Team
We are a dedicated community of leaders, working together to ensure a sustainable future for all.
STAFF
Judi Shils | Executive Director + Founder
Judi has spent the last 24 years of her life spearheading grassroots community projects. The dearth of answers around Marin County’s high cancer rates led Judi to found the nonprofit Search for the Cause, now Turning Green, a global student-led movement advocating for healthy food, safer products, and ethical businesses. She is also the force behind The Conscious Kitchen, a paradigm shifting model for school food service, transitioning school meals from pre-packaged, processed, heat-and-serve to chef-prepared, scratch cooked local, organic food, cooked in on-site zero waste kitchens. Believing that access to healthy food is a right, not a privilege, she began this work on a campus where 95% of children live below the poverty line, qualifying for free-and-reduced government-subsidized school meals. Moving to the Bay Area in 1989 and becoming a mother to daughter Erin changed the course of Judi’s life. Prior to this, she was an Emmy Award-winning television producer for 25 years with ABC Sports, FOX and Oxygen, founded The Diary Project forum for youth at the onset of the internet, and ran a successful student art exhibition, Celebrate Arts. Judi has been a consultant with the California Coastal Commission around public education for the past two decades.
Debbie Friedman | Program Director, Conscious Kitchen
Debbie is an attorney who practiced business law in San Francisco for 5 years. Since leaving the practice of law to pursue environmental work, Debbie has served in a variety of advocacy, communications and leadership positions including as producer for EcoTalk Radio which aired nationally on Air America Radio, and as a communications consultant for innovative nonprofits and businesses. Debbie has also co-founded and led two environmental health nonprofits. In her role at Moms Advocating Sustainability, Debbie led policy initiatives and organized coalitions, with an emphasis on shifting agricultural policies towards ecologically-oriented practices, to reduce the amounts of pesticides sprayed by state and local agencies. Debbie also was lead organizer and negotiator with County Government Officials in a 2009 successful campaign to revise Marin County’s regulations to substantially reduce the use of pesticides on County property. Prior to joining The Conscious Kitchen team as Program Director, she was a co-founder and served as Executive Director of GMOScience, a science-based educational and information platform that addresses the costs, risks and benefits of genetically engineered food. Debbie was selected in 2011 as a “Marin Hero for Children,” by Marin Advocates for Children.
Sue Waiss | Program Administrator
Sue has worked with Turning Green for 7 years and has helped bring all of our key programs to life. She is passionate about sustainability, education, and bringing our programs to students across the country and around the world. Prior to TG, Sue worked as a Project Manager and Studio Manager in the graphic design industry and co-founded two video production companies.
Kavya Velagapudi | Development Consultant
Kavya is a non-profit and development consultant who helps agencies achieve their fundraising goals. She is a creative, results-driven non-profit professional with six years of diverse experience generating revenue and resources for non-profits. With a Masters in Social Welfare and a concentration in Non-Profit Administration & Policy Advocacy, Kavya has a unique blend of development, management, and clinical skills. Before becoming an independent consultant and joining the Turning Green team, she was the Development Director of International Museum of Women, now part of Global Fund for Women, in San Francisco. Prior to joining the Museum, Kavya was the Western Region Director of Starlight Children’s Foundation in Los Angeles, where she oversaw all development, communications and program services in Starlight’s Western Region. Kavya has raised funds for various nonprofits through grants, special events, corporations, memberships, annual appeals, crowd-funding, e-appeals, silent auctions, and major gifts.
STUDENT ADVISORY BOARD
Cami Provencher
VP of Programs and Logistics
Cami Provencher is a junior at Loyola University in Chicago, Illinois majoring in Environmental Science. Cami participated in Project Green Challenge 2017 and was selected as a Finalist. After college, she would like to work for a nonprofit and carry out her passion for sustainability.
Erin Cady
VP of Communications
Erin Cady is a senior at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign studying Natural Resources and Environmental Science. Erin joined the Turning Green community after participating in and being chosen as a Finalist for Project Green Challenge 2016. Through PGC and Turning Green, Erin has developed an immense passion for environmental education and teaching her peers about how environmental issues affect minority groups and underprivileged communities. Erin hopes to bring her love of writing and public speaking to a career in environmental education and activism.
Lauren Kim
Co-VP of PGC
Lauren is a junior at Yale University majoring in Environmental Studies and Ethnicity, Race, & Migration. She is passionate about amplifying the voices of people of color and other traditionally underrepresented groups in environmentalism. Lauren and her teammate, Jinno, were the PGC 2017 Champions. In the future, she wants to work in creating a more just, equitable, and sustainable food system. She is a proud member of the Student-Farmworker Alliance and works for the Yale Sustainable Food Program, Yale Office of Sustainability, and City of New Haven.
