Teens Turning Green

February 5 + 6th, 2010
Marin Academy, San Rafael, California

Students, teachers, and community members are invited to join together for two days of panel dialogues, interactive workshops, strategic planning and group discussions with visionary environmental leaders to educate, inspire, and activate change. 

Thank you to our sponsors 

View Final Program

View Photos and Testimonials

Adam Werbach's Speech Copy: " You Were Born to Save The Planet" 

 Click here to view invitation  or  Download Invitation Here

Program :

Friday, February 5
6:00-6:45 pm: Registration and Dinner
6:45-7:15: Slide Show and Campaign Introductions
7:15-7:45: Keynote Speaker:  Adam Werbach, President, Saatchi + Saatchi S

Speech Copy: " You Were Born to Save The Planet"

7:45-900: Dessert and Activity / End of Evening

Saturday, February 6

9:00- 9:30 am Registration
9:30-10:00  Breakfast
10:00-10:30 Teens Turning Green Presentation

10:45 am -11:45 pm: Panel Discussions  (Select one of three panels)

Panel One: Eco Lifestyle -Sustaining the World

• Teen Moderators: Natalie Whalen and Laura Harvey

• Panelists:
  Karen Stewart Brown: Co-founder, Stewart+Brown
  Olowondjo Tchala: Founder, Alaffia Skincare
  Zem Joaquin: Founder, ecofabulous.com
  Beth Greer: Author, Super Natural Home and radio show host on Progressive Radio.

Panel Two: Your Body, Your Health: Demystifying the Science

• Teen Moderators: Morgan Abbett and Morgan Gooding

• Panelists:
  Tracey Woodruff, PhD, MPH Assoc. Prof and Dir., UCSF Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment
  Stacy Malkan: Author, Not Just a Pretty Face, Co-Founder, National Campaign for Safe Cosmetics
  Renee Sharp: Scientist, Director, California Office, Environmental Working Group
  Dr. Ted Schettler : MD, MPH Science Dir., Science and Environmental Health Network (EHN)

Panel Three: Green Schools

• Teen Moderators: Cora Went and Michael Perlstein, Mari Vial-Golden (intro) 
• Panelists:
  Karl Palmer: CA State Dept of Toxic Substance Control
  Mark Stefanski: Biology Teacher, Marin Academy
  Melanie Vrabel: EPA DfE Branch Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics
  Jorge Lee: Founder, Marin House Cleaning

 Noon-1:00pm: Panel Discussions (Select one of three panels)

Panel Four: The Rules of Political Engagement

• Teen Moderators:Moderators: Emily Packer, Clay Krebs, Alejandra Leon (Intro) 
• Panelists:
  State Senator Mark Leno
  Marin County Supervisor Susan Adams
  Paul Schramski Towers, Director Pesticide Watch
  Dan Jacobson, Legislative Director Environment California

Panel Five: Turning A Passion into a Platform

• Teen Moderators: Kate Smith and Erin Schrode

• Panelists:
  Kimberly Pinkson: Founder, Ecomom Alliance
  Summer Rayne Oakes : Eco Model / Activist
  Joshua Onysko: Founder Pangea Organics
  Marci Zaroff: Founder Under the Canopy / FASE
  Rachel Lincoln Sarnoff: Founder/CEO ecostiletto.com

Panel Six: Food: Justice for Schools

• Teen Moderators: Max Perry and Mari Vial-Golden

• Panelists:
  Lynn Hirschfield: Author, Girls Gone Green and SVP Participant Films
  Anna Getty: Author and eco educator 
• Helge Hellberg, Executive Director, Marin Organic

1:00 -2:00pm: Lunch

2:00-3:00pm Dialogues:

An In Depth Conversation with our Esteemed Panelists. Small group discussions to engage these experts in a personal setting. Each dialogue leader will have half an hour to talk about topics of interest to you and to the audience. Moderators will help guide the talk and the Q+A.

