Leadership BiosRobert F. Wasserstrom, Ph. D.Dr. Wasserstrom is a social anthropologist with extensive experience in environmental communications, stakeholder relations and community development. Before creating the Terra Group with Susan Reider, he served as divisional vice president of public affairs at Browning-Ferris Industries, the world’s second largest waste management firm. Earlier, he taught at Columbia University and worked as senior research associate at the World Resources Institute in Washington, DC. (A more detailed description of his professional experience can be found below.) Selected recent assignments Chevron: Serves as social science expert on technical team supporting major litigation in Ecuador. Dr. Wasserstrom drafts and signs expert testimony on indigenous issues, land rights and other questions involving impacted communities. Chevron Nigeria, Limited: Designed and managed execution strategy for new community relations strategy in the Niger Delta. This strategy involved creating community foundations, developing detailed operating procedures, training partners, and managing local, national and international NGOs. Also supervised the largest field study of living conditions in the Niger Delta ever conducted. Angola LNG: Developed parameters for social investment strategy, supervised NGO subcontractor on a large-scale participatory rural appraisal, and coordinated key stakeholder discussions with the World Bank in Washington, DC. West Africa Gas Pipeline: Led team of local NGOs to conduct participatory needs assessment in Nigeria, Benin, Togo and Ghana; developed social investment strategy and organized meetings with key stakeholders. EnCana Corporation: Redesigned community development program and reorganized the company’s philanthropic foundation to fit with corporate objectives. Also served as lead negotiator in creating a $19 million fund for biodiversity conservation in Ecuador. Multi-client: Organized an ongoing dialogue at Harvard University on oil development in the Amazon basin. This three-year initiative included major oil and gas companies, environmental groups, indigenous organizations and multilateral development banks. It also produced a breakthrough collaborative effort, titled “Perspectives on Consultation,” published by Harvard University. Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company and Toledo Edison Company: Designed and managed public participation programs to win community approval for three high-voltage transmission lines in Ohio, including developing a message strategy, supporting materials, forming and facilitating a community advisory council, providing risk communications training, and planning and supporting a series of public open houses. Publications Class and Society in Central Chiapas, University of California Press, Berkeley, 1983 Spaniards and Indians in Southeastern Mesoamerica, University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, 1983 (edited with Murdo MacLeod) Grassroots Development in Latin America & the Caribbean, Praeger Publishers, New York, 1985 Field Duty: U.S. Farmworkers and Pesticide Safety, World Resources Institute Study 3, Washington, 1985 Other publications include more than 75 articles in technical and professional journals, including Nature, Development and Change, Human Ecology, Grassroots Development, Social Science and Medicine, New England Journal of Medicine, Comparative Studies in Society and History, Peasant Studies, and Ethnology. One notable article is “Seeking Common Ground: Petroleum and Indigenous Peoples in Ecuador’s Amazon,” Environment, Vol. 40, No. 5, June, 1998, pp. 12-20, 36-45 (with Sixto Mendez and Jennifer Parnell). A shorter version of this article was presented at the Society of Petroleum Engineers International Conference on Health, Safety and Environment, Caracas, Venezuela, June, 1998. Professional Experience Dr. Wasserstrom spent four years in Mexico conducting social and environmental research for the National Council for Science and Technology, a Cabinet-level agency within the Mexican government. After returning to the United States in 1977, he taught at Southern Methodist University in Dallas and at the Columbia University School of Public Health in New York. Later, he served as project director for the World Resources Institute, a major energy and environmental policy center in Washington, D.C. Upon leaving WRI, he worked at two consulting firms in Washington. From 1987-1989, he served as director of public affairs for the National Solid Wastes Management Association (now the Environmental Industries Association), where he designed and implemented a national campaign to improve public perceptions of the waste disposal industry. In 1989, he became divisional vice president of Browning-Ferris Industries in Houston (the country’s second largest waste management firm), where he won public approval for new landfills, medical waste incinerators, a major waste-to-energy plant, and other facilities. Education Certificat d’Etudes Francaises Université de Grenoble, 1966 A.B. Anthropology, Harvard University, 1970 (summa cum laude) A.M. Anthropology, Harvard University, 1973 Ph.D. Anthropology, Harvard University, 1976 Susan ReiderSusan Reider has compiled over 25 years of experience with community-based organizations. Her early career focused on improving public policy for human services and advocating for the rights of disadvantaged people. As Senior Partner of the Houston-based Terra Group, she has assisted energy