From March 26 – June 22, 2012, you can tune in to Jane Goodall, Bill McKibben, Vandana Shiva, Van Jones, John Robbins, Hazel Henderson, Frances Moore Lappe’, John Perkins, Thom Hartmann, Aqeela Sherrills, Julia Butterfly Hill live on the phone or webcast or later on recorded replays. This is a one-time chance to participate in an event of truly global proportions – with tens of thousands of people like you committed to bringing forth a thriving new world!

Sound interesting? Download the flier (SoS Overview Flyer) and sign up for free!

On April 28, I’ll be co-hosting with Thom Hartmann, to focus on Thriving Communities. Join me to explore what it takes to create them, maintain them, principles and practices. We’ll have six hours of programming with:

• Vandana Shiva (author, international activist, India)
• Aaron Lehmer, Dave Room (principals, Bay Localize, San Francisco)
• Claude Lewenz (founder, Village Towns, New Zealand)
• Esperide Ananas (Damanhur Community, Italy)
• Charles Eisenstein (author, Sacred Economics)
• Manuel Herrera (local green politician, SF Bay Area)
• Michelle Long (BALLE – Business Alliance for Local Living Economies)
• Tina Clark (Transition Towns)
• Andres Edwards (author, The Sustainability Revolution)
• Michael Lewis (author, The Resilience Imperative; Canada)
• Sobonfu Somé (international educator, Burkina Faso)
• Carl Anthony and Paloma Pavel (Breakthrough Communities, California)
• Woody Tasch (Slow Money)

Produced by The Shift Network in partnership with the Sustainable World Coalition, the Spring of Sustainability is the world’s largest-ever sustainability events program. Sound interesting? Download the flier (SoS Overview Flyer) and sign up for free!

Kevin in his new SF DOE office!

On Feb 6 we asked Global Exchange members and supporters to wish Kevin Danaher well at his new position with the San Francisco Department of the Environment as the Outreach and Communications Program Manager.

As one of the co-founders of Global Exchange in 1988, Kevin Danaher has inspired, educated and moved to action thousands in the US and around the world. It’s an amazing opportunity, and we’ve no doubt that he’ll take the Department to new heights, greening and bettering this already fabulous city. As Kevin said to staff and board, “I look forward to working together to take our global values revolution to the next level.”

On Feb 15, 2012 Global Exchange staff visited Kevin Danaher’s new offices at the San Francisco Department of the Environment, to pass a long a collection of well wishes and love from Global Exchange supporters around the country. See a short video of the delivery and watch his thank you back to everyone that signed.

Kevin remains on our board of directors, and has retained an office where he continues to collaborate with Global Exchange whenever he is able. From fighting corporate bullies head-on to spearheading the US’ largest ‘party with a purpose’ with the Green Festivals, Kevin’s vision, leadership, and charismatic presence are close to the heart of who we all are and what we do at Global Exchange. And he has also become one of our valued GEMS: a Global Exchange Monthly Sustainer.

Kevin remains an integral member of the Green Festivals team (in New York, Chicago, Washington, DC, Los Angeles, and San Francisco in 2012!) as well. In his own words, “My paycheck will come from a different institution, and my main desk will be in a different place, but my heart and wild ideas will always reside with my baby, Global Exchange.”

Thanks to everyone who signed the card. Here’s what Kevin had to say about it:

—

After 23 years at Global Exchange, our co-founder Kevin Danaher has taken on a new role as the Outreach and Communications Program Manager with the San Francisco Department of the Environment.

We have an online card set up for Kevin on our website, which you can get to by click here, so folks who want to wish him well can add their name and personalized message easily. We will be collecting all of the messages into one place and presenting them to Kevin in a few weeks. We’ll be sure to share his reaction right here on our People to People blog.

Help us wish Kevin well and thank him for his years of leadership with Global Exchange as he blazes new trails! Sign Kevin’s card and leave a note for him by clicking right  here on our website.

