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Diverse Environmental Leaders Speakers Bureau
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Hear from world-changing diverse thinkers and innovators in the environmental community.
The Diverse Environmental Leaders (DEL) National Speakers Bureau represents Rock Stars of Conservation who have climbed Earth’s highest mountains and sailed her Seven Seas; leading authors, artists and scientists; policy, climate, energy and environmental justice experts; urban revitalization strategists; natural resource managers; outdoor recreation leaders and cultural ambassadors. DEL coalesces a wide range of talented and accomplished environmental professionals of color who can help shift the environmental conversation in America to become more inclusive and equitable at all levels.
SPEAKERS
OUR SPEAKERS
DEL coalesces a wide range of talented and accomplished environmental professionals of color who can help shift the environmental conversation in America to become more inclusive and equitable at all levels. Click on a speaker profile below to learn more.
Robert Stanton
As our National Parks are widely celebrated as America’s “Crown Jewels,” so is Robert “Bob” Stanton emblematic as the Crown Jewel of diverse leadership in our public lands system. Beginning as a rookie Park Ranger detailed to the Grand Teton National Park in 1962, Mr. Stanton rose to become the Director of the National Park Service; Senior Advisor to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior, and Expert Member of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation among numerous other positions of influence and power. Through it all he has never lost his awe for the grandeur of our public lands treasury, nor his relationship to the young Black man from Texas that he was.
Director Stanton is knowledgeable in every aspect of securing, managing, protecting and promoting our natural, cultural and historic treasures. Declaring them “America’s greatest open-air university,” he has opened the door for Americans of every racial and ethnic group to enjoy and benefit from these assets and protect them for future generations. His story is itself the greatest demonstration of the power of democracy.
He currently offers his services as consultant and lecturer in natural and cultural resource preservation, park management, and diversity, drawing upon his vast experience in the following capacities:
Appointed by President Barack Obama in 2014, he also is a former Expert Member of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP). An independent federal agency, the ACHP promotes the educational, economic, and cultural values of historic preservation and advises the President and Congress on national historic preservation policy. It also influences federal activities, programs, and policies that affect historic and cultural properties. He was chairman of the ACHP’s Communications, Education, and Outreach Committee.
As Senior Advisor to the Interior Secretary from 2010-2014, Mr. Stanton served as a key senior analyst and provided executive level advice and support to the Secretary on a wide range of environmental, educational, organizational and management challenges and opportunities, and worked closely with the bureaus and offices in advancing the Secretary’s and the President’s goals for DOI. He also represented the Secretary and the Department on Presidential Policy Review Committees, Boards, and Commissions. From 2009-2010 before assuming the Senior Advisor position in the immediate Office of the Secretary, Mr. Stanton served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Program Management.
Following his 35-year career with the NPS and prior to returning to federal service in 2009, he served as an Executive Professor at Texas A&M University in the Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Sciences; Visiting Professor at Howard University in the Department of History (Public History Program); Professor of the Practice at Yale University in the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies; and as a board member and consultant to a number of national conservation organizations. From 2001-2003, he served as the International Union for Conservation and Nature Ambassador for the Fifth World Parks Congress which took place in 2003 in Durban, South Africa.
An experienced public administrator, Mr. Stanton was nominated by President Bill Clinton and was unanimously confirmed in 1997 as the 15th Director of the NPS and served as the Director until the end of the Clinton Administration. He was the first Director to undergo confirmation hearings before the U.S. Senate and the first African American to serve in this position since the NPS was established by congressional legislation in 1916. Beginning with his appointment by Interior Secretary Stewart Lee Udall in 1962 as a seasonal park ranger at Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming, Director Stanton has dedicated his life work to improving the preservation and management of the nation’s rich and diverse natural and cultural resources. He worked consistently to increase youth participation in conservation programs and diversity in the workforce and public programs.
He supported the establishment of new parks and programs that recognized the struggles, courage, leadership, and contributions of women and minorities in the development and collective history of the United States. He has held key management and executive positions including Park Management Assistant (National Mall and Memorial Parks, Washington, D.C.), Park Superintendent (National Capital Parks-East, Washington, D.C./Maryland), Park Superintendent, Virgin Islands National Park, (St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands); Deputy Regional Director, Southeast Region (Atlanta, Georgia); Deputy Regional Director, National Capital Region (Washington, D.C.); Regional Director, National Capital Region (Washington, D.C.); and in the National Office, Assistant Director for Natural Resources, Assistant Director for Park Operations, Associate Director for Park Management, and Director.
As Director of the NPS, Mr. Stanton had policy, planning, and management responsibility for the National Park System’s 384 natural, cultural, and recreational areas and partnerships with governmental and non-governmental organizations. The 83 million acre National Park System attracted 228 million visitors each year. He managed a workforce of 20,000 permanent, temporary, and seasonal employees and an annual budget of $2.3 billion. He was responsible for the NPS areas and offices located in 49 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Director Stanton’s bipartisan and inclusive approach to problem solving and cooperative resource stewardship earned him respect and admiration, enabling him to build effective relations with the U. S. Congress; federal, tribal, state agencies, diverse organizations, leaders, and citizens. Under his leadership and through the work of an outstanding staff, volunteers, and wide range of partners, the NPS budget increased by 28 percent, and major park preservation and visitor service programs were inaugurated. These included the Natural Resource Challenge (a major action plan for revitalizing and expanding the NPS natural resource programs); the Cultural Resource Challenge; Connecting People to Parks (education and interpretation); Public Lands Corps; Action Plan for Diversity in Workforce and Public Programs; Co-sponsorship of the Save America’s Treasures Program; Visitor Transportation Systems; Cultural Resources Diversity Intern Program; Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units Program; International Cooperative Agreements for Resource Conservation; and Restructuring of the NPS Planning, Design, and Construction Program. Major administrative and legislative initiatives were enacted throughout his tenure, including the authorization of 11 new park areas, six National Heritage Areas, and the Underground Railroad Network to Freedom and Special Resource Studies for 22 possible new areas to the National Park System.
Cited in a wide range of news media, professional, and technical publications and a frequent public speaker, Mr. Stanton has participated in major national and international conferences, including the Fifth World Parks Congress, Durban, South Africa, 2003; World Protected Areas Leadership Forum in Australia, 2002, in Spain, 2001, and in Virginia, 2000; First World Conference on Cultural Parks, Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado, 1984; and the Second World Congress on National Parks, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, 1972. He is a co-founder of the World Protected Areas Leadership Forum.
He is active in professional and civic affairs. Current and past board and advisory council memberships include the Endangered Species Coalition; Chesapeake Conservancy; Park Institute of America; Institute for Parks at Clemson University; Rosenwald and Rosenwald Schools Park Campaign; Advisory Council of the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund; National Parks Conservation Association; Environmental Law Institute; Grand Teton National Park Foundation; African American Experience Fund of the National Park Foundation (co-founder); Advisory Council of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center; American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration; Guest Services, Inc.; and the Student Conservation Association.
Director Stanton has been nationally recognized through awards and citations for outstanding public service and leadership in conservation, historic preservation, youth programs, public and government relations, and diversity in employment and public programs. Recognition includes the U.S. Presidential Rank Award for Distinguished Federal Executive Service; Distinguished Service Award, U. S. Department of the Interior; Distinguished Service Award, National Council of Negro Women; Cornelius Pugsley Gold Medal, American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration; Student Conservation Association Founder’s Award; Presidential Award, Frederick Douglass Memorial and Historical Association; Lincoln Medal, Ford’s Theatre Society; Colonel Charles Young Diversity Recognition Award, National Park Foundation; Living Legacy Award, Association for the Study of African American Life and History; Louise du Pont Crown in shield Award, National Trust for Historic Preservation; and the Murie Spirit of Conservation Award, Teton Science Schools. Two awards and one joint award have been established in his name.
Director Stanton earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Huston-Tillotson University, Austin, Texas, and did his graduate work at Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts. He has been awarded five honorary doctorate degrees: Doctor of Letters, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas; Doctor of Science, Huston-Tillotson University, Austin, Texas; Doctor of Environmental Stewardship, Unity College, Unity, Maine; Doctor of Public Policy, Southern University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, Baton Rouge, Louisiana; and Doctor of Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina.
A native of Ft. Worth, Texas, Director Stanton grew up in Mosier Valley during the era of “separate but equal.” Mosier Valley is one of the oldest communities in Texas founded by African Americans shortly after the U.S. Civil War. He and his wife Janet, nee Moffatte of South Carolina, make their home in Fairfax Station, Virginia.
Areas of focus:
Natural Resource and Cultural Heritage Preservation
Public Lands Authorization and Management
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Community and Government Relations
Director Stanton is knowledgeable in every aspect of securing, managing, protecting and promoting our natural, cultural and historic treasures. Declaring them “America’s greatest open-air university,” he has opened the door for Americans of every racial and ethnic group to enjoy and benefit from these assets and protect them for future generations. His story is itself the greatest demonstration of the power of democracy.
