Meet Larissa

Larissa Read is a skilled ecologist, planner, facilitator, and project manager with 20 years of experience effectively leading and facilitating complex local, state, and national planning projects. She is the founder of Common Ground Consulting, LLC, a certified NY State Minority- and Women-Owned Business Enterprise (MWBE). Larissa provides planning, facilitation, and project management services to environmental, non-profit, and government organizations who are eager to tackle tough questions and make sound, thoughtful decisions. Larissa has a particular aptitude for managing challenging conversations with diverse stakeholders searching for common ground and solutions. She currently serves as the Secretary and the Governance lead for the Board of Directors of the Hudson River Watershed Alliance.

Based in Albany, NY, Larissa works with nonprofit and government organizations in New York, New England, and across the country. While living in the central mountains of Colorado, Larissa served as President of the Board of Directors for the Eagle River Watershed Council, and an elected member of the Board of Directors for Holy Cross Energy. In 2022, she successfully completed the Public Leadership Credential at the Harvard Kennedy School.

Larissa has extensive practice guiding communities and organizations through complex decisions about their natural resources while balancing the needs of the human environment. She facilitates challenging planning processes in areas such as sustainability planning, transportation, visitor use planning, climate action, and energy efficiency.

Prior to opening her own business, she worked in public service for 14 years, for the National Park Service and the Boulder County (Colorado) Parks and Open Space Department. Larissa's graduate work focused on nutrient cycling in secondary dry tropical forests of the Yucatan Peninsula, where she studied the effects of the shifting cultivation of maize on forest recovery and carbon storage. Larissa began her environmental career with an internship at the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority during college.

Larissa has a B.A. in Biology and an M.S. in Environmental Science (through a Presidential Fellowship) from the University of Virginia, and a Public Leadership Credential from the Harvard Kennedy School. She is trained in Wilderness First Aid and Restorative Yoga. Larissa is an avid runner and cyclist, music lover, and knitter.