Melissa Peneycad is Managing Director at the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure (ISI), a non-profit organization headquartered in Washington, DC, known for its signature Envision® sustainable infrastructure framework and rating system. Melissa’s work spans several sectors, including transportation (rail & light rail, bus systems, roads & highways, subway systems, airports, seaports, and active transportation networks), energy (generation and distribution), waste (including waste-to-energy projects), water/wastewater, education, healthcare, and agriculture.
Based in Halifax, Canada, Melissa is head of ISI’s global project verification and awards program, representing more than US$165 billion in infrastructure investment. Of the more than 135 Envision-verified projects, she has verified the sustainability of more than 70 of them, several of which were developed and delivered through public-private partnerships (PPPs). Melissa is also responsible for ongoing business & partnership development, strategic planning, and external communications.
For nearly two years, Melissa served as co-chair of the UNECE-led initiative to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through PPPs. She was instrumental in the delivery and operationalization of the Public-Private Partnerships Evaluation Methodology for the SDGs, which the UNECE Working Party on PPPs officially adopted in December 2021, and the Committee on Innovation, Competitiveness and PPPs in May 2022.
Melissa brings nearly 20 years of professional experience in developing sustainability frameworks, standards, evaluation methodologies, strategies, and programs to her role as the Civil Society Observer on the UNECE Working Party on PPPs.
In addition to her work at ISI, Melissa serves as co-chair of the global sustainability and resilience chapter at the World Association of PPP Units & Professionals and has worked with the World Bank’s Public-Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility, where she collaborated with the World Bank and other sustainability stakeholders to promote sustainable infrastructure PPPs through an aligned set of sustainability indicators based on existing standards and evaluation methodologies, including the UNECE’s PPPs for the SDGs approach to PPP development. She is a speaker and guest lecturer on urban sustainability and resilience and has authored numerous articles on this topic. She is also passionate about supporting and empowering women in business and the architecture, engineering, and construction industry through mentorship and education.
Melissa holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Queen’s University (Canada), a master’s degree in environmental studies, and a graduate diploma in business and environment, corporate sustainability from York University (Canada); and has a certificate in business management with a focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion from Northwestern University (USA).