Denise Fairchild | An Island Press Author

Denise Fairchild

Denise Fairchild, the inaugural president of Emerald Cities Collaborative, has dedicated over 30 years to strengthening housing, jobs, businesses and economic opportunities for low-income residents and communities of color, domestically and internationally.

In 1995, Dr. Fairchild founded the Community and Economic Development Department at Los Angeles Trade-Technical College and an affiliated non-profit community development research and technical assistance organization, CDTech. She helped launch the college’s Regional Economic Development Institute to provide inner-city residents with career and technical education for high-growth/high-demand jobs in the L.A. region. From 1989 to 1994, Dr. Fairchild directed the L.A. office of the Local Initiatives Support Corporation and is credited with raising over $100 million in equity, grants and loans for community-based housing and commercial development projects and, generally, with building the the L.A. region's nonprofit housing and community development industry.

Her civic and political appointments have included the California Commission on Regionalism, the California Economic Strategy Panel, the California Local Economic Development Association, the Urban Land Institute National Inner City Advisor, the Coalition for Women's Economic Development and the Los Angeles Environmental Quality Board. She also served as Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's special advisor for South LA Investments.

Power Shutoffs: Playing with Fire

Climate fires are California’s new normal. This new normal requires new strategies, new technologies and new partnerships with America’s caregivers to ensure the sick, the elderly and the most vulnerable are climate and energy resilient.

Forgotten First Responders: Caregivers for Sick and Elderly

Caregivers are underappreciated and underutilized partners in disaster response. But with proper recognition and support, they could become a linchpin of successful disaster response.

2017 Holiday Gift Guide

This holiday season, consider the Icelandic tradition of gifting books. They don't go bad, are one-size-fits-all, and are sure to make anyone on your shopping list smile.With a library of more than 1,000 books, make Island Press your one-stop shop for book buying, so you can get back to enjoying the holidays. To help you out, we've compiled a list of staff selections and mentions on various best-of lists.