Jay Bassett served the public over 35 years both as a (retired) military officer with the Navy and as a civil servant leader with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. He served 15 years as a charter member of the EPA’s leadership cadre in transforming EPA’s land and waste program’s “Road Ahead” principles through promoting efforts to manage materials and products on a life-cycle basis, building capacity and integrating materials management approaches, and accelerating the broad, ongoing public dialogue on sustainable materials management as both EPA’s Regional (Southeast) program manager and as a national advisor and expert. He also served as a regional advisor including supporting EPA’s Office of Policy in developing and implementing a comprehensive strategy to maximize the Agency’s commitment to work with our partners to achieve meaningful outcomes and community development opportunities addressing priority issues in disproportionately underserved and vulnerable communities through systematic means to achieve EPA’s mission through communities and community led and driven work. He currently serves as a connecter and advisor on several boards for several “sustainability based” local, state, and national nonprofits and coalitions and has been active in implementing engaging and advancing (including K12 initiatives, green school programs and curriculum needed to develop critical skills as) a foundation for community centered sustainable and circular economy development as part of the transition to the decarbonization and green economy.