Symposium Speakers

Mission	Principles	Team	Membership	Presentations	Contact

		Symposium Speakers & Panelists

		PART 1 — ENVIRONMENT, NATURAL RESOURCES

		Randy Hayes Co-founder and president, Rainforest Action Network Randy is a leader in the efforts to halt destruction of tropical rainforests and to fight for the rights of indigenous people. He works with organizers and regional networks worldwide in building a movement for effective social change. His “500 Year Planning Process” spells out a vision of a sustainable society and how to get there.

		Michele Perrault International vice president, Sierra Club Michele was former national Sierra Club president 1984-86 and 1993. She was the co-founder Bay Area Alliance for Sustainable Communities, former member of President Clinton's Council on Sustainable Development, President Carter's Advisory Council on Coastal Zone Management Present. Michele founded and chaired coalitions that stopped oil and gas drilling of both east and west coasts.

		Pam Wellner Senior Campaigner, Greenpeace USA Pamela Wellner has fifteen years experience in creating and coordinating public campaigns for environmental and human rights organizations. Most her campaign work is aimed to move corporations and the marketplace towards environmental and social responsibility. She is currently on the board of directors for the Rainforest Action Network and Environmental Investigation Agency.

		PART 2 — PEOPLE, COMMUNITIES, CULTURES

		Medea Benjamin Co-founder/director, Global Exchange; co-founder, Code Pink For over twenty years, Medea has supported human rights and social justice struggles around the world. Medea is a leading activist in the peace movement and helped bring together the groups forming the coalition United for Peace and Justice. She is also the co-founder of Code Pink: Women for Peace, a women's group that has been organizing against the occupation of Iraq and pushing for a reorientation of budget priorities in the US to focus on heath care, education and housing, not war.

		Brahm Ahmadi Co-founder and co-executive director of People’s Grocery Brahm Ahmadi is a 28 year old Iranian-American from East LA living in West Oakland, CA. Brahm is co-founder and co-executive director of People’s Grocery, a community-based food justice organization building a community food system and local economy in West Oakland through social-purpose ventures and agricultural enterprises.

		Anuradha Mittal Executive director, the Oakland Institute A native of India, Anuradha is an internationally renowned activist, writer, thinker, speaker, on agriculture, rural development, international financial institutions, and human rights. She is co-editor of America Needs Human Rights; and edited The Future in the Balance: Essays on Globalization and Resistance , and Voices From the South: Third World Speaks Out Against Genetic Engineering.

		PART 3 — ECONOMY, COMMERCE

		Jerry Mander President at the International Forum on Globalization Jerry presides over IFG, an international alliance of 80 scholars and activists in 25 countries, working to educate the public about the dangers of economic globalization. He is also program director for the Foundation for Deep Ecology, and a senior fellow at Public Media Center, a non-profit advertising agency in San Francisco. His books include the international best seller, Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television.

		Heather Sarantis Sustainability research, The Natural Step Heather leads the sustainability, food, fish, and fiber initiative at The Natural Step. Previously she worked at the Rainforest Action Network as a campaigner and organizer, and was involved in successfully negotiating an end to a boycott against Mitsubishi. Heather has also worked with the Buddhist Peace Fellowship on prisoner rights and anti-death penalty efforts, and authored Business Guide to Paper Reduction for ForestEthics.

		Jim Garrison President, State of the World Forum Jim founded the State of the World Forum in 1995, to establish a global network of leaders dedicated to those principles, values and actions necessary to guide humanity toward a more sustainable global civilization. With President Gorbachev as its Convening Chairman and Garrison as its President, the Forum has convened leaders from around the world and a spectrum of disciplines to its annual and regional Forums to deliberate upon and take action concerning issues of global concern.

		PART 4 — ACTIONS FOR SUSTAINABILITY

		Dr. Kevin Danaher Co-founder, public education director, Global Exchange Described by The New York Times as the "Paul Revere of globalization's woes," Dr. Kevin Danaher's analytical expertise, sense of humor and blunt eloquence make him an exceptionally dynamic speaker. As Global Exchange's co-founder, Kevin has spoken at universities and for community organizations throughout the U.S. Dr. Danaher is the author and/or editor of 11 books, including his latest, Insurrection: Citizen Challenges to Corporate Power.

		Ellis Jones Co-author, The Better World Handbook Ellis Jones currently wears the hats of professor of sociology and social responsibility, author (including From Good Intentions To Everyday Actions) and Co-Founder of The Better World Network, a nonprofit dedicated to the democratization of activism to create a more just and sustainable world. Ellis leads workshops around the country on global social responsibility and the translation of lofty ideals about saving the world into sustainable, effective, everyday actions.