Jinno Vicencio
Co-VP of PGC
Jinno Vicencio is a sophomore at Orange Coast College, pursuing a degree in Agriculture. Alongside his teammate, Lauren Kim, he was awarded Project Green Challenge 2017 Champion. Jinno is passionate about the environment and making strides to reduce our waste, support local businesses, and shifting consumer habits to a more conscious one. Jinno wants to show people that sustainability is for everyone, whether they are a person of color, low-income, or LGBT+. The fight to preserve our environment has a place for anyone and everyone!
Christine Dobbin
VP of Multimedia Arts
Christine Dobbin is originally from El Paso, Texas and currently attends Rice University as a senior in the Natural Sciences department. In the fall, she will be pursuing an MD/MPH at UT Southwestern, centered on social and environmental justice within healthcare. Christine was awarded 3rd Place in Project Green Challenge 2017 with her team, Team Rice University. She is active in ecological medicine research, musical performance, and community activism.
Isaac Aguilar
Student Advisory Board Member
Isaac Aguilar is a senior at Escondido Adventist Academy, a religiously affiliated private institution located in Southern California. Isaac had the privilege to attend the 2017 Project Green Challenge Finals where his passion for sustainability was catalyzed. After the Finals, Isaac was inspired to study environmental science in university, where he will continue to be an activist for sustainability. Currently, Isaac is the National Honor Society President. He enjoys participating in varsity sports, choir, and theater. Isaac is honored to work with Turning Green to help others discover an appreciation for nature and work towards a sustainable planet.
Elspeth Collard
Student Advisory Board Member
Elspeth Collard is a junior at T.C. Williams High School and a member of its STEM Academy. She is a member of the Math, Science, German, and English Honor Societies and the community service organization, Key Club. She is also on the board of Watershed Warriors, a 501(c)3 non-profit that teaches elementary students about the environment through hands-on lessons. She is a rower on the T.C. Williams Crew team. For fun, she is a member of TC's Book Club and is an avid reader outside of school. She participated in PGC 2017 and thoroughly enjoyed the experience as it changed the way she saw the world. She is passionate about sustainability and providing a greener future for the next generation.
Ella Fesler
Student Advisory Board Member
Ella is a junior attending TC Williams High School in Virginia. She participated in Project Green Challenge 2017, and was selected as a finalist alongside her teammate, Bridget. Project Green Challenge enabled her to understand the changes she needed to make in her life in order to live consciously, and taught her the importance of encouraging others to live sustainably as well. Through working with Turning Green, she hopes to continue to encourage sustainable living for herself and people in the greater community. When she is not studying, Ella spends her free time singing, swimming, baking, and writing.
Catalina Lane
Student Advisory Board Member
Catalina is a senior at Tamalpais High School in Marin County, California. She was a Project Green Challenge 2017 Finalist and has since been working with her community to become more eco-conscious. She is the secretary for her school’s Ocean Conservation Club and is interning at her local Audubon Center. In her spare time she plays softball, hikes, and does ceramics. In the coming year, Catalina will be going to college where she hopes to major in Environmental Studies.
Lauren Orosz
Student Advisory Board Member
Lauren is from south Florida and currently attending Clemson University, studying Biological Sciences and Business Administration. In high school, Lauren was introduced to some of the dangers to our planet and the effects that are taking place. She became passionate about veganism and the avoidance of animal agriculture, for both health, environmental, and ethical reasons. This past year, Lauren discovered PGC and was privileged to be selected as a PGC 2017 Finalist. After PGC Finals, she began to spread conscious living through community and college campus through several educational events. In addition to her environmental passions, Lauren enjoys studying medicine, exploring nature, playing with her pets at home, and visiting the beach.
Jonathan Raybin
Student Advisory Board Member
Jon is a Chemistry graduate student at the University of Chicago, where he studies polymer physics. He grew up in Kent, Ohio and loves running, reading, and pottery almost as much as chemistry. He discovered a passion for environmentalism and nature through frequent hikes with his father. In a team along with Julia Murphy, Jon was a finalist in PGC 2017.
