Green Festival

Christopher O'Brien joined American University in 2009 as the first director of sustainability. Previously, he directed the Responsible Purchasing Network at the Center for a New American Dream, and earlier served as managing director of Green America's Green Business Network and the Fair Trade Federation. He is treasurer of the Fair Trade Resource Network, and coowns the Seven Bridges Organic Brewing Supply Cooperative. He serves on the ASTM Sustainability Executive Committee, the Electronic Products Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) Advisory Board, and the Association for the Advancement ...

Born and raised in the Seattle area, Mike has a deep appreciation for the beauty of the Puget Sound region and a deep respect for the progressive values and spirit of independence of the people who live in Seattle and make it such a great city. After earning an economics degree from Duke University and an MBA from the University of Washington, Mike has spent most of his professional career working in financial management. He served for 10 years as the chief financial officer at the local law firm of Stokes Lawrence, where he oversaw budgeting, financial reporting and forecasting. Mike original ...

Sarah O’Brien of the Green Electronics Council supports use of EPEAT -- the pre-eminent system for evaluating ‘green’ electronics. Previously, at H2E, O’Brien assisted health care organizations to improve environmental performance through purchasing. Earlier, at INFORM, Ms O’Brien assisted governments and businesses to eliminate purchase of products containing toxic chemicals, and as environmental health advocate for the National Wildlife Federation and Vermont PIRG, was involved in legislative advocacy and public education throughout the Northeast.

Elizabeth O’Connell coordinates Green America's Fair Trade Program, which aims to educate American consumers and businesses about the social and environmental impacts of many of the products we consume, and more ethical alternatives. She heads up consumer action campaigns in support of Fair Trade including the Fair Trade Your Supermarket Campaign and the “Raise the Bar, Hershey!” Campaign, which is pushing Hershey to remove child labor from its cocoa supply chain by shifting to Fair Trade certification. Elizabeth provides regular input on developing Fair Trade programs to ensure the hi ...

Katie O’Connor is the Manager of the Chicago Regional Peace Corps Office and served as an Environment Education Volunteer in Nicaragua from 1999 through 2001, helping teachers integrate environmental education into their curriculum. Katie leads the Peace Corps’ largest recruitment territory which covers 11 states.

O'dahl specializes in green building education and outreach.Serving as promoter, organizer, and educator, since 1990, O'dahl is an earlyadopter of Green Building in Washington State. Working with private enterprise, nonprofits, and governments, she designs, supports, and promotes Green Building initiatives and project promotions throughout the Northwest, primarily in the Seattle metropolitan area. Notable projects include the Green Pages for the Northwest EcoBuilding Guild since 2002, the Built Green

Byron is a Junior at the Chicago High School for Agricultural Science (CHSAS). Byron is their gentle giant, who always greets people and has the best manners.

Laura O'Donohue is a recent graduate of UCSD where she majored in the anthropology of food and medicine. She founded a Slow Food on Campus chapter at UCSD, and was a core member of the Sustainable Food Project, which succeeded in putting an urban farm on campus. Laura is currently on the board of Slow Food San Francisco, and organizing a conference to raise awareness and find solutions to the childhood obesity epidemic.Laura O'Donohue is a recent graduate of UCSD where she majored in the anthropology of food and medicine. She founded a Slow Food on Campus chapter at UCSD, and was a core member ...

Sean O'Leary is tea buyer, art director and photojournalist for Rishi Tea. He began his career in photojournalism at the Stevens Point Journal in Wisconsin and continued his path in the visual arts, receiving his BFA in Communication Design from the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design (MIAD). During his time at MIAD he began working with Rishi Tea as an intern photojournalist. He traveled to many teaproducing origins with Rishi founder, Joshua Kaiser, to document organic and Fair Trade tea projects. For the past five years, Sean has been deeply immersed in tea trade and tea culture through h ...

O'Reilley helped found OUT for Sustainability over tennis matches with Gerod and continues to attempt to return the many balls he lobs her way as its Board President. O'Reilley holds an MBA in Sustainability focused on Agriculture and Food Systems from Bainbridge Graduate Institute (BGI). O'Reilley runs a social justicefocused internship program, and consults on projects related to providing healthy food for all. O'Reilley is passionate about anything DIY, riding bikes (including motorcycles), farmers markets, and dinner parties. As a relative newcomer to Seattle, O'Reilley likes it when the m ...

