Jeff Mendelsohn

Jeff has focused his career on his parallel goals of building a highly successful green business and driving a fundamental shift toward sustainability in the paper industry through his business model. Founding New York Recycled Paper in 1991 and New Leaf Paper in 1998, Jeff has been a visionary leader in the evolution of the green business community. He was one of the early pioneers to create a business with 100% integrity around its mission and values, building them into every product line and every transaction. Jeff was also a pioneer in confronting challenging environmental issues through a positive vision. His vision of a sustainable paper industry, which he shares through frequent public speaking invitations, helped shift the dominant paradigm from equating environment responsibility with cost and remediation to opportunity, business success, and value for the greater community. Jeff has extensive relationships with other green business leaders and actively participates in the evolution of the green business community through membership in Business for Social Responsibility, Social Venture Network, Business Alliance for Local Living Economies, and, most recently, as a founding signatory of B-Corporation.

In addition to his responsibilities as CEO, Jeff leads New Leaf Paper’s product innovation, creating a wide selection of market leading environmental papers that fit his vision. Since it was founded in 1998, New Leaf Paper has pioneered the market for environmentally leading papers, and has inspired some of the largest paper companies in the world to pay attention to environmental concerns. He enthusiastically embraces the next phase in the evolution of New Leaf Paper, as the company rapidly grows from pioneer to leader in this new marketplace.

Jeff studied international relations at Cornell University (Class of 1989). His research into international capital flows and the Latin American debt crisis led him to understand the power of business and the imperative to harness that power toward positive ends. He is the recipient of numerous awards from both mainstream and socially responsible business communities for his efforts. Jeff actively enjoys the natural world he works to protect, as a surfer, rock climber, and outdoors enthusiast.