Linda Sorrento

A deep concern for how interior environments affect human health and performance has informed every facet of Linda Sorrento’s career as an interior designer, educator and promoter of healthy, safe and livable environments. After a 40+ years career, it is important to Linda that professionals have the knowledge, tools and foresight to make bold, innovative and responsible decisions for building occupants.  
 
Embracing the guiding principles of environmental design as a passion, understanding and strength, Linda was selected as the inaugural Executive Director (Emerita) of the National Academy of Environmental Design (NAED) convening a diverse coalition of academia and practice providing the thought leadership for healthy, safe and flourishing communities. Today, her work is grounded in this belief as subject matter expert for the U.S. GSA Sustainable Facilities Tool, which identifies and prioritizes cost-effective healthy building strategies for improved building performance.  
 
Linda was the Senior Director Education Partnerships at the U.S Green Building Council (USGBC) where she initiated and maintained strategic relationships with leading industry organizations to advance the Council’s mission of market transformation through high-quality green building education. Under her direction, USGBC launched REGREEN® residential remodeling guidelines in partnership with American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) and the Green Jobs and Greenbuild® Scholarship initiatives. Linda joined the USGBC in 2004 as its inaugural Director of LEED for Commercial Interiors. In this role, she shepherded LEED-CI through its journey from pilot launch to adoption. She was a contributor to the USGBC Center for Green Schools “Green Classroom Professional Certificate” for K-12 teachers to create healthy sustainable classrooms.   
 
Prior to USGBC, Linda practiced as a corporate interior designer for 29 years, cultivating a wide-ranging experience with major corporate clients. She is a former assistant professor at George Washington University and Northern Virginia Community College where her teaching and research focused on human behavior, materials and environmental design.  
 
Numerous honors and awards including USGBC LEED Fellow, ASID Fellow, ASID national recipient of the 2013 Nancy Vincent McClelland Merit Award, Marymount University 
Distinguished Alumna and Interior Design Alumna Awards, recognize Linda’s deep commitment to the design community. She serves on the Board of Directors of the Healthy Building Network and The American Institute of Architects’ Materials Knowledge Working Group as past co-chair and current thought-leader. Linda holds a BFA in interior design from Syracuse University and a MA in interior design from Marymount University.