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Monday, April 30, 2012

Women and Power: Is The Web the New Key to Global Change and Women's Empowerment?

Cross-posting my piece from the new "Feminism 2.0" platform The MissStory.com
- Kathleen M. Connell


Women and Power: Is the Web the New Key to Global Change and Women’s Empowerment?

- In every part of the globe, women are oppressed by the lack of political, economic or cultural power. And within the women’s community, there are castes of women-by birth, age, skin color, sexual orientation, or other characteristics-who are not treated as full human beings by other women or society-at-large. What are the issues, what are the solutions, and what are examples of women overcoming various shades of gender inequality, against all odds?
 (Source: United Nations)
Welcome to my column on The MissStory platform. Women’s voices speaking truth to power online is an opportunity for empowerment. I will be discussing the topic of women and power, and other issues in this space.

Here is what the United Nations says about the global status of women today:

• There is a direct link between increased female labour participation and growth: It is estimated that if women’s paid employment rates were raised to the same level as men’s, America’s GDP would be 9 percent higher; the euro-zone’s would be 13 percent higher, and Japan’s would be boosted by 16 percent.
• Women’s nominal wages are 17 percent lower than men’s.
• In some regions, women provide 70 percent of agricultural labour, produce more than 90 percent of the food, and yet are nowhere represented in budget deliberations.
• In Mexico, women in paid employment devote an additional 33 hours to domestic chores per week, while men’s weekly contribution six hours.
• If the average distance to the moon is 394,400 km, South African women together walk the equivalent of a trip to the moon and back 16 times a day to supply their households with water.
• In Arab states, only 28 percent of women participate in the workforce.
• OECD Official Development Assistance (ODA) for gender equality has tripled in 2006 compared with 2002, going up from US$2.5 billion to US$7.2 billion. This has meant an increase in the proportion of total ODA from 6 to 8 percent.

Impact of the economic crisis on women
• Women constitute around 60–80 percent of the export manufacturing workforce in the developing world, a sector the World Bank expects to shrink significantly during the economic crisis.
• The global economic crisis is expected to plunge a further 22 million women into unemployment, which would lead to a female unemployment rate of 7.4 percent (versus 7 percent of male unemployment).
• Women are concentrated in insecure jobs in the informal sector with low income and few rights; they tend to have few skills and only basic education. They are the first to be fired.”

( Source:  Occupy Boston, USA 2011)
In my adult life time, the wage inequality of women has been lessened by only about 25 cents over the last 30 years. Women in the US still make only 75 cents to the dollar of the prevailing male wage. Women’s inequality has led to a dependence on male earners and patrons, which opens the door for vulnerability, low self-esteem and exploitation of women around the world.
This millennia-old problem has also led to sexual slavery, misogynistic politics, policy and treatment of women, double standards for all women, including women leaders.

In politics and in the corporate boardrooms, women are vastly under-represented. The glass ceiling has proved, to a generation of women workers, to be double paned, as even modest advances in the work place and in Congress have created a blow back from the right wing. The Arab Spring and Occupy has produced a web-enabled viral mass movement reborn.  Will 2012 be the year of the woman in US politics, thanks to this movement? The campaign wars are on, and we will see in November.