Cvetanka Rizvanovic
Student Advisory Board Member
Cvetanka is a sophomore at Highland High School in Salt Lake City, Utah. She has participated in Project Green Challenge for 2 years, and is excited to be working with Turning Green because the team shares her love for protecting the planet. She has always loved being in the outdoors with my family hiking, or just going on walks to the farmers market. Cvetanka is very passionate about art, archery, and the environment. In her spare time, she loves painting, or arching with my friends, as well as gardening. She has enjoyed going to environmental protests with my community, and has involved herself in other ways to stand up for the earth, like Project Green Challenge.
Melanie Staszewski
Student Advisory Board Member
Melanie Staszewski is a senior at Poolesville High School, where she is a part of the Global Ecology Program. She is excited to begin yet another journey with Turning Green after participating in PGC three years in a row and loving every minute. As a blossoming environmentalist and self-declared tree hugger, Melanie can usually be found getting involved in her program's outdoor field studies, volunteering somewhere outside, or working on her transition from a conventional to a conscious lifestyle.
Tamsin Stringer
Student Advisory Board Member
Tamsin Stringer a senior at Bloomington High School South. She was Project Green Challenge Champion 2016, and worked as the Communication Co-Chair on Turning Green Student Advisory Board in 2017. She is president of her school’s environmental club SAGE (Students Advocating For a Greener Environment), service chair of National Honors Society, and a co-founder of Green Sprouts, a program aimed at spreading environmental awareness to children in elementary schools in her district. Her passions include environmental advocacy, art, and music.
Jordan Stoll
Student Advisory Board Member
Jordyn is a Doctorate student at Kent State University where she studies aquatic ecology to help the world understand the consequences of anthropogenic eutrophication on water quality. She has an ecocentric perspective on the world and tries to promote sustainable living in every way that she can. Jordyn completed her undergrad in Biology and Environmental Science at Cleveland State University where she first helped host a Conscious College Road Tour stop with her student org, the Student Environmental Movement. She is inspired by the Turning Green's mission to educate about ecoconsciousness and is dedicated to helping the organization acheive their goals. Jordyn is passionate about native plant landscaping, promoting open science, protecting water resources, and encouraging people to get out and appreciate the beauty of nature. She enjoys running with her husky, yoga, hiking, bouldering and reading in her free time.
Johannes Tre Maquiling
Student Advisory Board Member
Johannes is a student at the Philippine Science High School Western Visayas Campus. He became involved in Turning Green in the later part of 2017 when he qualified as a Project Green Challenge Finalist. Turning Green made him realize that there is much to be done to help the environment and society. Currently, he is pushing for waste reduction and management, especially in his country, the Philippines, and is now volunteering as a 5 Gyres Ambassador. For fun, Johannes plays video games, watches animé and reads novels.
Sophie Van Zee
Student Advisory Board Member
Sophie is a junior at Johnston High School in Iowa. She spends her days playing the trumpet in school bands, joking around with her friends, and fighting for environmental justice. Currently, she is a co-head of the Environmental Science Club at her school and has been working to raise awareness about the issues in her hometown. She plans on majoring in Environmental Science in college. She was a Finalist for Project Green Challenge in 2017 and is now involved with Turning Green to fight for environmental justice.
Bridget Williams
Student Advisory Board Member
Bridget Williams is a Junior at T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria, VA. She was a Project Green Challenge (PGC) 2017 Finalist, and is now serving on Turning Green’s PGC and Conscious College Road Tour Student Advisory Board Committees. Bridget was a founding member of the Watershed Warriors Initiative, a school club and now non-profit that educates elementary school students on environmental issues. She is involved in many activities at her school, including the Superintendent’s Student Leadership Committee, the varsity field hockey team, and the National English Honor Society (NEHS).
Benjamin Wong
Student Advisory Board Member
Benjamin is a senior at Jericho High School in Jericho, New York. He is looking to study natural sciences in college, perhaps environmental biology in order to expand his interests in the science behind environmentalism. In addition to being a Project Green Challenge 2017 Finalist, Ben is also the co-founder and social media manager of a high-school student-led environmental group, AQUASORB, whose goal is to fight water pollution and to educate others about sustainability. In his free time, Ben enjoys creating videos, hiking with his family, and helping others realize the benefits of a conscious lifestyle over a conventional one.