While studying environmental sciences at UC Berkeley, Christina Oatfield held leadership positions in the Sustainability Team, the Berkeley Student Cooperative, The Green Initiative Fund and the Associated Students of the University of California (ASUC). She also co-founded the Berkeley Student Food Collective, a nonprofit, democratically-run sustainable, healthy and ethical foods grocery and educational center. She wrote her thesis on student-run food co-ops and later went on to adapt it into a training manual for the Cooperative Food Empowerment Directive. The Directive has begun training st ...

Speech was born Todd Thomas in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The youngest of parents Robert ; Patricia Thomas. He grew up on two sides of life: the ghetto of Milwaukee (one of the nations roughest cities for African Americans) and (Wauwatosa) Milwaukee's suburbia. Speech learned how to draw from the pains and beauty of both. He would absorb the plights of his people and yet the retreat of middle class blacks to primarily white neighborhoods. Speech experienced hardcore racism as a young boy. He also lost his grandmother to a heart attack and his older brother, Terrence Thomas to an Asthma attack all w ...

Twenty years of experience as a resource, consulting with businesses regarding energy efficient applications in lighting remodels and upgrades. Meeting /exceeding design specifications for utility incentives and tax credits in commercial and industrial facilities. Formed partnerships with over 50 contractors, businesses and building owners for energy efficient lighting upgrades amounting to over 3.5 million kWh hours saved. Performed lighting energy assessments and identified opportunities for improved energy efficiency in commercial and industrial buildings. Proven resource to sales prof ...

Sarah Looney Oldmixon is the Program Director for Workforce Initiatives at the Community Foundation for the National Capital Region, where she manages the Greater Washington Workforce Development Collaborative.

Reverend Dr. Elouise D. Oliver is the senior minister of the East Bay Church of Religious Science in Oakland, California. Under the leadership of Rev. E the Church has grown from 37 members to 1200 members since 1991. As a spiritual leader, the essence of her ministry is unconditional Love. She teaches that love and forgiveness is the answer to all human discord. Rev E has received numerous awards, honors and recognition and continues to have a tremendous impact on peoples lives around the globe, showing others how to create positive life changes and opportunities to experience greater love ...

Actor, producer, director and community activist Edward James Olmos was born and raised in East Los Angeles. A veteran of the theater, he earned a Tony nomination for his mesmerizing performance in the 1978 drama/musical Zoot Suit. He reprised the role for a feature film in 1981, and went on that year to star in Wolfen. He followed these performances with pivotal roles in Ridley Scott’s landmark Blade Runner and Robert M. Young’s acclaimed The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez. Olmos’ feature film credits also include Selena, Mi Familia/My Family and American Me, which he also directed. His exte ...

Erik Olsen is Green Projects Administrator for the City of Chicagos Department of Construction and Permits. Current projects include management of the green permit program, development of a green building code, and piloting an electronic plan review process. Erik has also worked as a consulting mechanical engineer on a wide variety of building types. He serves on the U.S. Green Building Councils Greening the Codes Committee and has previously served as cochair of the state and local government committee for the U.S. Green Building Council Chicago Chapter. Erik is a graduate of both the Mas ...

Man One is a leading urban muralist/artist enhancing the definition of art today. Involved with the Graffiti Art movement since 1987, his artwork has been showcased in over 40 group exhibitions, eight one-person shows, and displayed at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, The Getty, Pasadena Museum of California Art, Orange County Center for Contemporary Art in Santa Ana and Parco Museum in Tokyo. Man One's commissioned work includes murals, designs and concepts for MTV, Coca-Cola, Adidas, Sony, Ubisoft, Symantec and many others. His artwork has appeared in print publications includi ...

As president and general manager of Planet Green, ONeill is charged with developing content strategy for Planet Green, a global, crossplatform initiative including the firstever, 24hour television network dedicated solely to green lifestyle programming.

At age five, Maria Onesta Moran drove her first electric car—a PowerWheels. Raised in an environmentally aware family, Maria graduated from DePaul University with a degree in Sociology. Her green building experience took root in a marketing and fundraising job for Lakefront Supportive Housing, now known as Mercy Housing Lakefront. Maria was part of the campaigns to build two LEED-certified apartment buildings in Chicago that provide permanent housing and supportive services for people who were formerly homeless. These buildings have received international acclaim for providing innovative and ...

