Blog

(in order of appearance)

Sophia Rabiauskas
Sophia was the winner of the 2007 Goldman Environmental prize. The Prize recognizes individuals for sustained and significant efforts to protect and enhance the natural environment, often at great personal risk. Each winner receives an award of $150,000, the largest award in the world for grassroots environmentalists.

Recognizing her efforts as a leader of her Poplar River First Nation in the boreal region of Manitoba, Canada, the Goldman prize enabled Sophia to continue her work to protect the land of the Poplar First River Nation.

Sophia, and several others within the First Nation, under the direction of their elders, have developed a detailed land management plan resulting in a full-scale blueprint of how they intend to document, protect and sustainably manage Poplar River’s forests, wildlife and other natural resources —a precedent-setting accomplishment among First Nations in the boreal. For the past eight years she has worked with her people to secure interim protection of their two million acres of undisturbed forest land (three times the size of Rhode Island). She will receive the Order of Manitoba on July 10, 2008.

Lindsey Allen
Lindsey Allen is a Greenpeace Forest Campaigner who focuses on campaigns to protect the Boreal forest and Amazon rainforest as part of the Greenpeace USA campaign team. Over the past few years, she has helped coordinate the Kleercut campaign aimed at convincing Kimberly-Clark, the makers of Kleenex, to increase their recycled content and end their role in the destruction of the Boreal Forest of North America. She began her organizing career with the HSU Women’s Resource Center before moving on to work with the State PIRGs, Environment California the Greenpeace Student Network. Lindsey is an alumni of Humboldt State University. Based in San Francisco, she can be reached at lindsey.allen@sfo.greenpeace.org.

Kate Rooth
Kate Rooth, Research Specialist, has been involved with Greenpeace since 2005. She is a contributor for the Greenwash and Coal is Dirty projects. Her grassroots organizing skills began in 2000 with forests issues through Free the Planet! and evolved into college where she created an environmental advocacy group as well as a wind power initiative for Lehigh University. Since being with Greenpeace she has been in various roles from climate intern to Executive Assistant. She has been involved in many field projects ranging from the Dingell Destroyer and aerial art activities for Project Hot Seat, the Washington Monument projection, to the Witness Cape Wind tour. In addition Kate is a trainer in many areas including non-violence, NVDA tactics and basic organizing skills. She joins Change It 2008 for the third year.

Paul Loeb
Paul Loeb has spent thirty-five years researching and writing about citizen responsibility and empowerment--asking what makes some people choose lives of social commitment, while others abstain. His newest book is The Impossible Will Take a Little While: A Citizen’s Guide to Hope in a Time of Fear (Basic Books, 2004). He's written for a wide number of publications including the New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today,
Los Angeles Times and the Boston Globe and has been interviewed on numerous news networks including CNN, NPR, C-SPAN, NBC news, CBC, and the BBC. See www.paulloeb.org for more info.

To receive Paul Loeb’s articles and notices on upcoming books, email sympa@onenw.org with the message in the body of the email: subscribe paulloeb-articles.

John Murphy
Senior Vice President of Sales & Distribution at Seventh Generation, John Murphy has been with the company for the past 7 years stewarding brand growth and development across a variety of retail channels including Natural Food stores, Conventional Grocery stores, Mass retailers and etailers alike. John started his career over 20 years ago on the West Coast with a start up specialty frozen dessert company called Honey Hill Farms. This early experience sealed his passion for entrepreneurial, mission-based enterprise focused on creating more healthful solutions to conventionally designed consumer goods and services.

After 10 years at Honey Hill Farms, he was hired by North Castle Partners, a venture capital firm specializing in healthy living and aging brands to lead the growth and development of a newly acquired business, Mountain Sun Organic Juice. During his tenure at Mountain Sun, John and his team created the leading brand of Organic Juice nationally in both the Natural Food and Conventional Food Channels.

Throughout his career John has strived to create a dynamic and creative culture, with energy and ambition for generating inspired product, service and retail merchandising solutions. He is passionate about building organizations committed to brilliant product, design, brand and people, where at every level imagination, innovation and strategic thinking is fostered and developed. His wildest dream…motivate an organization to the unthinkable, cultivate a brand and business that is sustainable and deeply connected to its core consumer

In addition to his responsibilities at Seventh Generation, John sits on the Advisory Council of Greyston Bakery, a mission based specialty dessert manufacturer committed to “Great Desserts by Great People doing Great Deeds” and maker of the fabulous brownies in Ben & Jerry’s Chocolate Fudge Brownie Ice Cream. John is also a member of the Board of Directors for Mad House Munchies a Vermont based salty snack business.

John and his wife Alaina have three children; Tyler, Rhian and Jalen. The Murphy’s live, work, love and play in Vermont.

John Passacantando
John is Executive Director of Greenpeace USA, the world’s largest environmental action organization, and is at the forefront of the fight for clean air, clean water and the survival of the planet.

Over his seven years as Executive Director, Passacantando has been instrumental in guiding a tremendous shift in public awareness and concern about the conditions of our planet. As the environment is one of America’s greatest concerns, this issue now crosses all lines: progressive, conservative, young, old. In fact, many corporations are changing the way that they do business, balancing how to positively impact the bottom line with the quality of life that affects us all.

In spite of this progress, the situation is still serious. The Federal government continues to establish roadblocks and thwart international cooperative efforts. Developing nations are adding to the problem. Many corporations still continue to pollute, and many individuals are not on board with a greener, less wasteful, more energy efficient lifestyle.

A one-time political conservative and supply side economics disciple, he was converted to the environmental cause in 1987 when Mike Roselle, founder of Earth First! and the Ruckus Society, scaled Mt. Rushmore and hung a giant gas mask on George Washington—landing Roselle in prison and Passacantando in the ranks of the environmentalists.

Denis Hayes
Mobilizing the resources of The Bullitt Foundation here in Seattle, Denis Hayes seeks to make the Pacific Northwest - a region that is arguably the best-educated, most environmentally aware, most progressive corner of America – a global model for sustainable development.

Denis directs The Bullitt Foundation from the perspective of a practical visionary who has devoted his life to conservation. He is probably still best known for having been National Coordinator of the first Earth Day when he was 25. Internationally, he is recognized for expanding Earth Day to more than 180 nations. It is now the world’s most widely observed secular holiday.

Denis is also is the seasoned veteran of many environmental, legislative, and litigation victories over the years. During the Carter Administration, he directed the federal National Renewable Energy Laboratory. He has been a visiting scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center, a senior fellow at the Worldwatch Institute, an adjunct professor of engineering at Stanford University, and a Silicon Valley lawyer.