Ilana Zeitzer
Student Advisory Board Member
Ilana is a junior at Dickinson College, double majoring in Biology and Art. Ilana was the 2nd Place Winner for Project Green Challenge 2017. On campus, she is active in her school's environmental activism club, Hillel, the Equestrian team and works at her school's organic farm. She plans to obtain a doctorate in botany after graduating at Dickinson. She is extremely passionate about natural environments and wildlife.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Heidi Locke Simon | Board Chair
Former Partner, Bain & Company
Heidi recently retired as a Partner of Bain & Company, a global strategy consulting firm where she worked for 20 years. She was a leader of the firm’s performance improvement capability area and managed Bain’s marketing and client development efforts on the West Coast. Prior to joining Bain in 1993, Heidi worked in investment banking for Goldman, Sachs & Company and spent time in brand management with Colgate-Palmolive Company. Heidi earned an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Politics and Economics with highest honors from Middlebury College, including course work at the University of Paris. Heidi began volunteering for Turning Green with its first Search for the Cause campaign a decade ago. She has served in numerous roles, including Board Chair for several years.
Al Baylacq | Board Member
Partner, Good Earth Natural Foods
Al has co-led the growth of Good Earth Natural Foods since 1999. Since the early 1970’s, Good Earth’s mission has been to bring organic food into grocery stores in a consistent way, while supporting innovative and ethical organic growers and ranchers. Al’s dream was to be part of a marketplace that reflected the community it served. At the time he joined Good Earth, it was his intention that Good Earth would play a role as a “community hub,” while influencing and educating people and businesses far beyond its local community. Al is proud to have initiated an organic school lunch program through Good Earth in 2003. Good Earth’s school lunch program began with 4 schools, and currently is in 17 Marin County schools. Al and Good Earth’s support has been instrumental in the founding and growth of The Conscious Kitchen program.
Chuck Dietrich | Board Member
Corporate Vice President, OPG Mobile Data Applications and Growth
Chuck works for Rajesh Jha and leads the Mobile Data Labs team in San Francisco. The team builds and grows innovative, mobile-centric applications that help people to use their ambient data combined with artificial intelligence (AI) and delightful experiences to automate their valuable administrative tasks. Chuck also works on OPG and corporate strategy around the areas AI, engagement and growth. Chuck enjoys the challenges of matching user needs with product strategy and goto market models.
Chuck has over 20 years of entrepreneurial experience and was most recently the cofounder and CEO of Mobile Data Labs, acquired by Microsoft December, 2015. Mobile Data Labs is the creator of MileIQ, the top grossing finance app across both Google and Apple’s apps stores. Chuck's entrepreneurial past also includes building a retail products company, followed by joining Salesforce.com in its inception and staying for 9 years. In the role of General Manager and Vice President, Chuck built and ran many of Saleforce.com’s channel and partner programs, including system Integrators, marketing partners, product partnerships, and Latin American distribution. Chuck also built and led the company’s mobile strategy and business unit. After Salesforce.com, Chuck was the CEO of SlideRocket, which grew quickly and was acquired by VMware in 2011.
Chuck earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Colorado and an MBA from the University of Utah.
Chuck has been guest lecturer at Harvard, MIT and Northwestern and presents at many technology conferences. He has served on boards of numerous early to mid-stage companies and is involved with the Pledge 1% nonprofit initiative.
Chuck grew up in New Mexico and lives in Northern California with his wife and two children. Chuck is an avid adventurer and lover of the outdoors. In his younger days he spent a lot of time ski mountaineering in the Andes, Alps and Himalaya. When not working, he and his family can be found traveling, skiing, climbing, biking and kite surfing.
Mohit Gourisaria | Governance Chair
Attorney, Keker, Van Nest & Peters LLP
Mohit is a litigator who loves, in equal part, advocacy and resolution. He also believes in the law's potential to be an equalizer and maintains an active pro bono practice. Outside of his legal career, Mohit teaches writing and oral advocacy, is an ardent theatregoer, and a passionate ally of The Conscious Kitchen. Mohit earned a J.D. from Columbia Law School, an LL.M. from The London School of Economics, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theater Arts and Economics, summa cum laude, from Brandeis University. Mohit serves on the Board of Directors for the Brandeis Alumni Association.
Justina Lai | Treasurer, Finance Chair
Director of Impact Investing, Wetherby Asset Management
Justina is a private equity investor that believes in harnessing the power of capital – and applying the discipline and rigor of conventional investing – to create meaningful social and environmental impact. Justina joined Wetherby Asset management in 2015 where she leads the firm’s impact investment strategy. Prior to Wetherby, she was a Director and Senior Investment Analyst focused on private markets strategies at Sonen Capital, an impact investment management firm. Previously, Justina helped manage the Rockefeller Foundation’s Program Related Investments portfolio comprised of domestic and international impact investments in private equity and private debt. She was also a core member of the Impact Investing team where she advanced and shaped the initiative strategy focused on building the field of impact investing. In addition, she has held positions with Legacy Venture in Palo Alto, CA and Rwanda Ventures, a business incubator launching and operating sustainable agricultural companies in Kigali, Rwanda.
