Meet G.A.L.A.

Josh Arnold, Executive Director

Josh Arnold is a uniquely determined, entrepreneurial young man with a steadfast passion for sustainability. By the time he was a sophomore at Wheaton College in Norton, M.A. Josh had designed an independent major in “Global Sustainability.” His goal was to design a multi-disciplinary curriculum that explored what relationships between society, economy, and ecology bring forth sustainable outcomes and why. After learning the theories in the college, Josh came home to test those theories for himself, and so goes the story of Global Awareness Local Action (G.A.L.A.).

At Wheaton, Josh was a respected leader outside the classroom as well as inside. He was founding member of the campus Eco-House and president of the Progressive Alliance. Toward the end of his senior year, Josh was granted the Emily Susan Hartwell Leadership Award for “Motivating Others in Areas of Social, Political, or Global Responsibility.” Josh concluded his college experience by co-leading the Graduation Pledge – a project that committed almost half of his class to furthering the environmental and social integrity of professional career the signatories pursue.

During the past few years, Josh has been a youth delegation leader at various conferences of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development including CSD 15-17. Josh also participated in similar lobbying and policy drafting at the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) meeting in Montreal, December, 2005. During this two-week conference, Josh youth delegation launched the popular climate-action blog – www.itsgettinghotinhere.org. Josh continues to follow international talks addressing sustainable development and climate change.

Josh spent six years working with Clean Vibes, an outdoor-event recycling and environmental education company, where he helped organize waste management and educational services at some of the largest music festivals in the United States including Bonnaroo in Manchester, TN that draws a crowd of over 100,000.

After graduating college, Josh returned to his hometown of Wolfeboro, N.H. and where he founded the nonprofit organization, Global Awareness Local Action (G.A.L.A.). Once home Josh quickly became involved with other town initiatives including the Wolfeboro Town Energy Committee established to identify and implement cost-effective ways of reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions in the town of Wolfeboro.

Josh currently resides in Water Village, Ossipee, NH, living at the Ossipee Mt. Grange Hall. Josh purchased the Grange Hall in the summer of 2008 with the determination to revitalize the space based on three-floor plan – first floor as a local foods cooperative, second floor (the hall) as a venue for arts, education, and advocacy, and the third-floor as a green-job incubator.  You can read the Ossipee Mt. Grange Hall Blog to learn more about the initiative and get a peek into life ‘home on the grange.’

Carol has been active in the Wolfeboro community and beyond for over 15 years working and volunteering with organizations such as the Wolfeboro Area  Chamber of Commerce, New Hampshire Division of Travel & Tourism, First Night Wolfeboro, and Great Waters Music Festival.

Carol’s nomadic lifestyle since the age of one has enabled her to observe and experience first-hand the impacts that building sustainable community can have on individuals, families and groups of people who live, work and play together. Settling for extended periods of time in Australia, Asia, Europe and North America, Carol came to the realization that people and communities are, or can be, more connected by similarities than they are separated by differences. And, that the barriers blocking sustainable community often revolve around cross-cultural misperceptions; a lack of knowledge and information, and access to compassionate mentors whose wisdom can shift the differences and grow community through example rather than enforcement, and impart learning experiences that enable us to inhabit the Earth in joyful and responsible ways.

Carol’s curiosity to learn what makes individuals, communities and cultures tick, along with a desire to preserve what surrounds and nourishes her own life – the beauty of nature; people who care about passing-it-on; the history and sense of place in architecture; an abundance of artistic culture; year-round recreation; and access to fresh, local produce have given her a Jill-of-all trades (mistress of none!) resumé. It includes publishing books on nature and fine art; escorting tour groups; developing cultural and environment tourism programs; organizing conferences on sustainable building practices; facilitating cross-cultural training, working in an art gallery and learning framing techniques; teaching yoga and managing a variety of non-profit organizations including a chamber of commerce, a museum and a music festival.

