Susanne Rasmussen, Deputy Climate Chief at the Office of Sustainability, knows that navigating climate change requires innovative solutions and collaboration in Cambridge and beyond. For her, this work is an opportunity to serve the public while tackling an issue she cares about deeply.
Susanne, who received the 2025 Brian Murphy Award for Leadership in the Workplace and Public Service, sees public service as work to improve the lives of everyone in the community. For her, this especially means engaging with those who are most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.
“Public service means developing solutions and support for the people in our community and the needs that they have,” Susanne said. “We clearly must and have focused more on righting past wrongs and doing work that is focused on the most vulnerable in our community. It is developing solutions and enhancing the lives of those in our community.”
Part of what Susanne appreciates most about her work is that it involves both finding solutions and actually enacting them, something she says is very aligned with her personal values and dedication toward environmental action and community engagement.
“What I enjoy the most is working to solve problems that I care deeply about. I couldn’t care more deeply about climate change than I do, and in this job, I get to work on trying to innovate and figure out these issues at the local level,” she said. “We don’t only think of the policy, but we actually get to carry it out, and we have to work with the community.”
As Deputy Climate Chief, Susanne works to develop long-term solutions to both reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental impacts in Cambridge, as well as to increase resiliency and prepare for the effects of climate change. One of the major efforts she has been involved in is the Building Energy Use Disclosure Ordinance (BEUDO) and its amendments, which require large non-residential buildings to reduce their carbon emissions to zero by 2050.
“Currently and undoubtedly, the most impactful thing that we’ve ever engaged in in terms of reducing greenhouse emissions is [BEUDO],” Susanne said. “I say by far the most impactful, because if you look at the greenhouse gas emissions pie, the buildings that are subject to the mandatory reductions are such a big percentage. So, knowing that we have a plan for how to make that happen is really, really important.”
BEUDO and other City sustainability efforts, from purchasing renewable electricity for residents to conducting vulnerability assessments and developing a Net Zero Action Plan, are complex, multi-departmental initiatives. Susanne stressed how strong collaboration between departments, from the Office of Sustainability to Public Works, Transportation, Inspectional Services, Finance, Law, Public Health, and others, is key to effective climate action in Cambridge.
"We couldn’t do our work by ourselves,” she said. “I think Cambridge has the least silos and the best interdepartmental collaboration of anywhere.”
In addition to collaboration with departments across Cambridge, Susanne explained how climate solutions do not exist in isolation, and the City aims to share its progress toward sustainability with other communities.
“We identify what the problems are, and we work really hard at developing solutions, very creative solutions that have not been done before, with the hope that not only can we do it, but then hopefully other surrounding communities or communities elsewhere can take advantage of that,” she said. “We’re very active in talking to other sustainability directors and communities, both regionally but also nationally, to share our experience with these kinds of solutions.”
Susanne also emphasized how committed members of the Cambridge community are to sustainability. In addition to working to reduce their own greenhouse gas emissions, she noted that there are various climate organizations Cambridge residents can join. These include the Cambridge Climate Committee, which strives to help implement Cambridge's climate plan, and the Cambridge Climate Leader Program, which gives people the opportunity to be ambassadors leading conversations about climate change in their own communities.
“That’s a wonderful thing about Cambridge. People are very on board with environmental action, and also, very engaged.” Susanne said.
Over three decades with the City, Susanne has continuously been involved with sustainability in Cambridge, and this work has evolved as the climate crisis has unfolded. Prior to her current role, Susanne served as the Director of Environmental and Transportation Planning, ensuring transportation planning occurred through a sustainable lens. This role kept expanding over time, and when the Office of Sustainability became a separate office in 2024, Susanne stepped into her current role.
Susanne expressed how growing up in Denmark and maintaining close ties to the country, one with a strong focus on sustainable transportation and renewable energy, has helped shape her dedication to improving sustainability in Cambridge.
“I would say that very influential is that I lived in Denmark until my late 20s.... My family all still live there, and I’ve been extremely fortunate to maintain all my friends,” she said. “It’s obviously very inspiring in the work that I do. Both through a personal and professional lens, it’s an important part of my life and how I see the world.”
While her role has evolved over the years, Susanne remains committed to serving Cambridge residents and engaging with the local community on making Cambridge a more sustainable place. During her acceptance speech for the Brian Murphy Award, she expressed her gratitude for the recognition, which honors the late Assistant City Manager for Community Development, Brian Murphy.
“It is deeply, deeply meaningful for me to be able to accept the Brian Murphy Award.... In addition to saying thank you, I have to say words about Brian,” Susanne said in her remarks. “Brian was the leader who knew his substance and had great political acumen. And very importantly, he was the ultimate leader who relied on us to show expertise and ambition to make Cambridge the best place it could be with respect to sustainable transportation, climate, and everything else.... Brian became a mentor to me and the type of leader I could aspire to be.”
