John P. DeVillars is a Founder and Partner of BlueWave Strategies and Managing Partner of its affiliated investment group, BlueWave Capital. He currently advises brownfield developers and environmental and renewable energy companies in the areas of project management, financing and capital sourcing, regulatory approvals, community and government relations and business development.
From 2000 to 2003, Mr. DeVillars served as the Executive Vice President of Brownfields Recovery Corporation (“BRC”), a Boston-based real estate investment and development company that focuses on environmentally impaired properties. He remains very active in BRC’s current development projects including– a 1200-acre industrial port facility in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands – where, among other services, BlueWave is involved in site planning, project management, permitting, and the incorporation of green building standards and the use of renewable energy (wind, solar, biomass) and other sustainability measures.
From 1994 to 2000, Mr. DeVillars served as the New England Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, where he directed the operations of 800 employees and a $400 million annual budget. Under his leadership EPA New England was recognized as a national leader in smart growth, regulatory reform, environmental technology, and brownfields development, winning more awards for successful reform than any other EPA office.
Mr. DeVillars previously served as Secretary of Environmental Affairs for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Chairman of the Board of the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, and Chief of Operations for Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis. From 1991 to 1994, he was Director of the Environmental Services Group for Coopers & Lybrand where he initiated and led the firm’s environmental management systems group. He has received numerous awards for his environmental service, including the President’s Award of the Nature Conservancy, given annually for national leadership in environmental affairs.
Mr. DeVillars holds an MPA from Harvard University and a BA from the University of Pennsylvania. He serves on the Board of Directors of Clean Harbors, Inc. and the Massachusetts Environmental Trust as well as several other privately held energy and environmental corporations and non-profit organizations. Mr. DeVillars was a member of Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick's Energy and Environment Transition Working Group. From 1999 to 2003 Mr. DeVillars held the position of Lecturer in Environmental Policy in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and continues to lecture at MIT, the Harvard Graduate School of Design and the Kennedy School of Government.