Her hobbies include hiking, stain glass, rug hooking, cooking, gardening and anything beach-related! Carol  currently serves on G.A.L.A.’s Board of Directors.

Aislinn Johnson – pronounced Ace-lyn, or just Ace for short – is a passionate New Hampshire native committed to serving progressive organizations that enhance social justice, sustainability, and well-being. She takes pride in both her role at G.A.L.A. as well as her position at the World Fellowship Center in Albany, NH.Through the University of Pennsylvania, Aislinn is currently obtaining her Masters in Applied Positive Psychology. This field explores human flourishing, meaning in life, positive relationships, and other aspects of life that help human beings optimally thrive. Using a systems-based approach, Aislinn aspires to examine the interrelationship between sustainability and quality of life. She hopes to uncover efficient strategies for creating a world in which both people and the planet are simultaneously flourishing.Aislinn’s interest in the environment came after a cross-country trip in a vegetable-oil fueled van. After educating the public about renewable energy, she became hooked on the notion that it is within our reach to live in balance with the natural world. She has also spent time working on eco-homesteads in New Zealand.Aislinn’s additional passions include hiking, kayaking, traveling, snowboarding, and living life adventurously. 

 

Mary Beth Bryant, Board Member, Treasurer

As a successful entrepreneur for the last 20 years, Mary Beth Bryant is changing what it means to, “do business.” A walk through her store located in Wolfeboro, N.H., Made on Earth, is as much of an educational experience as it is retail. Mary Beth’s email signature quotes Roshi Bernie Glassman, “So for me, the question became, ‘what are the forms in business, social action, and peacemaking, that can help us see the oneness in society, the interdependence of life?’” This question guides her business as she searches for products to sell that are sustainable, environmentally safe, and certified fair trade. Mary Beth’s extensive education in accounting and bookkeeping allow her to effectively balance her steadfast convictions with sound business practice.

Mary Beth’s willingness to work on behalf and make sacrifices on behalf of improving the conditions of others started at a young age. When she was in her early 20′s, Mary Beth was one of the founding directors of Starting Point, a nonprofit organization created to help domestic violent victims.

Mary Beth is one of those fortunate individuals who managed to combine her love for travel with her professional career as a business owner. Over the last ten years, Mary Beth has traveled to Thailand, Costa Rica, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Singapore. During these travels, Mary Beth saw first-hand the connections between the consumer patterns at home in the United States with the living and labor conditions abroad. It quickly became Mary Beth’s goal to create a business that would improve these conditions abroad and expose the human-face behind her customer’s purchases.

In 2001, Mary Beth started the Bali Education Fund to help improve the quality and access to education in the place she had come to call home – Bali, Indonesian. Today, thanks to the contributions of many Lakes Region residents, the Bali Education Fund provides hundreds of Balinese families with money for their children’s tuition so these families no longer have to choose between food and education. The Balinese Education Fund also helps schools directly by purchasing computers, books, uniforms and other accessories that help the students get the most out of their education.

Recently, Mary Beth’s love for gardening has allowed her and her family to embrace the ideas of sustainability by eating more local foods year-round. Even during this last Winter of 2008, Mary Beth was preparing salads made with fresh green from the cold-frame that was often buried under two feet of snow in her front yard. When she is not in the store, she is in the garden. Mary Beth plans to share her passion for gardening by volunteering in the Wolfeboro Community Garden project scheduled to begin this summer.

Jessamy Wood - Board Member, Secretary

Jessamy has lived in NH all her life, spending her youth mucking stalls and working on a vegetable farm when she was not at school or playing the clarinet in the school band. While attending junior high she decided her dream was to restore old houses after being inspired by the sight of the dilapidated Wentworth Hotel in Newcastle, NH.

Jessamy has worked as a preservation carpenter at Strawbery Banke Museum, The National Park Service where she worked on many national treasures including making repairs to the torch on the Statue of Liberty, and restored timber frame barns and other old structures. After three trips to the ER in as many weeks she decided that perhaps a less risky form of employment might be a good long-term plan and returned to school to study her other passion, nutrition.