Prior to her career in impact investing, she was an Associate in the New York and Paris offices of Vestar Capital Partners, where she diligenced and executed growth equity and leveraged buyout transactions across the US and Europe. Justina began her career in the sponsor coverage group within Citigroup’s Investment Banking Division in New York. Justina received a BS in Finance and International Business, summa cum laude, from New York University and an MBA with certificates in Public and Global Management from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business. Justina is proficient in Cantonese Chinese and Spanish and has lived and worked in Hong Kong, France, the UK and Rwanda.
Neka Pasquale | Board Member
Founder, Urban Remedy
Neka is a licensed Acupuncturist, Author and the Founder of Urban Remedy. She created Urban Remedy as a natural evolution of her passion for health and healing and living a lifestyle with “food is healing” as her mantra. Growing up in the farm-to-table culture of Northern California, Neka was inspired by people who care about what they eat and who strive to eat for health as well as pleasure. In her private practice of over a decade, Neka combined acupuncture and Chinese medicine with cutting-edge nutrition and lifestyle modifications to heal, balance and create optimal health. Neka started leading wellness retreats with her patients and over and over again they described experiencing life-changing results after just a few days. Inspired by these transformations, Neka knew she had found her calling and in 2009, Urban Remedy was born.
Beth Rattner | Strategy Chair
Executive Director, Biomimicry Institute
Beth directs the Biomimicry Institute’s strategic vision, managing the organization’s program development, fundraising, and marketing efforts. She speaks publicly on how biomimetic design in products, cities, and agriculture can bring about a new level of resilience to our economy and ecosystem, which in turn spur new levels of social equity.
Prior to this position, Beth worked with William McDonough and Michael Braungart on The Upcycle, the sequel to Cradle to Cradle, before she helped co-found the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute and became its first Executive Director and then Vice President.
An attorney by training, Beth was also a managing director for one of the first sustainability business consultant firms, Blu Skye, and business manager for Hewlett Packard’s Emerging Market Solutions (EMS) group.
Beth is a graduate of U.C.L.A. and Loyola Law School and lives in Marin County, California.
Lily Riesenfeld | Board Member
Co-Founder The Pad Studios and Founder, Kinship
Lily has been in the wellness industry for 15 years and has founded several boutique wellness studios, the most successful being The Pad Studios. She recently launched a new project “Kinship”, where she consults for wellness start ups and produces experiences through strategic partnerships and connecting people and healers together. Having grown up in Berkeley, California she is an advocate for concious living free of toxins and leading a natural lifestyle. Lily is an outdoor enthusiast and is passionate about supporting local agriculture at the Marin Farmer’s Market, where you can often find her with her husband and two young children. Lily holds a degree in Nutrition and Psychology from Pepperdine University, and also studied holisitc nutrition at Bauman College. Lily was magnetically drawn to the mission of the Conscious Kitchen finding it a truly revolutionary concept holding the answer to solving the problem with “big food”. By connecting and nourishing our children properly we will together melt away so much of what is wrong with our culture and society.
Eve Wirth | Board Member
Eve is a Development and Events Manager with broad experience including donor relations and development, the development of communication and fundraising strategies, managing all printed materials from concept through design and print, event planning and execution. Her parents were avid, serious gardeners and from a young age learned the importance of eating fresh, organic, and seasonal. She is passionate about the work of Turning Green because she believes it is more important than ever to “raise awareness about conscious living” and influence the current and next generations. In recent years, she focused my energy on serving in her community and the schools that her children have attended. For the last 5 years she has served on the Tamalpais High School (THS)-Parent/Teacher/Student Association and the Tam High Foundation (THF).
James Schurz | Legal Advisor
Attorney, Morrison and Foerster
Mr. Schurz’s practice encompasses all manner of commercial transactions and intellectual property matters, including actions for breach of contract and business torts, including >unfair competition, fraud, trade libel, products liability, and joint venture/distributor termination. Mr. Schurz has broad experience representing energy companies, resource companies, electronics manufacturers, and pharmaceutical companies. He has appeared extensively in courts throughout Northern California, and, in particular, San Francisco Superior Court, the United States District Courts for the Northern and Eastern Districts of California, and the California Courts of Appeal. He is an adjunct professor of law at the University of California, San Francisco, Hastings College of the Law (1998 to present) is the co-author of “How to Choose a Forum that is Right for You” (International Commercial Litigation 2002) and “Dispute Avoidance and Resolution Mechanisms in International Environmental Conventions and Multilateral Trade Agreements,” (United Nations Environmental Programme 1995) and a series of articles for California Law Business, California Real Property Journal, and International Commercial Litigation.
