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Workshop Session II: 10:55-12:10 Replace the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Reactor Part Two: Grassroots Organizing WORKSHOP LEADERS: Emily Maxwell has over 10 years of experience coordinating outreach, education, and mobilization. She is the Field Director for VPIRG where she leads grassroots efforts to strategically leveraging the voice of the general public to advance policy initiatives statewide. Jeff Unsicker is a professor at the SIT Graduate Institute in Brattleboro, where he teaches courses in Policy Analysis and Advocacy for sustainable development. He is also a core group member of Nuclear Free Vermont, an activist association of citizens living in the shadow of the Vermont Yankee nuclear reactor. Deb Katz is the executive director of CAN. She is a mother, social worker and community organizer. She has been cited for her outstanding leadership and service in the public health field, and in 2000 she won the Giraffe Award for sticking her neck out to protect reactor communities. She organized three Action Camps to train organizers to advocate in their communities with over 1,000 people participating; and she traveled the country participating in nuclear waste tours to Utah, Nevada, and South Carolina with grassroots organizers. James Moore is the Clean Energy Advocate for VPIRG. He leads energy-related advocacy efforts in the State House and represents VPIRG on a number of state and regional leadership committees. He has an extensive background of field organizing and environmental advocacy, including two years as a campaigner with Greenpeace USA focusing on global warming and clean energy issues. Jessica Edgerly is a Community Organizer for TAC. She works largely on issues of surface mining and waste reduction. Previously, she worked in Maine with legislators, policy experts, and a local community group towards advancing community voice in local development decisions statewide. She graduated in 2006 from Bates College with a degree in Biology. Effective Lobbying WORKSHOP LEADER: Amy Shollenberger is the Director of Rural Vermont where she is responsible for strategic planning and campaign development, as well as developing a policy agenda. She has ten years of organizing and policy experience, including work as a press secretary and legislative assistant for a member of the U.S. House of Representatives and as a senior policy analyst for Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy and Environment Program. The Media-Savvy Organization: What it Takes to Catch the Eye of the News Media WORKSHOP LEADERS: Paul Burns is the Executive Director of the Vermont Public Interest Research Group since 2001, where he leads a team of experienced advocates and organizers on a range of public interest issues including clean energy, climate change, toxic products, health care and fair elections. He is also the New England Regional Program Director for Environment America Research and Policy Center, where he helps to devise and implement strategic campaigns in the states. Previously, Paul worked for eight years as an attorney and director of the toxics program for MASSPIRG. Strategies for Protecting Vermont's Woods and Wildlife WORKSHOP LEADERS: Jamey Fidel is the Vermont Natural Resources Council's Forest and Biodiversity Program Director. Jamey works with individuals, municipalities and at the state level to advance creative, innovative conservation strategies to safeguard and strengthen Vermont's valuable forestland and wildlife resources. Jamey spent the last year spearheading a 'Forest Roundtable' discussion about slowing the rate of forest fragmentation in Vermont. The Roundtable developed a set of broad-based recommendations to keep Vermont's forestlands intact, conserved and productive. Jamey has a B.S. in Environmental Studies from UVM's School of Natural Resources, and a J.D. and M.S. in Environmental Law from Vermont Law School. Jim Shallow is the Director of Conservation and Policy at Audubon Vermont. For the past few years Jim has been directing Audubon’s Forest Bird Initiative, which is working to raise Vermonter’s awareness of the global importance of Vermont’s forests for neo-tropical migratory bird populations. Audubon’s Forest Bird Initiative is working directly with forest landowners to assess habitat conditions and provide recommendations for bird-friendly forestry in managed forests. Jim has worked in Vermont on forest policy and other conservation issues for 19 years. Winning Strategies WORKSHOP LEADERS: Alyssa Schuren is the Executive Director of Toxics Action Center. Over the past seven years, she has worked with 50+ communities to clean up and prevent toxic threats, as well as developed and strengthened the organization’s programs and community organizing models. She is a graduate of Green Corps, the field school for environmental organizing, and has a B.A. in environmental studies from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Teresa Clemmer is Associate Director of the Environmental and Natural Resources Law Clinic at Vermont Law School. Before joining VLS, Teresa practiced environmental law at Cooper, White & Cooper LLP in San Francisco, California and at Perkins Coie LLP in Anchorage, Alaska, as well as at the non-profit environmental law firm Trustees for Alaska. Vermont Law School Professor David Mears teaches courses in environmental law and is currently directing the law school's Environmental and Natural Resources Law Clinic. Prior to joining the faculty at Vermont Law School, Professor Mears has worked for the States of Texas and Washington as well as with the U.S. Department of Justice as an environmental attorney. Planning: A Powerful Climate Action WORKSHOP LEADERS: Brian Shupe is the Sustainable Communities Program Director at the Vermont Natural Resources Council. Prior to joining VNRC, Brian was Director of Programs at Smart Growth Vermont. Before that, Brian was a principal at Burnt Rock, Associates where he focused on landscape preservation, growth management, and site development. He is the former planning Director for the Town of Stowe, Executive Director