I am a student at Antioch University New England in Keene, NH working towards earning my Master's in Environmental Advocacy and Organizing. I hope to gain the skills to communicate with and educate the public on environmental issues and reducing ecological footprints. I am looking for any advice or job ideas where I can become an active and responsible citizen and fight for democracy, corporate accountability, environmental sustainability, social justice, and peace, among other things. I am looking to network and meet other people out there dedicated to fighting the good fight.
An area of advocacy that I am interested in delving deeper into is playing the role of spokesperson or representative for exploited and undermined social groups in various communities in relation to environmental issues. I want to be able to work with people to understand clearly their needs and desires for healthy, sustainable communities and be able to speak intelligently about these issues on behalf of these groups. This is a huge task for me since I am still working on my articulation and confidence in public speaking. However, I think it is extremely important to be able to reach people right at their own level of understanding about environmental issues and work with them from there. I want to be compassionate and understanding while still promoting my beliefs and helping people understand just how real, serious and close to home these issues are.
I am interested in "green" schools of thought like deep ecology, eco-feminism, spiritual ecology, etc and eventually trying to help people see the interconnectedness of all these kinds of groups, to show people that we are really working towards a common goal, and that there is strength in numbers.