• Eco lifestyle

         Experts: Olowo-n'djo Tchala + Joshua Onysko, Moderator: Kate Smith         

         Experts: Zem Joaquin + Summer Rayne Oakes, Moderator: Erin Schrode

• Eco Fashion

         Experts: Karen Stewart Brown + Marci Zaroff, Moderator: Laura Harvey + Natalie Whalen

•  The Making of a Green Janitorial Closet

3:00 – 5:00 pm : Interactive Workshops

Food: Locally Sourced and Sustainable: Work with professional chefs and the Marin Farmers Market to create a healthy meal on a budget. There will be a tasting at the end of the day.

Lead by: Anna Getty, Eco educator; Heidi Krahling,  Insalatas Restaurant; Ryan Carney, G-Rock; reen Smoothie;  Seann Pridmore, Epicurean Group and MA Chef Manager,  Neil Gottlieb, Three Twins Icecream

Building an advocacy campaign: We will model this workshop around the BYOBag Marin campaign to support the Single Use Bag Ban Ordinance and participants will create a new campaign in support of a project that we want to work on.

Lead by - students Emily Packer, Clay Krebs, and Alejandra Leon; Supervisor Susan Adam; Paul Schramski Towers, Executive Director, Pesticide Watch; Advertising Agency Director, Butler, Shine, Stern; Judi Shils, Executive Director, Teens Turning Green; Dan Jacobson, Executive Director, Environment California

Eco Fashion and the Re-Event: Work side-by-side eco fashion designers Karen Stewart Brown and Marci Zaroff as you create unique items that can be worn for the Spring eco fashion Re-Event. Sewing machines and eco fabric supplied.
Lead by: Karen Stewart Brown, Founder, Stewart and Brown and Marci Zaroff, Founder Under the Canopy and FASE.

4:00-6:00 pm Green Lifestyle Expo and Green Spa 

6:00 pm  Farewell 

Also featuring  gift bags, raffle prizes and sumptuous organic meals

Admission is FREE with prior registration

Directions to Marin Academy
1600 Mission Ave
San Rafael, CA 94901

Please inquire about a home stay with local campaign members e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Keynote Speakers

Adam Werbach, CEO, Saatchi + Saatchi S , Keynote Speaker

 Adam Werbach is regarded as one of the world's premier experts in sustainability. At age 23, hewas elected as the youngest president ever of the Sierra Club, the oldest and largest environmental organization in the United States. In 1998, Werbach founded sustainability agency, Act Now, to engage the corporate and media world in social, environmental, cultural and economic change. After ten successful years, Act Now merged with global ideas company Saatchi & Saatchi to form Saatchi & Saatchi S, the world's largest sustainability agency.
Adam Werbach has always been an advocate for change, as exemplified by his 2004 speech, "Is Environmentalism Dead?" which sent shockwaves through the environmental movement. Werbach declared that he would no longer call himself an environmentalist, as the movement was unprepared to solve the underlying social and economic issues of climate change. Soon after, Wal-Mart engaged Act Now to lead the involvement of its 1.9 million Wal-Mart associates in the Personal Sustainability Project ("PSP").

Adam Werbach returned to the Commonwealth Club in April 2008 to receive its 21st Century Visionary Award and deliver his follow-up address to "Is Environmentalism Dead?" entitled "The Birth of Blue", which envisions a billion-person strong, consumer-based movement for sustainability.

Adam Werbach is a highly sought-after speaker and writer who has appeared on television shows like The O'Reilly Factor, Charlie Rose, and Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher. He serves as a Communications Advisor on Climate Change for the National Academies of Sciences.

Saatchi & Saatchi S has offices in San Francisco, Boulder, New York, Fayateville, Chicago and London.

