Kit Cole, the founder of Kit Cole Consulting, brings more than 25 years of experience in the public and private sector, with proven experience in the utility and waste industries as well as government sectors.

Prior to opening her own firm, Kit served as a Director of Public Affairs at Southern California Edison, one of the largest utilities in the nation. At Edison, she was responsible for the Public Involvement and Education group promoting outreach and community engagement where high-voltage transmission lines and substations intersected with communities.

 Before coming to Edison in 2011, she served for seven years as Director of External Affairs at Waste Management, Inc., where she developed and implemented strategies around community engagement on a variety of landfill and recycling facility issues, focusing on landfill expansion in the West.She also oversaw the company’s Sustainability Initiative in the Western Region, including improving internal recycling rates, promoting green power, conducting energy audits, and improving recycled content procurement.

Kit gained an important perspective from her government service by working in both the policy and regulatory arenas prior to moving to the private sector. In 2001, she was appointed by Governor Gray Davis to the California Environmental Protection Agency, where she advised and directed regulation in the area of electronics waste, brownfield development and environmental justice.

As Policy Consultant to Senator Debra Bowen and the Assembly Natural Resources Committee in the California Legislature, she focused on green buildings (LEED certification for state buildings), tire recycling and reuse and beverage container recycling.  In addition to natural resources policy, she has a history with local governments from serving as a policy consultant to the Assembly Local Government Committee.  Her focus in local government policy included work on cities and counties organization, the Brown Act and post-Prop 13 funding.

Kit has her Bachelor of Arts from the University of California at Davis and her Masters of Public Administration from the University of Southern California. She is a nationally elected member of the Board of the International Association for Public Participation USC (IAP2) and a member of the Association of California Women in Energy (CAWiE). 

 

Education

University of Southern California, MPA, DPPD
University of California, Davis, BA

Affiliations & Leadership

iap2 Board of Directors National
iap2 Los Angeles Chapter Leader

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Background & Beliefs

 

Integrity.

We are grounded in integrity in everything we do.  We are our word. We believe that integrity and being our word is the foundation for power and effectiveness. It is a home, an anchor, a continuing commitment—a way of being and acting that shapes who we are. We act with rigor and a sense of urgency.

Kindness.

The world can be cruel and communities can be hostile. For that reason, we strive to be kind with each other and our clients. We always strive to make our office a safe place to work and express ourselves.

Celebration.

We celebrate often and we recognize accomplishments, small and large. Celebration gives us energy to get back to our work with renewed vigor and energy. Celebration brings us together and makes us a family.