He currently offers his services as consultant and lecturer in natural and cultural resource preservation, park management, and diversity, drawing upon his vast experience in the following capacities:
Appointed by President Barack Obama in 2014, he also is a former Expert Member of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP). An independent federal agency, the ACHP promotes the educational, economic, and cultural values of historic preservation and advises the President and Congress on national historic preservation policy. It also influences federal activities, programs, and policies that affect historic and cultural properties. He was chairman of the ACHP’s Communications, Education, and Outreach Committee.
As Senior Advisor to the Interior Secretary from 2010-2014, Mr. Stanton served as a key senior analyst and provided executive level advice and support to the Secretary on a wide range of environmental, educational, organizational and management challenges and opportunities, and worked closely with the bureaus and offices in advancing the Secretary’s and the President’s goals for DOI. He also represented the Secretary and the Department on Presidential Policy Review Committees, Boards, and Commissions. From 2009-2010 before assuming the Senior Advisor position in the immediate Office of the Secretary, Mr. Stanton served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Program Management.
Following his 35-year career with the NPS and prior to returning to federal service in 2009, he served as an Executive Professor at Texas A&M University in the Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Sciences; Visiting Professor at Howard University in the Department of History (Public History Program); Professor of the Practice at Yale University in the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies; and as a board member and consultant to a number of national conservation organizations. From 2001-2003, he served as the International Union for Conservation and Nature Ambassador for the Fifth World Parks Congress which took place in 2003 in Durban, South Africa.
An experienced public administrator, Mr. Stanton was nominated by President Bill Clinton and was unanimously confirmed in 1997 as the 15th Director of the NPS and served as the Director until the end of the Clinton Administration. He was the first Director to undergo confirmation hearings before the U.S. Senate and the first African American to serve in this position since the NPS was established by congressional legislation in 1916. Beginning with his appointment by Interior Secretary Stewart Lee Udall in 1962 as a seasonal park ranger at Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming, Director Stanton has dedicated his life work to improving the preservation and management of the nation’s rich and diverse natural and cultural resources. He worked consistently to increase youth participation in conservation programs and diversity in the workforce and public programs.
He supported the establishment of new parks and programs that recognized the struggles, courage, leadership, and contributions of women and minorities in the development and collective history of the United States. He has held key management and executive positions including Park Management Assistant (National Mall and Memorial Parks, Washington, D.C.), Park Superintendent (National Capital Parks-East, Washington, D.C./Maryland), Park Superintendent, Virgin Islands National Park, (St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands); Deputy Regional Director, Southeast Region (Atlanta, Georgia); Deputy Regional Director, National Capital Region (Washington, D.C.); Regional Director, National Capital Region (Washington, D.C.); and in the National Office, Assistant Director for Natural Resources, Assistant Director for Park Operations, Associate Director for Park Management, and Director.
As Director of the NPS, Mr. Stanton had policy, planning, and management responsibility for the National Park System’s 384 natural, cultural, and recreational areas and partnerships with governmental and non-governmental organizations. The 83 million acre National Park System attracted 228 million visitors each year. He managed a workforce of 20,000 permanent, temporary, and seasonal employees and an annual budget of $2.3 billion. He was responsible for the NPS areas and offices located in 49 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Director Stanton’s bipartisan and inclusive approach to problem solving and cooperative resource stewardship earned him respect and admiration, enabling him to build effective relations with the U. S. Congress; federal, tribal, state agencies, diverse organizations, leaders, and citizens. Under his leadership and through the work of an outstanding staff, volunteers, and wide range of partners, the NPS budget increased by 28 percent, and major park preservation and visitor service programs were inaugurated. These included the Natural Resource Challenge (a major action plan for revitalizing and expanding the NPS natural resource programs); the Cultural Resource Challenge; Connecting People to Parks (education and interpretation); Public Lands Corps; Action Plan for Diversity in Workforce and Public Programs; Co-sponsorship of the Save America’s Treasures Program; Visitor Transportation Systems; Cultural Resources Diversity Intern Program; Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units Program; International Cooperative Agreements for Resource Conservation; and Restructuring of the NPS Planning, Design, and Construction Program. Major administrative and legislative initiatives were enacted throughout his tenure, including the authorization of 11 new park areas, six National Heritage Areas, and the Underground Railroad Network to Freedom and Special Resource Studies for 22 possible new areas to the National Park System.
Cited in a wide range of news media, professional, and technical publications and a frequent public speaker, Mr. Stanton has participated in major national and international conferences, including the Fifth World Parks Congress, Durban, South Africa, 2003; World Protected Areas Leadership Forum in Australia, 2002, in Spain, 2001, and in Virginia, 2000; First World Conference on Cultural Parks, Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado, 1984; and the Second World Congress on National Parks, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, 1972. He is a co-founder of the World Protected Areas Leadership Forum.
He is active in professional and civic affairs. Current and past board and advisory council memberships include the Endangered Species Coalition; Chesapeake Conservancy; Park Institute of America; Institute for Parks at Clemson University; Rosenwald and Rosenwald Schools Park Campaign; Advisory Council of the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund; National Parks Conservation Association; Environmental Law Institute; Grand Teton National Park Foundation; African American Experience Fund of the National Park Foundation (co-founder); Advisory Council of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center; American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration; Guest Services, Inc.; and the Student Conservation Association.
Director Stanton has been nationally recognized through awards and citations for outstanding public service and leadership in conservation, historic preservation, youth programs, public and government relations, and diversity in employment and public programs. Recognition includes the U.S. Presidential Rank Award for Distinguished Federal Executive Service; Distinguished Service Award, U. S. Department of the Interior; Distinguished Service Award, National Council of Negro Women; Cornelius Pugsley Gold Medal, American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration; Student Conservation Association Founder’s Award; Presidential Award, Frederick Douglass Memorial and Historical Association; Lincoln Medal, Ford’s Theatre Society; Colonel Charles Young Diversity Recognition Award, National Park Foundation; Living Legacy Award, Association for the Study of African American Life and History; Louise du Pont Crown in shield Award, National Trust for Historic Preservation; and the Murie Spirit of Conservation Award, Teton Science Schools. Two awards and one joint award have been established in his name.
Director Stanton earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Huston-Tillotson University, Austin, Texas, and did his graduate work at Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts. He has been awarded five honorary doctorate degrees: Doctor of Letters, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas; Doctor of Science, Huston-Tillotson University, Austin, Texas; Doctor of Environmental Stewardship, Unity College, Unity, Maine; Doctor of Public Policy, Southern University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, Baton Rouge, Louisiana; and Doctor of Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina.
A native of Ft. Worth, Texas, Director Stanton grew up in Mosier Valley during the era of “separate but equal.” Mosier Valley is one of the oldest communities in Texas founded by African Americans shortly after the U.S. Civil War. He and his wife Janet, nee Moffatte of South Carolina, make their home in Fairfax Station, Virginia.
Areas of focus:
Natural Resource and Cultural Heritage Preservation
Public Lands Authorization and Management
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Community and Government Relations
Majora Carter
Majora Carter is an urban revitalization strategy consultant, real estate developer, and Peabody Award winning broadcaster. She is responsible for the creation & successful implementation of numerous green-infrastructure projects, policies, and job training & placement systems.
Majora’s field-tested experience and vision can improve workforce development strategies for corporate and government departments at the local, state and federal levels interested in diversifying their talent pipeline to maximize their return on investment towards job creation for climate adaptive land management in urban, suburban, ex-urban and rural areas. Real estate developers can gain market advantages by incorporating Majora’s sustainable economic development strategies into their projects.
After establishing Sustainable South Bronx and Green For All (among other organizations) to carry on that work, she built on this foundation with innovative ventures and insights into urban economic developments designed to help move Americans out of poverty.
Her long list of awards and honorary degrees include accolades from groups as diverse as Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation, John Podesta’s Center for American Progress, Goldman Sachs, as well as a MacArthur “genius” Fellowship. Her 2006 TED talk was one of the first 6 videos to launch their groundbreaking website. Majora is a Board Member of the US Green Building Council, and the Andrew Goodman Foundation.
Majora embodies the American Dream. She has continually set new standards of excellence with projects in her South Bronx community, while expanding her reach nationally and internationally. Her philanthropic pursuits and business interests have all pointed toward greater self-esteem and economic potential for low-income people everywhere.
Follow her on twitter at @MajoraCarter and on facebook.com/majoracarter
http://www.majoracartergroup.com
Majora’s field-tested experience and vision can improve workforce development strategies for corporate and government departments at the local, state and federal levels interested in diversifying their talent pipeline to maximize their return on investment towards job creation for climate adaptive land management in urban, suburban, ex-urban and rural areas. Real estate developers can gain market advantages by incorporating Majora’s sustainable economic development strategies into their projects.