ADVISORY BOARD
Stacy Malkan
Co Founder + Co Director, US Right to Know
For over a decade, Stacy has led campaigns to shift the market to safer products, healthy food and clean production. She is a co-founder and co-director of US Right to Know, a nonprofit organization that investigates and reports on what the food industry doesn’t want us to know about our food. Stacy is author of the award-winning book, “Not Just a Pretty Face: The Ugly Side of the Beauty Industry” (New Society 2007) and she co-founded the national Campaign for Safe Cosmetics in 2002. For eight years, Stacy was the communications director for Health Care Without Harm, an international coalition working to transform the health care industry so it is no longer a source of harm. Prior to her work as an environmental health activist, Stacy was a reporter and newspaper publisher. Follow her on Twitter @StacyMalkan and @SafeCosmetics.
Jeremiah McElwee
Vice President of Purchasing and Merchandising, Thrive Market
A 23 year veteran of the Natural Products industry, Jeremiah has been on all sides of the business and supply chain, literally from seed to shelf. Currently the Vice President of Purchasing and Merchandising for Thrive Market, Jeremiah served for 7 years as the Executive Global Coordinator for the Beauty, Apparel & Wellness categories at Whole Foods Market. During his tenure at WFM, he pioneered multiple, industry changing, quality standard initiatives including natural beauty standards (Aka WFM’s Premium Body Care standard), organic labeling requirements for personal care, and the largest ever sustainable packaging guidelines for a major retailer later adopted by WalMart. Jeremiah is also a passionate advocate for and creator of Fair Trade standards that changed the natural products landscape. When not working as an eco-superhero, he can be found in the Texas Hill Country practicing hot vinyasa yoga, spending time with his daughters, or checking the surf report and planning his next escape to the coast.
Erin Schrode
Co-founder, Turning Green
Erin Schrode is a young ecoRenaissance woman. As the “face of the new green generation,” the co-founder / spokeswoman of TG promotes global sustainability, youth leadership, environmental education, and conscious lifestyle choices. After working in disaster response in Haiti, she founded and launched The Schoolbag, a youth education project to provide materials for students, as well as initiate active citizenry and environmental stewardship.
SUMMER INTERNS
Lara Breithaupt
Senior, Bloomington High School South
Lara is a senior attending Bloomington High School South in Bloomington, Indiana and plans to study physics and mathematics in college. She became involved with Turning Green in 2018 through Project Green Challenge (PGC) as awarded PGC 2018 Champion. She has worked in her community and, through PGC, beyond to spread the sentiment that Turning Green holds of the power of one to create change. She has spoken at many climate rallies in Indiana in hopes of inspiring other young environmental activists to take part in the movement that works to create a thriving, just, and sustainable future for all. Lara leads Students Advocating for a Greener Environment (SAGE), the sustainability club at her school. Lara has played the cello for nine years, plays lacrosse, helps lead the student led activity council, travels around the world, and enjoys hiking in the Alps, spending time with her cats, and learning new things.
Brooke Crouch | Summer Intern
Sophomore, University of Virginia
Nelly Junesand | Summer Intern
Junior, Bates College
Nelly is a rising junior at Bates College, double majoring in Environmental Studies and Politics. Her interest for sustainability was sparked in early high school after taking an environmental science class with an inspiring and encouraging teacher. She became involved with Turning Green as a Summer 2019 Intern and plans to continue working with us as a Campus Rep and Ambassador. On her campus, she is involved with several sustainability projects that aims to reduce the school’s carbon footprint and has started a Citizens' Climate Lobby chapter that works to lobby for climate policies at the state and national level. After graduating college, Nelly wants to work with an environmental justice nonprofit. In her free time, Nelly loves skiing, traveling, eating delicious foods, and listening to podcasts!
Cami Provencher | Summer Intern
Senior, Loyola University
Cami is a senior at Loyola University studying Environmental Science. Cami participated in Project Green Challenge 2017 and was selected as a Finalist. She is one of the leaders of her school's Sustainability Union, the Vice President of the Natural Sciences Club, and an Alliance of the Great Lakes Ambassador. After college, she would like to work for a nonprofit and carry out her passion for sustainability.
