Joonu-Noel Coste
Age: 33
Title: Principle and Owner
Company: Coste Consulting
Company location: Whitinsville
Residence: Whitinsville
College: Michigan State University
Career highlights: I am launching a new business this fall, Coste Consulting, through which I will help people get started on their entrepreneurial endeavors. Additionally, through my business Flip the Dog Inc., I am partnering with Tufts Health Plan Foundation and Notre Dame du Lac of Worcester to study the connection between yoga and fall prevention in seniors.
Community involvement: I’m the president of Blackstone Valley WomenAid Inc. I also serve on the Lay Leadership Council as a religious education teacher, and lead the communications committee. I am the First Unitarian coordinator for the Worcester-area Interfaith Hospitality Network. I serve on the Blackstone Valley Chamber’s membership committee and I am the co-founder and chairwoman of the BVCC Women’s Network.
Biggest professional success: Receiving the National U.S. EPA Brownfields Team Award for our “Rural and Small Town Initiative” while working for the EPA in Boston. We created outreach strategies for rural and small communities throughout New England and created conferences to level the playing field for the extremely competitive national grant award process.
Dream job: Lead trips for small groups of Americans to developing nations to promote friendship and understanding through living with local residents.
Businessperson she admires most and why: Gary Hirshberg, CE-Yo of Stonyfield Farm Yogurt. I admire his leadership, vision, commitment to environmental sustainability, business savvy, and his tenacity in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles. He works tirelessly to educate other business leaders on the importance of environmental stewardship and creating community-minded businesses.
