Mission:

The Environmental Collaboration Office, or ECO, strives to make Milwaukee a world class eco-city. ECO develops practical and racially equitable solutions that improve people’s lives and the economy while working to protect and restore the natural ecosystems that support our long-term prosperity. We collaborate with the community, develop global partnerships, offer award-winning programs, and implement the Milwaukee Climate and Equity Plan.

ECO About Us

Erick Sha mbarger, Director

Erick Shambarger is the Director of Environmental Sustainability for the City of Milwaukee, where he leads the Environmental Collaboration Office (ECO). He oversees implementation of Milwaukee's Climate and Equity Plan, coordinates Milwaukee's involvement with local, national and global partnerships on environmental sustainability. He oversees all of ECO's programs, including the Milwaukee Energy Efficiency (Me2) program, the Milwaukee Better Buildings Challenge, Water Centric City initiative, the Eco-Neighborhoods Initaitve and green infrastructure work. He led development of the City's Green Infrastructure Plan, adopted in 2019, and served as the project manager for the Climate and Equity Plan, adopted in 2023. He also negotiated the City's largest solar energy project to date, a 2.25MW solar system on a city-owned landfill along with 11MW of other solar projects that will power 80 city buildings with 100% renewable electricity. He also launched Wisconsin's first Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) program that has financed over $40m in projects in the City. He is also co-founder of the Wisconsin Local Government Climate Coalition (WLGCC.org). Prior to his current role, he served as City Economist in the City’s Budget and Management Division. He holds a Masters of Public Affairs degree from the University of Wisconsin and certificates in Water Technology; Energy Analysis and Policy; and Business Communications.

Pamela Ritger de la Rosa, Environmental Sustainability Program Manager

Pam leads efforts to reduce energy use in City of Milwaukee-owned buildings, administers the PACE Program, and supports the Better Building Challenge, among other efforts to advance building energy efficiency and sustainability. As a member of the City-County Task Force on Climate and Economic Equity since 2019, Pam looks forward to helping implement many recommendations of the Milwaukee Climate and Equity Plan in this role. Pam is joining ECO after more than 8 years with Clean Wisconsin, the state’s oldest and largest environmental non-profit advocacy organization, where she held the title of Milwaukee Program Director and Staff Attorney. Pam is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin Law School and the La Follette School of Public Affairs, and completed a certificate in Energy Analysis and Policy from the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at UW-Madison. Pam is also on the Advisory Board of the Midwest Renewable Energy Association and is an active member of the Wisconsin Hispanic Lawyers Association.

ECO Neighborhoods Coordinator Mia Rudolph-Schulta Mia Rudolph-Schulta, Environmental Sustainability Program Coordinator

Mia coordinates ECO's community outreach and engagement through the ECO Neighborhoods Initiative, which supports teams of residents and stakeholders to plan for and implement effective climate action that aligns with the City of Milwaukee's Climate and Equity Plan goals in neighborhoods across the city. She also manages Healthy Homes & ECO Neighborhoods in partnership with the Sherman Park Community Association, a grant project aimed at increasing residents' awareness of and engagement with residential energy efficiency, environmental health, and other housing improvement programs and resources. Additionally, Mia supports outreach for Plastic-Free MKE's Lake Friendly Business Program. She is passionate about prioritizing health equity, and social and environmental justice in her work. Mia received her master's degree in Public Health, bachelor's degree in Women's and Gender Studies, and a certificate in LGBT Studies from UW-Milwaukee. She has been a co-chair of the Milwaukee Health Department's Built Environment Action Team since 2022 and a board member of Reflo since 2024.

Jeremy Belot, Environmental Sustainability Program Coordinator

Jeremy coordinates ECO's residential clean energy programs the City of Milwaukee’s solar program, Milwaukee Shines, to offer opportunities for City of Milwaukee property owners to save energy and money while reducing their environmental impact. He also oversees the office’s effort to integrate federally funded energy efficiency improvements with lead remediation work on residential properties. Jeremy transferred to ECO after 5 years as a Grants Compliance Monitor in the City’s Community Development Grants Administration Office and 2 years as Neighborhood Improvement Project Inspector in the Department of Neighborhood Services. Prior to being with the City, Jeremy worked for 11 years for Layton Blvd West Neighbors as a Project Manager and then Director of Real Estate Development. After analyzing foreclosure data in 2008, he created the Turnkey Renovation Program which utilizes Federal funding to acquire, rehab and sell blighted foreclosures while focusing on energy efficiency, renewable energy, restoration of craftmanship and green infrastructure to provide move-in ready homes for low to moderate income households.

