Carl
Frankel is a nationally-known writer, journalist, entrepreneur, and
consultant specializing in business and sustainable development. His
areas of expertise include planning, strategizing, visioning,
communicating, business development, market research, green business,
and the “art of the start.”
Until February 2009, he was a Senior Writer for Matter Network, a green media company. Prior to this, he was Vice-President, Business Development for Matchbin, a Utah-based technology company. Current clients include Earthstar Energy Systems and Our Community Works.
From 2005 through 2007, Frankel was Founder and President of Our Community Networks,
a social enterprise that owned and operated online community
marketplaces with the purpose of building community and supporting
local businesses and non-profits.
Prior to this, Frankel served as Manager of Special Projects and Advisor to the Chairman of ManyOne Networks, a cutting-edge social enterprise that aimed to create a "PBS of the Web."
Frankel has been working in socially responsible business since the
late 1980s, when he authored business studies on green consumerism and
the commercial implications of environmental technologies. In 1990 he
founded Green MarketAlert,
a newsletter tracking green business strategies that he wrote, edited
and published until 1994. He then became North American editor for Tomorrow Magazine,
an English-language, Stockholm-based publication that tracked issues
relating to global corporations and sustainable development. He also
served as Contributing Editor to Yes! The Journal of Positive Futures, and as Senior Columnist for Green@Work Magazine.
Frankel’s 1998 book, In Earth’s Company: Business, Environment, and the Challenge of Sustainability
(New Society) has been called “the best book I have seen about the
business aspects of sustainable development” (David Buzzelli, co-chair,
President’s Council on Sustainable Development).
His 2004 book, Out of the Labyrinth: Who We Are, How We Go Wrong, and What We Can Do About It,
“takes the literature on sustainability to a new level” (Hazel
Henderson). According to Interface chairman Ray Anderson, it is “a
magnificent book and required reading for anyone who yearns for a
better world.”
Frankel is also a lead author on a major paper on social enterprise, The Fourth Sector, that will be published by the Aspen Institute in 2009.
As a consultant, Frankel has worked with a broad range of large
corporations, green start-ups, and non-profits. Clients have included Tandus (Frankel served on the company’s Sustainability Council), the WorldWide Fund for Nature, the Buckminster Fuller Institute, Second Nature, the Conference Board, Canopy Development, Natural Logic, Ecos Corporation, the Center for the Intimate Arts, and many more.
As a speaker, Frankel has keynoted major conferences such as GEMI and CERES. He has been an invited speaker at programs like the Sustainable Enterprise Academy, corporations like Nike and Con Edison, and universities, including Cornell University and the University of California at Santa Barbara.
Boards Frankel has served on include the Buckminster Fuller Institute and the Hudson Valley Sustainable Communities Network.
A resident of Kingston NY, Frankel is known locally for Carl's List, a
"clicks and mortar" social network that achieved significant traction
in the greater Kingston area.
Prior to specializing in business and sustainability, Frankel owned and
operated Entelechy Corp., a business research company specializing in
the commercial potential of new electronic technologies. At Entelechy
Corp., he oversaw the publication of over 80 book-length business
studies involving market research and market sizings. He also served as
Director of Market Research Reports for LINK Resources Corp.
He previously worked as a criminal lawyer and in publishing.
Frankel is a graduate of Princeton University and Columbia Law School.
