The inaugural GreaterGood.org Nature’s Voice Awards, aiming to amplify the voice and impact of sustainability advocates across the globe, has opened nominations and announced its first round of winners including Maui activist Lucienne de Naie. As a result, Mālama Hamakua Maui has been awarded a $1,000 grant with the opportunity to win a $10,000 grant. Lucienne has been honored along with other strong voices across the globe including Ugandan Climate Activist Vanessa Nakate and internationally renowned conservationist Scott Black.
Nominations will be accepted and award recipients will be announced from now until mid-August. The first round of outstanding and diverse voices to be recognized by the Nature’s Voice Awards include:
- Vanessa Nakate founded the Rise Up Climate Movement in order to amplify the voices of activists from Africa. She was also the First Fridays For Future climate activist in Uganda. Her work includes raising awareness for the dangers, causes and the impacts of climate change. She spearheaded the campaign Save Congo Rain Forest, which is facing massive deforestation. This campaign later spread to other countries from Africa to Europe. She is now working on a project that involves installation of solar and institutional stoves in schools.
- Green Columbus is a non-profit dedicated to promoting sustainable living, environmental education and community involvement in the Central Ohio community. The group has built and leveraged an extensive local network of volunteers that have given more than 100,000 hours of green citizen service in the Columbus area.
- Scott Black is an internationally renowned conservationist who has been at the forefront of the conservation movement for more than three decades. Scott’s work has led to protection and restoration of habitat on millions of acres of rangelands, forests, and farmland as well as protection for many endangered species. He has written more than two hundred articles and publications, and co-authored the best-selling Attracting Native Pollinators and Gardening for Butterflies. He is executive director of the Xerces Society, which under his leadership has become the premier invertebrate conservation organization in North America.
- Lucienne de Naie lives on a small East Maui farm. She works as policy analyst, project manager, community organizer and historical researcher and serves on many local non-profit boards. Lucienne is a frequent presenter on historical and water resource issues and is author of a report on Maui’s water resources (2005) and a book on the history of Makena (2007). She has hosted a popular community interview TV show on Maui’s public access station, Akakū, for nine years, and in 2019 was honored as part of the station’s annual “Walk of Heroes” event where Akakū “enshrines in the cement sidewalk fronting the station, the hand and footprints of four of Maui Nui’s favorite heroes.” Lucienne has served on a number of citizen planning committees including: Maui County General Plan Advisory Committee, Focus Maui Nu Advisory Committee and the Mayor’s Open Space Ordinance Advisory Committee. She is currently Vice-Chair of the Sierra Club, Hawaii Chapter; Secretary of Mālama Hamakua Maui; President of the Ha’iku Community Association; Vice President of Maui Tomorrow Foundation; on the board of Maui Nui Marine Resource Council and a founding board member of Hawaii Islands Land Trust and Maui Cultural Lands Land Trust.
Winners that demonstrate outstanding communication efforts – from social media to advertising to events and more – are selected via crowdsourced nominations reviewed by GreaterGood.org. Winners will receive national and local recognition, and, for non-profits, a $1,000 grant from GreaterGood.org. All winners receive a gift of Nature’s Logic 100% natural pet food for their pet-loving constituents, where available.
One top winner, which will receive national recognition and a $10,000 grant from GreaterGood.org, will be selected from among the winners by a panel of judges active in the environmental sustainability sector. The panel includes: Patty Rose, Executive Director, Greenspace, NCR, board member New Partners Community Solar; Caitlyn Dudas, Executive Director, Pet Sustainability Coalition; Sarah Julian, Owner OffLeash Communications and Board member of the Pet Sustainability Coalition; Svanika Balasubramanian, Cofounder and CEO of rePurpose Global, the World’s First Plastic Credit Platform; Gillian Davies, Founding Co-Leader of Society of Wetland Scientists Climate Change and Wetlands Initiative and SWS Past President; David Garfield Rolland, Media Attorney, Producer of Love Thy Nature and Other Social Mission Films; Noah Horton, Chief Marketing Officer of GreaterGood.org; and Caroline Golon, VP Marketing for Nature’s Logic. Sustainability advocates and Nala Cat’s pet parents Shannon Ellis and Varisiri “Pookie” Methachittiphan serve as the nominating chairs of the Nature’s Voice Awards.
Nominations can be made via naturesvoiceawards.org or by emailing naturesvoice@greatergood.org. The nomination period runs through August 17. The $10,000 grand prize winner will be announced in September.
ABOUT GREATERGOOD.ORG
GreaterGood.orgGreaterGood.org is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization that works to improve the health and well-being of people, pets, and the planet. Over the last 12 years, GreaterGood.org has given over $250 million in cash and in-kind grants to over 3,000 charitable partners worldwide. To learn more, visit GreaterGood.org or follow us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.
ABOUT NATURE’S LOGIC Founded in 2006, Nature’s Logic
Image courtesy naturesvoiceawards.org
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