Zachary Allen, Business Finance Officer

Zach oversees purchasing, budgeting, and other financial accounting within the department, assists with grants, and procures contracts. Zach also serves as the department Payroll and Human Resources representative. Zach also supports federal reporting and the Milwaukee Energy Efficiency (Me2) program. Zach grew up in Southwest Michigan and moved to Milwaukee in 2013 to complete his bachelor's degree in Economics from Marquette University. He lives with his wife in Riverwest and is an avid Packers, Bucks, and Brewers fan.

Nathan Coe, Environmental Sustainability Program Coordinator

Nathan coordinates the transition to electric, hybrid, and low-emission vehicles in the City's municipal fleet as defined by ordinance, as well as expanding electric vehicle charging infrastructure in Milwaukee. He is a political scientist and urban planner, with masters degrees in each field. He brings to bear over 7 years of government and public services experience. During this time, he clerked and managed projects for various municipal, county, and state government initiatives. Nathan also has over 9 years of experience in the private sector as a property manager, where he was successful in writing, procuring, and managing government grants. He is a strong believer in the power of customer service through civil service, and is passionate about sustainability and green technology. Nathan enjoys gardening, and his favorite book is the Count of Monte Cristo.

Cole Hager, Environmental Sustainability Program Coordinator

Cole coordinates workforce development in the sustainability space, supporting the training, development, recruitment, and creation of the green career pipelines in Milwaukee. His position is funded through a 5-year grant from the USDA Forest Service for the Growing Milwaukee's Tree Canopy and Community Resilience Project. Cole's workforce development efforts are focused on assisting historically underserved communities through the grant's initiatives. Prior to his current role, Cole served as a Workforce Development Program Assistant at the Wisconsin Forestry Center while completing his bachelor’s degree in Forestry from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. In that role, he contributed to the development and implementation of educational programs designed to enhance workforce readiness in the forestry sector.

Narayani Sunil Pillai, Environmental Sustainability Program Coordinator

Narayani coordinates the City’s Water Centric City Initiative, including implementation of the City’s Green Infrastructure Plan, and other key principles such as fishable/swimmable water, sustainable healthy water supply, and water leadership programs in Milwaukee. She provides staff support to the mayor in his board role on the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Cities Initiative and also supports ECO’s efforts to reduce plastic waste in Milwaukee’s lakes and rivers. Narayani holds a Master of Environmental Studies degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Technology degree in Computer Science & Engineering. Prior to her current role, Narayani worked as a Water Sustainability Coordinator with The Water Center at Penn, contributing to research on the environmental aspects of AI, water efficient data centers, water policy briefs, and coordinating leadership collaboratives for mid-career water sector professionals. In her spare time, you’ll find her out in nature or watching a good movie.

Milwaukee Climate and Equity Plan

On June 23, 2023, Mayor Cavalier Johnson adopted the Milwaukee Climate and Equity Plan as part of the Citywide Policy Plan contained in the City's Overall Comprehensive Plan. The Climate and Equity Plan provides the vision and foundation for climate action in Milwaukee and includes 10 Big Ideas to reduce greenhouse gas pollution, increase racial equity, and make the City prosperous for the long term.

The plan has two primary objectives:

Reduce community greenhouse gas emissions: 45% by 2030 and achieve net zero emissions by 2050.
Improve racial and economic equity by creating green jobs that pay at least $40,000 and are focused on recruiting local people of color.

Community Collaboration

The 10 Big Ideas can be achieved in collaboration among government agencies, businesses, community-based organizations and other partners. The plan is intended to be financed primarily from new federal resources including the Inflation Reduction Act. The plan is the direct outgrowth of over three years of public discussions and planning through the City-County Taskforce on Climate and Economic Equity. The Task Force has transitioned to the City-County Advisory Board on Climate and Economic Equity that will submit an annual report to the Common Council on the status of the plan’s implementation.

