Liz, appointed as the first CSO for CDC in 2008, establishes sustainability in CDC policy and operations, implements healthy and sustainable work environments, and facilitates staff involvement in sustainability efforts. She is a registered architect, and holds a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Architecture, both from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Liz has received two White House awards for Sustainability, been named to the Atlanta Business Chronicle’s Sustainability Who’s Who, and has been recognized by the American Institute of Architects as a Fellow for her work to impact health and well-being by empowering architects to build better environments.​

Liz provides thought leadership and architectural expertise within the Federal community of health experts and is a key liaison between the fields of design and health. Liz’s leadership concentrates on identifying the upstream levers that enable change and influencing systems from multiple directions. She has strengthened policy and understanding around the health impacts of the physical environment, gender issues in design, access to healthy food, and design effects on health equity. She embraces the architect’s role as steward of societal values and focuses attention on policy and tools that help move the profession towards problem solving for these larger issues.​