Nate brings to Headwaters Economics more than two decades of experience in communications, public relations, and sustainability policy. His career has taken him from Bozeman, Montana, to Washington, DC, to Seattle, and back to Bozeman.

A native of Montana, Nate began his career after graduate school at Georgetown University, where he studied how new technologies are changing communications and the media, and how people are consuming information in new ways.

He applied this expertise in Washington, DC, while working with communications staff on Capitol Hill and at federal agencies, as well as improving the communications capacities of non-profit organizations such as the Center for Public Integrity, a respected investigative journalism group, and the World Resources Institute (WRI), a global sustainability think tank.

He then moved to Seattle to manage communications at Sightline Institute, the leading sustainability think tank in the Northwest, where he was responsible for strategic planning, media relations, marketing, brand management and graphic design all leveraged toward advancing regional sustainability policy and economic development.

Nate’s experience goes beyond policy and nonprofit communications. He also has many years of experience as a public relations consultant, working with startup companies and investors seeking to deploy new solutions in climate technology, synthetic biology, regenerative agriculture, and more.

Despite spending so much of his career on both coasts Nate still has plenty of the Mountain West left in him. He balances his dedication to leading-edge sustainability with healthy doses of fly fishing, skiing and teaching his kids the tricks of patience and gardening.

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In this ten-minute video produced by Headwaters Economics, learn how leaders in Austin, TX came to realize the magnitude of the wildfire threat, and how they brought together diverse interests to protect their community.

Austin, Texas: Built for Wildfire

In this video produced by Headwaters Economics, homeowner Brodey Simkins describes the tragedy of losing his home to wildfire and his commitment to rebuilding with wildfire in mind.

Building for wildfire