Vessela Valtcheva-McGee has extensive experience with green building certification and sustainable development in both practice and education. With 20+ years of experience in green building certification, Vessela has both practical hands-on experience with international certification tools LEED, BREEAM and EDGE, and deep theoretical knowledge of sustainability, professional education and policy development, and sustainability leadership. While consulting the real estate sector in green building certification and sustainable development, Vessela has also been actively involved in change leadership through the international NGO green building council network and working closely with multilateral development banks. Serving as a founder and President of a chapter of the US Green Building Council in the United States, Vessela had the opportunity to be involved in the evolution of early green building council development as well as various aspects of the LEED rating system. Vessela was honored as a LEED Fellow in 2015 – the highest level of professional recognition awarded for certification technical expertise, practical experience, education development and advocacy. From 2008 to 2023 Vessela served as Managing Partner International Projects for Triple Green Building Group – a full service sustainability consulting, certification and education, company. Vessela is also a founding member of the Bulgarian Green Building Council where she was President for two terms. Over the past 15 years she worked on sustainable policy development, voluntary certification initiatives, and sat on task forces at the World Green Building Council’s Europe Regional Network, a coalition of organizations working together to facilitate industry leadership and drive the transition to a low-carbon, circular economy. Due to her dedication and experience with pioneering certification in new markets, as of 2024 Vessela joined GBCI Europe serving as Director of Market Development for Eastern Europe.