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Rob Bennett, founder and executive director of the Portland + Oregon Sustainability Institute (POSI), has long had a vision for how cities can grow and operate efficiently while fostering sustainable development. Well-known as one of the region’s leading smart growth advocates, Bennett speaks throughout the country about innovative concepts such as eco-districts and high-performance buildings.

Born in New York City in 1970, Bennett grew up in Massachusetts as the youngest of six children. He played football, basketball and lacrosse during high school and, in 1992, graduated with a degree in history from the University of Richmond.

“When I was in college I wanted to be an architect, but that was complicated by my mediocre drafting skills,” Bennett said.

After college, Bennett headed west in pursuit of a girlfriend who lived in San Francisco. They backpacked their way up through the Pacific Northwest, and Bennett was particularly drawn to Portland. He moved here in 1992.

“I was very interested in urban planning and design, as well as community development, and I was predisposed to Portland given its reputation in those areas,” he said.

Bennett, who holds a master’s degree in regional planning from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst School of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning, spent eight years working for the cities of Portland and Vancouver, B.C. He founded Portland’s Green Building Program, G/Rated.

In Vancouver, B.C., Bennett led the development of the city’s Green Building Strategy and facilitated the green building and infrastructure activities for the Southeast False Creek redevelopment – better known as the 2010 Olympic Village. Before establishing POSI, Bennett also served as residential and cities policy manager for the Clinton Climate Initiative.

Bennett, who served on the boards of the Cascadia Region Green Building Council and REACH Community Development, is one of the leading advocates of eco-districts. These high-performing neighborhoods are designed to bring together residents, businesses, utilities and other groups to create and manage their own energy and wastewater systems, saving money and creating better places to live and work.

Bennett has worked closely with Mayor Sam Adams through a public-private partnership formed to promote the redevelopment concept in Portland. Over the next three years, pilot projects will transform five highly visible areas of the city into model eco-districts. The five pilot districts are Portland State University, South Waterfront, Lloyd District, Gateway and Lents.

The father of two young children with his wife, Courtney, Bennett said he relishes the diversity of the projects and creative energy he encounters each day, as well as the opportunity to make his community stronger.

“I love being at the intersection of economic development and social sustainability,” he said. “I’m surrounded by some of the brightest and most interesting and dynamic folks in the business community and government planning. I feel very lucky to be in this place, which is an intersection of very interesting ideas with profound impacts for our communities.”

Who was a mentor who helped shape you into the person you are today? What did that person teach you?

“My parents certainly instilled an ethic to work hard, but also to surround myself with good people, do good work and be service oriented. And I’ve met a lot of people over the last twenty years…who have mentored me through my early days of green building and provided a lot of leadership, support and wisdom to me.”

Tell us something about yourself that most people might not know.

“I once was a Deadhead with long hair and an extensive biodegradable wardrobe, mostly made in Guatemala. I’m also a grunt for our neighborhood wine collective, Les Garagistes, which is a micro-winemaking outfit that pumps out over 100 cases of wine from my friend’s modest Southeast bungalow basement. His wife is a saint.”