After establishing Sustainable South Bronx and Green For All (among other organizations) to carry on that work, she built on this foundation with innovative ventures and insights into urban economic developments designed to help move Americans out of poverty.
Her long list of awards and honorary degrees include accolades from groups as diverse as Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation, John Podesta’s Center for American Progress, Goldman Sachs, as well as a MacArthur “genius” Fellowship. Her 2006 TED talk was one of the first 6 videos to launch their groundbreaking website. Majora is a Board Member of the US Green Building Council, and the Andrew Goodman Foundation.
Majora embodies the American Dream. She has continually set new standards of excellence with projects in her South Bronx community, while expanding her reach nationally and internationally. Her philanthropic pursuits and business interests have all pointed toward greater self-esteem and economic potential for low-income people everywhere.
Follow her on twitter at @MajoraCarter and on facebook.com/majoracarter
http://www.majoracartergroup.com
Tarsha Scovens
With over 20 years of leadership, programming and coordination experience, along with a passion for the outdoors, Tarsha is spearheading a movement to ethnically diversify outdoor participation. After traveling across the United States, visiting national/state parks, camping, hiking, reading outdoor-industry reports and during nature walks, she has come to see the disparity between those that “look like” her and those that don’t, who are investing in and appreciating their outdoor spaces. This disparity fuels her interest to bridge the gap and or disconnect between the two.
Tarsha holds a Masters in Professional Communication from La Salle University and a Bachelors in Liberal Studies from Virginia Wesleyan College. She has spoken locally to groups in the Philadelphia area on topics of leadership, business success and is just beginning to make her voice heard on the topic of “people of color and their limited connection to outdoor spaces.” Her hope is that as people of color increase their participation in the outdoors that they will, in turn, increase their support of outdoor spaces for the sustainability of our environment. She is currently working with Let’s Go Outdoors’ co-founder (and twin sister), Keisha Scovens, on innovative outdoor programming that isn’t just a one-time experience, but spans over one’s lifetime, with family participation, creating a true connection to the outdoors – solving the issue of people of color not “connecting” with nature and/or outdoor spaces.
Tarsha lives in Cheltenham, PA with her husband and two daughters, ages one and three. Her dynamic energy, creative spirit, likeable demeanor and drive to connect the next generation of investors in the outdoors, makes her a vital up and coming speaker to the environmental and/or outdoor community.
Tarsha holds a Masters in Professional Communication from La Salle University and a Bachelors in Liberal Studies from Virginia Wesleyan College. She has spoken locally to groups in the Philadelphia area on topics of leadership, business success and is just beginning to make her voice heard on the topic of “people of color and their limited connection to outdoor spaces.” Her hope is that as people of color increase their participation in the outdoors that they will, in turn, increase their support of outdoor spaces for the sustainability of our environment. She is currently working with Let’s Go Outdoors’ co-founder (and twin sister), Keisha Scovens, on innovative outdoor programming that isn’t just a one-time experience, but spans over one’s lifetime, with family participation, creating a true connection to the outdoors – solving the issue of people of color not “connecting” with nature and/or outdoor spaces.
Tarsha lives in Cheltenham, PA with her husband and two daughters, ages one and three. Her dynamic energy, creative spirit, likeable demeanor and drive to connect the next generation of investors in the outdoors, makes her a vital up and coming speaker to the environmental and/or outdoor community.
James Edward Mills
James Edward Mills is a National Geographic Explorer and a contributor to National Geographic Magazine, a Fellow of the Mountain &
Wilderness Writing Program of the Banff Centre in Alberta, Canada and a recipient of the Paul K. Petzoldt Award For Environmental Education.
Wilderness Writing Program of the Banff Centre in Alberta, Canada and a recipient of the Paul K. Petzoldt Award For Environmental Education.
Dorien Blythers
Dorien Paul Blythers was a student at Howard University in Washington, D.C. when he led student efforts resulting in the first university- wide recycling mandate in the institution’s 147-year history.
He joined the National Ocean’s Policy team at the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) as an intern where he worked alongside former Arizona Governor and Interior Secretary, Bruce Babbitt. At EDF, Dorien laid the groundwork for a “Partnership for Environmental Leadership” with Howard University, the first initiative of its kind, and was publicly endorsed by former White House advisor, Van Jones.
In 2012, Dorien spearheaded President Obama’s reelection campaign in Riviera Beach, Florida. He continues to build at the intersection of environmental advocacy, diversity and outreach landing him opportunities with Congress, People for the American Way, The Outdoor Foundation, Sierra Club, U.S. Green Building Council and The White House.
He joined the National Ocean’s Policy team at the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) as an intern where he worked alongside former Arizona Governor and Interior Secretary, Bruce Babbitt. At EDF, Dorien laid the groundwork for a “Partnership for Environmental Leadership” with Howard University, the first initiative of its kind, and was publicly endorsed by former White House advisor, Van Jones.
In 2012, Dorien spearheaded President Obama’s reelection campaign in Riviera Beach, Florida. He continues to build at the intersection of environmental advocacy, diversity and outreach landing him opportunities with Congress, People for the American Way, The Outdoor Foundation, Sierra Club, U.S. Green Building Council and The White House.
James King
Certified Architectural Drafter, James King plans to become a Sustainability Architect and an Environmental Activist. He currently demonstrates his passion for the environment by serving as the Chairman of Hiking and Outdoor Events for Keeping it Wild.
He is also a National Delegate of the Children and Nature Network, Ambassador of Outdoor Nation, National Park Service Fellow with Greening. Youth Foundation, Outreach Coordinator for Atlanta Mentorship Program for Sustainability, and is also a Youth Program Volunteer Specialist for Atlanta Watershed Alliance.
His great contributions to the environment have not gone unnoticed. In 2010, Mr. King was nominated as an Atlanta Cox Conserve Hero. He was also honored by Recreational Equipment Inc. (REI) with the Community Service Award in 2011 for taking diverse families camping and providing stewardship at local, state, and national parks.
He is also a National Delegate of the Children and Nature Network, Ambassador of Outdoor Nation, National Park Service Fellow with Greening. Youth Foundation, Outreach Coordinator for Atlanta Mentorship Program for Sustainability, and is also a Youth Program Volunteer Specialist for Atlanta Watershed Alliance.
His great contributions to the environment have not gone unnoticed. In 2010, Mr. King was nominated as an Atlanta Cox Conserve Hero. He was also honored by Recreational Equipment Inc. (REI) with the Community Service Award in 2011 for taking diverse families camping and providing stewardship at local, state, and national parks.
Keisha Scovens
Keisha Scovens, M.S., co-founder of Let’s Go Outdoors and nationally certified Speech and Language Pathologist has been working with children and families for 15 years. Through consulting and coordinating programming for Let’s Go Outdoors, she is inspiring people to think differently about how to engage and maintain their own – and others’ – relationships with natural landscapes. Combined with her Pennsylvania Master naturalist certification (currently pursuing), she is a role-model for the African American community.
Growing up as an “inner-city” kid, Keisha was not raised being environmentally conscious, exploring nature in positive ways, or participating in outdoor recreation beyond the street, playground or backyard. All of this came later, as she was gradually exposed to more traditionally Caucasian-based outdoor activities through Girl Scouts, summer camp, and collegiate relationships. During Keisha’s international and national travels, she was able to visit many local, state, and national parks, but always noticed the lack of diversity in visitation and employment.
Consulting and collaborating with land trust organizations, state, and local parks, as well as neighborhood locations with green spaces, Keisha is changing the mentality surrounding nature-based play and outdoor recreation among people of color. With teaching people of color how to treat and interact positively with their environment, Let’s Go Outdoors believes we’re a step closer to global sustainability and increased interest in visiting natural landscapes. By opening doors for further exploration, learning options for education, and providing leadership by outdoor professionals, more people of color may be drawn to careers associated with outdoor recreation.
Growing up as an “inner-city” kid, Keisha was not raised being environmentally conscious, exploring nature in positive ways, or participating in outdoor recreation beyond the street, playground or backyard. All of this came later, as she was gradually exposed to more traditionally Caucasian-based outdoor activities through Girl Scouts, summer camp, and collegiate relationships. During Keisha’s international and national travels, she was able to visit many local, state, and national parks, but always noticed the lack of diversity in visitation and employment.
Consulting and collaborating with land trust organizations, state, and local parks, as well as neighborhood locations with green spaces, Keisha is changing the mentality surrounding nature-based play and outdoor recreation among people of color. With teaching people of color how to treat and interact positively with their environment, Let’s Go Outdoors believes we’re a step closer to global sustainability and increased interest in visiting natural landscapes. By opening doors for further exploration, learning options for education, and providing leadership by outdoor professionals, more people of color may be drawn to careers associated with outdoor recreation.