The irony is that thought leaders believe that the empowerment of women, globally, could directly blunt climate change and other global issues. As the UN states about its millennial goals:
“UN Women is one of a number of United Nations agencies charged with supporting countries in moving forward on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The eight goals, adopted by the international community in 2000, set targets for 2015 on eradicating poverty, achieving universal primary education, promoting gender equality and empowering women, reducing child mortality, improving maternal health, combating HIV and AIDS and other diseases, ensuring environmental sustainability, and providing financing for development.
All eight MDGs touch essential aspects of women’s well-being, and in turn, women’s empowerment is critical for achieving the goals.” 
The Women’s Movement, Reborn: Will We Go Global This Time, Online?
The global recession has brought about a next wave of the women’s movement in the US and elsewhere. Next gen feminists now actually use the term feminist with pride again. The chants at a 2011 Boston Occupy rally are very familiar to long-time women’s activists: “I’m a woman by birth and a feminist by choice!” yelled Boston resident and activist Tyena through a megaphone outside of Quincy Market on a recent Sunday to a crowd. “I am here to tell the church and State House: Get your hands off my body,” she said. “Stop deciding the fate of my body. Sisters, allies – get up, speak up, be heard.”
An entire generation of women is re-igniting a generations-old call for full empowerment. Will they push beyond the barriers, in a new globalized world, to reach new levels of power and equality? It remains to be seen. In short the 2nd wave feminist movement (post suffrage) in the developed world is summarized by one history site in this way:
“The women’s movement of the 1960s and 1970s drew inspiration from the civil rights movement. It was made up mainly of members of the middle class, and thus partook of the spirit of rebellion that affected large segments of middle-class youth in the 1960s. Another factor linked to the emergence of the movement was the sexual revolution of the 1960s, which in turn was sparked by the development and marketing of the birth-control pill.”
Reform legislation also prompted change. During debate on the 1964 Civil Rights bill, conservatives hoped to defeat the entire measure by proposing an amendment to outlaw discrimination on the basis of gender as well as race. First the amendment passed, and then the bill passed, giving women a legal tool to finally secure their rights.
Women themselves took measures to improve their lot. In 1966, 28 professional women, including Betty Friedan, established the National Organization for Women (NOW) “to take action to bring American women into full participation in the mainstream of American society now.” By the next year, 1,000 women had joined; four years later membership reached 15,000. NOW and similar organizations helped make women increasingly aware of their limited opportunities and strengthened their resolve to increase them.
Feminism, or organized activity on behalf of women’s rights and interests, reached a high tide in the early 1970s. Journalist Gloria Steinem and several other women founded a new magazine, Ms., which began publication in 1972. Between 1971 and 1976, Our Bodies, Ourselves, a handbook by a woman’s health collective, sold 850,000 copies.
Some activists pressed for ratification of an Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to the Constitution. Passed by Congress in 1972, it declared, “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.” Over the next several years, 35 of the necessary 38 states ratified it. The courts also promoted sexual equality. In 1973 the Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade sanctioned women’s right to abortion during the early months of pregnancy — a significant victory for the women’s movement.
In the mid- to late 1970s, however, the women’s movement stagnated. It failed to broaden its appeal beyond the middle class. Divisions arose between moderate and radical feminists. Conservative opponents mounted a campaign against the Equal Rights Amendment, and it died in 1982 without gaining the approval of the 38 states needed for ratification.
My own journey of liberation included working on global women’s issues, which was novel in the 1970′s and 1980′s. In the pre-web world, women of all classes and locations attempted to create a global network on women and corporations. Ms. Magazine quoted me and others, in “Life on The Global Assembly Line” a piece by Barbara Ehrenreich and Annette Fuentes. The situation we were seeking to redress then still continues today.
From their 1984 Ms. magazine article:
“Every morning, between four and seven, thousands of women head out for the day shift. In Ciudad Juárez, they crowd into ruteras (run-down vans) for the trip from the slum neighborhoods to the industrial parks on the outskirts of the city. In Penang they squeeze, 60 or more at a time, into buses for the trip to the low, modern factory buildings of the Bayan Lepas free trade zone. In Taiwan, they walk from the dormitories-where the night shift is already asleep in the still-warm beds-through the checkpoints in the high fence surrounding the factory zone….So far, feminism, first-world style, has barely begun to acknowledge the Third World’s new industrial womanpower. Jeb Mays and Kathleen Connell, cofounders of the San Francisco-based Women’s Network on Global Corporations, are two women who would like to change that: “There’s still this idea of the Third World woman as ‘the other’-someone exotic and totally unlike us,” Mays and Connell told us. “But now we’re talking about women who wear the same styles in clothes, listen to the same music, and may even work for the same corporation. That’s an irony the multinationals have created. In a way, they’re drawing us together as women.”
 (Image text below photo: Women today on the assembly line at Foxconn, China. Creating the very devices we use to grow our online power. Will these workers participate in the gains? Poor working conditions and suicides in the manufacturing plants used by Apple and other products have been identified, and went viral, thanks to the web. Young women are very nimble and fast. But as they age, the employer often fires them at 25, returning women to poverty, and ending an income the family depends upon.)
Our work on women and corporations in the 1980′s was born from a structural critique, that linked women’s oppression to the growth and power of the emerging multi-national corporations. The same conditions exist today, only with more penetration into every facet of life, and driven by the primacy of profit above all. The web is a tool we did not have in our quiver in the 1st and 2nd wave. The internet is a “disruptive” change in society and will be the key enabler to the next global women’s movement. 
The good news is that there are new, disruptive models of participatory governance and markets, all driven by a  quest for social equality, and the “triple bottom line” of people, profits and planet.”  A global platform that connects us is Kiva, an online micro lending entity. Through those with more can lend to women in the Third World and enable women’s financial well-being, the baseline of political and social empowerment.
(TEXT UNDER IMAGE: Meet Tojiniso, of Tursan-zoda, Tajikistan. She needs just $525 more in mirco loans to grow her sewing business, which supports her family. You can lend to her at Kiva, here.
New social entrepreneurs, including The MissStory, are experimenting with empowering business models that are sustainable financially, and also do not sacrifice truth and liberation in the process. The web makes this possible, and connects us globally in ways not available to women of former generations.
Thanks for stopping by, and I look forward to hearing your ideas and comments on the next frontiers of women and power in the 21st century.
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Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Lori Saldaña Gets It: Good Jobs, Tech Jobs, Green Jobs