Joleen Ong is the Communications Manager at Social Accountability International (SAI), where she is responsible for all internal and external communications activities working with global representatives to increase the visibility and promote SAI’s mission of ‘human rights at work.’ Joleen helped to develop the SA8000® guidance document for auditors that focused on freedom of association and collective bargaining in Costa Rican banana plantations. Prior to SAI, Joleen was a student activist leading a campaign to increase Fair Trade campus purchasing practices and contributed to two awa ...

THE BEGINNINGIt was Pangea founder and CEO Joshua Onyskos personal devotion and commitment to inspiring social sustainability that sparked the inception of Pangea Organics eight years ago. He devised the selling of the highest quality organic, personal care products as a means to an even greater end. After seven years of traveling to the likes of India, Nepal, and Tibet, Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Thailand, Onysko had an epiphany: He realized that corporations were inheriting the earth and that by leading by example there was potential to influence others to reconsider their ways. He shared wit ...

Opal Plant is a lecturer for the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund and Democracy Schools.

Opperman is the cofounder of awardwinning nonprofits Sustainable Ballard and SCALLOPS. Though trained as an architect, she spends most of her time as a community organizer and believes neighbors are a powerful force in modeling sustainable practices, community selfreliance and environmental stewardship. Sustainable Ballard and SCALLOPS were created to give people tools and resources for making these urgent and important positive contributions.

Adam Ortiz is the mayor of Edmonston, a small working class town in Prince George's County, MD. Under his administration, crime has been cut in half, years of flooding have ended due to the construction of a sophisticated flood control system, and the east coast's Greenest Street is being built, an awardwinning project that will reduce storm water pollution in the Chesapeake Bay.Adam has been Edmonston's mayor since 2005. He also serves as deputy chief of staff for Maryland Lieutenant Governor Anthony Brown, overseeing communications and policy. He is the past president of the Maryland Mayo ...

Orr leads the Expanded Food ; Nutrition Education Program and theFamily Nutrition Program at University of Illinois Extension, providinginteractive nutrition education to more than one million each year.

David W. Orr is the Paul Sears Distinguished Professor of Environmental Studies and Politics and Special Assistant to the President of Oberlin College and Executive Director of the Oberlin Project. He is the recipient of seven Honorary degrees and other awards including The Millennium Leadership Award from Global Green, the Bioneers Award, the National Wildlife Federation Leadership Award, a Lyndhurst Prize acknowledging “persons of exceptional moral character, vision, and energy,” and the Santa Monica Library “Pioneer Award for contributions to sustainability literature.” He has been ...

Adan has more than 25 years of public affairs and water expertise. He has unique understanding and experience of water through leadership roles in Southern California, California, and U.S. urban, agricultural and environmental organizations. Adan is well known for utilizing entrepreneurial, innovative and organizational approaches in consulting practice, business ventures and volunteer activities. Adan co-founded Water Conservation Partners, Inc., which is introducing private funding and investment toward water conservation projects and strategies. They are making water available for new deve ...

Described as “soulful, genuine and edgy” by the San Francisco Bay Guardian and an “indie folk powerhouse” by Bend’s Source Weekly, Valerie Orth is a fearless and genre-bending songwriter. Her distinctive hybrid of rock, groove, soul and folk reaches out and grabs your attention; her live performances captivate and charm at once. Valerie understands song as revolution, whether personal or political, and as evolution, creating change within herself and the possibility for it within her listeners. Her calls to action, for compassion or to a distant lover in a faraway city are all voice ...

Adam Ortiz is the mayor of Edmonston, a small working class town in Prince George's County, MD. Under his administration, crime has been cut in half, years of flooding have ended due to the construction of a sophisticated flood control system, and the east coast's Greenest Street is being built, an awardwinning project that will reduce storm water pollution in the Chesapeake Bay.Adam has been Edmonston's mayor since 2005. He also serves as deputy chief of staff for Maryland Lieutenant Governor Anthony Brown, overseeing communications and policy. He is the past president of the Maryland Mayo ...

Polly Osborne’s architectural career began in 1977 when she went to work for the Architectural firm of Ray Rector and Associates in Napa Valley. While working for Rector, she gained knowledge of adobe, earth-sheltered and rammed earth as well as conventional design and construction methods.Soon after, she earned her Master of Architecture at Southern California Institute of Architecture, and started Osborne and Associates. Polly won the 2007 Green Building Citation from The AIA Monterey Bay Chapter for Taiji House and the top award for Green Building from Sustainable San Mateo County. She h ...

