Michael Laas

About Michael Laas

I’m an impact-driven hard-working innovator constantly seeking ways to improve organizations, products, people and the future, be it in-house or as a consultant. My range of professional experiences: working as an environmental engineer; SAAS technology builder; Corporate Director of Sustainability and Impact in NYC; sustainability and resilience consultant, non-profit social impact leader — enables me to bring unique set of skills and experiences to the table that span the spectrum of business, technology, environment, and people. My career began as an engineering project manager working on environmental compliance and infrastructure projects in S. Florida. I was able to participate and contribute to projects that had a lasting impact on the way people move and live in the region while learning the fundamentals of teamwork, work ethic, and project management.Driven by a desire to expand my abilities, I co-founded a SAAS technology company. Building it from the ground-up we grew to over users with clients that included MasterCard, LG Electronics, Liberty Mutual, and Celebrity Cruise Lines. Grinding it out in the start-up world, seeking scalability, grew my business acumen and codified an entrepreneurial mind-set that allows me to rapidly understand challenges and use data analytics to overcome them. In 2016 the company was acquired by a larger competitor, validating years of hard work.My unrelenting passion for sustainability coupled with my start-up mentality led me to a unique opportunity working with one of the world’s most successful private equity groups to develop a sustainability and impact brand. Working alongside an amazing team of visionaries, we launched the first mission-driven hospitality brand called 1 Hotels, an industry leader in sustainability and social impact. This experience required me to push far beyond my limits and grow into a high-demand high-pressure role with much responsibility. Building teams, processes, marketing strategy, and reporting tools across multiple geographies and communicating performance via KPI reporting allowed me to understand the needs of larger corporations and their executive leadership. I fused my career-long experience to start my own consulting business, offering sustainability and resilience services to hotels, real estate investors, municipalities and non-profits like the Rockefeller Foundation. Through my projects I continue to find partners and colleagues with whom I can work with to build a better future.

Experience

1. Resilience Program Manager

   Miami-Dade Water And Sewer Department

   Oct 2021 — Present · Miami-Dade County, FL, US

Education

• University of Miami

  M.S., Civil/Environmental Engineering

  2004 — 2006

• University of Miami

  Bachelor of Applied Science (B.A.Sc.), Environmental Engineering

  1999 — 2003