Panelists Listed in alphabetical order

 Susan Adams, Marin County Board of Supervisors

Dr. Susan L. Adams currently represents the 1st District on the Marin County Board of Supervisors. Born and raised in San Francisco, she attended Lowell High School and nursing school at San Francisco State University. She completed her master's degree in nursing at UCSF as a maternity clinical specialist and a women's health nurse practitioner. Her clinical practice and research focus was child bearing women with a special interest in addiction and recovery during pregnancy and motherhood. She graduated from the doctoral program at UCSF in 1998. Her research and dissertation work investigated the experiences of pregnant women and new mothers who were using crack cocaine. Susan is also a proud mother and grandmother.

As a County Supervisor, she serves on a number of boards and commissions including the Children’s Health Initiative Task Force, the Marin County Disaster Council, the Criminal Justice and Behavioral Health Task Force, the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO), the Association of (SF) Bay Area Governments (ABAG), the ABAG regional planning committee (RPC) and the state and national associations of counties (CSAC and NACo) serving as Chair on the Medicaid Committee of NACo. She also serves as Director of Emergency Services.

Karen co-founded Stewart+Brown, along with her husband Howard Brown, in 2002 and oversees all design and production activities. Prior to Stewart+Brown, Karen worked as a Sr. Designer at Patagonia, where she worked for 5+ years. Subsequent to her Patagonia experience, Karen was a Sr. Designer at J.Crew for 3.5 years responsible for all womens knits and sweater categories; the
highest volume and most profitable division of the company. She began her design career at Urban Outfitters / Anthropologies, spending 2.5 years designing their most popular collections. Karen holds a B.F.A. in painting Maryland Institute College of Art and has no formal training in fashion
design.
Karen and Stewart+Brown have won many honors and accolades including 'Coolest People Now' by Outside Magazine, “Ones to Watch” by Wired Magazine, “Conscientious Choice” winner by Natural Health magazine, “Best of Green” by Treehugger, “World's Most Stylish Ethic Fashion Brand” by Body+Soul Magazine, Elle's "Best Green Fashion Brand" and one of the “World's Top
Fashionistas” by Grist.

Jordan Childs is an Account Executive with the advertising agency Butler, Shine, Stern and Partners based in Sausalito, CA. The agency is tasked with the building creative communications and marketing for clients like Radioshack, Priceline, MINI USA, Columbia, Greyhound, and SF MoMA. Jordan works primarily with MINI USA and works with the retail creative and marketing team for the central and western United States. Prior to joining BSSP, Jordan worked with Hamilton Beach in brand and design strategy, Jack Morton Worldwide in the creative design department, The Westport Group as an account manager and was an adjunct professor at Virginia Commonwealth University where he taught Introduction to Advertising. He received his Master's degree from the VCU Brandcenter in Creative Brand Management and his undergraduate degree in Public Relations from Appalachian State University. Jordan is originally from North Carolina and now lives in San Francisco. 

Beth Greer, Author, Super Natural Home

Beth Greer, The Super Natural Mom™, is an award-winning journalist, holistic health advocate, impassioned champion of toxin-free living, and radio talk show host, who busts open the myth that our homes are safe havens.  Her bestselling book, Super Natural Home: Improve Your Health, Home and Planet…One Room at a Time (Rodale, 2009), endorsed by Deepak Chopra, Ralph Nader, Peter Coyote and others, shows how food, cosmetics, personal care products, household cleaners and furniture are making us sick.

 

Formerly President and Co-Owner of The Learning Annex, the largest private alternative adult education company in the U.S. , Beth has helped thousands see new possibilities and feel empowered to make changes in their lives. Beth is the host/producer of “The Super Natural Mom Show” on the Progressive Radio Network, where she shines the light of truth about what goes in us, on us and surrounds us and gives insights on how to live a safer, less toxic, and more natural life. She also hosts “The Super Natural Teens Show” with co-hosts Erin Schrode and Mattie Kahn of the Teens Turning Green Campaign.

