ACCO was established in 2008 and incorporated in 2009 as a non-profit organization in order to build a community of practice serving the emerging occupation of climate leadership in the public and private sectors, as well as support other occupations whose professionals critically intersected with climate change.  We were recognized by IRS as a 501(c)(3) charitable nonprofit in 2012.

ACCO has already established a rich history of important convening, education and research synthesis.  The following are representative highlights of our work and accomplishments to date:

• Established the first set of professional competencies for climate change officers through an intensive public comment process

• Developed more than 20 courses covering a broad spectrum of disciplines related to the Core Competencies for Climate Change Officers and professionals leveraging content contributions from nearly 400 experts and members

• Co-founded the U.S. EPA's Climate Leadership Awards program, including designing 3 of the program's awards categories and establishing evaluation criteria

• Produced recommendations for harmonization and consolidation of supply chain questionnaires through a 2-year research, synthesis and working group initiative

• Designed and launched Future CCOs, a post-graduate climate fellowship program designed by ACCO members and academic partners with early employers including The Coca-Cola Company, Lockheed Martin, WGL Holdings, City of Las Vegas and Greater Bridgeport Regional Council

• Provided substantive input to Federal agencies to inform regulatory and programmatic initiatives

• Established an ongoing series of mentoring programs under ACCO's Women's Climate Collaborative initiative

• Provided training to more than 1,000 practitioners in the public and private sectors

• Convened more than 5,000 practitioners at industry leading recurring events such as the Climate Strategies Forum, Rising Seas Summit and Operation: Supply Chain