Walter Turner, Board President

Kirsten Moller and Carleen Pickard at Global Exchange's Open House, October 6, 2011

I’m excited to pass the torch to Carleen who has been part of Global Exchange for thirteen years. As Associate Director for the past year, she has worked with members, global partners and staff to build on the people-to-people connections that are integral to GX and essential to fighting for a better world. She also knows the organization thoroughly and is committed to the goals of economic, social and environmental justice, peace and sustainability–values core to Global Exchange’s founding mission.

After two decades, the founders, are ready to embrace new projects and hand over the day-to-day operations to the next generation.   The founders, Kevin Danaher, Medea Benjamin and I, are excited about creating a smooth transition to new leadership after 23 years.  I will fulfill a new role at Global Exchange as Director of Organizing.

Kirsten Moller, Founding Director

I am thrilled and honored to leverage Global Exchange’s legendary signature campaigns that have challenged corporate rule, fought oppression and built alternatives to injustice. With our amazing staff and the support of all of you, we will truly harness the energy of these exciting times and guide a fundamental shift away from a society of greed to one of caring, from a profit-centered economy to people-centered, from currency to community.

Carleen Pickard, Executive Director

We announced Carleen as our new Executive Director at our October 6 Open House. Be sure to check out the pictures of the event, and a video of this special occasion.

Kylie starts things off:

Next, Kirsten Moller encourages activism:

Chie Abad talks ending sweatshops & the power of global community:

Jocelyn Boreta loooves Fair Trade!

Corey Hill is giddy about GX members…

Behind the scene with Zarah:

Ted loves solidarity and presence:

Shannon loves BIG ideas sprung from Global Exchange

Paula loves Green Fests!

Carleen is a fan of our holistic approach…

Kevin Danaher sums it all up for us:

JOIN THE GLOBAL CONVERSATION!

• Find us on Facebook
• Follow us on Twitter
• Share Your Comments on our Blogs

Happy Thanksgiving!

This is Part 7 in an 8-Part “Giving Thanks” series, a Global Exchange exclusive highlighting individuals (chosen by Global Exchange staff members) who are contributing to our social justice work in some way. This series will culminate with a “Giving Thanks” video to be launched right here on Wednesday, November 24th. So please join us in recognizing those special individuals who are helping to make this world a better place.

Global Exchange proudly honored Van Jones earlier this year as the Domestic Honoree during our annual Human Rights Awards. Here Global Exchange and Green Festivals Co-Founder Kevin Danaher takes the opportunity to personally thank Van for his contributions to the green movement:

I am thankful that I have been lucky enough to know Van Jones —as a mentor, colleague and friend—because Van has done SO MUCH to combine the struggle against inequality with the environmental struggle to create a nature friendly economy model. If we had a few thousand Solutionaries like Van, the transition to sustainability would have already taken place.

Van Jones and Kevin Danaher at Global Exchange 2010 Human Rights Awards gala.

Van Jones has been a pioneer in many areas. He was one of the first courageous leaders to call attention to police violence in poor neighborhoods, and he connected it to the violence of US foreign policy in many parts of the world. He has been one of the most articulate spokespeople linking the need for jobs in the inner city with the need to save our environment from the destructive effects of profit-oriented policies.

His path-breaking book The Green Collar Economy: How One Solution Can Fix Our Two Biggest Problems —the first by an African-American environmentalist to make the New York Times Best Seller list—made irrefutable arguments for linking green job creation with the need for more racial equality in our society. While a member of the Obama White House Van pushed the bureaucracies to put more money into green job creation. And now he continues that work, inspiring action for social justice everywhere he goes.

Thank You Van Jones!

If you want to keep up to date about Van and Kevin, here’s how:

Follow Van Jones on Twitter and Facebook.

Follow Kevin Danaher on Twitter and Facebook.

Who are YOU thankful for? Add your own thank you message in the Comments section to recognize someone you think is doing great social justice work. And if you feel so inspired, Retweet and Share this post to help spread the recognition all of our ‘Thankees’ deserve. Thank YOU.

Global Exchange and Green Festival Founder, Kevin Danaher took some time from the weekend festivities to share some words about the future of the green economy with Bill McKibben and Jerry James Stone.