 

She’s written for the San Francisco Chronicle’s Home Section and US magazine and blogs on the Washington Times Communities as well as on her website www.supernaturalmom.com, www.intent.com and www.redroom.com. She has appeared on ABC-TV's View from the Bay with segments on How to Turn your Bedroom into a Safe, Healthy Haven and How to Create a Safe, Healthy Kitchen.

 

Beth was named a recipient of the “100 Magnificent Marin Women Award” by Search for the Cause, a non-profit organization that investigates how exposure to chemicals in our daily lives increases the risk of cancer. 

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Helge Hellberg, Executive Director, Marin Organic,Creator and radio show host of An Organic Conversation on Green 960.

In 1998, after a successful career as a Warner Brothers-signed musician in Germany, Helge moved from Hamburg to the San Francisco Bay Area in pursuit of a healthier life. Recovered from a serious illness by eating local organic foods just a year prior, he became a scholar of organic food production and sustainability.

After working as Wild Oats Markets' Northern California Marketing Manager, Helge accepted a position at California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF), one of the largest organic food certifiers in the United States. There, as Marketing & Communications Director, Helge worked to educate the food industry and the public on the value of organic food and the importance of establishing an agricultural system based on biologically sound methods.

In 2004, he became the Executive Director of Marin Organic, an innovative association of organic producers in Marin County, California, dedicated to creating the first organic county in the nation. The organization addresses today's economic, environmental, social, and cultural challenges in new and creative ways, and has become one of the most progressive voices of sustainable agriculture in the United States.

In 2009, he launched An Organic Conversation, a weekly radio show on Clear Channel affiliate Green 960 (www.Green960.com), discussing today's challenges and their solutions, healthy living, and sustainable choices. An Organic Conversation features groundbreaking initiatives and ecology-based thinking in the organic food and holistic health movement, blending science with ancient

knowledge, and spirituality with many observations and stories from the land.

Lynn Hirshfield, Author, Penguin's Girls Gone Green and SVP, Participant Media
Lynn is responsible for launching Participant’s publishing division to complement the company’s films and social action campaigns. Lynn, who joined Participant Media in May 2007, is also responsible for leading the development of strategic marketing partnerships and integrate these partners into social action and advocacy campaigns. Prior to joining the staff of Participant, she consulted for the company throughout 2006 on the social marketing and outreach for the Academy Award®-winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth. Lynn has served in the same capacity for a number of internet content and technology start ups, and various studios and venture capital groups specializing in creating new verticals and generating strategic partnerships with corporate sponsors. 

Previous to entering the internet arena, she worked as a development executive for productions garnering a number of awards, including four Emmys, a Peabody Award and two Television Critics Awards -- among them the PBS series Wishbone. She was also a story editor for National Geographic Feature Films, Scott Rudin, Norman Lear, Tim Burton and Sony, Fox and Warner Bros. Studios.

Dan Jacobson, Legislative Director, Environment California

Mr. Jacobson directs policy development, research, and legislative advocacy for Environment California. Based in Sacramento, he leads the organization's policy agenda and advocates before the state Legislature and Congress. Dan started his 22nd year in July 2009.

Mr. Jacobson led efforts to pass the California Clean Energy Act, the strongest renewable energy law in the country.

By working to ban PBDE’s in 2003 and phthalates in 2006, Mr. Jacobson led the campaign to get the state Legislature and the Governor’s office to adopt the Green Chemistry Initiative.

This year Mr. Jacobson is working in both Washington DC and Sacramento to ensure that the economic recovery act funds are used as efficiently as possible. 

He has authored several reports, including Three Strikes and You Profit: A CALPIRG Study of Clean Water Enforcement in California, and testified before the state Legislature on preservation and clean air issues.

He has appeared on The O’Reilly Factor on the Fox News Channel, and has been featured in The Los Angeles Times, The San Francisco Chronicle, and The Sacramento Bee.

