Nathalie Owen is the Zero Waste Lead for Fairfax County, VA, working to prevent and divert waste across the County’s municipal operations. Owen began her career working with environmental advocacy organizations, including Green Corps and Corporate Ethics International. She then joined Recology, a resource recovery company serving West Coast communities, where she launched several company-wide initiatives, including an award-winning enterprise risk management program. Owen believes she now has her dream job, leading cross-departmental teams to create a culture change and embed Zero Waste into their operations. Her favorite part of this role is advocating for and facilitating strategies that phase out single-use products and packaging, preventing waste before it begins.
Owen holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics and International Relations from the University of California, Davis, and a master’s degree in Natural Resources from Virginia Tech, where she focused on watershed management and Extended Producer Responsibility.