Meet G.A.L.A.'s Staff, Board of Directors, & Volunteers
Staff
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 spearheading 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 three consecutive annual conferences of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (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, Arnold's youth delegation launched the popular climate-action blog - www.itsgettinghotinhere.org. Arnold continues to follow international talks addressing sustainable development and climate change.
Josh spends his summers a bit differently than most people. As manager of Clean Vibes, an outdoor-event recycling and environmental education company, he organizes 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 within a few months had founded the nonprofit organization, Global Awareness Local Action (G.A.L.A.). Within a year, Josh was appointed as Vice Chair to 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.
Today, Josh balances his time between managing G.A.L.A.'s current activities with developing the "G.A.L.A. Model." His long-term goal is to use Wolfeboro as the living example of how to create sustainable community. By the Fall of 2010, Josh will publish and market "How to Manual" that will outline a step-by-step plan for moving any given community toward sustainability. In the meantime, Josh working diligently on capital campaign to raise money for the Ossipee Mt. Grange Revitalization Project. The campaign will help fund the restoration of the Ossipee Mt. Grange in Water Village and the future G.A.L.A. headquarters and home of the New Garden Cooperative.
Board of Directors
Shawn Papp grew up in Virginia and graduated from Virginia Tech in 1996 with a B.S. degree in Crop and Soil Environmental Sciences. Even upon entering college, Shawn was skeptical about the sustainability and safety of the chemicals used in his field of interest. Shawn remembers sitting in an environmental science class being told that using pesticides was the only way to feed the world's population and that contradicting information could be dismissed because people generally didn't understand the science behind the breakdown of the chemicals into non-harmful forms. Shawn kept a critical lens as he studied everything from plant pathology to soils and environmental science. Upon graduation, Shawn came out into the world with a clear understanding of how to meet the demands of an ever increasing food supply and how to manage and maintain hundreds of acres of bug and weed-free, pristine turf.
Shawn quickly put this knowledge to use as a Golf Course Superintendent. In this position, Shawn witnessed first-hand that Mother Nature could be manipulated very easily with the proper chemical or fertilizer. "Success" was achieved.
After relocating to New Hampshire, Shawn married and had a beautiful daughter named Olivia. At this point, Shawn began a new career in landscaping and continued with chemical use. After building a house and having a lawn of his own, doubt about the safety of these pesticides began creeping into his mind once again. Shawn credits Olivia as the driving force behind this reevaluation of his landscaping practices. Starting his own organic landscaping company, Natural Landscapes and Lawncare, Shawn has disproved the myth that you need to use chemicals to have a nice lawn. Today, Shawn has more peace of mind than ever before by knowing that his daughter is not being exposed to pesticides used unnecessarily for vanity.
Carol Holyoake - Board Member, Vice Chair
Carol has been a Wolfeboro resident for over 10 years. Her experience and involvement include serving five years as the Town of Wolfeboro Chamber of Commerce Director, New Hampshire Department of Tourism Coordinator, and an environmental activist.
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 volunteer work in addition to G.A.L.A. includes hospice work and co-chairing Wolfeboro First Night, and hobbies include hiking, stain glass, rug hooking, cooking, gardening and anything beach-related! Carol is currently serves as Vice Chair on G.A.L.A.’s Board of Directors.
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."
Tim Smith - Board Member
Visit www.jackmtn.com/background.html for Tim's complete biography.
Volunteers
Olivia's web design portfolio can be found at www.oliviawoods.com
Aislinn Johnson - Workshop Coordinator
Aislinn is a New Hampshire native who obtained her dual degree in psychology and family studies at the University of New Hampshire. She has since been working in the social services sector, but has taken time out here and there to lead an adventurous lifestyle--having spent 8 months traveling throughout Australia, New Zealand, and the United States.
It was Aislinn’s travels throughout the States that heightened her appreciation for environmentalism. She took the journey in a van that she converted a van to run off waste vegetable oil and toured it to California and back again with some pals--thanks to the help of an organic clothing company called Mission Playground and an incredible mechanic named Jack Howard. Aislinn and her friend Sara spent a great deal of this trip educating the public about alternative fuels and showing off their van whenever they could--at schools, to the media, or to the locals of the communities they visited on their 30-day route. It was this project--termed the Canola Strollas--that lead to her increased awareness of our limited resources, excessive waste, and the opportunities we have to live as sustainably as possible in a technologically advanced society.
Aislinn’s most recent expedition to New Zealand brought her face to face with homes and entire communities that are almost entirely self-sufficient--complete with organic farms, solar power, compost toilets, wood heating, rainwater collection systems, earth ovens and even a unique local currency. She was able to witness the building of a clay “earth-dome” and there were more than enough people eager to teach her about permaculture. She hopes to use some of those lessons learned here in the States to become ever more sustainable herself.
Aislinn is now greatly looking forward to working with G.A.L.A. to continue to expand her knowledge and to contribute to its wonderful philosophy and mission.
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
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!”
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.
Pat chose to live in Wolfeboro because of its proximity to the White Mountains. Hiking (both summer and winter), running, xc skiing, and kayaking are favorite activities. G.A.L.A. has given her the opportunity to connect with neighbors and to share her love of the environment while at the same time "giving back" to the local community.