Eric Howard
Eric Howard provides advisory services to non-profits, with a focus on strategic planning and collaborations with like-minded organizations and individuals. He guides the development of dynamic partnerships, integrating them into existing and new programs and advocacy/policy initiatives that will have a positive impact on communities.
Eric has worked with members of the Brandt team since 2007, participating in feasibility studies and donor strategy. His recent focus has been climate action, such as laying the foundation for a new service for Nelnet that would install solar arrays at colleges and universities and building new alliances for Second Nature, a Boston-based climate organization that provides decarbonization advice to hundreds of presidents and chancellors of colleges and universities and their senior staff. Eric focused on corporate partnerships for Oxfam America (2017-18) and for Northeastern University’s College of Engineering (2013-17), helping secure more than $15 million in revenue and support as part of the university's $1.4B Empower Campaign. Previously he was Executive Director of Maine Wood Products Association (1998-2002) and the Fulbright Academy of Science & Technology (2003-2012). The Academy was a think-tank and networking community created to share knowledge among the global community of Fulbright scholars. Earlier in his career Eric was Information Officer for the International Union for Conservation of Nature in Germany and a consultant to US AID in Bosnia and the UN Information Unit on Climate Change in Switzerland, among others.
Eric has worked with local, state, and national organizations as a grant writer and grant reviewer, helping secure or award millions of dollars for programs in sustainability, global health, advanced manufacturing, nanotechnology, information access, and economic development. In addition to his philanthropic and strategic planning work, Eric supported institutional capacity building and peer-to-peer sharing of knowledge by convening over 100 science-oriented conferences, workshops, and symposia in seventeen countries. He edited several books on information exchange, authored dozens of reports, and for eight years was a contributor to the Yearbook of International Environmental Law. In 2007, the US Department of State awarded a Certificate of Appreciation for his work in science diplomacy. He received research fellowships from the US EPA, World Wildlife Fund, and the Fulbright Exchange Program.
Eric has a B.A. in Geology from Wesleyan University, and a Master of Environmental Management degree from Duke University, and a Certificate in Business Administration and a Doctorate in Education from Northeastern University. His doctoral thesis on Organizational Leadership, exploring the knowledge-sharing practices of those involved in cross-sector research partnerships. He is currently active in the Monadnock to Sunapee Greenway, the IUCN Commission on Communication and Education, and the Network of Academic Corporate Relations Officers (NARCO).
Eric splits his time between New Hampshire and the Boston area. His children, who are in their mid 20s, have graduated from various East Coast universities.