April 10, 2012
by Hon. Col. Kathleen Connell
San Diego, California
Past is often prelude in politics. Former Assemblywoman Lori Saldaña, congressional candidate, has a career track record of creating, managing, teaching and providing San Diego with the best jobs available. See her website here to learn more about her jobs, high tech, and Green economy accomplishments. Lori has distinguished herself as a California Assemblywoman, career workforce development leader, and veteran's advocate. 


I spent many years living in or flying in and out of Washington DC. I worked with elected officials in Congress, in the nation's state houses, federal agencies and state economic organizations.  I often worked on high tech, economic development and education policy initiatives. From my experiences being on the ground in job creation efforts, I believe it is important to have a seasoned hand like Saldaña at the nation's job rudder right now. 


This is an era of unparalleled change for humanity, as we transition from a carbon-based economy to clean energy. America's roads and bridges are old now, and require refurbishment. Our energy grid is obsolete. Renewing America's entire infrastructure is an effort akin to the World War II national mobilization, only much, much bigger. It is a job that the private sector can and will be an integral part of. But infrastructure is the role of government, as government retires the risk with public investment, paving the way for further private sector investments. 


The lingering Great Recession and complicated economic recovery period, is no time to elect folks with steep learning curves. I know we need fresh, but wise leaders-already familiar regarding the intricacies of job creation and  deliberation-in the US Congress. Lori already has that experience, as her terms in the California Assembly are a natural stepping-off point for work in the  US House of Representatives. 


 California is, after all, like a nation. The World Bank states California is the 8th largest economy in the entire globe, despite the recession.  She was, effectively, a key decision maker and manager of the California economy during her years in the Assembly. As Speaker pro Tempore, her responsibilities of leadership grew during her tenure. Achieving this post says her peers believed she could lead, on both sides of the aisle. 


                                          Image: Saldaña Swearing In As Speaker pro Tem.
                                          East County Magazine


 In contrast, having had his turn at the wheel in Washington, incumbent candidate Brian Bilbray has demonstrated he is not quite up to this historic task of job creation and support for working people, including women. Bilbray's record on jobs, clean energy,  unemployment and small business-where the private sector new jobs are created- is a record of obstructionism. Common sense bills, that would have passed muster in the Reagan years got a "no" vote from Brian Bilbray. Brian voted with the right wing majority in the House. Falling in line will have it's rewards, when undisclosed campaign funds come his way in this election to bombard the media and web. 


