Speaking Experience
Looking for a Smart Cities and Sustainability Speaker?
With over 30 years of experience, Melanie Nutter is a dynamic speaker and skilled moderator who has shared her insights at events and conferences around the globe. If you're planning an upcoming event, we'd love to connect—reach out to us at Nutter Consulting.
Brownfields to Brightfields Webinar
June 27, 2024
Hosted quarterly by Power a Clean Future Ohio, this webinar series helps communities across the state access funding for local climate and clean energy initiatives. Each session highlights grant opportunities and showcases strategies to turn ideas into action.
At the June 2024 webinar, Melanie Nutter presented an overview of brownfield funding opportunities, covering both federal and state programs. She also explored “brownfield to brightfield” strategies—transforming former industrial sites into solar energy installations.
Grant Opportunities Briefing
August 31, 2023
As part of Power a Clean Future Ohio’s ongoing support for its member communities, Melanie Nutter led a quarterly grant opportunity briefing focused on connecting municipalities with climate and clean energy funding available through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
In this session, Melanie provided in-depth overviews of two key federal programs: the Energy Future Grants and the Reconnecting Communities and Neighborhoods Program. She covered eligibility criteria, strategies for designing competitive proposals, and program-specific requirements such as Community Benefits Agreements. The briefing included a facilitated discussion, during which Melanie offered direct support to participating communities, helping them navigate the application process and identify opportunities to advance local climate and clean energy initiatives.
Electric School Bus Roundtable
June 29, 2023
In June 2023, Power a Clean Future Ohio hosted an Electric School Bus Roundtable to highlight the benefits of transitioning to electric school buses, including lower operating costs, reduced emissions, and improved health outcomes for students. The event aimed to encourage Ohio communities to apply for the U.S. EPA’s 2023 Clean School Bus Grant Program.
To lay the groundwork for the discussion, Melanie Nutter delivered a detailed grant overview, including clear guidance on eligibility, shared strategies to strengthen applications, and outlined tangible next steps for communities to pursue funding successfully. Her presentation offered a pathway to implementation that complemented the insights shared by other roundtable speakers on the environmental and health benefits of transitioning to electric school buses.
Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program Webinar
March 6, 2023
As part of Power A Clean Future Ohio’s (PCFO) ongoing support for member communities, Melanie Nutter delivered a comprehensive overview of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) program. Funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, EECBG offered both formula and competitive funding for projects that reduce carbon emissions, enhance energy efficiency, and lower energy use.
Drawing on her deep expertise in sustainability and federal funding programs, Melanie guided participants through every aspect of EECBG—from program structure and eligibility requirements to the application process—equipping communities across Ohio with the knowledge to pursue impactful local projects.
Smart Cities Connect
April 4-7, 2022
Melanie Nutter was a featured speaker on two sustainability panels at the Spring 2022 Smart Cities Connect Conference in Columbus, OH.
Smart Infrastructure, Sustainability & the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (Keynote Session)
This keynote session focused on how to combine smart technology with smart city making that supports sustainable design goals.
Chelsea Collier, Editor-at-Large, Smart Cities Connect Media & Research
Stephen Patak, Chief Revenue Officer, Ubicquia
Amanda Daflos, Executive Director, Bloomberg Center for Public Innovation, Johns Hopkins University
Conor Riffle, VP Smart Cities, Rubicon
A Local Movement: Building a Clean Energy Future in Ohio
This session highlighted the unique model of Power A Clean Future Ohio, a coalition effort that has accelerated local climate action by providing city champions with free, direct access to first steps in their sustainability initiatives.
Brendan Kelley, Director of Drive Electric Ohio, Clean Fuels Ohio
Joe Flarida, Executive Director, Power a Clean Future Ohio
Tristan Rader, Council Member, City of Lakewood
Mark Charles, Sustainability Manager, City of Dayton, OH
CityAge Event
July 1, 2021
CityAge hosted a virtual event that took a deep dive on the City of Las Vegas and the state of Nevada, exploring their important lessons on investing in technology, energy, transportation systems and ways to enhance customer experience. For “The Future’s Infrastructure is Digital” Panel, Melanie led a discussion alongside Michael Sherwood, CIO for the City of Las Vegas; Alyssa Rodriguez, Director of IT for the City of Henderson; Steph Stoppenhagen, Director of Strategy and Innovation at Black & Veatch; and Bob Leek, Deputy CIO for Clark County.
Clean Growth Incubator Webinar Event
October 14, 2020
Nutter Consulting partnered with the Center for Strategic Policy Innovation to design and plan an online event to announce the rollout of their Clean Growth Incubator Initiative.
Melanie served as a moderator for this event, joined by speakers:
Kevin Daehnke, President, Center for Strategic Policy Innovation
Elizabeth Monoian and Robert Ferry, Co-Founders of Land Art Generator
Dr. Nate Johnson, Director, Laboratory for Energy And Power Solutions (LEAPS), Arizona State University
Dr. James Nelson, Director of Technology and Innovation, LEAPS
Chris Bleuher, Director, Microgrid Competency Center, Schneider Electric
Charles Howland, Chair, Environmental Department, Curtis Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle
Stephen Pearlman, Founder and Partner, Pearlman & Miranda
Cities Today Institute: Leadership Forum
March 2020
At the 2020 Cities Today Leadership Forum, Melanie led two presentations on resilience and smart city planning to share best practices in utilizing government technology to build sustainable and resilient cities.
Future Cities Canada
November 13, 2020
Melanie moderated an online discussion with smart city leaders to share their experiences and explore how designing a smarter city means putting people at the center of solutions. Co-panelists included:
Noemi Chanda, Senior Manager, Data Protection and Privacy, Deloitte
Todd Hofley, Director, Property Relations, Beanfield
Dr. Josipa Petrunic, President and CEO, Canadian Urban Transit Research & Innovation Consortium (CUTRIC)
Meeting of the Minds Annual Summit
November 27 - 29, 2018
Melanie served as the moderator for a panel discussing the unique challenges and opportunities of the night economy in major cities. She was joined by:
Tina Lee-Vogt, Program Manager, Community Development Department, City of Sacramento
Jocelyn Kane, Former Executive Director, City of San Francisco Entertainment Commission
Recent Participating Conferences