companies in designing sustainable community development initiatives and stakeholder programs in North and South America, Africa, Europe and Central Asia. Selected recent assignments Chevron Nigeria Ltd.: Developed the implementing strategy for a new approach to community relations in the Niger Delta for the Chevron/Nigeria National Petroleum Company. Organized training programs on leadership, project management and financial management for eight incipient community foundations. Managed sustainable livelihoods assessment of some 850 communities, the largest known survey of living conditions in Niger Delta, and assimilated results into reports. Managed relationships with NGO partners, supervised contractors and supported staff team. Developed management system, communications plan and operating standards. Angola LNG: Conducted stakeholder analysis, identified NGO partner and supervised participatory rural appraisal for new gas-to-liquids joint venture. Developed recommendations for community investments. Baja LNG: Identified local experts, developed public information strategy and supervised participatory needs assessment. EnCana: Supported community relations program and related issues in Ecuador. Conducted risk assessment, designed management system, supported communications program. Shell Exploration and Production Company: Served as third party consultant for Social Performance review of U.S. operations. Visited operations in Wyoming and Louisiana, interviewed key personnel responsible for various aspects of social performance, wrote 40-page report. InterGen: Designed public affairs strategy and managed local subcontractors for a combined-cycle electric power plant in Spain. On client’s behalf, hired and managed a major international public affairs firm and developed a strategy to win public support through all stages of permitting. BP, South Texas: Conducted internal and external stakeholder assessment for Texas business unit to assess performance against corporate values on environmental performance, community engagement and employee relations. This third-party assessment has been posted on BP’s website. CAES Development Company: Designed and implemented a public affairs program for a major compressed air energy storage facility and related high-voltage lines in Ohio, including a public participation program, a property value assurance program and all related media relations and communications activities. Baltimore Gas & Electric Company: Designed and implemented a public outreach campaign to build support for a new electric substation in an affluent area of suburban Baltimore. Presentations South Texas College of Law Energy Law Institute, August 15, 2002. “Social Dimensions of Development in Sensitive Environments — Domestic and Abroad.” Western Hemisphere Oil & Gas Environmental Forum, October, 2000. “Evaluating Community Investment Strategies.” BP Upstream Security Conference, October, 2000. “Stakeholder and Community Relations: Opportunities, Challenges and Lessons Learned.” Air & Waste Management Association, June, 2000. “Siting Potentially Controversial Facilities: Lessons Learned.” World Bank, April 15, 1999. “Oil Companies, Native Peoples and Sustainability: Benchmarking ‘Best Practices’ in Latin America.” Western Hemisphere Oil & Gas Environmental Forum, October, 1999. “The Tough Questions: Managing Stakeholder Relations in the 21st Century.” Overseas Private Investment Corporation, July 2, 1997. “Hydrocarbon Companies and Stakeholder Relations in Ecuador and Peru.” Publications “Petroleum companies crossing new threshold in community relations,” Oil & Gas Journal, December 14, 1998. (with Robert Wasserstrom) “Breaking new ground: community relations in Peru,” Oil & Gas Journal Revista Latinoamericana, Nov.-Dec., 1998. (with Robert Wasserstrom) “Oil firms in environmentally sensitive areas learning to balance stakeholder interests,” Oil & Gas Journal, August 18, 1997. (with Robert Wasserstrom) Previous Experience Ms. Reider’s career as a human services advocate and manager began in 1975, when she served as public affairs officer for the Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Citizens. She worked closely with public interest attorneys on two major lawsuits that were argued before the U.S. Supreme Court, and was also responsible for developing and managing legislative programs at the state and federal levels. From 1985 to 1992, Ms. Reider served as executive director of the Mental Health Association of Pennsylvania. In 1987, her efforts to reform controversial mental heath laws won her recognition as one of 500 “Hard-Working Women of Pennsylvania.” As a press officer in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, she managed all public relations activities for 15 legislators in the state capital and in their home districts. She also assisted in research, issues management and strategic planning for the House Democratic leadership. Before co-founding the Terra Group, Ms. Reider represented a variety of clients including human services agencies, legal services organizations and political parties. She managed several political campaigns, served as press officer for other campaigns, and coordinated media relations for international events. She also tested and developed strategic messages that were used in radio and print advertising. Education A.B. Political Science, Syracuse University, 1974 A.B. Public Communications, Syracuse University, 1974 |
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