Since graduating from UNH in 1997 with a BS in Nutritional Sciences she has owned and operated an appliance repair company with her husband and is currently working in the nutrition field doing in-home assessments and feeding guidance for chronically ill children as well as other community based nutrition education. She still enjoys mucking stalls and occasionally takes a ride on her horse in the woods for a break. Jessamy is the mother of an environmentally aware, critically thinking daughter, Samantha. Today, Jessamy lives in Wolfeboro with her husband, daughter, hens and other pets.

Jessamy is excited to work with G.A.L.A. in making her hometown a more sustainable place to live. She is especially excited to bring her passion and experience with preservation to G.A.L.A.’s Ossipee Mt. Grange Revitalization Project. Similarly, Jessamy’s current profession in nutrition contributes significantly to G.A.L.A.’s efforts by making sure people pay attention to their “personal sustainability.”

Michael Haeger – Board Member

For the last twenty years Michael and his wife Karen have enjoyed gardening, raising chickens and composting with worms in an effort to lead a more self- sufficient way of life. Michael believes that a life of creative thrift can be both an exciting challenge and a way for communities to better provide for themselves.

Although carpentry has been a consistent vocation, he has also worked for the Governor Wentworth school system as a classroom aid. He has worked with Boy Scouts and continues to share his interest in early American culture with upper elementary grades.  Michael and Karen, and their son Brendon, became most active with G.A.L.A. during the recent Earth Week celebration. They are also currently enrolled in the study circle titled, “Menu for the Future”, where they participate in a weekly dialog about sustainable food systems.

Seth Leavitt – Board Member

Seth Leavitt-Carlson is a Water Village native, who used to wait for the school bus in front of the Ossipee Mt Grange Hall (G.A.L.A.’s current headquarters!). Since that time he has been fortunate to have had a broad range of experiences in various parts of the world that have allowed him to realize how fortunate his experience in Water Village was, and he wants to extend that opportunity to a greater community of people. G.A.L.A’s three-fold goal of sustainable, desirable, and resilient communities is a natural fit.

Seth has a degree in Anthropology from the University of New Hampshire. While attending UNH, he was able to undertake archeology in the caves and jungles of Belize and walk the red dirt roads of Tanzania. It was also at UNH that Seth met his wife Ivy. He and Ivy spent two years in the village of Mamabolo, South Africa serving in the Peace Corps by providing training for primary school teachers.

Seth started substitute teaching when he was still a teenager, and has continued to teach in area schools. For the past four years, he has been teaching at the Laconia Alternative Education Program, in Laconia, NH. While at Laconia, Seth and Ivy serve as the faculty advisors to the LHS Key Club, which has undertaken many volunteer projects both close to home and such locations as Texas, Louisiana, Boston, and South Africa.

He currently resides in Melvin Village in an old farmhouse with his wife and with Mary, a young woman from his Peace Corps village, who is furthering her education in the U.S. He also serves on the board of The Community School. He enjoys hiking, traveling, the Red Sox, and growing his own vegetables and making hard cider.

Monique is originally from Massachusetts where she obtained a degree in Theatre from a small liberal arts college in Franklin. She has worked in various capacities in film, television and theatre in Boston, Los Angeles and New York and has leant her voice to hundreds of national and regional commercials and projects for radio, Education Companies, TV and the internet.

Monique has lived in Wolfeboro since 2003 and has received awards from The New Hampshire Association of Broadcasters for her work as a reporter, newscaster and talk show host. She has covered a wide range of topics in New Hampshire and interviewed a myriad of notables such as Doris Kearns Goodwin, Robert Kennedy Jr., and President Bill Clinton. Monique currently works as a broadcast journalist for Public News Service and covers a variety of progressive issues for New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Maine.