It is important to look at the legislative records of our candidates, above all. What are the outcomes of bills in Congress?  Despite his affable demeanor, Bilbray's record is not so compassionate, or constructive.  Consider his record:


According to the non-partisan independent watch dog group OpenCongress.org, job bills Bilbray has opposed in recent years include:
-The American Jobs Act
-Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act
-The Emergency Extended Unemployment Compensation Act
-The American Clean Energy and Security Act
-The Small Business Jobs Tax Relief Act


Crisis Equals Opportunity


Further, if crisis equals opportunity, an opportunity for job creation is unfolding as a crisis in San Diego right now. As the campaign in the newly drawn 52nd congressional district heats up, so did the nearby San Onofre nuclear plant in northern San Diego.  Radiation does not respect congressional district lines, and a failure there would be regionally catastrophic. Today this aging plant sits in darkness, as an investigation goes forward. The  problems and radiation leak potential are connected to redesigns done in secret, without the knowledge of federal regulators. Many San Diegans want San Onofre to stay closed, and to switch to Green energy and a Green job explosion instead on a nuclear one. It is a question of political will, in my view.

 We don't know the fate of San Onofre, but the opportunity to flood our energy base with renewable energy, a smart grid, and repairs of our aging infrastructure is here. In fact, it is a must. A new underclass of the permanently unemployed are in deep need of quality jobs. Returning veterans are coming home to a fragile, but promising, economic recovery. Saldaña notes that: "With growing concerns over safety at the San Onofre Nuclear Generation facility in San Diego County, it's becoming more clear: Americans need a safe, clean and modern power grid.
We have the technology and people to do this- but we need to invest in our infrastructure."


 Why does all this matter in the long run? America and San Diego can't compete in the global economy with crumbling roads, bridges, schools, Fukushima-like unsafe nuclear power plants, and a carbon-based energy infrastructure. We need new infrastructure, and Green, smart, high tech jobs. That is the hallmark of a 21st century city and country. 


Lori gets that. She always has. Lori Saldaña has spent a lifetime preparing and leading on jobs and economy issues. Her leadership is proven. No one can take that away from her in this hard fought congressional contest. Yes, experience matters. Now, more than ever, as we try to turn crisis into opportunity, we need the people-centered leadership of Lori Saldaña as our representative in Washington. 

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

GreenBlue San Diego, April 5. Green Leaders Brief: Oceans, Water, Careers, Green Economy, Climate Seminar


Earth is The Blue Planet! The sustainable water, ocean economy and career arenas are growing fast in San Diego, and our GreenBlue Leaders are navigating the way forward. Leader Briefings:  San Diego Council Member Sherri Lightner: "San Diegos' Comprehensive Water Policy and Our Economy".  San Diego Port Commissioner Lee Burdick: "The New Climate Action Plan of The Port, Our Economy and The Future of The Working Waterfront".  Carl Nettleton Founder, Open Oceans Global: Our Oceans Health, The Economy and The Future.  Water and ocean careers expert Wendy Evers, Senior Director of Program Development, San Diego State University College of Extended Studies: "The Next Wave of Water Careers, The Water Economy, and Continuing Education".  Dr. Oscar Romo, UN Delegate and Tijuana Estuary Watershed Coordinator for the State of California: Oceans, Water and Sustainability...and the Border Economy".  Tim Ostrowski, VP, Business Development, Cricket Communications, Inc. and Executive Sponsor, Cricket Green Team.  Hon. Col. Kathleen Connell, Former NASA Senior Executive/Senior Scientist, Policy Director, Congressional Advisor, and Green Experts Academy Founder, at the helm. Also welcoming Erin Martin, Associate Director, Marketing, Green Experts Academy.
This event is appropriate for Green experts, career seekers,  ocean lovers and anyone who is concerned about water, conservation, climate and the economy in San Diego. Join us for Earth Month!
Tickets:  Advance ticket discount price is $20 + $2.09 Eventbrite fee.  Includes food, and free parking.  Tickets are $30 (cash only) at the door, the day of the event, April 5th, 2012.  Registration starts at 5:30pm, The program begins at 5:50pm SHARP, and ends at 9:15pm.  Register now at http://greenbluesd.eventbrite.com
Please support our Venue Partner and Host Cricket Communications, Inc. 