Loan Lake
Loán Lake is a journalist, published author, and a public relations strategist who got her start in public relations on Capitol Hill. Since then, she has led communications and marketing for global non-profits, fortune 500 companies, churches, and tourist destinations.
Angelou Ezeilo
Angelou Ezeilo and her husband James are among our nation’s foremost experts in preparing young people from urban communities to become responsible environmental stewards. For close to a decade the Ezeilos’ non-profit Greening Youth Foundation has pioneered culturally-based programs that help youth make healthy lifestyle choices, including focusing on public land management agencies and the conservation sector as a source of employment and careers. Mrs. Ezeilo is an expert in the development, placement and retention of racially-diverse young people in the environmental sector. She serves on the National Park Service’s Centennial Advisory Board. Greening Youth Foundation has also been selected as one of the 21st Century Conservation Corps.
Mrs. Ezeilo’s love for the environment dates back to her childhood when she had the chance to escape the dense urban streets of Jersey City, New Jersey and spend summers in upstate New York with her family. Graduating from Spelman College in Atlanta, she pursued a Juris Doctorate in Law from the University of Florida, College of Law.
She began her career as an attorney for the New Jersey State Agriculture and Development Committee. Her environmental focus led her to a position as Project Manager for the Trust for Public Land (TPL) in its New Jersey and Georgia offices. In that capacity, she specialized in acquiring land for preservation, working on the New York/New Jersey Highlands Program; Parks for People-Newark; the New York/New Jersey Harbor Program in New Jersey; the Atlanta Beltline and the 20 County Regional Greenspace Initiative in Georgia.
Over years of immersion in this sector, Mrs. Ezeilo came to see the huge gap between the land being preserved and the paucity of efforts to engage citizens with those lands. She was particularly struck by the fact that young people were missing from the equation. This became her impetus for creating Greening Youth Foundation, providing environmental access to underserved children and young adults through its Public School Initiative and Youth Conservation Corps programs. Greening Youth provides services throughout the country and in West Africa.
Mrs. Ezeilo is widely recognized in the conservation and civil rights sectors and is part of the growing movement to connect racially diverse America with our publicly owned lands and the environment. She is a member of the National Center for Civil and Human Right’s Women in Solidarity Society and the South Fork Conservancy boards; an Advisory Board Member for the Arabia Mountain National Heritage Area, The Million Mile Greenway, Inc., Keeping It Wild, Inc., and Outdoor Afro.
Mrs. Ezeilo and her husband live in Atlanta with their two sons Miles and Cole and their dog, Nina.
Mrs. Ezeilo’s love for the environment dates back to her childhood when she had the chance to escape the dense urban streets of Jersey City, New Jersey and spend summers in upstate New York with her family. Graduating from Spelman College in Atlanta, she pursued a Juris Doctorate in Law from the University of Florida, College of Law.
She began her career as an attorney for the New Jersey State Agriculture and Development Committee. Her environmental focus led her to a position as Project Manager for the Trust for Public Land (TPL) in its New Jersey and Georgia offices. In that capacity, she specialized in acquiring land for preservation, working on the New York/New Jersey Highlands Program; Parks for People-Newark; the New York/New Jersey Harbor Program in New Jersey; the Atlanta Beltline and the 20 County Regional Greenspace Initiative in Georgia.
Over years of immersion in this sector, Mrs. Ezeilo came to see the huge gap between the land being preserved and the paucity of efforts to engage citizens with those lands. She was particularly struck by the fact that young people were missing from the equation. This became her impetus for creating Greening Youth Foundation, providing environmental access to underserved children and young adults through its Public School Initiative and Youth Conservation Corps programs. Greening Youth provides services throughout the country and in West Africa.
Mrs. Ezeilo is widely recognized in the conservation and civil rights sectors and is part of the growing movement to connect racially diverse America with our publicly owned lands and the environment. She is a member of the National Center for Civil and Human Right’s Women in Solidarity Society and the South Fork Conservancy boards; an Advisory Board Member for the Arabia Mountain National Heritage Area, The Million Mile Greenway, Inc., Keeping It Wild, Inc., and Outdoor Afro.
Mrs. Ezeilo and her husband live in Atlanta with their two sons Miles and Cole and their dog, Nina.
Dr. Carolyn Finney
Carolyn Finney, Ph.D. is a writer, performer and cultural geographer. As a professor in Environmental Science, Policy and Management at the College of Natural Resources at the University of California, Berkeley, she explores how issues of difference impact participation in decision-making processes designed to address environmental issues.
Although Carolyn pursed an acting career for eleven years, a backpacking trip around the world, a solo trip through East Africa, and living in Nepal changed the course of her life. Motivated by these experiences, she returned to school after a 15-year absence to complete a B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. While working on her PhD at Clark University, Dr. Finney won both a Fulbright and Canon National Parks Science Scholar Fellowship.
Although Carolyn pursed an acting career for eleven years, a backpacking trip around the world, a solo trip through East Africa, and living in Nepal changed the course of her life. Motivated by these experiences, she returned to school after a 15-year absence to complete a B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. While working on her PhD at Clark University, Dr. Finney won both a Fulbright and Canon National Parks Science Scholar Fellowship.
Stefan Moss
Stefan Moss is an environmental scientist and educator. As a scientist, he has worked in the public sector on UN-related projects in the Caribbean including the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants.
Carolyn Hartfield
Carolyn Hartfield is a self-styled late bloomer, baby boomer who is seasoned and savoring in the spices of life! She teaches others to live their life to the fullest, through outreach and engagement in lively and fun outdoor activities. The activities include, but not limited to; hiking, bicycling, camping, zip lining, kayaking, spelunking, hang gliding, traveling, sailing, and much more.
All of this enjoyment while nourishing the mind, body and spirit in a natural and pure way, resulting in clarity of mind, improved physical fitness, and oneness with nature.
All of this enjoyment while nourishing the mind, body and spirit in a natural and pure way, resulting in clarity of mind, improved physical fitness, and oneness with nature.
Irela Bague
Irela Bagué is an experienced bilingual (Spanish and English) public affairs consultant and Principal for The Bagué Group, a full service consulting firm with more than 20 years of experience in Florida representing business development, public infrastructure, water and waste water resources, natural systems restoration, sustainable “green” initiatives, public involvement services, market research and government affairs.
In 2003, Irela was appointed to the South Florida Water Management District Board by Governor Jeb Bush, where she held the position of Board Vice-Chair until April 2007. She was responsible for spearheading policies in the areas of water resources development and regulation, flood control, water quality protection and natural systems restoration primarily with a focus on the restoration of America’s Everglades.
As a former state-appointed official, Irela has earned the respect of clients and policy makers alike. She is known for her in-depth understanding of the political process and for her critical insight and clear and straightforward communications style making her a credible and engaging spokesperson.
Irela has been an advocate of natural systems restoration, water resources and diversity in the environment having provided key testimony on behalf of the State of Florida to the United States House of Representatives Sub-Committee on Water & Power. She served as Chair of the Miami River Commission and was instrumental in gaining public support for the multi-million dollar dredging project to deepen the channel for larger vessels to help increase Miami’s marine and shipping economy.
Her career highlights include working for National Audubon Society’s Florida State Office as the State’s Public Affairs Coordinator managing outreach campaigns to promote support for Everglades restoration.
Irela currently serves on the National Parks Conservation Association’s Regional Council and Chairs the Sustainability, Environment & Energy Committee of the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce. She is a frequent contributor to The Miami Herald and is often featured in both Spanish and English-language broadcast media throughout South Florida.
In 2003, Irela was appointed to the South Florida Water Management District Board by Governor Jeb Bush, where she held the position of Board Vice-Chair until April 2007. She was responsible for spearheading policies in the areas of water resources development and regulation, flood control, water quality protection and natural systems restoration primarily with a focus on the restoration of America’s Everglades.
As a former state-appointed official, Irela has earned the respect of clients and policy makers alike. She is known for her in-depth understanding of the political process and for her critical insight and clear and straightforward communications style making her a credible and engaging spokesperson.
Irela has been an advocate of natural systems restoration, water resources and diversity in the environment having provided key testimony on behalf of the State of Florida to the United States House of Representatives Sub-Committee on Water & Power. She served as Chair of the Miami River Commission and was instrumental in gaining public support for the multi-million dollar dredging project to deepen the channel for larger vessels to help increase Miami’s marine and shipping economy.
Her career highlights include working for National Audubon Society’s Florida State Office as the State’s Public Affairs Coordinator managing outreach campaigns to promote support for Everglades restoration.