Tom began his public accounting career in 1979. Tom joined Leone, McDonnell & Roberts, Professional Association in 1987 and currently works in the firm’s Wolfeboro and North Conway offices. In his role as President and Managing Partner, he guides the firm’s strategy and day-to-day operations, working toward the overall growth and sustainability of the firm. Tom specializes in providing reliable consulting and tax planning services for private, family-owned businesses. He is also heavily involved with the firm’s nonprofit organization practice.

Tom was inspired to pursue a career in the accounting field due to his interest and natural abilities in problem solving. Today he attributes his success to his strong people skills and the lasting relationships he builds with his clients.

Born and raised in Chicago, Tom currently resides “off the grid” in Wolfeboro with his wife, Rita, and their two children. Outside the office, Tom’s hobbies include coaching youth sports, skiing, hiking and fishing.

Two experiences move me more than anything else: one is being in a natural place with others that have a sense of curiosity and wonder. The other is being part of collective efforts to fight for economic and social justice. G.A.L.A. ties these two passions together.

My work has included community education and organizing, middle school teaching, experiential and outdoor education, nonprofit development and administration, research, and graduate school teaching and advising. For nine years in the 70s and 80s, I thrived in my work as a teacher in alternative and mainstream classrooms.

In the mid-80s, I left teaching to start the Appalachian Mountain Teen Project (AMTP) so that I might be able to mentor struggling students and play a more influential role in schools. As the Executive Director (1987-now), I develop strong cross-sector partnerships and implement innovative experiential programs to benefit the most vulnerable students and the most under-resourced schools. For fifteen summers I led wilderness adventure trips and experiential civic education trips with students for up to 30 days in length throughout the United States.

In 2001, I earned a doctorate in Administration, Planning, and Social Policy from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and was then hired as a Lecturer on Education in the Risk and Prevention Program where I taught from 2002-2008. My work continues to bridge research and practice and I actively consult, teach, and design and evaluate programs around urgent issues facing communities and families.

I grew up in the mill city of Lawrence, Massachusetts in a neighborhood of second and third generation immigrant families of many creeds and colors. From this experience I learned to value building community among diverse people and the possibilities that lie at the intersections – the places where each person is able to bring all that they know and all that they are with confidence and with openness. Over and over again I am struck by the fact that this simple condition – a sense of place and purpose – is absent from the lives of most people. G.A.L.A. provides possibilities for this understanding through its thoughtfully planned and facilitated projects.

I love walking in the woods, canoeing, cross country skiing, opera, huskies, social justice activism, and learning about my southern Italian ancestry (a heritage I share with Josh!).

GALA is a vibrant, smart, innovative organization. I am inspired by the work being done by Josh and the G.A.L.A. community. I am glad to play a small role in supporting the growth and development of G.A.L.A.’s grassroots, visionary efforts to sustain local lifestyles, agriculture, history, social networks, and traditions.

Olivia Woods – Web Designer

Olivia’s web design portfolio can be found at www.oliviawoods.com

Barbara Laverick – Program Manager, Food & Agriculture

Barbara Laverick was the first to receive G.A.L.A.’s “Volunteer of the Year” recognition – and yes, it was Barbara’s steadfast commitment to sustainable community building that prompted G.A.L.A. to create the award in the first place!

Barbara is the on-the-ground, go-to, volunteer at the 2009 Wolfeboro Area Farmers’ Market (WAFM). Barbara helps with everything from building positive relations with Clark Park abutters, to weekly market setup, to creating a WAFM newsletter that included weekly market updates and a market trivia crossword puzzle.

Barbara’s involvement with G.A.L.A. goes well beyond helping with the farmers’ market. Barbara and her husband, Chuck, have been loyal “G.A.L.A. Gleaners” for the last two years harvesting hundreds of pounds of fresh produce for distribution to Wolfeboro’s All Saints Life Ministries Food Pantry. In addition, Barbara is always willing to help with G.A.L.A. fundraising and promotion initiatives.

