Staff Photo by Tim Barber City Forester for the City of Chattanooga, Gene Hyde, left, talks with Greenspaces co-directors Anj McClain, center, and Jeff Cannon at their work station inside the East Main Street business.

• Who: Anj McClain, new director of Greenspaces

• What: After about three years co-directing the nonprofit group, McClain was appointed Friday to lead Greenspaces' effort to promote environmentally friendly design and building processes.

• Location: 63 E. Main St.

• What she's done: As a former director of Greenspaces with Jeff Cannon, McClain helped about 30 local construction projects make environmentally conscious decisions. Cannon has left.

• What she plans to do: McClain wants to increase efforts toward education. She has worked with plenty of people in the construction industry on specific projects, but wants to increase those efforts by offering teaching opportunities such as sustainable building classes for builders seeking their green certifications.

• Getting out in the community: McClain plans to work closely with local business owners, instructing them in ways to make their business more sustainable. To help with this, Greenspaces is expanding its board. "We need to reach beyond the choir, the organizations that are already preaching these things," she said. "We're reaching out to business owners to give them a structure for what they can do from the business side to reduce their impact."

• Personal history: McClain came to the area in 2001 to attend the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, where she studied interior design and environmental science. After graduating in 2005, she moved to Atlanta to work on LEED certification projects for environmental nonprofit Southface. She moved back to Chattanooga for a job with Tricycle, a design company, before taking her job with Greenspaces.