Zem Joaquin, Founder, Ecofabulous
Zem Joaquin, Green Design and Strategy Consultant, is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of ecofabulous.com, a website that dedicated to finding the best of the best when it comes to sustainable, sexy, stuff. Zem also applied her eco-chic talents to Condé Nast’s House &Garden magazine as the former Eco Editor and currently to Domino Magazine as Contributing Eco-Editor. She also hosts a segment on apopular morning radio show and co-hosts episodes on national television programs such as Kimmora Lee Simmons “Life in Fab Lane,” and the upcoming Adrian Granier “Alter Eco” program. Zem regularly featured in various print, online and television channels, and she is frequently introduced and quoted as an industry thought leader and green design authority. A certified green building professional, protogé of William McDonough and long-time fashionista, Zem consults on eco-design projects for individuals and corporations. Her approach, mission andvision are inspirational and captivating as she is frequently engagedby leading corporations such as PG&E, Williams Sonoma Home, PotteryBarn, Visa and Whole Foods to lead mid level & senior management teams through tailored green strategy presentations and educational seminars. She is also co-founder of the Cradle to Cradle 2009 conference. When Zem is not writing for her website, preparing her next monthly contribution to a media channel, or helping a company “go green,” she is committed to her positions on the Board of Directors Global Green USA, Healthy Child, Healthy World, and Teens for Safe Cosmetics. She has lived and worked in Milan, Paris and London and finally settled down in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and two young children.

Jorge Lee, Founder and CEO, Marin House Cleaning L.L. C

After graduating from Cornell University in 2007, Jorge returned to his native Mill Valley to establish a nontoxic residential cleaning service. Switching out toxic cleaning products for their greener counterparts is significantly healthier for families and reduces the pollution that enters the environment. He has been featured in the Marin Independent Journal and is slated to appear in Marin Magazine’s February edition. Marin House Cleaning develops all of their cleaning products in-house, and is currently the only Bay Area Green Business Program certified housecleaning business in Marin. 

Mark Leno, California State Senator

Starting his first senate term in January 2009, Senator Mark Leno represents the 3rd District, including Marin, and portions of San Francisco and Sonoma Counties. He is the first openly gay man elected to the State Senate, and one of the first two openly gay men ever elected to the Assembly. Prior to his election to the Senate, he served six years in the State Assembly and four and a half years on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.

While in the Assembly, Leno fought for better schools and access to higher education, a cleaner and sustainable environment, single-payer universal affordable and quality health care, improved transportation, renewable energy, safer streets and equal rights for all Californians. His AB 849 in 2005 and AB 43 in 2007 were the first two marriage equality bills passed by both houses of any state legislature in the United States allowing LGBT couples to marry. 

Stacy Malkan, Author, Not Just A Pretty Face, Co-Founder, National Campaign for Safe Cosmetics Stacy authored the recently published Not Just A Pretty Face and co-founded the National Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, a coalition working to eliminate hazardous chemicals from personal care products. As Malkan says in her book, I was a teenage make-up diva, “We’re talking an elaborate morning ritual involving skin creams, eight types of make-up and multiple hair products, topped offwith a generous cloud of Aqua Net Hair Spray — all before I left the house! 20 years later, I was able to conduct an investigation into my teen beauty routine to find out what I was exposing myself to on a daily basis: 200 chemicals in all, many of them toxic. These days, I still use multiple products, but the old brands are long gone in  favor of safer alternatives.”

Sarah Newman, who joined Participant in 2007, is responsible for researching and managing all of Participant’s social action campaigns. In addition, she writes blog posts for Takepart.com and the Huffington Post.  

