Meet the G.A.L.A.'s Staff, Board of Directors, and 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
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.
Shawn Papp - Board Member
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.
Jenny Tapper - Board Member
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.
Jessamy Wood - Board Member
Tim Smith - Board Member
Visit www.jackmtn.com/background.html for Tim's complete biography.
Susan Griggs - Board Member
Olivia Woods - Volunteer web designer
Olivia's web design portfolio can be found at www.oliviawoods.com.
