Champions of Change

Champions of Change: Next Generation Of Environmental Conservationists

The White House honors 14 local “Champions of Change” for their efforts to engage communities and youth in environmental stewardship and conservation, and encouraging a new generation of leaders to play, learn, serve, and work outdoors.

Dr. Benjamin Blonder co-founded the University of Arizona’s Sky School, a residential science school that provides inquiry-based environmental education on a campus located in the heart of the...

Jon Brito served three AmeriCorps terms with Kupu's Hawaii Youth Conservation Corps from 2008 to 2013, as a team member, team leader, and a year-long intern. During these terms, Jon engaged the...

Anthony Ciocco is a Crew Leader for the Ancestral Lands Program at Southwest Conservation Corps, leading ecological restoration crews on the Navajo Nation. Under Anthony’s leadership his crews of...

Stacie Gilmore co-founded Environmental Learning for Kids (ELK) in 1996 to provide pathways to science and natural resource careers for urban youth, youth of color, and other young people with...

Andy Hart has served as Executive Director at Nevada Outdoor School (NOS) for the past five years. NOS, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, based in rural northern Nevada, strives to inspire the next...

Pam Hess is the Director of Youth Engagement and leads the Outdoors Rx program at the Boston-based Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC), the nation’s oldest outdoor recreation and conservation...

Bill Hodge serves as the Director of the Southern Appalachian Wilderness Stewards (SAWS) program. Since starting in 2010, the SAWS program has quickly grown not only in capacity to assist the...

Na’Taki Osborne Jelks is a nationally-recognized leader in engaging urban communities and youth of color in environmental stewardship through hands-on watershed and land restoration initiatives,...

Seven years ago, Carol Leone founded an organization called Teens To Trails based on a simple, replicable concept: If every high school in Maine offered an Outing Club program, every student would...

Parker Liautaud is Policy Advisor for Natural Resources at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). His work at OSTP focuses on agricultural, environmental, and life...

Stephen H. Lockhart, MD, PhD, a board-certified anesthesiologist, is a Vice President and Regional Chief Medical Officer for Sutter Health, a not for profit system of hospitals, physician...

Tristan Persico, a former United States Air Force Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technician and Afghanistan combat veteran, serves Montana's armed forces community as the Veteran Outreach Coordinator...

William Spitzer, Ph.D., is Vice President for Programs, Exhibits and Planning at the New England Aquarium. He is responsible for oversight of exhibit design, visitor experience, volunteer, and...

Carrie Vollmer-Sanders is the Director of the Western Lake Erie Basin Project for The Nature Conservancy. Carrie leads the Conservancy’s efforts to promote a healthy Lake Erie by working with...