Celebrate April, Earth Month, With Us!
Hon. Col. Kathleen Connell, M.A
Founder,  Green Experts Academy 
Discover I Engage I Transform

From our media release:
(San Diego, March 19, 2012) "GreenBlue San Diego" kicks off Earth Month in San Diego, on April 5th, 2012, in honor of the Blue Planet, Earth. A distinguished group of regional Green leaders will brief on the next wave in the renewable sector, the sustainable oceans and water economy. Career experts will also discuss the growth of careers and job paths in this new and expanding area of the economy. Climate change is occurring, and the oceans are key to our lives and the future of the Blue Planet, Earth.
GreenBlue San Diego is presented by Green Experts Academy, produced by Hon. Col. Kathleen Connell.  Kathleen is the Founder of Green Experts Academy, Principal of the Connell Whittaker Group LLC, and a former senior NASA executive.  She was awarded the NASA Exceptional Public Service Medal and during her career has been the Aerospace States Association Policy Director, and an Associate Director and Senior Scientist at Universities Space Research Association. She also served as the Congressional Advisor to the Director of Space Life Sciences at NASA Headquarters.  Kathleen is one of the pioneering founders of the science of astrobiology, an earth, life and space sciences discipline, which seeks to understand the origin, nature and distribution of life in the universe and on earth.
GreenBlue San Diego is one of a continuing series of cutting-edge briefings for Green professionals and career seekers. The event is held at Cricket Communications Inc., in their LEED-certified headquarters. All event information and registration is available at http://greenbluesd.eventbrite.com


Green Experts Academy Leader Briefings Include:
• San Diego Council Member Sherri Lightner  
 San Diego Port Commissioner Lee Burdick
• Dr. Carl Nettleton Founder, Open Oceans Global 
 Water and ocean careers expert Wendy Evers, Senior Director of Program Development, San Diego State University College of Extended Studies. 
  Dr. Oscar Romo, UN Delegate and Tijuana Estuary Watershed Coordinator for the State of California. 
 • Mr. Tim Ostrowski, VP, Business Development, Cricket Communications, Inc. and Executive Sponsor, Cricket Green Team.  
  Hon. Col. Kathleen Connell, Former NASA Senior Executive/Senior Scientist, Policy Director, Congressional Advisor, and Green Experts Academy Founder, at the helm.
•  BlueGreen San Diego Also welcomes Erin Martin, Associate Director, Marketing, Green Experts Academy.

Green Experts Academy leader Kathleen Connell states:
“ Our planet, our human economy, and our spiritual lives are sustained by the great unknown wilderness that is the ocean, along with water and the precious coasts. At the same time, Southern California needs sustainable sources of potable water, and increased water management in an era of climate change. Our invited experts are leading in this all-important arena.

San Diegans love the ocean, and we are a world destination for our beautiful beaches. It is time to understand and grow a sustainable water and ocean economy that serves all, and conserves our seas and waterways.  And companion species.  Coming out of the recession, many folks would like a career doing just that. As social entrepreneurs at Green Experts Academy, we are exploring the next frontier of marine opportunities on April 5.   BlueGreen San Diego, is designed as a tribute to Earth Month and, as a service to the community. “  

See More Information about Speakers and Topics Below: 

            Water is the new oil. Get ahead of the sustainability economy and career curve,  with exciting overviews of this crucial and fast growing Green economy sector!
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Please Support our Media Partner Cali Bamboo Building Materials 
Cali Bamboo Building Materials was formed in 2004. It was founded and is run by people who love the outdoors and share the commitment to protect it. Cali Bamboo currently donates 1% of its revenue to various environmental organizations and will only sell products that are sustainable and do not impact the planet negatively.

The Mission


"Cali Bamboo's mission is to promote the use of bamboo as a new material for everyday products. It is our hope, that by providing alternative products made from renewable resources, we can make a difference in the future of our planet."

     




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Discover The Future and Engage With Our GreenBlue Leaders



Carl Nettleton
"Our Oceans Health, Our Economy, and The
Future" 
Carl is the  founder of OpenOceans Global, the past president of the National Coalition for Marine Conservation – Pacific Region and the former founding executive director of the San Diego Oceans Foundation. In those positions he energetically worked with government agencies, educational organizations, and ocean interests to develop collaborations and consensus to resolve ocean issues. He operates Nettleton Strategies LLC, a consulting firm specializing in resolving complex public policy and business issues. 
About Open Oceans Global
Open Oceans Global envisions a marine community aligned to help the people of the world visualize and understand ocean processes for the purpose of protecting, restoring and maintaining the ocean's environomental value and fully documenting the ocean's relationship to the changes in the worlds climate. 
                                                                 ___________________________

More Sponsors and Partners! Please support these progressive companies...and THANK YOU FOR YOUR Support, Sponsors and Partners! 