Irela currently serves on the National Parks Conservation Association’s Regional Council and Chairs the Sustainability, Environment & Energy Committee of the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce. She is a frequent contributor to The Miami Herald and is often featured in both Spanish and English-language broadcast media throughout South Florida.
Evonne Blythers
Evonne Blythers is the Director of the Edge of Night Camping Club (ENCC) and Environmental Education Coordinator for the West Atlanta Watershed Alliance where she helps youth experience nature at the Atlanta Outdoor Activity Center. As Founder and Director of ENCC she has been a very strong advocate in getting families outdoors. Evonne formed Edge of Night in 1994 after returning from a family camping trip and realizing the family had broken all the rules of the campground. Edge of Night has been featured in an episode of Georgia Outdoors and participates annually in the Great American Backyard
Campout.
In 2009, Evonne was a finalist for the Cox Conserves Heroes and a nominee for East Metro Atlanta Citizen of the Year. An administrative assistant by profession, she has worked for Zoo Atlanta and Georgia Aquarium, and serves on the board of the Keeping It Wild Program since 2006. Evonne has visited all of the 65 Georgia State Parks and Historic sites and has been a Girl Scout Leader since 2001.
Campout.
In 2009, Evonne was a finalist for the Cox Conserves Heroes and a nominee for East Metro Atlanta Citizen of the Year. An administrative assistant by profession, she has worked for Zoo Atlanta and Georgia Aquarium, and serves on the board of the Keeping It Wild Program since 2006. Evonne has visited all of the 65 Georgia State Parks and Historic sites and has been a Girl Scout Leader since 2001.
Krishel Augustine
Krishel Augustine, “Miss Teen Navajo 2013-14,” is an ambassador and role model for other young people in her Navajo culture and in the wider world. With Navajo being her first language, the millennial leader easily bridges the gap between her Native Nation and the general public. A singer and songwriter, she uses her talents to augment her presentations and is featured on the National Park Service “Songs for Junior Rangers” CD.
Krishel represents a voice seldom heard in urban areas – Native, millennial, knowledgeable and engaged with national parks. Krischel spent hundreds of volunteer hours working in the areas of interpretation, resource management and fee management at Saguaro National Park in Tucson, AZ. She currently resides in the splendor of Grand Canyon.
Krishel represents a voice seldom heard in urban areas – Native, millennial, knowledgeable and engaged with national parks. Krischel spent hundreds of volunteer hours working in the areas of interpretation, resource management and fee management at Saguaro National Park in Tucson, AZ. She currently resides in the splendor of Grand Canyon.
Stacey Evans
Attorney Stacey Evans is a recognized animal welfare leader and expert in policy issues impacting animal health, the human-canine bond, and the conservation and management of canine wildlife. Her advocacy has helped pass laws that reduce animal cruelty, help prevent pet overpopulation, protect pets and working dogs from domestic violence, prohibit people convicted of animal cruelty from owning or possessing animals and improve protection of canine wildlife.
An adventurer who has driven dog teams of Alaskan huskies, Siberian huskies, Canadian Eskimo dogs, and other types of sled dogs in the U.S. and Canada, she enjoys the outdoors snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, hiking, and raising her American Eskimo rescue dog.
Attorney Evans’ dedication to the welfare of animals is reflected in the fact that she represents those interests on the United States Department of Agriculture Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Animal Health; is a representative of Project Coyote; a board member of the Animal Legal Defense Fund, and a Vice-Chair of the American Bar Association’s Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section’s Animal Law Committee. Prior to those roles, Stacey chaired the Maryland State Bar Association Animal Law Section.
She has extensive experience educating organizations, legislators, and audiences about laws, legislation, policy, and issues impacting animals in the United States and beyond. She is a frequent speaker at animal law and policy related conferences such as the No More Homeless Pets Conference, classes, and special events including the U.S. Police Canine Association, Region 3 awards banquet. She is a frequent contributor to radio and television shows discussing animal law, legislation, and policy related issues.
The founder and CEO of Humane Strategies Benefit LLC – a business empowering nonprofits, scientists, and veterinarians to advocate effectively to promote animal health, the human-canine bond, and sound wildlife management, with a focus on dogs and wild canids – Attorney Evans graduated from George Mason University and Tulane University Law School.
An adventurer who has driven dog teams of Alaskan huskies, Siberian huskies, Canadian Eskimo dogs, and other types of sled dogs in the U.S. and Canada, she enjoys the outdoors snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, hiking, and raising her American Eskimo rescue dog.
Attorney Evans’ dedication to the welfare of animals is reflected in the fact that she represents those interests on the United States Department of Agriculture Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Animal Health; is a representative of Project Coyote; a board member of the Animal Legal Defense Fund, and a Vice-Chair of the American Bar Association’s Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section’s Animal Law Committee. Prior to those roles, Stacey chaired the Maryland State Bar Association Animal Law Section.
She has extensive experience educating organizations, legislators, and audiences about laws, legislation, policy, and issues impacting animals in the United States and beyond. She is a frequent speaker at animal law and policy related conferences such as the No More Homeless Pets Conference, classes, and special events including the U.S. Police Canine Association, Region 3 awards banquet. She is a frequent contributor to radio and television shows discussing animal law, legislation, and policy related issues.
The founder and CEO of Humane Strategies Benefit LLC – a business empowering nonprofits, scientists, and veterinarians to advocate effectively to promote animal health, the human-canine bond, and sound wildlife management, with a focus on dogs and wild canids – Attorney Evans graduated from George Mason University and Tulane University Law School.
Sidney Wilson
Sid Wilson’s 2013 induction into the Denver Colorado Travel Industry Hall of Fame affirms his position as a leader in the tourism industry in the South West. The owner/operator of A Private Guide, Inc., providing group tour and event transportation products and services has invested more than 20 years servicing the vast corporate, convention, reunion and meeting trade in Denver and Colorado. He has creatively expanded his business to serve the African American sector by creating heritage tours highlighting the contributions of their forbears in the exploration and development of the American West as explorers, fur traders, miners, cowboys, and in the military.
Wilson’s love for travel and the great outdoors date back to his youth. He fondly remembers navigating Brooklyn’s tidal creeks, causeways, salt marshes, jetties, and isolated beaches with his dad in their 16-foot aluminum skiff in search of the best fishing holes. Moving to Denver, he embraced Colorado’s Western heritage and culture and took advantage of the opportunities afforded by the state’s dynamic tourism industry.
Mr. Wilson leverages his relationships with his hospitality industry suppliers to assist in developing and providing materials for the tour guides he trains and employs. He collaborates with entities such as the Black American West Museum; Visit Denver; the Colorado Historical Society; Colorado State Parks; the National Park Service, and the International Guide Academy.
Educating the public on the role of people of color in Colorado’s history is very important to Mr. Wilson. Focusing on African American family reunions, meetings, youth programs, and conventions, he has developed very successful Heritage Tour itineraries highlighting the contributions of Colorado’s pioneering African Americans in exploration, the fur trade, mining, ranching, and the military, while providing outdoor recreation options for the more adventurous. He specializes in the flexibility to go the extra mile to accommodate those few clients in a group who may want to do something off beat such as visiting “Scotty with the Hot Sauce.” Providing that special personal touch makes his tour products and service a unique experience.
Sid Wilson and A Private Guide, Inc. will help you highlight the desirability of your destination to multiple markets, and bring interested patrons to you.
Wilson’s love for travel and the great outdoors date back to his youth. He fondly remembers navigating Brooklyn’s tidal creeks, causeways, salt marshes, jetties, and isolated beaches with his dad in their 16-foot aluminum skiff in search of the best fishing holes. Moving to Denver, he embraced Colorado’s Western heritage and culture and took advantage of the opportunities afforded by the state’s dynamic tourism industry.
Mr. Wilson leverages his relationships with his hospitality industry suppliers to assist in developing and providing materials for the tour guides he trains and employs. He collaborates with entities such as the Black American West Museum; Visit Denver; the Colorado Historical Society; Colorado State Parks; the National Park Service, and the International Guide Academy.
Educating the public on the role of people of color in Colorado’s history is very important to Mr. Wilson. Focusing on African American family reunions, meetings, youth programs, and conventions, he has developed very successful Heritage Tour itineraries highlighting the contributions of Colorado’s pioneering African Americans in exploration, the fur trade, mining, ranching, and the military, while providing outdoor recreation options for the more adventurous. He specializes in the flexibility to go the extra mile to accommodate those few clients in a group who may want to do something off beat such as visiting “Scotty with the Hot Sauce.” Providing that special personal touch makes his tour products and service a unique experience.
Sid Wilson and A Private Guide, Inc. will help you highlight the desirability of your destination to multiple markets, and bring interested patrons to you.