Prior to her arrival at Participant, Sarah worked for multiple organizations as a community organizer, researcher and outreach director. While in graduate school she worked at the Southern California Environmental Health Sciences Center where she worked with researchers and advocates addressing the health effects of the Los Angeles-Long Beach ports. Also during graduate school, she worked for Strategic Actions for a Just Economy where she examined the county’s lead poisoning policies. From 2001 to 2004, she served as the Outreach Director for California Interfaith Power and Light, a statewide interfaith global warming campaign. She joined the group from its inception and oversaw the development of the organization's programming, outreach, membership, working groups, website content, events and educational materials. During the 2004 presidential campaign, she created and ran Greens for Kerry,  a national campaign  to mobilize registered Greens voters to support John Kerry. Before moving to California, she worked as a community organizer in Milwaukee, where she focused on welfare reform and public transportation issues. She was involved in union activities in college and participated in Union Summer, organizing the hotel industry in Hilton Head, SC and poultry workers in North Carolina.   

She received her Bachelor's degree in history from Barnard College and a Masters degree in Public Health from UCLA. 

Joshua Onysko, Founder, Pangea Organics

Pangea Organics is a multimillion-dollar company and a paragon in sustainability, organic skincare and package design. Joshua Onysko is the founder and owner of Pangea Organics, whose skin care products can be found in top major retailers like Whole Foods and Macy’s. Today the company remains committed to creating all natural skincare products that are organic, handcrafted, and cruelty-free. Making soap with your mom can be simple family fun — or the seed of one of the fastest-growing organic skin care businesses in the country. 

Pangea's 10,000-square-foot facility is wind-powered; the carpeting and paint are non-VOC (volatile organic compounds); the company property has a 3,000-square-foot organic garden where employees are paid to produce organic food six months of the year. Pangea also promises natural packaging in its products. If you remove the label from a box, soak the box in water, then plant it, and basil, amaranth or other plant will grow.

Karl Palmer, CA State Dept of Toxic Substance Control , EPA

Karl Palmer is the manager of the Department of Toxic Substances Control’s (DTSC) Pollution Prevention Branch in the Office of Pollution Prevention and Green Technology. He is currently responsible for DTSC’s efforts to implement pollution prevention programs, supporting local Green Business Programs and helping lead the Department’s efforts to expand pollution prevention efforts, green chemistry strategies and sustainability initiatives throughout California. 

Prior to his current job, Karl lead DTSC’s Regulatory and Program Development Branch,  providing technical support and policy development and adopting regulations for hazardous waste classification, recycling, household hazardous waste, electronic waste and universal wastes.  Mr. Palmer has worked in each of DTSC’s core programs performing a wide variety of work including site assessments and inspections of hazardous waste sites, conducting investigations at state superfund sites, cleaning up former methamphetamine labs and coordinating HAZMAT support at major chemical spills and natural disasters.

Mr. Palmer holds a B.S. in Resource Sciences from the University of California, Davis

Kimberly Pinkson, Founder, Ecomom Alliance
Kimberly Pinkston, founder of the  EcoMom Alliance, is educating mothers about how to create a greener environment for their families and future. At over 10,000 women strong and growing, organizing earth mamas is an idea whose time has obviously come!

Kimberly is a longtime social entrepreneur, having co-founded two socially and environmentally conscious youth outreach dance companies, and a graduate of the Environmental Forum of Marin Saturday program. She is a popular media guest, speaks regularly at events around the world, writes for websites and parenting magazines including iVillage and The Cradle’s Ask EcoMom column, sits on on the Advisory Board for the Be EcoChic public awareness campaign, and has recently appeared on the TODAY Show, 20/20, ABC News, CBS News, and View from the Bay. She has been a contributing editor for Los Angeles Dance and Fitness, Tahoe Quarterly and Generation X, authored one book and, before becoming a mom and founding the EcoMom Alliance, worked across a myriad of industries in production, editorial, marketing, cross cultural communications and health and wellness.

All of Kimberly’s work has been deeply imbued with the principles of Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability (LOHAS) and being a single mom has not slowed her commitment to making a difference. Indeed, she is motivated every day by her son Corbin and a commitment to giving him, and all the world’s children, the chance to connect with nature, and understand our shared responsibility in, and gift of, the web of life.