White Construction, Inc - General Building Contractor in San Diego
White Construction is a full-service general contractor located in North County San Diego, specializing in tenant improvements. Since our inception in 1983 we have built over 3,000 commercial projects throughout Southern California.
                                                             ____________________________
                  


San Diego City Council Member, Honorable Sherri Lightner
"San Diego's Comprehensive Water Policy and Our Economy"



Since taking office in 2008, Councilmember Sherri Lightner has served the communities of District 1, balancing fiscal responsibility with preserving public safety and neighborhood services. Sherri has quickly become known on the Council for her independence from special interests, her knowledge of City issues and policies, and her willingness to ask tough, intelligent questions in fighting for San Diego taxpayers.
She has brought the neighborhood's voice to City Hall and has responded to the community's needs by providing excellent constituent services, ranging from repaving 22 miles of District 1 streets to helping University City residents to recover from the jet crash, securing funding to bring senior transportation to Carmel Valley, implementing a Community Canyon Fire Watch Program in Rancho Peñasquitos, and organizing the new La Jolla Village Merchants Association.
Prior to her election to the City Council, Sherri was a tireless and effective community volunteer and leader, serving on multiple community planning organizations and committees. She has served as President of both the La Jolla Town Council and La Jolla Shores Association, and as Secretary of the La Jolla Community Planning Association.
Through her work in the community, Sherri has become an expert in the planning and development process, which she currently applies to her role as Chair of the Council Committee on Land Use and Housing, where she is working to streamline regulations for community gardens, address homelessness, and provide incentives for sustainable building.
In addition, Sherri has demonstrated her strong commitment to preserving our coastal and canyon environments, creating a sustainable future through her work on the Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve Task Force and San Dieguito River Park Joint Powers Authority, and developing a comprehensive water policy for the City of San Diego.
Sherri was born in Western Pennsylvania but moved with her family to San Diego while in grade school. After attending public school in San Diego, she graduated from the University of California at San Diego (UCSD), first with a B.A. in both Mathematics and Sociology and later with an M.S. in Applied Mechanics and Engineering Sciences. She is a licensed Professional Mechanical Engineer.
Sherri worked in private industry for 23 years, including 18 years at General Atomics and 5 years at Rohr Industries. After "retiring" from the engineering profession 13 years ago, she formed a small consulting business with her husband, Bruce. Sherri and Bruce have owned and lived in the same home in Council District 1 (in La Jolla Shores) for over 19 years where they raised their family. Before moving to La Jolla, the Lightners were homeowners and residents of Scripps Ranch for 17 years.
                                _____________________________

                Thanks to Lifework/ our Green T-shirt Print company.    

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                                            _____________________________________      

   
 Wendy Evers, Senior Director, San Diego State Unversity College of Continuing Studies
"The Next Wave of Water Careers, The Water Economy in San Diego, and Continuing Education"
Wendy Evers job focus is to look at the larger "30,000 foot level" in forecasting new and emerging industries in San Diego and across the country. She creates new industry programs for careers based on business and workforce needs. Currently she is developing professional certificates in the Green Industry for the future green job force. She has developed four Professional Certificates in Green Building Construction, Residential and Commercial Sustainable Practices, Green Energy Management, and the Green Home Performance Contractor with BPI Certification. She has also written and received ARRA Stimulus grant funds for "education to career" programs in Green and Allied Healthcare, and developed educational franchise partnerships with multiple businesses and with Universities across the U.S. Accomplishments include: past-president of North County Personnel Association (NCPA), a member of SHRM, and serving on the WIB and WAC council for San Diego Workforce Partnership.

