase of environmentally preferable products. In her spare time, Kelly enjoys knitting, travelling the world, and obsessing about the music and history of the Beatles.

Amy Roth
Research Associate

M.S. Urban Affairs, Boston University
B.A. Environmental Analysis and Policy, Boston University

Amy has over 15 years experience in the recycling and waste reduction industry. She is Principal of Avencore Group, a boutique consulting firm specializing in sustainable materials management. As part of her consulting work, she has served as the Association of Oregon Recyclers' Resource Director since 2010. Previously, Amy worked for the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality as the technical specialist for the Oregon E-Cycles program, one of the nation’s first electronics product stewardship programs. Amy started her career at the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection analyzing the state’s recycling and waste reduction activities. In her spare time, Amy enjoys spending time in the great outdoors hiking, biking, and camping.