Fred Tutman
Fred Tutman serves as a grassroots community advocate for clean water in Maryland’s longest and deepest intrastate waterway and holds the title of Patuxent Riverkeeper. He also lives and works on an active farm located near the Patuxent that has been in his family’s ancestral home for nearly a century. Before founding the Patuxent Riverkeeper organization, Fred spent nearly 30 years working as a media producer and consultant on assignments all over the globe, including a long stint working with and advising traditional healers in West Africa. After late life sojourn into law school, Fred now teaches an adjunct course in Environmental Law and Policy at St. Mary’s College of MD. In his spare time he does trail maintenance on the Appalachian Trail when not exploring the Patuxent River by kayak. He was honored as a Washington Magazine Annual Eco-Hero in 2009; is a recipient of the Bernie Fowler Sneaker Award (State of MD), the Mike Maloney Award (Sierra Club) and the Jug Bay Award (Friends of Jug Bay). He is among the longest serving Waterkeepers in the Chesapeake region and the only African-American Waterkeeper in the nation.
Celinda Pena
Celinda Peña is a communications and public engagement professional, as well as an award-winning journalist with more than 20 years covering local and network television news in Washington D.C., Florida and Texas.
From September of 2009 to May of 2014, she worked as Assistant Director of Communications and Advisor to the Director for the National Park Service. There, she was responsible for creating and fostering new strategic partnerships for outreach to diverse audiences and increasing overall awareness of national parks. Celinda developed new models for outreach with national Latino organizations such as LULAC, NCLR, CHCI and national park partners and created education-based programs in national parks, which are now serving more than 1,000 minority youth leaders annually.
Celinda oversaw the National Park Service’s American Latino Heritage Initiative and coordinated the agency outreach efforts to Members of Congress, stakeholders and local communities. As part of the community outreach, she developed and coordinated local summits highlighting Latino heritage and historic preservation in Los Angeles and San Antonio. Celinda also organized the 2011 White House Summit on American Latino Heritage at the Department of the Interior and served as mistress of ceremonies.
Additionally, Celinda worked with corporations serving national parks, such as Forever Resorts, Eastern National and Guest Services, to negotiate sponsorships of minority engagement and outreach activities. She also led the partnership with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service and coordinated high profile naturalization ceremonies with Cabinet Secretaries and media coverage in national parks.
Previously, she was Director of Public Relations for Maya Advertising in Washington, D.C. She is currently Principal of Mira Mediaworks, a minority, women-owned video production and strategic communications company.
During her career as a broadcast journalist, Celinda covered events ranging from the 9-11 attack on the Pentagon, the 2002 Beltway Sniper Attacks, and focused on areas of education and immigration.
Celinda enjoys hiking and camping with her family, especially in national and state parks. She is a proficient writer, producer and reporter and is often asked to speak on panels, and act as host or emcee for events.
From September of 2009 to May of 2014, she worked as Assistant Director of Communications and Advisor to the Director for the National Park Service. There, she was responsible for creating and fostering new strategic partnerships for outreach to diverse audiences and increasing overall awareness of national parks. Celinda developed new models for outreach with national Latino organizations such as LULAC, NCLR, CHCI and national park partners and created education-based programs in national parks, which are now serving more than 1,000 minority youth leaders annually.
Celinda oversaw the National Park Service’s American Latino Heritage Initiative and coordinated the agency outreach efforts to Members of Congress, stakeholders and local communities. As part of the community outreach, she developed and coordinated local summits highlighting Latino heritage and historic preservation in Los Angeles and San Antonio. Celinda also organized the 2011 White House Summit on American Latino Heritage at the Department of the Interior and served as mistress of ceremonies.
Additionally, Celinda worked with corporations serving national parks, such as Forever Resorts, Eastern National and Guest Services, to negotiate sponsorships of minority engagement and outreach activities. She also led the partnership with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service and coordinated high profile naturalization ceremonies with Cabinet Secretaries and media coverage in national parks.
Previously, she was Director of Public Relations for Maya Advertising in Washington, D.C. She is currently Principal of Mira Mediaworks, a minority, women-owned video production and strategic communications company.
During her career as a broadcast journalist, Celinda covered events ranging from the 9-11 attack on the Pentagon, the 2002 Beltway Sniper Attacks, and focused on areas of education and immigration.
Celinda enjoys hiking and camping with her family, especially in national and state parks. She is a proficient writer, producer and reporter and is often asked to speak on panels, and act as host or emcee for events.
Marcelo Bonta
Marcelo speaks and writes passionately about his broad vision of diversifying the environmental movement to audiences around the U.S. In 2005, he founded the Environmental Professionals of Color and the Center for Diversity & the Environment, where he works with leaders and environmental institutions to effectively include diversity, equity, and inclusion in the foundation of their work.
Marcelo is a Green 2.0 Advisory Board Member, a member of the Diverse Environmental Leaders Speakers Bureau, Environmental Leadership Program Senior Fellow and a TogetherGreen Conservation Fellow. His work has been featured in The New York Times, High Country News, The Oregonian, Prism Magazine, Colors NW, Sustainlane.com, Saving Land Magazine, Diverse: Issues in Higher Education Magazine, Sustainable Industries Magazine and other publications. He has has delivered more than 70 talks, including keynote speeches at the International Congress for Conservation Biology, Association of Partners for Public Lands Partnership Convention, Portland State University, and Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education Annual Conference.
Marcelo previously worked on biodiversity conservation, land use, and policy issues for numerous organizations, including: Defenders of Wildlife, the National Park Service, and Massachusetts Audubon Society. Marcelo received his Master’s Degree from Tufts University and Bachelor’s Degree from Yale University. In 2008, he co-wrote with Charles Jordan a visionary article, titled “Diversifying the American Environmental Movement.” He is a published author in the book, Diversity and the Future of the U.S. Environmental Movement, the Land Trust Alliance’s Special 25th Anniversary Issue, Grist Magazine, and the journal, Conservation Biology.
Marcelo’s inspiration in making the world a better place lies in his two daughters Stella and Kyra. Their laughter, joy, honesty and multi-racial make-up provide him with hope that the world can and will be a better and more inclusive place by the time they are adults. For more information visit www.jediheart.com.
Download JEDIHeart recent report here: https://www.jediheart.com/transforming-a-movement
Marcelo is a Green 2.0 Advisory Board Member, a member of the Diverse Environmental Leaders Speakers Bureau, Environmental Leadership Program Senior Fellow and a TogetherGreen Conservation Fellow. His work has been featured in The New York Times, High Country News, The Oregonian, Prism Magazine, Colors NW, Sustainlane.com, Saving Land Magazine, Diverse: Issues in Higher Education Magazine, Sustainable Industries Magazine and other publications. He has has delivered more than 70 talks, including keynote speeches at the International Congress for Conservation Biology, Association of Partners for Public Lands Partnership Convention, Portland State University, and Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education Annual Conference.
Marcelo previously worked on biodiversity conservation, land use, and policy issues for numerous organizations, including: Defenders of Wildlife, the National Park Service, and Massachusetts Audubon Society. Marcelo received his Master’s Degree from Tufts University and Bachelor’s Degree from Yale University. In 2008, he co-wrote with Charles Jordan a visionary article, titled “Diversifying the American Environmental Movement.” He is a published author in the book, Diversity and the Future of the U.S. Environmental Movement, the Land Trust Alliance’s Special 25th Anniversary Issue, Grist Magazine, and the journal, Conservation Biology.
Marcelo’s inspiration in making the world a better place lies in his two daughters Stella and Kyra. Their laughter, joy, honesty and multi-racial make-up provide him with hope that the world can and will be a better and more inclusive place by the time they are adults. For more information visit www.jediheart.com.
Download JEDIHeart recent report here: https://www.jediheart.com/transforming-a-movement
Dr. Lauret Savoy
Writer, teacher, geologist, photographer, and pilot, Lauret Savoy, Ph.D., is also a woman of mixed African-, Native-, and Euro-American heritage. Through explorations of her ancestry and her academic pursuits, she unearths the nuclei of connections that enable people of different racial and ethnic backgrounds to bond with the land.
Dr. Savoy’s ties to nature and the outdoors were solidified when she was a young child experiencing racism in the turbulent 1960s and 1970s. She learned then that, whether it was a river named Potomac or a canyon called Grand, the American land did not hate.
As a professor of Environmental Studies and Geology at Mount Holyoke College, she explores how braided strands of human history and Earth history contribute to the stories people tell of the land’s past as well as to the identities we form. Sand and stone are Earth’s memory, and Dr. Savoy’s work speaks to how each of us, too, is a landscape inscribed by memory. To live in this country is to be marked by residues of its still unfolding history, residues of silence and displacement across generations. Dr. Savoy offers how to search for and discover these marks, reconciling what it means to inhabit terrains of memory—and to be one. This work and much of her life draw from questioning how to put the eroded world into language, how to re-member—or piece together—fragmented pasts into the present.
