2022 Drawdown Festival

Lisa Gavales Lisa has been a member of the Women in Retail Leadership Circle advisory board, and recently served as president, direct and chief marketing officer at Talbots. Prior to that, she was executive vice president and chief marketing officer for Express. Lisa’s career also includes a 14-year stint at Bloomingdale’s as Former Senior Vice President-Marketing & General Merchandise Manager in a position as an OMNICHANNEL director.

Darr Reilly Dorothy Reilly, M.Arch. is an environmental activist whose three primary interests are reducing global warming, health and wellness, and building community. She has organized many events including Inherit The Earth, the First New York Women’s Conference for Sustainability, and Drawdown100Women4Women. She is co-founder of both Drawdown East End and Carbon CREW Project. Her inspiration comes from Paul Hawken; climate change is happening for us and is our opportunity to come together collaboratively with creativity and build a thriving community.

Sheila Peiffer Sheila Peiffer’s professional career was in the field of religious education, where she served as a parish director, chaplain and retreat director. She also gained experience in grassroots organizing, lobbying and social justice advocacy as she held many positions in Catholic Reform groups including the international Women’s Ordination Conference (WOC) where she was Chair of the Board. She continues to represent WOC at the U.N., working for gender equity. Having always been concerned about climate change, she now devotes much of her time to guiding CREW sessions and helping the project scale.

Paul Greenberg Paul writes at the intersection of the environment and technology, seeking to help his readers escape screens and find emotional and ecological balance with their planet. He is the author of six books including the New York Times bestseller and Notable Book Four Fish: The Future of the Last Wild Food. His other books are The Climate Diet, Goodbye Phone, Hello World, The Omega Principle, American Catch, and the novel, Leaving Katya. He currently hosts the podcast Fish Talk.

Rev. Kimberly Quinn Johnson Rev. Kimberly Quinn Johnson is minister of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the South Fork, in Bridgehampton. The congregation is recognized as a Green Sanctuary congregation, committed to environmental justice.

Sean Barrett Sean Barrett (he/him) is cofounder of Dock to Dish and The Montauk Seaweed Supply Company. He serves on both the Marine Resources Advisory Council at the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and as advisor to the Federal Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council. His community fisheries and kelp farming work has been featured in The Guardian, TIME Magazine, NPR, Grist, NY Times, LA Times, Washington Post, and on PBS, ABC and the Smithsonian Channel while also being recognized by the United Nations and the World Economic Forum.

Indré Rockefeller Indré Rockefeller is a member of the inaugural cohort at Columbia University’s Climate School and is the Co-Founder of Paravel, an industry-leading sustainable travel goods brand. Paravel’s work has been featured globally in publications including The New York Times, Vogue, Financial Times, The Washington Post, and Fast Company and is the recipient of the Global Vision Award for it’s leadership in sustainable design.

Tela Loretta Troge, Esq. Tela Loretta Troge, Esq. is a member of the Shinnecock Indian Nation and a member of the Hassanamisco Nipmuc Tribe. She is fighting climate change through the Indigenous women’s group Shinnecock Kelp Farmers, an intergenerational collective of water and land protectors. She recently organized the Warriors of the Sunrise Sovereignty Camp 2020 to raise awareness about the plight of the Shinnecock people. Tela graduated from Michigan State University College of Law with a Juris Doctor and certification in Indigenous Law and Policy from the Indigenous Law Program. She has been fighting for tribal sovereignty for the past 5 years as the attorney with the Law Offices of Tela L. Troge, PLLC.

Mark Junker Mark Junker works for the environmental department of the Sac and Fox Nation of Missouri in Kansas and Nebraska. He also writes a region-specific climate summary, pulling public data into readable charts and translating it into easily understandable language. His most recent summary, published in March, featured a section on flooding; people from more than a dozen homes had been evacuated as of March 14.

Casey Emmett Casey is the CEO of The Crop Project Inc. He had the honor to work on Barack Obama’s first presidential campaign, helped to organize a stem cell research conference, and coordinated (among many other good people) relief for the famine in Somalia in 2011. Beginning that year, Casey helped to build snack brand Health Warrior from scratch. Health Warrior worked to bring both ancient and regenerative crops to market. It was acquired by PepsiCo in late 2018. Casey is now working to expand the market’s access to regenerative crops, capture as much carbon as soon as possible, while restoring our soil, oceans, and communities of farmers, be they on land or water. Casey holds a BA in Religious Studies from Colgate University.

Brett Walter Brett Walter, Founder & CEO.  Brett is an award-winning software designer and a veteran Silicon Valley entrepreneur and executive.  The U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Agreement in 2016 was his impetus to found Climate Action Now and devote himself full time to climate action.