of the Mad River Valley Planning District and past President of the Vermont Planners Association. He served for six years as Treasurer of the Northern New England Chapter of the American Planning Association. Peg Elmer is the Vermont Law School’s associate director of the Land Use Institute. Prior to joining VLS, Peg served as assistant to the secretary of the Agency of Natural Resources, working on Governor Kunin's Commission on Vermont's Future, which led to the adoption of goals for state and local planning codified in 1988 as Act 200. From 1989 until 1993, she was director of the Vermont Natural Resource Council’s Land Use Policy Program. After that, Ms. Elmer joined the Department of Housing and Community Affairs as a coordinator in the Community Planning Program. She is the vice president/president elect of the Northern New England Chapter of the American Planning Association, a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners, and a 1997 associate of the Snelling Center’s Leadership Institute. Launching and Leveraging Energy Committee Power WORKSHOP LEADERS: Johanna Miller is the Outreach Director and Energy Program Coordinator at the Vermont Natural Resources Council. Johanna works with organizations, state and local officials, and citizens across Vermont to empower them take action on important energy, climate change, land use and community development issues. Johanna works closely with partners in the Vermont Energy and Climate Action Network to start and support town energy committees and to help build support for a more efficient and renewable energy future. Before joining VNRC in January 2005, Johanna spent five years as an organizer, editor, and policy specialist for the Michigan Land Use Institute — a smart growth policy organization. Johanna has served on numerous boards of directors and currently serves on the boards of Local First Vermont and SEEDS. Duncan McDougall is the founder of Waterbury LEAP (Local Energy Action Program ), a volunteer organization dedicated to engaging its community in reducing carbon emissions and promoting energy efficiency and the use of renewable resources in Waterbury, VT and the surrounding area. Since 2007 LEAP members have been involved in many local activities such as: selling 2,200 compact fluorescent bulbs; arranging for free energy audits for local businesses and municipal buildings; 3) hosting an annual Waterbury Energy Efficiency & Climate Change Rally each April; 4) and conducting educational efforts in local schools. LEAP was also recently asked to provide input for the Waterbury Town Plan, and it hopes to hire its first employee -- a Waterbury Energy Coordinator -- in 2009. Duncan served as the Chairman of the Waterbury Conservation Commission, is active in local political and environmental organizing, and is the founder and Executive Director of the Children's Literacy Foundation (CLiF). Paul Markowitz is the Coordinator for the VT Chapter of the Sierra Club helping Vermont communities address energy and climate change issues. Paul has 25 years experience working on community-based environmental solutions, leadership training, facilitation, and environmental advocacy in non-profit institutions, state government, and academia. In 1983, Paul began his career working with VT communities on local energy planning and action. From 1992-2004, Markowitz worked as Project Director for the Institute for Sustainable Communities developing and delivering environmental management trainings and managing local environmental action programs in Central and Eastern Europe. He has directed state recycling programs, taught university courses on energy and solid waste policy, and promoted least-cost electrical planning. Paul has an MS in Resource Economics from the University of Vermont. Out of Cash? What’s Challenging Your Fundraising? WORKSHOP LEADERS Ginny Callan is a Program Officer at the New England Grassroots Environment Fund (NEGEF), Ginny works with groups from Massachusetts and Vermont. She has been a grassroots organizer since the 1970’s, focusing on energy, environmental and human rights issues. Ginny continues to be active in her community and is on the Board of her local solid waste district which is working towards the goal of zero waste. Ginny worked for the American Cancer Society as the Grassroots Director of Advocacy. She is the founder of the Horn of the Moon Café in Montpelier, Vermont, a vegetarian café that closed its doors after 23 years in business. She has written two natural food cookbooks, Horn of the Moon Cookbook and Beyond the Moon Cookbook. Ginny has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Goddard College. Ginny is an avid organic vegetable gardener and has been eating locally for many years. She lives in East Montpelier, Vermont with her husband, Cort Richardson, also a lifelong environmentalist and their two children. Andrea Stander serves on VPIRG's Development Team where she focuses on major donors, phone campaigns and strategic planning. Before joining VPIRG, Andrea served as a Regional Field Coordinator for Bernie Sanders' successful campaign for the US Senate in 2006 and for six years as the Communications Director for the Vermont Arts Council. She brings 25 years of experience as a community organizer and communications specialist to her work. She received a BA in Liberal Arts from Hampshire College and is a 2004 graduate of the Vermont Leadership Institute of the Snelling Center for Government at UVM. Mia Moore is the Development Director for Progressive Future. Mia has a diverse background in organizing and fundraising. She was part of the successful clean energy campaign in California (20% renewable energy by 2017) and has garnered both small and major contributions for progressive organizations such as MASSPIRG and Toxics Action Center. Before her current work with Progressive Future, Mia directed the major gifts program for Toxics Action Center, increasing the gross income from this program by nearly 100% in two years. When it comes to fundraising, her expertise lies in 'marketing' a campaign to a broad audience, and deepening a donor's investment in an issue or an organization. |