Dr. Savoy’s experiences come alive in evocative prose in her writings, including her forthcoming book Trace (Counterpoint Press, 2015). In The Colors of Nature: Culture, Identity, and the Natural World (Milkweed Editions, 2011), provocative essays explore the intersections of cultural identity and ecological awareness. The book features original work from more than thirty contributors of color, including Jamaica Kincaid, Joseph Bruchac, Yusef Komunyakaa, Nikky Finney, Kimiko Hahn, Robin Wall Kimmerer, bell hooks, Gary Nabhan, and Francisco X. Alarcón, among others. Booklist called the volume an “unprecedented and invaluable collection of forthright and bracing essays by writers of ‘diverse cultural origins and disciplinary backgrounds’” that weave diverse experiences of place to create a larger and more textured cloth than the largely monochromatic tradition of American nature writing or of the mainstream environmental movement.
Dr. Savoy also edited Bedrock: Writers on the Wonders of Geology (Trinity University Press, 2006), which the Wall Street Journal picked as one of its five best science books, and co-authored Living with the Changing California Coast (University of California Press, 2005). She worked with the University Press of New England to re-issue Alien Land (E. P. Dutton, 1949), the long out-of-print novel on “Negro passing” written by her late father Willard Wilson Savoy.
Dr. Savoy has directed Mount Holyoke College’s Center for the Environment, and serves on the Board of Trustees for the National Parks Conservation Association. She also served on the board of directors of the Center for Whole Communities and Hitchcock Center for the Environment.
Dr. Savoy’s ties to nature and the outdoors were solidified when she was a young child experiencing racism in the turbulent 1960s and 1970s. She learned then that, whether it was a river named Potomac or a canyon called Grand, the American land did not hate.
As a professor of Environmental Studies and Geology at Mount Holyoke College, she explores how braided strands of human history and Earth history contribute to the stories people tell of the land’s past as well as to the identities we form. Sand and stone are Earth’s memory, and Dr. Savoy’s work speaks to how each of us, too, is a landscape inscribed by memory. To live in this country is to be marked by residues of its still unfolding history, residues of silence and displacement across generations. Dr. Savoy offers how to search for and discover these marks, reconciling what it means to inhabit terrains of memory—and to be one. This work and much of her life draw from questioning how to put the eroded world into language, how to re-member—or piece together—fragmented pasts into the present.
Dr. Savoy’s experiences come alive in evocative prose in her writings, including her forthcoming book Trace (Counterpoint Press, 2015). In The Colors of Nature: Culture, Identity, and the Natural World (Milkweed Editions, 2011), provocative essays explore the intersections of cultural identity and ecological awareness. The book features original work from more than thirty contributors of color, including Jamaica Kincaid, Joseph Bruchac, Yusef Komunyakaa, Nikky Finney, Kimiko Hahn, Robin Wall Kimmerer, bell hooks, Gary Nabhan, and Francisco X. Alarcón, among others. Booklist called the volume an “unprecedented and invaluable collection of forthright and bracing essays by writers of ‘diverse cultural origins and disciplinary backgrounds’” that weave diverse experiences of place to create a larger and more textured cloth than the largely monochromatic tradition of American nature writing or of the mainstream environmental movement.
Dr. Savoy also edited Bedrock: Writers on the Wonders of Geology (Trinity University Press, 2006), which the Wall Street Journal picked as one of its five best science books, and co-authored Living with the Changing California Coast (University of California Press, 2005). She worked with the University Press of New England to re-issue Alien Land (E. P. Dutton, 1949), the long out-of-print novel on “Negro passing” written by her late father Willard Wilson Savoy.
Dr. Savoy has directed Mount Holyoke College’s Center for the Environment, and serves on the Board of Trustees for the National Parks Conservation Association. She also served on the board of directors of the Center for Whole Communities and Hitchcock Center for the Environment.
Carlos Alcazar
Carlos Alcazar works with federal government agencies, non-profits, and corporate brands to create award-winning national marketing and advertising campaigns that reach millennial and multicultural markets. That includes creating compelling communications campaigns for Departments of Justice, Commerce, Transportation, Energy, Agriculture, Health and Human Services, the 2020 Census, as well as NGO’s and corporations like the NBA, Amtrak, LIVESTRONG, AT&T, and the American Heart Association amongst others. He brings a background in education, advertising, and media to focus on public-sector client objectives using creative storytelling and data-driven media. Before founding Culture ONE World, he held leadership positions at Pearson plc and Viacom.
His Board and advisory commitments include serving as a Trustee of Maryland’s public honors college St. Mary’s College of Maryland, chairman of congressional chartered National Environmental Education Foundation, and the US Vote Foundation. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of California, San Diego and completed executive education programs on Corporate Governance from the Harvard Business School.
His Board and advisory commitments include serving as a Trustee of Maryland’s public honors college St. Mary’s College of Maryland, chairman of congressional chartered National Environmental Education Foundation, and the US Vote Foundation. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of California, San Diego and completed executive education programs on Corporate Governance from the Harvard Business School.
Dr. Mamie Parker
Mamie Parker’s mother was a sharecropper and an avid angler who had high aspirations for her daughter, naming her after a First Lady of the United States. Mamie not only became intrigued with her mother’s fishing hobby, she pursued it professionally to the extent where she became one of the highest ranking officials in the management and protection of our nation’s fish and wildlife resources. In a career spanning more than 30-years in the federal government, Dr. Parker served as the Head of Fisheries and the Assistant Director of the US Fish and Wildlife Service, helping manage a budget of over $250 million and providing budgetary leadership and policy guidance to over 2400 employees throughout the nation.
With formidable expertise in every aspect of management including science, policy, budget and management, today Dr. Parker focuses on coaching executives about natural resource issues and how to expand the diversity of Americans engaged with public lands.
Early degrees in wildlife and fisheries biology launched Dr. Parker’s career as a fish health practitioner at the Genoa National Fish Hatchery in Wisconsin. She worked in multiple fisheries across the state before joining the Section 404 program and the Partners for Wildlife Program out of Columbia, Missouri where she helped private landowners improve wildlife habitat. Dr. Parker served as the Deputy Geographic Assistant Regional Director, and Deputy Assistant Regional Director of Fisheries at the US FWS Southeast Regional Office in Atlanta, where she supervised Ecological Services, Fisheries offices and National Wildlife Refuges in Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi. She served as Special Assistant in the Director’s Office in Washington, DC providing expert advice and analysis on national policies.
Her intimate knowledge of the natural resource arena includes serving as Deputy Regional Director and eventually the Regional Director for the 13-state Northeast Region, and as the Assistant Director of Fisheries and Habitat Conservation based in Washington, DC. In the ultimate recognition of her dedication and expertise, she was chosen Assistant Director of the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
Dr. Parker’s is a strong negotiator whose expertise is reflected in the success that she and her staff had in getting pharmaceutical companies, WalMart and PetSmart to print labels on plastic bags to help consumers protect our nation’s waters from invasive species. During her tenure as Regional Director, biologists under her leadership listed the Atlantic salmon as an endangered species. She was designated the authorized official for the negotiations with General Electric Corporation to clean up the Hudson River and challenge mountaintop mining activities in West Virginia.
Her leadership and expertise in programs such as the national fish hatcheries, wetland restoration, and protection, national wetlands and coastal mapping, contaminants, invasive species, national wildlife refuges, marine mammals, land acquisition, law enforcement have been recognized by many leading conservation, professional and civic organizations. The Wildlife Society presented her the Annual Award and the Wilderness Society placed her picture on their Wall of Pioneers in Conservation. She was inducted into the Arkansas Hall of Fame for her accomplishment as the first Arkansas native to rise to the position of the Head of Fisheries in this country
Ms. Parker was the recipient of a fellowship awarded by The Council of World Women Leaders, under the leadership of former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and women prime ministers, through the Aspen Institute. She is a current or former member of organizations including the Board of Directors of the National Wildlife Refuge Association, Defenders of Wildlife; Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc; US Against Alzheimer’s; Junior League of America; and the Chesapeake Conservancy. She serves on the Executive Board of the Rotary Club, the Environmental Leadership Program, and the Reston Chapter of the Links, Inc.
Dr. Parker attended the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, Tennessee Tech University and the University of Wisconsin.
With formidable expertise in every aspect of management including science, policy, budget and management, today Dr. Parker focuses on coaching executives about natural resource issues and how to expand the diversity of Americans engaged with public lands.
Early degrees in wildlife and fisheries biology launched Dr. Parker’s career as a fish health practitioner at the Genoa National Fish Hatchery in Wisconsin. She worked in multiple fisheries across the state before joining the Section 404 program and the Partners for Wildlife Program out of Columbia, Missouri where she helped private landowners improve wildlife habitat. Dr. Parker served as the Deputy Geographic Assistant Regional Director, and Deputy Assistant Regional Director of Fisheries at the US FWS Southeast Regional Office in Atlanta, where she supervised Ecological Services, Fisheries offices and National Wildlife Refuges in Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi. She served as Special Assistant in the Director’s Office in Washington, DC providing expert advice and analysis on national policies.
