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Dana Smirin
Special Assistant to the Dean for Sustainability and NewInitiatives - UC Berkeley
USA

Dana Smirin is a native of South Africa and has managed a consultingpractice in the United States, Europe, and South Africa working withingovernment, private sector, academia and NGO communities for 17 years.She is currently the Special Assistant to the Dean of the College ofNatural Resources for Sustainability and New Initiatives at theUniversity of Berkeley, California. Some of her work there includesidentifying and initiating sustainability opportunities, working onspecific projects oriented around Urban Sustainable Development, GlobalPoverty, and innovation and scalability of sustainability relatedtechnologies. Her mandate is to build bridges inside and out of theUniversity. Prior to joining Berkeley Smirin was living in Germany asan American Council on Germany McCloy Fellow investigating accelerationof Clean Technologies to market.
Smirin’s consulting company has assisted early stage companies performstrategic and business planning, market alignment, implementation andbuilding strategic alliances. She is skilled at identifyingcapital and market opportunities. She combines her vision, experience,leadership, and passion to drive projects to tangible results. Overseventeen years Smirin has developed a global network across multiplesectors with her focus being in sustainability opportunities.
Smirin sits in various advisory capacities to Clean Technology relatedFunds, Ngo’s involved in sustainability work and sustainabilityoriented companies from natural product market to energy companies. Shefinds great joy using her “northern” experience and translating it intoAfrica and other emerging markets. She speaks in public on an array oftopics related to sustainability and Development in Southern Africa.Her passion since youth has been understanding nature and how toutilize “natures” roadmap so that our human footprint is as small aspossible, or better yet here is a net gain.
Smirin is based in San Francisco keeping select clients in herconsulting portfolio and working at the University of Berkeley. Herlearning comes from attending many conferences related tosustainability around the world, being an avid reader and networker.She was raised mostly in South Africa and on continental Europe. Shetravels home to South Africa frequently and at times she bases her workthere or in Europe. She enjoys almost any sporting activity related tothe ocean, loves to garden and cook and actively learns about newcultures through exploration of stories and music. More can be found atwww.danasmirin.com