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 Scott Steinwert
Principal/President
Scott thrives on helping clients study the effects of major infrastructure projects on the environment and designing and building these projects with minimal impact and often benefits to the environment. With 20 years of environmental planning experience on many high-profile documents, Scott helps clients figure out how to streamline the often arduous environmental process while still providing the environmental protections intended by laws and regulations. He is expert in leading interdisciplinary teams of specialists in all areas of environmental analysis and planning, crafting integrated public involvement strategies, and believes strongly in creating communications tools that make environmental documents more approachable and understandable for a broader audience - to get back to the core intent of our environmental laws and regulations. |
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 Charles Gardiner
Principal
Charles cares deeply about bringing people together to address the civic challenges that we face every day. For 25 years he has been helping people develop a shared understanding of challenges and their context. He believes that a common understanding among people with diverse perspectives and knowledge is essential for identifying and implementing the best solutions and that collectively we can find creative solutions - but only if we move past our individual understanding and perspectives. Charles' expertise includes organizational capacity building; program management; stakeholder facilitation; conflict resolution; team building; facilitating sensitive, multi-stakeholder agreements; managing environmental review processes; and developing public involvement, information, and education strategies. |
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 Sarah Layton Wallace
Principal/Strategic Communications Practice Co-leader
Sarah loves the challenges posed by complex communications projects and she is particularly adept at helping clients - who often have a technical background - communicate effectively to change behavior, gain community consensus, build coalitions and otherwise work towards solutions. Her more than 22 years of experience includes strategic communications, public affairs, coalition building, and public relations, with a focus on publicly owned infrastructure and emergency management. She stays current with the rapid evolution of communication approaches and tools and innovates communications strategies which take advantage of the full spectrum of the tried and true and new. The founder of the California Infrastructure Brief, a twice-weekly e-newsletter that provides news insights about infrastructure projects, policy, and funding, Sarah is often tapped by the media for her subject matter expertise and has authored articles for various publications with statewide and national reach.
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 Mary Bean, AICP
Principal/Environmental Practice Co-leader
Mary relishes being part of a field that consistently reinvents itself to better protect the environment - and is always open to new ideas, new techniques, and the latest in research and mitigation related to development. Her diverse experience in land development, transportation, and transit projects, combined with her expertise in California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requirements, makes her a particularly effective strategist for both public agencies and private developers - and ideally suited to manage CirclePoint's municipal projects. A former planner for Santa Barbara County, her 16 years of practice have made her expert in guiding development projects to complement local general plan policies and zoning codes, and working collaboratively with planning commissions and boards of supervisors. |
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 Ben Strumwasser
Principal/Strategic Communications Practice Co-leader
Ben enjoys working face-to-face with communities and stakeholders to understand their values, needs, and interests in an effort to facilitate dialogue about complex issues and build the best possible project. With 22 years of collaboration with various transportation agencies, Ben is highly skilled in strategic communications and alternative dispute resolution. His expertise includes facilitation of consensus-building activities and workshops, development of comprehensive public participation and strategic communications plans, and identification of community concerns on complex and controversial transportation and infrastructure projects. Ben is an active member of the Public Involvement in Transportation Committee for the Transportation Research Board, the International Association for Public Participation, and the U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution. |
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 Phyllis Potter, AICP
Principal/Environmental Practice Co-leader
Phyllis is passionate about helping clients design their projects to avoid or minimize environmental impacts. She works collaboratively with clients and visual media specialists to illustrate constraints and opportunities associated with a particular project. This information is considered along with the processing and permitting requirements to create a strategic plan and realistic timeline for the project. With nearly three decades of experience managing environmental studies for a wide range of projects, Phyllis brings a deep understanding of the need to consider the technical and strategic issues associated with a project. Her knowledge and commitment to proactive project design enables CirclePoint clients to "see the road ahead" and plan appropriately. Phyllis is an active member of the American Institute of Certified Planners, American Planning Association, and Association of Environmental Planners.
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 Michele McCormick
Executive Vice President, Sacramento Region
Michele is energized by opportunities to work directly with people to benefit communities on many levels. She believes that finding ways to effectively share information and create understanding between disparate groups, especially when it pertains to important issues in our local, regional, or national community, is the most exciting part of the work she does. For more than 30 years, Michele has specialized in strategic communications, with particular focus in directing community relations and media outreach to address controversial issues. She leads teams in an effective multi-dimensional approach to communications problem-solving for both long-term efforts and immediate responses to crises. Michele is the founder of MMC Communications, which she managed independently for 18 years before the 2008 merger with CirclePoint. A former freelance journalist, her articles have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, People Magazine, Newsweek and other national publications. Michele is an active member of the Sacramento Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, the Sacramento Parks and Recreation Commission, and a senior fellow with the American Leadership Forum. |
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 Tom Freyer
Creative Director
Tom gets a huge thrill out of generating ideas and strategies that solve his clients' communications and marketing problems. Tom has more than 25 years experience managing teams and developing and producing interesting, informative, innovative and integrated creative solutions across every medium, including broadcast, print, direct and web. Tom believes the key to a great idea is a great strategy, and the key to a great strategy is a great insight. An award-winning veteran of many advertising and marketing battles for mindshare (at blue chip ad agencies including Leo Burnett, Hal Riney & Partners and J.Walter Thompson), Tom helps CirclePoint clients achieve their goals by crafting communications that break through the clutter, communicate a new insight in a surprising way, and engage prospects with a unique combination of irrefutable logic and likeability.
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