Her intimate knowledge of the natural resource arena includes serving as Deputy Regional Director and eventually the Regional Director for the 13-state Northeast Region, and as the Assistant Director of Fisheries and Habitat Conservation based in Washington, DC. In the ultimate recognition of her dedication and expertise, she was chosen Assistant Director of the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
Dr. Parker’s is a strong negotiator whose expertise is reflected in the success that she and her staff had in getting pharmaceutical companies, WalMart and PetSmart to print labels on plastic bags to help consumers protect our nation’s waters from invasive species. During her tenure as Regional Director, biologists under her leadership listed the Atlantic salmon as an endangered species. She was designated the authorized official for the negotiations with General Electric Corporation to clean up the Hudson River and challenge mountaintop mining activities in West Virginia.
Her leadership and expertise in programs such as the national fish hatcheries, wetland restoration, and protection, national wetlands and coastal mapping, contaminants, invasive species, national wildlife refuges, marine mammals, land acquisition, law enforcement have been recognized by many leading conservation, professional and civic organizations. The Wildlife Society presented her the Annual Award and the Wilderness Society placed her picture on their Wall of Pioneers in Conservation. She was inducted into the Arkansas Hall of Fame for her accomplishment as the first Arkansas native to rise to the position of the Head of Fisheries in this country
Ms. Parker was the recipient of a fellowship awarded by The Council of World Women Leaders, under the leadership of former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and women prime ministers, through the Aspen Institute. She is a current or former member of organizations including the Board of Directors of the National Wildlife Refuge Association, Defenders of Wildlife; Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc; US Against Alzheimer’s; Junior League of America; and the Chesapeake Conservancy. She serves on the Executive Board of the Rotary Club, the Environmental Leadership Program, and the Reston Chapter of the Links, Inc.
Dr. Parker attended the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, Tennessee Tech University and the University of Wisconsin.
Nia Eshu Martin Robinson
Nia Eshu Martin-Robinson describes herself as “a sassy, femme-tellectual, queer, Black woman from Detroit.” An incredible speaker, Nia has been a strong advocate for Environmental Justice since 2001. She began her work with Detroiters Working for Environmental Justice and joined the Service Employees International Union. From 2006-2011, she served as Director of the Environmental Justice and Climate Change Initiative where she worked to bring the voices of people of color, Indigenous Peoples and low-income communities to the debate on a state, federal and international level.
While in leadership, she co-authored the report, “A Climate of Change: African Americans, Global Warming and a Just Climate Policy in the U.S.” The report examined the intersection of climate change with race and class (including vulnerability to disasters, health disparities, and unemployment) and included recommendations for taking action.
In March of 2012, Nia served as the inaugural Social Justice Policy Practitioner-in-Residence for the Five College Public Policy Initiative, serving five colleges of Western Massachusetts. During her residency, in her capacity as an expert in race, reproductive and environmental justice she delivered public lectures on both climate and reproductive justice; convened and organized a teach-in on race and the environment and led skill-building sessions for student activists.
Currently, Nia is lending her skills and passion to the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign as a Senior Organizing Representative in Texas. In addition to working to close some of the most polluting coal-fired power plants in the country, she plays a major role in the Club’s diversity, equity, and inclusion work.
Nia is a proud HBCU graduate having served as the Activist in Residence at Bennett College for Women in Greensboro. She graduated Summa Cum Laude with a B.A.&Sc. in Interdisciplinary Studies with a concentration in Women’s Studies and Political Science and minors in Sociology and Global Studies.
While in leadership, she co-authored the report, “A Climate of Change: African Americans, Global Warming and a Just Climate Policy in the U.S.” The report examined the intersection of climate change with race and class (including vulnerability to disasters, health disparities, and unemployment) and included recommendations for taking action.
In March of 2012, Nia served as the inaugural Social Justice Policy Practitioner-in-Residence for the Five College Public Policy Initiative, serving five colleges of Western Massachusetts. During her residency, in her capacity as an expert in race, reproductive and environmental justice she delivered public lectures on both climate and reproductive justice; convened and organized a teach-in on race and the environment and led skill-building sessions for student activists.
Currently, Nia is lending her skills and passion to the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign as a Senior Organizing Representative in Texas. In addition to working to close some of the most polluting coal-fired power plants in the country, she plays a major role in the Club’s diversity, equity, and inclusion work.
Nia is a proud HBCU graduate having served as the Activist in Residence at Bennett College for Women in Greensboro. She graduated Summa Cum Laude with a B.A.&Sc. in Interdisciplinary Studies with a concentration in Women’s Studies and Political Science and minors in Sociology and Global Studies.
Naomi Davis
Naomi Davis is an urban theorist, attorney, activist, and proud granddaughter of Mississippi sharecroppers. She is the founder and CEO of BIG: Blacks in Green™- a national green community economic development network launched in 2007 and based in Chicago. She is a pioneer and continuing innovator in empowering urban communities to choose green solutions for sustainable development.
Attorney Davis draws upon the strong heritage of her forbears to offer a course she calls Grannynomics/The Conservation Lifestyle™ and its emerging “urban homestead” mixed-use real estate developments. She authored and teaches The 8 Principles of Green-Village-Building™ – training activists and everyday neighbors to lead where they live in establishing “walkable-villages” within a “City of Villages” – where every household can walk-to-work, walk-to-shop, walk-to-learn, walk-to-play.
BIG’s first green-village-building pilot – in Chicago’s historic West Woodlawn – aims to restore the former framework of neighbor-owned businesses and neighbor-owned buildings as a local living economy, needed now more than ever as a greenhouse gas reduction strategy. She has taught Grannynomics ™ and Green-Village-Building™ as an open enrollment three-semester course at the University of Chicago/Center for the Study of Race, Politics, and Culture, and in shorter formats – one week, full- and half-day workshops, as well as in one-hour and keynote lengths for schools, organizations, churches, and events across the country.
Attorney Davis is a Green For All Fellow and a certified teacher of the environmental literacy curriculum, Roots of Success. Her leadership of BIG™ has been recognized with Governor Quinn’s 2007 Environmental Hero Award; the 2008 Chicago Magazine Green Award; the 2009 Jewel ‐ Osco Environmental Stewardship Prize, and the 2010 Ebony Magazine Power100. In 2011 she served on Chicago’s Mayoral Transition Team for Energy, Environment, and Public Space, and was among 100 international thought leaders at Groupon’s First Annual Chicago Ideas Week. She received ComEd’s Power of One Community Heroes Award in 2014.
Attorney Davis maintains a strong connection to the pulse of her urban community and successful projects. She lives across the street from BIG’s first Sustainability Teaching Garden of their square-mile sustainability plan, “The West Woodlawn Botanic Garden & Village Farm Initiative.”
Attorney Davis draws upon the strong heritage of her forbears to offer a course she calls Grannynomics/The Conservation Lifestyle™ and its emerging “urban homestead” mixed-use real estate developments. She authored and teaches The 8 Principles of Green-Village-Building™ – training activists and everyday neighbors to lead where they live in establishing “walkable-villages” within a “City of Villages” – where every household can walk-to-work, walk-to-shop, walk-to-learn, walk-to-play.
BIG’s first green-village-building pilot – in Chicago’s historic West Woodlawn – aims to restore the former framework of neighbor-owned businesses and neighbor-owned buildings as a local living economy, needed now more than ever as a greenhouse gas reduction strategy. She has taught Grannynomics ™ and Green-Village-Building™ as an open enrollment three-semester course at the University of Chicago/Center for the Study of Race, Politics, and Culture, and in shorter formats – one week, full- and half-day workshops, as well as in one-hour and keynote lengths for schools, organizations, churches, and events across the country.
Attorney Davis is a Green For All Fellow and a certified teacher of the environmental literacy curriculum, Roots of Success. Her leadership of BIG™ has been recognized with Governor Quinn’s 2007 Environmental Hero Award; the 2008 Chicago Magazine Green Award; the 2009 Jewel ‐ Osco Environmental Stewardship Prize, and the 2010 Ebony Magazine Power100. In 2011 she served on Chicago’s Mayoral Transition Team for Energy, Environment, and Public Space, and was among 100 international thought leaders at Groupon’s First Annual Chicago Ideas Week. She received ComEd’s Power of One Community Heroes Award in 2014.
Attorney Davis maintains a strong connection to the pulse of her urban community and successful projects. She lives across the street from BIG’s first Sustainability Teaching Garden of their square-mile sustainability plan, “The West Woodlawn Botanic Garden & Village Farm Initiative.”
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