And G.A.L.A. is just the beginning – Barbara serves in many community leadership roles involving the Wolfeboro Energy Committee, Wolfeboro Pathways Committee, the Pork Hill Farm CSA Program, the Northeast Organic Farming Association’s Winter Conference, among others. Many people will also recognize Barbara’s name from her frequent Granite State News Dig It! column contributions.

Barbara has lived in NH for the last 30 years; last 15 being in Wolfeboro. She grew up in Washington DC, lived in Idaho for awhile while she served as a Vista Volunteer, and was Teacher in the coal country of Georgia, West Virginia, and Tennessee. Barbara has been nominated to serve on G.A.L.A.’s Board of Directors.

Noreen McDonald – Strategic Planning Facilitator & Grants Advisor

Noreen’s background includes twenty-five years of experience as a Project Facilitator/Team Builder. She has been engaged in venues ranging from Hydroelectric Relicensing Projects, Native American and Cultural Resource Groups, Watershed Committees to Resource Conservation & Development Councils. She works with both small and large groups to develop successful partnerships and unique collaborative efforts.

Her expertise includes effective and timely meeting management, building strong collaboratives, breaking down difficult items into manageable chunks for resolution, integrating multiple thoughts/ideas into cohesive solutions, and in finding answers from both inside and outside “the box”.

Noreen represented Wolfeboro for 2 years on the Lakes Region Planning Commission. She worked for USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service in New Hampshire as a Grants and Agreements Specialist, with a focus on farm and ranch conservation including the Cheney Farm in Tuftonboro. She is presently the Chair of the Carroll County UNH Cooperative Advisory Council.

Noreen moved to Wolfeboro in 2002, after spending twelve years in the Yosemite area of California. Born and raised in New England, she returned home to be closer to her three sons and their families and now six grand children.

Jenny Tapper is a goat farmer, cheese maker and small farm advocate. Together with her husband Andy, she owns and operates Via Lactea Farm and Brookfield Dairy, a small mixed farm with a focus on dairy goats and cheese. The Tappers’ farm also produces maple syrup, pork, poultry, eggs, firewood, timber, compost, and an annual bumper crop of goat kids. Jenny and Andy provide all of the love, labor and creativity that it takes to keep a farm viable and growing.

Jenny devotes her spare time to farm advocacy and promotion as president of Carroll County Farm Bureau; as an agriculture representative on the Carroll County advisory council for UNH Cooperative Extension; as a founding vendor and volunteer for the Wolfeboro Area Farmers’ Market; and as Vice Chair for the Brookfield Agricultural Commission.

Jenny strives to meet the challenges and opportunities of farming in the midst of changes in a food system that reflects the increasing demand for fresh, local, and healthy foods. To Jenny, G.A.L.A. embodies all of the complexity and diversity of a community that is working toward a future in which small farms will be valued and nurtured. Jenny is pleased to offer her hands and heart to that effort. Jenny served on G.A.L.A.’s Board of Directors between 2006-2009

Willie Swaffield – Special Ops Coordinator

Willie Swaffield is 31 year-old Wolfeboro, NH native. He is a unique year-round resident who is able to find “enjoyment and employment” in every New England season. Willie enjoys anything that involves the outdoors, but his two real passions remain alpine skiing and water-skiing. During his high school experience at Burke Mtn. Academy, Willie went on a ski-trip to South America and Mt. Hood in Oregon. Willie also stays busy outdoors keeping up with his landscaping and plowing business throughout the year. Perhaps one of the reasons he has stuck around Wolfeboro because he deeply values family and the environment. He is also grateful for his circle of friends in the area. One of those friends happens to be Josh Arnold, G.A.L.A.’s founding director.