Cris Oseguera has been working with individuals and families in Santa Rosa for about 30 years. His love of assisting others began at about age six with basic Spanish to English and English to Spanish translations. Despite the many challenges he and his family endured as immigrants, he was able to complete High School, transfer to Santa Rosa Junior College and then to Cal State Chico, where he obtained his BA in Psychology. The many job positions he has held with various non-profits include: Youth Liaison, Family and Youth Advocate, Case Manager and Transitioning Age Youth Advocate respectively ...

Oshman is the Founder and Executive Director of the Green Restaurant Association (GRA), a national nonprofit organization formed in 1990 to shift the restaurant industry toward ecological sustainability. A true expert in the Green Restaurant

Ostrom is the Co-Executive Director of NBIS, the Network for Business Innovation and Sustainability. Founded over eight years ago, NBIS provides programs and networking opportunities that link professionals and businesses with the tools, coaching and resources they need to advance sustainability and profitability in their companies and organizations. NBIS’ Grassroots Leadership program, GreenBag Lunches and monthly Eco-Hours provide opportunities to meet like-minded individuals across industries and to gain inspiration and tools for advancing sustainability. NBIS’ Accelerating Sustainabili ...

Riki Ott, PhD is a marine toxicologist and commercial fisherma'm who was one of the first people on the scene during the Exxon Valdez oil spill, when millions of gallons of crude oil were discharged in the single most devastating environmental catastrophe in U.S. history. For 20 years, she has been the voice and face of efforts for justice.Ott is also the central character of the awardwinning film BLACK WAVE: The Legacy of the Exxon Valdez. The lawsuit tells the tale of the battle between commercial fisherpersons against the largest corporation in the world (ExxonMobil). The struggle is ongoin ...

Jacquie Ottman is an internationally recognized expert on green marketing and eco- innovation. She is the founder and principal of the NYC-based J. Ottman Consulting, Inc., Clients include Fortune 500 companies, including 3M, Nike, and Johnson and Johnson. Her firm has also advised several U.S. government ecolabeling programs, including the U.S. EPA's Energy Star, SmartWay, and the new USDA Certified BioBased label. A sought-after speaker who has been quoted in Forbes, Fortune, Businessweek, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, Ottman is the author of four books on green marketing, ...

Otto is a cofounder at Infiniti Real Estate ; Development and provides real estate services and consulting both domestically and internationally. Otto is a LEED Accredited Professional and an Ecobroker specializing in the green housing market in Seattle. Prior to her work in green building and development, Otto gained over fifteen years of experience working on sustainability issues worldwide. In 2001 Otto worked for the WA State Office of Trade and Economic Development in Energy Policy. In 2002 Otto spent six months working with the United Nations preparing a policy agenda for the World Sum ...

Cheryl the Pig Lady is a farmer in Tacoma Washington, where she grows Breakfast, Lunch, & Dinner! She raises cows, pigs, sheep, goats, chickens, turkeys, and ducks in a free range, all natural, integrated management system. She direct markets her product to a 100 family CSA, Farmer's Market, and local restaurants.

Noted by Black Enterprise as one of the “Top 20 National Bloggers of 2012”, Yoli Ouiya earned her online media moniker, “Queen of Green”. Yoli is a holistic health advocate, sustainability consultant and well-regarded green chef. As Founder of the boutique eco-lifestyle outfit, Yoli’s Green Living Group, Yoli promotes health and environmental education, and guides conscious consumer habits. Her online portal, YolisGreenLiving.com, was awarded “Best in Green Living” by AllParenting.com. With a certification in Plant-Based Nutrition from Cornell University, Yoli is a passionate le ...

Scott Overpeck is a creative leader with a heart for contextualizing movements of justice, advocacy and compassion to his surroundings. He is the founder of Intersection Creative Strategies, a consultancy advising social enterprises and nonprofits on communications as it relates to marketing, fund raising and commerce. Additionally he sits on the board of Renewing Hearts; helped found Laundry Love Santa Ana; and leads 511, a small creative community in Santa Ana. Scott lives in Orange County, California with his wife and two sons. He enjoys tacos, unicorns and American Idol.

Kathy Ozer has worked on farm, rural, and fair trade policy for over 20 years at the National Family Farm Coalition. In the mid-1980's she worked for the United States Student Association (USSA) on education access issues. She is on the board of the Citizens Trade Campaign and Jobs with Justice and has worked closely on policy issues with the Community Food Security Coalition. Since 1999, Kathy has been part of the farmer delegations at the WTO in Seattle and Cancun and at the United Nations. Her current work addresses the credit and global food crisis; holding onto farmer wins to restore fa ...