About the app: Climate Action Now app has been called an “activism power tool.”  The secret sauce is that the app makes it extraordinarily easy for users to take a climate action on their phones, typically in just seconds, and earn points towards a real tree in the process.  Al Gore’s Climate Reality Project determined that activists with the CAN app took 29 times more action with the app than activists without it and, as a result, is rolling the app out to their entire chapter membership, as is Elders Climate Action.

Dazzle Ekblad Dazzle Ekblad has served as a Climate Policy Analyst for the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) since 2014. Originally from Minnesota, she works out of DEC’s central office in Albany leading the community engagement team at the Office of Climate Change. This team manages the Climate Smart Communities (CSC) program and all its affiliated initiatives, including the zero-emission vehicle rebates, the CSC grants, the Climate Leadership Coordinators, and the CSC certification program. Dazzle holds a Master of Science in Natural Resources Policy from the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, as well as a Master of Public Administration from the Maxwell School of Syracuse University. Outside of work, you’ll find Dazzle digging in her garden, cruising the streets on her electric bike, or scanning the sky for raptors.

Breana Rountree Breana Rountree is a FIT alum and an active collaborator in the sustainable fashion community in NYC who also supports up-and-coming creatives and artists.

Lynn Arthur Lynn Arthur is a volunteer on Southampton Town’s Sustainability Committee, where she is Energy Chair. As Executive Director at Peak Power Long Island, a not-for-profit business, she provides consulting services to municipalities concerning the design and public education for NYSERDA programs including Community Choice Aggregation and Community Solar.

Samuel Levac-Levey Samuel Levac-Levey, Venture Capitalist, Entrepreneur, with a background in  Mechanical Engineering and a future in innovation and solving Climate Change. Sam believes that we have a chance to mitigate the worst effects of climate change, and he’s  fighting to turn that belief into reality by supporting exciting climate startups through Starshot Capital, and by helping to lead one of the fastest growing climate communities, Work on Climate.

Chef Jason Casey Chef Jason Casey, having nurtured a lifelong respect and passion for food working alongside many great chefs in New York City, Chef Jason Casey is tirelessly committed to quality with a focus on fresh, seasonal, and sustainable ingredients. Private chef, graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, and author of The Shelter Island 36 cookbook, Jason’s knowledge of bold, unmasked flavors highlight various cuisines in their greatest form.

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Freddie Catlow Freddie Catlow is CEO and co-founder of Planboo, they’re scaling up carbon removal with bamboo biochar. His background is in sustainable construction and has worked with bamboo in Sri Lanka and India for several years.

Adib Dada Adib Dada is the founder of theOtherDada Regenerative Consultancy & Architecture firm, engaged on rewilding cities by planting native Miyawaki forests in urban landfills through his initiative: theOtherForest, a nature-based tool for ecological and social regeneration

Lena Tabori Lena Tabori has been in visual book publishing since 1967 when she began her career at  Harry N. Abrams, Inc. She left, as their first female vice president, in 1980 to co-found her own publishing company, Stewart, Tabori & Chang, and her own book packaging and licensing firm, Welcome Enterprises where, with her partner Clark Wakabayashi, she continues to package books for publishers like Disney, Rizzoli & National Geographic, nonprofits like God’s Love We Deliver,  and organizations  like Turner Broadcasting.

In 1982 she won an Emmy for producing the animated film, Ziggy’s Gift.

In 1995, Welcome Enterprises created a publishing division, Welcome Books, for which she was Publisher until it sold to Rizzoli in 2014.

In November 2016, she co-founded a climate change website www.climatechangeresources.org, for which she is Publisher and CEO. Her weekly newsletter was just selected as one the top climate newsletters in the country.

She sits on a number of boards, including the Executive Board of The Association of Foreign Press Correspondents. She lives in East Hampton where she is a member of the Energy & Sustainability Committee advising the Town.

William Shutkin William Shutkin has been at the forefront of the sustainability field for almost three decades. David Brower, the father of the modern environmental movement, described him as “an environmental visionary creating solutions to today’s problems with a passion that would make John Muir and Martin Luther King equally proud.” He is principal of Shutkin Sustainable Living in Boulder, CO, a sustainable real estate developer focused on green, mixed-use, mixed-income infill projects in cities. Shutkin is also on the faculty of the Masters of the Environment program at the University of Colorado Boulder, where he leads the Urban Resilience and Sustainability specialization. He is co-founder of the Boston-based environmental justice law center, Alternatives for Community & Environment, and, in 1999, founded New Ecology, Inc., with a mission to green community development in low-income neighborhoods and communities of color. Shutkin is the former president and CEO of Presidio Graduate School in San Francisco, which the New York Times called the best business school to attend “if you want to change the world,” and was on the faculty of MIT’s Department of Urban Studies and Planning from 1999-2009. He is the author of the award-winning “The Land That Could Be: Environmentalism and Democracy in the Twenty-First Century,” and “A Republic of Trees: Field Notes on People, Place and Planet.”

