Ok ok.. so I spent the weekend at GreenFestival in San Francisco…
The Green Festival, co-produced by Global Exchange and Co-op America, brings together green enterprises, environmental groups, leading thinkers on the green economy, and thousands of attendees for a two-day party with a very serious objective: strenghtening the locally controlled, green economy and expanding popular support for policies aimed at sustainability and social justice.
I came away with a new perspective on my personal power to influence change and the feeling that I can make a difference.
Today’s Shout-Outs go to some of my favorite speakers from the event…
Jim Hightower – National radio commentator, writer, public speaker, and author of Thieves In High Places: They’ve Stolen Our Country And It’s Time to Take It Back, Jim Hightower has spent three decades battling the Powers That Be on behalf of the Powers That Ought To Be – consumers, working families, environmentalists, small businesses, and just-plain-folks.
Peter Camejo – Peter Miguel Camejo (63) is a first generation Venezuelan-American who has fought for social and environmental justice since his teens. Peter is chair and co-founder of Progressive Asset Management, Inc., a broker-dealer firm which promotes socially responsible investments. He created the Eco-Logical Trust for Merrill Lynch, the first environmentally screened fund of a major firm, and a top performer. He served three years as trustee of the Contra Costa County Employees Retirement Association. He has also been appointed by the Lt. Governor of Hawaii to be an advisor to the Hawaii Capital Stewardship Forum.
Annita Roddick – Out in the real world, beyond the radar screens of the media and political classes – something is massing. Something bigger than most of us have yet realized – something that is beginning to look likes a genuine global revolution. One that aims at turning on its head the existing power structure, millions strong. A revolution where ideas have wings. Anita Roddick will explore how this movement is taking shape in various countries – including in the Slow Food Movement in Europe, creative and joyful dissent in the streets of America, anti-globalisation actions in India and Africa. Roddick will discuss how business can be part of creative solutions to the problems of globalisation instead of part of the problem.