Willie has spent countless hours volunteering with G.A.L.A and working with Josh. His truck has become especially handy in helping with odd-jobs like picking up and delivering compost to the food pantry garden, furnishing G.A.L.A.’s office at the Grange Hall, and helping deliver grease for bio-diesel production. Being a regular on-call volunteer has given Willie the G.A.L.A. “Special Ops Coordinator” title.

Willie is also an entrepreneur. He is currently developing a business plan for his own juice company! And as Willie alwyas says, “Think Snow!”

Brittany Boles -

Brittany’s involvement with Gala began in June of 2011 when she came to New Hampshire from St. Croix, US Virgin Islands, on a path aimed at heightening consciousness.  She believes that “consciousness”  is not limited to spirituality;  it is also social and environmental.  G.A.L.A.’s aim of building strong, sustainable communities speaks to increasing the connectedness between people and the earth; it is that connection that intrigues and excites her.

Brittany spent the last three years living on St. Croix, where she realized the true scope of people’s global impact on the environment as she witnessed the delicate coral reef ecosystem deteriorate due to pollution and warming Caribbean waters.  Garbage in the streets and on the beaches inspired her to orchestrate garbage walks and participate in local sustainability projects.

She began her education about organic farming, water conservation, and truly “green,” sustainable living while working with ArtFarm LLC, a sustainable family farm.  Admiring the comfort and connectedness with nature exhibited on a day-to-day basis on the farm, she renewed her dedication to enviro-activism.

A student of the world, Brittany studies yoga, meditation, fire dancing (as a performance art), natural medicine, communication, psychology, the Indian language of Hindi, economics, group process, business management, and many other subjects in a unique manner:  rather than enroll in traditional classes, she experiences lessons by seeking mentors in each subject she wishes to learn and completing independent research projects.  It is in this unusual way that she has come to partner with G.A.L.A..

Brittany wants to continue her education with G.A.L.A., focusing not only on sustainability but also on the workings of a nonprofit organization.  She plans to found an organization of her own after she spends time living and learning in Southern India next fall.

Consciousness is an awakening, and Brittany hopes to participate as a catalyst in the universal awakening that is sustainability.  Her partnership with G.A.L.A. equips her to do so.

Pat Jones – Study Circle Specialist

Pat Jones is a G.A.L.A. rock star. Pat started volunteering with G.A.L.A. in 2007 by helping setup G.A.L.A.’s documentary screenings at the Wolfeboro Public Library. Meanwhile, Pat was one of twelve participants in G.A.L.A.’s first study circle titled “Choices for Sustainable Living,” hosted at the Kingswood Youth Center that same year. But Pat wanted to do more than participate; she wanted to organize, and that’s exactly what she began to do, and continues to do, today. The last few study circles have been entirely organized and facilitated by Pat. In addition, Pat initiated and continues to manage G.A.L.A.’s annual Compost Bin & Rainwater Barrel Sale.

More on Pat – Pat’s love of gardening and the outdoors began early as she grew up in a small NH town on a farm where products included firewood, chickens and eggs, strawberries, and sweet corn for sale, in addition to a large family garden. Time outdoors was spent with her brothers and sister climbing trees, building forts in the woods, and constructing dams on the small streams in the nearby woods.

Growing up in a home without television, Pat became an avid reader. This love of books influenced her education and career choices; she is a graduate of UNH with an education degree and of URI with a degree in Library and Information Services. After many years of public library work, she now works as a librarian in the local school system. School schedules have allowed her to spend summers working as a historical interpreter at Strawbery Banke Museum, a volunteer at Odiorne Point Science Center, and a naturalist for the Appalachian Mountain Club.

Pat has traveled extensively in the US, Canada, and Europe. Many of her travels have been hiking/mountaineering trips. She has climbed several of the Rocky Mountain’s 14,000 foot peaks, camped on a glacier in the Cascades, and backpacked in southern Spain. She has also combined travel with service projects such as trail work in Arizona and Habitat for Humanity builds in Alaska and Poland. A favorite trip was an archaeology and conservation project in Utah that she participated in with her grandson.