In advance of the global climate talks in Paris, Mayor Barrett has joined the over 100 US Mayors in joining the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy (formerly the Compact of Mayors). This is the world’s largest coalition of city leaders addressing climate change by pledging to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, tracking their progress and preparing for the impacts of climate change. Visit ECO's Climate Action web page for more information on Milwaukee's action on climate change.

The City of Milwaukee is a part of The Wisconsin Local Government Coalition, currently composed of 32 member communities, representing over 40% of Wisconsinites. Erick Shambarger, ECO Director, is a co-founder of this Coalition. The members collaborate on overcoming barriers to decarbonization, accelerating local climate change solutions and ensuring the benefits of the clean energy economy are distributed to everyone throughout the state. Members prioritize solutions that recognize the myriad of economic, health and equity benefits associated with climate action in our communities and that meet the needs of our disproportionately affected minority and low-income citizens in our cities and towns.

The City of Milwaukee’s Director of Environmental Sustainability is a member of the Urban Sustainability Directors Network (USDN) which brings local government sustainability practitioners together to learn, collaborate, and accelerate the work of local sustainability. USDN generates substantial new knowledge for advancing urban sustainability through projects such as The Equity and Buildings Framework, USDN Resilience Hubs, Grant Programs, Innovation Products, and High Impact Practices.

The City of Milwaukee, under Mayor Cavalier Johnson, is actively engaged in climate action, and participating in the Climate Mayors network. Climate Mayors is a bipartisan network of nearly 350 U.S. mayors, demonstrating climate leadership through meaningful actions in their communities since 2014. Representing 48 states and over 70 million Americans, Climate Mayors reflects U.S. cities’ commitment to climate progress.

America Is All In is the most expansive coalition of leaders ever assembled in support of climate action in the United States. The coalition encompasses thousands of U.S. cities including the City of Milwaukee, states, tribal nations, businesses, schools, and institutions of faith, health, and culture. The coalition is working to cut U.S. emissions in half by 2030 and reach net zero emissions by 2050, while building resilience in the face of increasing climate impacts. America Is All In build on We Are Still In and America’s Pledge to champion a whole-of-society mobilization that can deliver the transformational change that science and society demand. The coalition continues this work despite the U.S.’s second withdrawal from the Paris Agreement.

In Fall 2025, Mayor Cavalier Johnson joined the City of Milwaukee into Swimmable Cities, a grassroots movement with 236 diverse signatory organizations from 115 cities and towns, and 37 countries around the world. Launched on the eve of the 2024 Paris Olympics, Swimmable Cities champion the Right to Swim and Nature Rights, growing into a global platform for transforming urban waterways. Milwaukee’s beaches are swimmable and while it’s rivers are not swimmable yet, the City is currently working on major efforts to upgrade river quality, which could lead to the rivers becoming swimmable in the future.

The City of Milwaukee is proud to participate in the Global Compact Cities Programme (or Cities Programme), an urban component of the United Nations Global Compact; the world’s largest corporate responsibility initiative. The United Nations Global Compact recognises that cities, in particular, have the potential to make enormous strides in creating sustainable societies – where economic, ecological, political and cultural issues are integrated and advanced. To that end, the Global Compact Cities Programme is dedicated to the promotion and adoption of the Global Compact’s Ten UN Principles by cities, and provides a framework for translating the principles into day-to-day urban governance and management. Read more about how water resources have sustained Milwaukee since the city's founding and have helped make the city great.

The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative

The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative is a binational coalition of over 110 U.S. and Canadian mayors and local officials working to advance the protection and restoration of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River. The Cities Initiative and local officials integrate environmental, economic and social agendas and sustain a resource that represents approximately 20 percent of the world’s surface freshwater supply, provides drinking water for 40 million people, and is the foundation upon which a strong regional economy is based. Members of the Cities Initiative work together and with other orders of government and stakeholders to improve infrastructure, programs and services and increase investments that protect and restore this globally significant freshwater resource.