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Doug Fielding

 

 

 

Douglas Fielding was born in Washington, DC, in 1949. He came to Berkeley in 1974 to study city and regional planning at the University of California, where he earned a master’s degree. After his degree, he joined the public policy consulting firm Berkeley Planning Associates, where he specialized in the areas of housing and energy. During this time, he served on the City of Berkeley's Housing Advisory and Appeals Board, which dealt with housing issues as well as overseeing the selection and distribution of Community Development Block Grants to various community organizations.

Doug left the field of public policy consulting in 1984 and started The Companion Group. This Berkeley-based business grew to provide housewares (barbecue tools and accessories and other outdoor-related products and indoor cooking-related products, particularly pizza items) to most of the major retailers in the United States. In his capacity as president, his primary responsibility was production and information systems. He worked with 60 factories throughout Asia and set up office operations in Hong Kong as well as offices and warehousing in Southern China. He retired from this business in 2016.

During this time, he was also involved in youth and adult athletics. In 1994, he established the Association of Sports Field Users (ASFU), which was a coalition of about 30 nonprofits involved in youth and adult sports. The nonprofit helped develop, manage, and maintain 10 new playing fields in Berkeley. His involvement earned him many honors, including Rotary Hero. He currently serves as a volunteer for the Berkeley Food Network, which is the primary organization in Berkeley dealing with food insecurity.

His wife, Laura, has been the new book buyer at Moe's Books for 40 years. Her uncle was Jeff Cohelan who preceded Ron Dellums as Berkeley's U.S. Representative. He has a daughter, Sarah, and a son, Paul, who live in San Francisco. He has two grandchildren: Clementine (6) and Wiley (1).

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