Mary Morgan Mary Morgan, former Locavore, now Climatarian, includes zero-food-waste in her lifestyle, shopping at farmstands first.  She co-founded Drawdown East End and is a co-founder of the East End chapter of Slow Food, started in 2004 to build an audience for fresh, local, farm and sea food. Mary coauthors the Climate Local Now column for the East End Beacon. https://www.drawdowneastend.org/  @ Climatarian.Cafe.

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Shane Weeks Shane Weeks is a member of the Shinnecock Nation of Southampton, New York. Shane’s traditional name is “Bizhiki Nibauit”, which means Standing Buffalo. He is also from the Buffalo Clan. Shane is dedicated to his community and represents his people in a number of capacities. As a traditional singer and dancer, cultural consultant, artist and a member of several boards and committees, Shane’s mission is to bridge the gap between his community of Shinnecock, the local community, and communities abroad.

Susan Wilson Susan Wilson is President of the League of Women Voters of the Hamptons, Shelter Island & the North Fork. She strong proponent of the preservation of our natural resources and an enthusiastic member of Drawdown’ s Carbon CREW project.

Ellen Greaves Ellen Greaves, private chef in Southampton, graduate of La Varenne Ecole de Cuisine, formerly with the Quilted Giraffe and Tea Box at Takashimaya, NYC, and co-author of Simple Menus for the Bento Box.  Chef Ellen is dedicated to reducing food waste and composting.  Co-creator of the weekly “Mustgo soup” recipe because everything that’s not used by the end of the week must go. “You make it by just exploring the fridge.”

Tom Geppel Tom Geppel, farmer/owner of 8 HANDS FARM in Cutchogue, a 28 acres livestock and produce farm, farm store, cafe and butcher shop.  “Fresh from the Farm” reads the website: grass-fed and organically raised meats, vegetables, eggs, prepared foods, a true farm-to-fork experience on the East End of Long Island.

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Tanja Hester Tanja Hester is an activist and author of Wallet Activism: How to Use Every Dollar You Spend, Earn, and Save as a Force for Change, and a stubborn Sierra Nevada gardener.

Tony Piazza Tony Piazza, Horticulturist, owner/landscape contractor of Piazza Horticultural

Abby Clough Lawless Abby Clough Lawless, Landscape Architect principal farm design

Edwina von Gal Edwina von Gal, Founder/president Perfect Earth Project

Krae Van Sickle Krae Van Sickle lobbied to establish the Community Preservation Fund that has raised a billion dollars and saved 10,000 acres of land on the East End, has participated directly in the conservation of hundreds of acres of land including rare ocean moorland habitat, is on the East Hampton Town Energy Sustainability Committee and is a Co- Founder of Drawdown East End.

Steph Larsen Steph Larsen is a clean transportation and solar advocate with a talent for distilling the complex into easy to understand actions. Steph who has worked with organizations like Solar United Neighbors and Sierra Club. She is originally from Wisconsin, and holds degrees in geology and geography. She lives in northern New York on Lake Champlain with her family, and raises yaks in her spare time.

Nathaniel Stinnett Nathaniel Stinnett is the Founder & Executive Director of the Environmental Voter Project, a non-partisan nonprofit that uses data analytics and behavioral science to get environmentalists to vote.

KGB Bodington KGB Bodington, a Southampton HIgh School climate activist, and friends will lead us to understand the impact our financial services can have on greening the planet and what we can do about it.  It will  include banks, credit cards, and pledges we can take to boost our financial climate actions as well as why Climate First Bank has partnered with Paul Hawken’s Project Regeneration.

Elizabeth Lesser Elizabeth Lesser is the co-founder and senior adviser of Omega Institute, the largest adult education center in the United States focusing on health, wellness, spirituality and creativity. She is the author of Broken Open: How Difficult Times Can Help Us Grow[2] and A Seeker’s Guide: Making Your Life a Spiritual Adventure. For more than 30 years, Lesser has studied and worked with leading figures in the fields of healing, spiritual development and cultural change. Her work at Omega has included co-directing the organization, curriculum research, conference weaving, teaching and writing the yearly Omega catalog, a reference book that describes the work of some of the most eminent thinkers and practitioners of our times. She has shared her work and teachings at TED[4] and on Oprah‘s Super Soul Sunday.[5]

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