George Chmael II is the founder and CEO of
Council Fire, one of the United States' earliest sustainability-focused consultancies and a certified B Corp since 2010 with multiple "Best For The World" honors from B Lab.
For over 30 years, George has guided leading environmental organizations, philanthropic foundations, government agencies, and corporations of all sizes across climate resilience, clean energy transition, sustainable transportation, ESG strategy, oceans and natural resource stewardship, and community economic development. His clients have included the Environmental Defense Fund, World Wildlife Fund, Walton Family Foundation, NOAA, NRG, the World Bank, and many others, with engagements spanning the U.S., Europe, Asia, Latin America, and beyond.That cross-sector depth informs how George thinks about systems change.
He is the founder of B Local Mid Atlantic and a member of B Lab's inaugural Ambassador cohort, and is currently working in partnership with B Lab to develop Redefining Profit, an initiative designed to embed stakeholder capitalism into the civic, policy, and financial infrastructure needed to make it durable and scalable. His white paper
The End of Extraction lays out the economic case for that transition.
George also serves on several nonprofit boards, including as Board Chair of
SustainaFest, a nonprofit empowering global change through storytelling and collaboration.