Rose Tourje

Thursday, September 13, 2012

PRESENTS:

ANEW Alchemy
Doing What’s Right With What’s Left

In the Duncan Anderson Design Department Gallery at California State University, Long Beach

Rose Tourje talks about good design for the common good — how creative innovations in materials & design help transform corporate surplus into community service.

Rose started off with a very successful career in commercial interior design. Combining extensive experience as a leading CID, manager and strategist with her passion for design excellence, she flourished at prestigious firms such as EPR, Sussman Prejza, ISD, IA and DMJM (now AECOM) and especially as VP Corporate Real Estate, domestic and international, for Warner Bros. Studios.

While thriving with design and strategic management, Rose began looking more closely at industry practices, noting an utter lack of process regarding surplus furniture and equipment liquidation. She’d assumed that others were liquidating responsibly, but upon discovering that the standard practice was hauling everything to the landfill, she decided to start a non-profit to remedy the situation.

Rose created her national non-profit organization, ANEW, to raise awareness and offer alternatives to traditional liquidation practices by matching surplus furniture and materials directly to charities, public agencies and the underserved.

The primary goal is to strengthen communities and avoid landfill. This simple practice offers several benefits when extending the lifecycle of surplus items. It connects companies to their communities by furthering corporate citizenship and promoting social responsibility. It also spares the environment.

In addition to helming ANEW, Rose educates and advises students, corporations and other interested parties about the importance of their commitment to social and environmental causes. She’s a sought-after advocate of Social Sustainabilty®, the core practice at ANEW that unites social responsibility with environmental sustainability.

Rose leads by doing, raising awareness through the outcomes of repurposing, and helping companies realize the social, economic and environmental benefits of sustainable practices.