Environmental Leadership Selects Locals

The Environmental Leadership Program (ELP) has selected 24 emerging environmental leaders from the Delaware Valley Region for a prestigious year-long fellowship program aimed at enhancing the capacity of the environmental movement. These new ELP fellows represent the cutting edge of environmental thought, policy, and action, and embody the increasingly diverse field of environmental leadership. This class will join three previous classes in the Delaware Valley Region working for a just and sustainable future.

With environmentalism walking onto the stage at the Oscars, building unlikely alliances between big businesses and grassroots activists, and uniting evangelicals with conservation organizations, we are witnessing the birth of a new era in the US environmental movement. This high point in environmental awareness makes it more important than ever to turn interest and good intentions into effective leadership and solutions. The traditional environmental movement must also make room for a variety of diverse new voices at the table.

Represented in ELP’s Delaware Valley 2007 Fellowship class are a colorful spectrum of perspectives and backgrounds. Some come from positions of faith, others approach environmental issues with interests in urban green space or backgrounds in public health. Some of these leaders work in government offices to enact responsible policy, while others started in academia but moved on to found a green business. While not all ELP fellows have the word “environment” in their titles, all are doing significant work on their own piece of the larger environmental puzzle.

Through ELP’s training program and network of visionary leaders, these fellows will gain opportunities for professional development, collaborative cross-sector projects, and feedback and support from a national community. The 2007 Delaware Valley Fellows will bring their skills and expertise to the larger community of environmental leaders and will also bring increased leadership skills and the collaborative power of hundreds of environmental thinkers back home to Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware.

The 2007 Delaware Valley Environmental Fellows Are

* Soledad Alfaro-Allah -- Education Coordinator at Awbury Arboretum
* Anika Andrews -- Environmental Specialist with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection
* Kara S. Coats -- Senior Assistant City Solicitor of the City of Wilmington
* Medard Gabel -- CEO of BigPictureSmallWorld, Inc.
* Tatiana Granados -- Co-Founder and Executive Director of the East Park Revitalization Alliance
* Danny Gerber -- Director and Co-Founder of the Urban Nutrition Initiative
* Marcus Johnson -- Design Services Coordinator at the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society
* David Kanthor -- Project Coordinator at the Center City District in Philadelphia
* Brad Killian -- Executive Director of Delaware Greenways
* Leanne Krueger-Braneky -- Executive Director for the Sustainable Business Network of Greater Philadelphia
* Jessica Leifeste -- Art teacher and Environmental Coordinator at the Environmental Community Opportunity Charter School
* Khiet Luong -- Watershed/Environmental Advisory Council Programs Associate at the Pennsylvania Environmental Council
* Heather McCall -- Executive Director of Main Street Mount Holly
* Joe McNulty-- Delaware Riverfront Outreach Specialist with New Kensington Community Development Corporation
* Beth Mohan Resta -- Marketing Specialist/Community Liaison for Whole Foods Market Philadelphia
* Teresa Niedda -- Director of the Farmworker Health and Safety Institute
* Johanna Rosen -- Co-Director of the Mill Creek Farm
* David Schogel -- Retired Social Worker and active member of the Center in the Park/Senior Environment Corps
* Ravi Srinivasan -- Assistant Director of Development at the T.C. Chan Center for Building Simulation & Energy Studies
* Kristen Sykes -- Mid-Atlantic Project Manager at the Appalachian Mountain Club
* Renate Woessner -- Interfaith Organizer for the Shalom Center
* Ted Wong -- Founder and President of The Map Farm LLC
* Susan Yi -- Environmental Engineer for the Philadelphia Water Department
* Patricia Zaradic -- Ecologist and Lecturer at Bryn Mawr College

The Environmental Leadership Program inspires visionary, action-oriented and diverse leadership to work for a just and sustainable future. ELP’s intensive fellowship program develops a diverse community of leaders with the ability to collaborate across institutional and cultural barriers and the skills and networks to achieve social change. ELP's national network includes corporate environmental officers, non-profit founders, local government officials, environmental educators, environmental justice activists, and many other individuals working in a wide variety of sectors.

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Author: Press Release-Burlington County