See more of  TreeHugger Exclusive interviews from the 2010 San Francisco Green Festival with Bill Mckibben, including one with Gabe Wisniewski of Greenpeace.

Be sure to check out the #GreenFest twitter feed to see what the twitter community was saying about the SF Green Festival all weekend as it was happening.

Extra Credit!: See Bill McKibben on the other side of the interview table in his interview with David Letterman as he talks about his latest book and solar panels.

The details:
Date: Thursday, November 11, 2010
Time: 12PM Noon Pacific; 1PM Mountain; 2PM Central; 3PM Eastern
Length: 60 minutes

In this hour-long online conversation, Danaher and Cooney will cover:

• Personal success factors and habits for green entrepreneurs
• Hot opportunities to start a green business
• The biggest challenges facing startups and ways to overcome them

Have Your Questions Ready! There will be a Q&A session after the presentation and you can ask your question(s) via chat-room. You’ll be able to participate from anywhere in the world, all you’ll need is a computer with an internet connection.

To participate: Register here.

Investment: Just $15. That’s less than the cost of your monthly gym membership dues, which if you’re like me and rarely go, would be better spent on something like this webinar.

If you register but cannot attend you will receive a recording of the webinar with audio and the complete slideshow.

We hope you are able to join us for this webinar and leave equipped with answers and feeling inspired to embrace the green entrepreneur inside you.

Do you know any budding green entrepreneurs? We’d love it if you helped spread the word about this webinar, so click the Retweet and Share buttons next to this post if you’re feeling inspired to help. The earth thanks you!

On the fence? Here’s a little more about the green guys leading this webinar:

Scott Cooney is a sustainable strategy advisor, author, professional public speaker, and the principal of GreenBusinessOwner.com, he advises businesses on executive strategy and implementation of sustainable principles as a driver of business success. Scott’s book, Build a Green Small Business: Profitable Ways to Become an Ecopreneur (McGraw-Hill), has been hailed by green business professionals, including Horst Rechelbacher (founder of Aveda), as a great starting point for aspiring eco-entrepreneurs to understand the wealth of opportunities available in the green economy for entrepreneurs, no matter what level of formal education or startup capital they have.

Dr. Kevin Danaher is Co-Founder of Global Exchange, Founder and Executive Co-Producer of the Green Festivals, and Executive Director of the Global Citizen Center. Dr. Danaher has spoken at universities and for community organizations throughout the U.S. on issues ranging from the dynamics of the global economy to how we can replace the power of transnational corporations with local green economy networks. Dr. Danaher has published numerous articles and is the author and/or editor of twelve books, including his latest, Building the Green Economy: Success Stories from the Grass Roots.

What People are Saying about Kevin’s past webinars:

Here’s what people have said about previous webinars with Dr. Kevin Danaher:
“A force multiplier”
“An excellent webinar filled with useful information”
“Nice job. Well worth the $.”
“It was indeed informative.”
“Very well run.”
“Thanks so much. That was awesome.”
“Gracias to you all….very informative, very helpful!”
“Good job, keep up the inspiring work Antonia and Kevin!”

Antonia Juhasz

Antonia spent weeks in the region interviewing local people and researching for her new book. She wrote two articles to Huffington Post and was interviewed by Democracy Now! journalist Amy Goodman about the effects of the BP oil spill. She’s been working extensively to report on the oil spill and greatly increased the knowledge of those who participated on this webinar.

If you missed the opportunity to hear those two activists/intellectuals, the recording of the webinar is now available for purchase, for only $5, at http://bit.ly/ciVOBQ

For other Global Exchange’s webinar visit: second Green Careers webinar and first Green Careers webinar.

If you would like to know more about Antonia Juhasz background, visit: http://www.tyrannyofoil.org/article.php?id=43
Follow Antonia on Twitter and Facebook

If you would like to know more about Dr. Kevin Danaher’s background, visit: www.globalexchange.org/getInvolved/speakers/56.html
Follow Kevin on Twitter and Facebook