 Summer Rayne Oakes, Eco model , Activist
Summer Rayne Oakes graduated from Cornell University—an entomologist and environmental scientist by training. In 2000 in the midst of her studies, Oakes embarked on a journey o cause-related modeling and innovative sustainable design/development projects to push sustainability issues through fashion and media, a position which earned her the name of “The Eco-Model ” . In addition to this, Summer Rayne is now a spokesperson, resident expert, and youngest Board of Adivsors for Planet Green, Discovery Network’s new eco-lifestyle network that launched June 4, 2008 to 50 million households. Summer Rayne talks about her book "Style, Naturally" on YouTube.

Rachel Lincoln Sarnoff is a writer, producer and spokesperson who left a successful career in marketing and offline publishing to follow her dream of helping women "stiletto-size" their carbon footprints. In 2008, she founded EcoStiletto.com, an online magazine dedicated to eco-friendly fashion, beauty and lifestyle, which now has more than 35,000 subscribers to its weekly newsletter. Rachel has been a reporter for PlanetGreen.com and Treehugger.com, and wrote the “L.A. Story” column on Sprig.com. As a small-screen environista, Rachel has guested on eco-lifestyle “CNN Headline News Local Edition,” “Extra,” “Living With Ed,” “Hollywood Green,” “Good Day L.A.” and TV Guide Channel’s “The Fashion Team” segments, and has spoken on behalf of the national non-profit Healthy Child, Healthy World and Whole Foods’ Whole Body department. A mother of three, she also writes a “Mommy Greenest” blog about eco-friendly parenting her three children, ages 10, 8 and two.

Leah Smith, Director of Outreach/Farm to Fork Director

Leah has worked with Marin Agricultural Institute (recently merged with Marin Farmers Markets) for more than 3 years, and has worked in Marin County working to further the sustainable agriculture movement for more than 10 years. Leah attended Pitzer College, one of the Claremont Colleges, where she was the first person to graduate with honors in Environmental Studies. She then received a Rotary International Ambassadorial Scholarship to live and do agricultural research in Nepal for a year. She has more than a dozen years of experience in agricultural education, community outreach, event planning and program development.

She previously worked with Marin Agricultural Land Trust and directed EECOM’s Marin Food Systems Project. Leah has served on the Marin Food Policy Council, the Marin Physical Activity and Nutrition Wellness Advisory Committee, Marin Agriculture and Education Alliance Steering Committee, and was the Co-chair for the state-wide Community Food Security Task Force in
2005-06. She currently runs the Farm to Fork program, a local education and distribution program aimed at linking local food and farms with schools, businesses, non-profits, health care facilities and more. 

Ted Schettler, MD, MPH Science Dir., Science and Environmental Health Network
(www.sehn.org).  Ted Schettler is Science Director of the Science and Environmental Health Network, and a leading medical voice for environmental health and preventative action. Ted focuses especially on the complexities of public health -- including the interaction of environmental contaminants, nutrition, and social stressors such as poverty and lack of health care -- and the future of medicine and healing. He has a medical degree from Case Western Reserve University and a masters in public health from Harvard University. Dr. Schettler is co-author of “Generations at Risk: Reproductive Health and the Environment”; “In Harm's Way: Toxic Threats to Child Development”; and "Environmental Threats to Healthy Aging". He has published a number of articles on related topics in peer-reviewed journals and has served on advisory committees of the US EPA and National Academy of Sciences. He practiced medicine primarily in New England for many years.

Paul Schramski Towers, Executive Director, Pesticide Watch
Paul is the State Director of Pesticide Watch and Pesticide Watch Education Fund and manages the day-to-day operations of the organization. He previously worked for Toxics Action Center in New England. Paul is a graduate of the Green Corps field school for environmental organizing. He also serves on the Board of Common Frequency, a California-based media justice nonprofit.

