Story of Stuff Project Staff



Annie Leonard, Co-Director
Prior to creating and releasing The Story of Stuff in December 2007, Annie spent nearly two decades investigating and organizing on environmental health and justice issues. She has previously worked with the Funders Workgroup for Sustainable Production and Consumption, GAIA, Health Care Without Harm, Essential Action and Greenpeace International. She currently serves on the boards of the International Forum on Globalization and GAIA and has previously served on the Boards of the Grassroots Recycling Network, the Environmental Health Fund, Global Greengrants India and Greenpeace India. Annie’s book—The Story of Stuff—was published by the Free Press imprint of Simon & Schuster in May 2010. Please contact Renée Shade for booking or appointment information.

Full bio

Michael O'Heaney, Co-Director
Michael brings 15 years experience as an advocate, fundraiser and consultant to his role as the Project’s Associate Director. As the principal of Channing Way Consulting for 3 years, Michael developed fundraising and communications strategies for a series of environmental, civil rights, reproductive health and media reform organizations. He has also been the Development Director of two San Francisco-based organizations: Global Exchange and Pacific Environment. Michael provides strategic direction and leadership to our projects and leads our fundraising efforts. His email is michael@storyofstuff.org.

Christina M. Samala, Director of Online Strategy & Media
Prior to joining The Story of Stuff Project, Christina spent seven years as a one-stop, ad hoc creative & marketing department for social impact organizations—working as a branding, marketing, and design consultant on behalf of non-profit and for-benefit organizations. With the project, Christina utilizes her diverse background in business, technology, and visual arts to develop and manage the Project’s web properties and craft our online strategies. Christina's strong and unique background has facilitated the rapid growth of our online communities and social media networks. You can find her at christina@storyofstuff.org.

Allison Cook, Director of Special Projects
Our longest serving staff person, Allison has been with the Project since the launch of The Story of Stuff in 2007. Allison’s background in public health and social justice activism includes work at Arise for Social Justice in Springfield, MA, the Berkeley Free Clinic, the Funders Network on Trade and Globalization and the Sustainability Funders Workgroup. As Special Projects Coordinator, Allison develops the organizing campaigns associated with our film releases and leads our collaborative projects with the faith-based and educational communities. Allison can be reached at allison@storyofstuff.org.

Renée Shade, Director of Operations
Renée joined our staff in 2010 following a successful two-year stint as a Program Assistant at RE-AMP, a network of non-profits and foundations working on climate change and energy policy in an eight-state region of the upper Midwest. Prior to RE-AMP, Renée lived and in New York City working in the mortgage industry. Though lucrative, Renée decided to move west to pursue her long-held desire to work in the sustainability movement. She brings her tremendous organization and office management skills to the Project’s Berkeley office. She can be reached at renee@storyofstuff.org.



In addition to this core team, our Project is supported by our creative partners at Free Range Studios, our technology consultants at Groundwire, and by communications consultants Bill Walker and Heidi Quante. Jodi Solomon Speakers manages Annie Leonard’s public appearances. Our faith-based study program was developed with GreenFaith and our educational curriculum for high school students was created by Facing the Future. The Story of Stuff is generously hosted on the internet by Allegheny College.


Advisory Board



Kenneth Geiser
Omar Friella
Darryl Young
Jennie Curtis
Michael Maniates
Stuart Baker
Beverly Thorpe
Erica Priggen

Kenneth Geiser is Professor of Work Environment and Director of the Lowell Center for Sustainable Production at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. Ken is one of the authors of the landmark Massachusetts Toxics Use Reduction Act and served as Director of the Massachusetts Toxics Use Reduction Institute from its founding in 1990 to 2003. His research and writing focus on pollution prevention and cleaner production, toxic chemicals management, international chemicals policy, safer technologies, and green chemistry. MIT Press published his book, Materials Matter: Towards a Sustainable Materials Policy, in 2001.
www.uml.edu

Omar Friella is the Executive Director and founder of Green Worker Cooperatives, an organization that incubates worker-owned and environmentally friendly businesses in the South Bronx and a board member of the U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives, a newly formed national federation of worker-owned businesses. He was a former program director for Sustainable South Bronx and Transportation Justice campaign director for the NYC Environmental Justice Alliance. In 2007, Omar was awarded the Rockefeller Foundation’s inaugural Jane Jacobs Medal for New Ideas and Activism. www.greenworker.coop

Darryl Young is the Director of Sustainable Design at the Summit Foundation, which supports projects that advance community and city design that is sustainable ecologically, socially and economically. Previously, Darryl served as the Director of the California Department of Conservation, a $1.2 billion agency responsible for one of the nation’s largest and most successful recycling programs. He was also President of the National Recycling Coalition, Chief Consultant to the Senate Natural Resources Committee and the National Media Director for the Sierra Club.
www.summitfoundation.org


