January 6th, 2012
Youth Taking Action
an interview with Misra Walker
Speakers at Bioneers By The Bay Connecting For Change (2011)
When Barretto Point Park opened in the Hunts Point section of the South Bronx in 2006, it marked a major accomplishment —becoming the only riverside park in the neighborhood and one of the few greens space in the heavily industrialized area. But Misra noted that there was no transportation to and from the park and that pedestrians had to endure a smoggy walk through a key transportation route that serves some 15,000 heavy trucks daily. Misra and her teen advocacy group, ACTION, lobbied the New York transit authority (MTA) for a bus route to be extended to include stops at the park. Misra’s campaign was successful, and a seasonal city shuttle bus now serves the park in the summer, taking 4,000 Bronx residents to green space they might not otherwise be able to access. Misra is a 2010 Brower Youth Award recipient.
www.marioninstitute.org/connecting-for-change/events/misra-walker
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Graham Hill, a serial Designpreneur, holds a degree as a Bachelor of Architecture from Carleton University in Ottawa and has also studied Product Design at Emily Carr in Vancouver. In 1995, with his cousin, he grew (and later sold) the web-developer SiteWerks to 60 people, doing work for clients such as Microsoft. In 2003 he founded both TreeHugger.com and a ceramic cup business (WeAreHappyToServeYou.com). TreeHugger later became part of Discovery’s Planet Green initiative and is where Hill currently places his efforts. Past business ventures include fashion, viral email and plant-based air filters. Hill speaks English, French, German and Spanish and loves kitesurfing, squash and snowboarding. From his New York home, Hill schemes daily about how he can help humanity avoid rapid extinction.
Ben Hewitt is a best-selling author and farmer whose book The Town That Food Saved, published by Chelsea Green publishing, chronicles a rural Vermont town’s attempts to implement a local food system. Hewitt speaks frequently on the subjects of regionalized agriculture, relocalizing economies, and reframing America’s values to promote positive change and a durable prosperity that is not dependent on extractive industry. With his wife and two sons, he operates a diversified 40-acre livestock, dairy, berry, and vegetable farm in Northern Vermont. He lives in a self-built, off-the-grid home that is powered by wind and solar energy. To help offset his renewable energy footprint, Ben drives a really big truck.
Christopher Johnson is a highly acclaimed, nationally known Spoken Word artist and Poet. Christopher has been on many National Poetry Slam Teams including New Jersey, Providence and Boston. In 2007, Christopher won the $10,000 dollar grand prize for spoken word in the Fame Cast contest. He now resides in Providence, Rhode Island where he gives workshops throughout the Rhode Island school system.
Riki Ott, PhD, is an activist, author, marine toxicologist, and former commercial fisherma’m who experienced the Exxon Valdez oil spill first-hand. Her latest book on oil spill impacts is Not One Drop (Chelsea Green). She starred in Black Wave, an award-winning feature film. Ott received Huffington Post’s Game Changer 2010 Award for her volunteer work in the Gulf, empowering local residents to take action after BP’s disaster. She co-founded Ultimate Civics, a project of Earth Island Institute, and teaches value-based community organizing from fifth grade to university, sharing practical skills for sustainable living and ending corporate rule: 
Kari Fulton is an award winning Climate Justice advocate and new media journalist. Fulton works to amplify the voice and concerns of communities most impacted by Climate Change and Environmental Injustice. Through her work she connects local and global grassroots movements and supports youth leaders in becoming long-term environmental advocates. She is the Co-founder of ChecktheWeather.TV and the Interim-Director of the Environmental Justice and Climate Change Initiative. Fulton is a native of Denver, Colorado, a proud alumna of the Howard University, and a resident of Washington, DC.
Laurie David is an environmentalist, author and a producer of the 2006 Academy Award winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth. She also executive produced the HBO documentary Too Hot NOT to Handle and the TBS comedy special Earth to America!. Over the past decade, Laurie has produced many projects to shed light on the issue of global climate change – including the bestselling Stop Global Warming: The Solution is You! and co-authoring The Down-to-Earth Guide to Global Warming, written for kids of all ages and published in eleven languages. Her newest book is The Family Dinner: Great Ways to Connect with Your Kids, One Meal at a Time: an inspirational, practical—and, of course, green — guide to the most important hour in your family’s day, dinnertime.
Jodie Evans is a co-founder of CODEPINK and has been a peace, environmental, women’s rights and social justice activist for forty years. She has traveled extensively to war zones promoting and learning about peaceful resolution to conflict. She served in the administration of Governor Jerry Brown and ran his presidential campaign. She has published two books, 
Meg McMorrow and Bradford Harding speak with Joanna about the current state of research of the biological effects of electromagnetic and radiofrequency (EMF/RF) radiation – used in wireless technology – that have now globally distributed. What can we all do to protect ourselves from the adverse consequence of this pervasive form of pollution?
Destined from birth to teach the ancient wisdom, ritual and practices of her ancestors to those in the West, Sobonfu, whose name means “keeper of the rituals” travels the world on a healing mission sharing the rich spiritual life and culture of her native land Burkina Faso, which ranks as one of the world’s poorest countries yet one of the richest in spiritual life and custom.
Former monk and long-term peace and environment activist, Satish Kumar is the editor of Resurgence, the longest-running environmental magazine in Britain. He is the guiding spirit behind a number of ecological, spiritual and educational ventures in UK.