Renée Sharp, Director of California Office, Environmental Working Group
Renée holds Masters and Bachelors degrees in Biology from Penn State University and Rice University. She first worked as a Senior Analyst for Environmental Working Group on a wide range of environmental health and natural resource issues for eight years before becoming head of the organization's California office in 2008.When not in the office Renée spends most of her time hiking, climbing, skiing and rafting, and believes that the US now has an unprecedented opportunity to regain world leadership on environmental issues.

Mark Stefanski, Science Teacher, Marin Academy

Mark has taught high school science for the past 23 years, and is currently a Biology instructor at Marin Academy in San Rafael where he holds the H.D. Thoreau Faculty Chair, a position that promotes education for sustainability and interdisciplinary teaching and learning. A recipient of the Gustav Ohaus Award from the National Science Teachers Association for innovative teaching strategies in high school science. Mark is passionate about working with teenagers to assist them in gaining a deeper sense of self, and he facilitates programs, including wilderness programs, that help teens to identify core values, fields of interests, and personal skills. He also consults with the Teens for Healthy Schools program. 

Olowo-n’djo Tchala,  Founder, Alaffia Skincare

Olowon-d'djo, a West African by birth and his American wife Rose ( they met when she was in the Peace Corp in Togo ) , founded Alaffia  Sustainable Skincare. Alaffia is one of the most innovative and original eco body companies in the "green" world. The products are made with Shea butter, a natural renewable resource and other indigenous ingredients that come from the people of the Agbanga Karite/Alaffia Shea Butter Women’s Cooperative bringing income to the people of this community in Togo, West Africa. Olowo-n'djo has worked hard to bring economic gender equality to the women of Togo as well as making his products fair-trade and sustainable.10% of their sales sales support community enhancement projects in Togo, West Africa. Alaffia has a fabulous product in the Teens Turning Green Collection called Mambo Mango Body Butter.The company is based in Olympia, Washington.  

Melanie Vrabel, EPA, DFE, Office of Polution, Prevention and Toxics
Melanie Vrabel is a Chemist and Project Manager within the Design for the Environment (DfE) Program.  Ms. Vrabel works with formulators to  develop chemically safer products as part of the DfE Formulator Recognition Program.  Ms. Vrabel also manages the report development and hazard assessment portion of the Flame Retardants in Printed Circuit Boards partnership. The common objective of DfE partnerships is to integrate health and environmental considerations into business
decisions.  Ms. Vrabel holds a Masters of Science in Chemistry from Carnegie Mellon University, where she used Fe-TAML® activator technology to break down natural and synthetic estrogens, and many pharmaceuticals, in water.

Tracey Woodruff, PhD, MPH Assoc. Prof and Dir., UCSF Program on Reproductive Health  

Marci Zaroff, Founder, Under the Canopy, & Founder/CEO, FASE
Marci has a degree from the Haas Business School at UC Berkeley. A vegetarian since the age of 16, Marci co-founded a thriving health and environmental educational center, Aveda Spa, magazine and organic cafe in New York City, known today as “The Institute for Integrative Nutrition”. After a decade in the natural/organic food and beauty worlds, Zaroff recognized the “missing link” in the wellness equation, and seized the opportunity to launch leading organic & sustainable fiber lifestyle brand “Under the Canopy”. She pioneered the market for ECOfashion®, a term she coined and trademarked in 1996. Always evolving & driving the market with her passion, creativity and vision, Marci is currently building her next cutting-edge sustainable lifestyle brand, FASE. Zaroff is an internationally recognized expert, innovator & authority in organic fiber fashion and home products and has created a unique development, distribution and monitoring business model to ensure that the process and the products remain pure and authentic. She helped write the USA & Global Organic Fiber certification standards, has launched first-time organic fiber initiatives into major retailers nationwide, and is a sought after speaker & spokesperson of ECOfashion & green business. Marci is the proud mother of 2 Teens raised Green, Jade and Mason.

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