Jennie Curtis is the Executive Director of the Garfield Foundation, which is addressing some of today’s most significant ecological and social justice issues and has pioneered a collaborative, systems oriented grantmaking process through its support of ReAmp. Before joining the Garfield Foundation, Jennie managed a donor-advised fund at the Marion Foundation, focusing on grant making to domestic and international organizations that approached solutions to problems by dealing with their root causes. Prior to that, Jennie spent 10 years managing humanitarian refugee relief programs for International Rescue Committee in Pakistan, Thailand and Bosnia-Herzegovina. She also served as a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer in Thailand.
www.garfieldfoundation.org

Michael Maniates is a professor of Political Science and Environmental Science at Allegheny University and one of the editors of the landmark book, Confronting Consumption (MIT Press, 2002). Michael founded and coordinates the Project on Teaching Global Environmental Politics and is the co-founder and member of the Advisory Board of the Pacific Institute for Studies in Development, Environment, and Security. His work can be found in two upcoming books: The Environmental Politics of Sacrifice (with John Meyer of Humboldt University), to be published by MIT Press in 2009, and Selling Us Short: Grown Up Ways of Saving the Planet, also due in 2009.
www.allegheny.edu

Stuart Baker is the Executive Director of the Fund for the Environment and Urban Life. Since 1993 Stuart has promoted alternative commute options, including as president of Commuter Benefits Management, Inc, the creators of Commuter Check. He has also managed an alternative fuel vanpool fleet for the San Francisco Bay Area, coordinated alternative fuel projects for the City and County of San Francisco, and developed a bilingual environmental curriculum and managed a recycling internship program for at-risk youth for the East Bay Conservation Corps.
www.enviro-urban.org

Beverly Thorpe is the International Director of Clean Production Action. Beverley has researched clean production strategies since 1989. She was the Clean Production liaison technical expert for Greenpeace International on chemical and waste issues. She initiated the first English language campaigns against PVC plastic and waste and introduced EPR as a campaign strategy to waste groups in the USA. She is the author of many publications including The Citizens Guide to Clean Production published by University of Massachusetts. Her current focus is the promotion of Green Chemistry within government chemicals policy and within businesses practices and she is keeping a watching brief on nanotechnology.
www.cleanproduction.org

Erica Priggen is an Executive Producer at Free Range Studios, where she heads the video and entertainment department, overseeing the creative and strategic development of all of the company's video campaigns. With a Master's in Consciousness Studies, she brings a deep study of sustainability and systems thinking to her work, with a concentration on the importance of storytelling and mythology as tools for cultural transformation. She believes that film is one of the most effective ways to inspire people to action. Erica is the producer of Free Range's award-winning The Story of Stuff, as well as other hits such as 350.org, The Good Life, and the Alliance for Climate Education's national high school assembly program. Erica is a non-voting member of the Advisory Board.
www.freerangestudios.com


Community Board



Lorna Apner, UCLA
www.ucla.edu

Nikhil Aziz, Grassroots International
www.grassrootsonline.org

Andy Banks, International Brotherhood of Teamsters
www.teamster.org

Colin Beavan, No Impact Project
http://noimpactman.typepad.com

Bill Bigelow, Rethinking Schools
www.rethinkingschools.org

Gary Cohen, Health Care Without Harm
www.noharm.org

Lafcadio Cortesi, Rainforest Action Network
www.ran.org

Josh Farley, Gund Institute of Ecological Economics
www.uvm.edu/giee

Reverend Fletcher Harper, GreenFaith
www.greenfaith.org

Ilyse Hogue, MoveOn.org
www.moveon.org

Danny Kennedy, Sungevity Solar
www.sungevity.com

Mateo Nube, Movement Generation
www.movementgeneration.org

Dara O'Rourke, Good Guide
http://www.goodguide.com

Richard Orum, Fund for the Environment and Urban Life
www.enviro-urban.org

David Pellow, University of Minnesota
www.umn.edu

Maritza Schäfer, PointsFive
www.pointsfive.com

Bryony Schwan, Biomimicry Institute
www.biomimicryinstitute.org

Robert Shimek, Indigenous Environmental Network
www.ienearth.org

Ted Smith, Electronics TakeBack Coalition
www.computertakeback.com

Betsy Taylor, 1Sky
www.1sky.org

Pamela Tuttle, California Student Sustainability Coalition
http://sustainabilitycoalition.org

Aditi Vaidya, East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy
www.workingeastbay.org

Monica Wilson, GAIA
www.no-burn.org

The Story of Stuff Project was created by Annie Leonard to leverage and extend the film’s impact. We amplify public discourse on a series of environmental, social and economic concerns and facilitate the growing Story of Stuff community’s involvement in strategic efforts to build a more sustainable and just world. Our on-line community includes over 150,000 activists and we partner with hundreds of environmental and social justice organizations worldwide to create and distribute our films, curricula and other content.

The Story of Stuff Project is fiscally sponsored by the Tides Center. We are supported by grants from both private and public foundations, contributions from viewers, and earned revenue from speaking appearances and DVD and book sales.