Wendy and her team have just launched a water careers program, after extensive research on the sector. She will discuss their findings and reccommend strategties and career paths, and internships that are growing fast!
                                                                                        ---

Commissioner Lee Burdick, Port of San Diego 
"The New Climate Action Plan of the Port, The Economy, and the Future of the Working Waterfront in San Diego"
San Diego Magazine declared Lee is one of the "50 People to Watch" in San Diego.  
Lee Burdick was appointed on June 8, 2009 by the San Diego City Council to represent the city on the Board of Port Commissioners. Commissioner Burdick served as director of government affairs and general counsel for Jimsair Aviation Services. Active in civic affairs, she currently serves as the Executive Director of the California Health Care Coalition. She has served on the board of directors for the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, was chair of the Chamber of Commerce Working Group on the City of San Diego General Plan Update, chair of the Chamber of Commerce Legal Committee and chair of the Chamber of Commerce Legislative Committee. She is a past member of the National Aviation Transportation Association Airports Committee, the board of directors and chair of Program Committee for the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs and is a current member of the working group on the County of San Diego's General Plan Update.
 


 
                                                                                    ___


Oscar Romo, United Nations Diplomat; Professor UCSD,  Government Advisor
Watershed Coordinator, Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve 
"Ocean, Rivers, Water, Sustainability... and the 21st Century Border Economy"

The California College of the Arts states about Dr. Romo:
"The integrity of the Tijuana River Estuary and its associated ecosystems in Imperial Beach, California, has been threatened for decades by uncontrolled loads of trash, waste-water, and sediment flows from unplanned and recurring illegal acts of urbanization in the coastal canyons of Tijuana, Mexico. Through scientific research, innovative techniques, and the creation of regional and cross-border policies, Professor Romo has developed revalorization methods to build source control structures and other environmental friendly solutions utilizing trash as the instrument of choice. This system-design approach provides local communities with jobs and otherwise unattainable public services, and prevents negative impacts to these wetlands of international importance."
About Dr. Romo
Oscar Romo, Ph.D., is a former United Nations diplomat and now the watershed coordinator at the Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve and lecturer at the UCSD Urban Studies and Planning Program. Romo serves as a delegate to the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development; participates as a co-chair of the U.S. International Boundary and Water Commission Citizens Forum, the U.S. EPA Border 2012 Water Task Force and the Tijuana River Recovery Team Bi-national Task Force.
In Mexico, Romo is a member of the Border Environment Cooperation Commission, Baja California Task Force; the City of Tijuana Urban Planning and Ecology SubCommittee; and serves as projects coordinator for the Los Laureles Watershed Council. He is also an advisor to the Baja California State Assemby. On April 2007, Romo was recognized as one of the Environmentalists of the Year by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and in 2009 received the Visionary Award from the Urban Land Institute.
                                                                                  ____  
   
 
 
GREENBLUE NEW WAVE SPOTLIGHT: Ms. Erin Martin, Associate Marketing Director, Green Experts Academy 



As a May 2011 graduate from the University of California, Berkeley Erin earned  a B.S. in Society & Environment with a concentration in Global Environmental Politics. Erin’s coursework in Environmental Science, Policy, and Management has provided her with a skill set to analyze and solve environmental problems while integrating multiple perspectives and values from business and government.

While at Cal, Erin garnered green business consulting experience and implemented campus-wide energy efficiency programs. Erin minored in Earth and Planetary science with an emphasis in Marine Science.

Erin’s  environmental passion is caring for our oceans and working to help solve water and marine issues. She is actively pursuing a career that will enable her to protect the world's coasts and oceans by practicing environmental law, managing coastal marine resources, engaging in public policy, and advising busness in the water and ocean domain.

Since graduating, Erin has engaged in the green business and environmental sector in San Diego. She worked for the US Green Chamber of Commerce as their Green Certification Program Manager to develop a sustainability standards certification program for its members. Erin also attended her first Green Experts Academy in November of 2011 and found the Green Experts Mission to be inspiring and their content to be invaluable for anyone involved in the green economy. She became the Associate Director of Marketing and helped organize the Green Experts Academy's Public Policy, Green Jobs and the Green Economy San Diego event in January 2012. She is ecstatic to be making The Green Expert Academy's dream of hosting an event dedicated entirely to the water and ocean economy a reality!