2019 Annual General Meeting and 30th Anniversary Birthday Party

Join us June 22nd to celebrate our 30th Birthday!

Special guest speaker Elin Kelsey will engage us about Ocean Optimism. Drop by before the AGM from 12- 2pm for our new office open house – see our new workspace, chat with staff or enjoy informal property tours.

Community picnic and BBQ to follow at 4:30pm, with live music and delicious birthday cake. Did you say cake??

About guest speaker Elin Kelsey:

Dr. Elin Kelsey is a leading spokesperson for hope and the environment. An award-winning author, environmental scholar and consultant, she collaborates on interdisciplinary projects committed to positive social and environmental change. In 2014, she co-founded a social media campaign devoted to crowd-sourcing and sharing ocean conservation successes. #OceanOptimism has reached more than 90 million users to date and has sparked a number of optimism-based conservation campaigns including #EarthOptimism, #ConservationOptimism, #ClimateOptimism and others. She has been awarded prestigious fellowships, including a Rockefeller fellowship in Italy; a Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society fellowship in Germany; and an Arteles Creative fellowship in Finland, to explore the question of hope and the environment in interdisciplinary think tanks devoted to world changing ideas. Dubbed the “the high priestess of hope” by The Green Interview, the World Conservation Union, the largest international assemblage of government and non-governmental environmental organizations, featured Elin and her work on hope in their “Inspiring People” campaign.

Elin currently serves as a Visiting Scholar at Stanford University in the Graduate School of Education. She is also an adjunct faculty member in the School of Environmental Studies at the University of Victoria.  In addition to her academic research and teaching, Elin runs an environmental education and communications consultancy, Elin Kelsey and Company, and is an award-winning author and environmental journalist. She is currently co-producing and hosting Hakai Magazine’s first podcast series.

Elin is a popular keynote speaker and has a track record of inspiring change. She wrote the scientific brief for Pew Global Oceans that led former President George W. Bush to dedicate one of the world’s largest marine reserves, the Mariana Trench National Monument. She has worked collaboratively on marine engagement projects and strategies in Britain, Australia, Canada, the U.K., and the U.S., and worked with the Monterey Bay Aquarium and a coalition of more than 40 aquariums and visitor centers across the U.S. on a multi-year empowerment evaluation of how to better communicate about climate change and its effect on the oceans. That work gave rise to the national Climate Interpreter network. She recently worked with Monterey Bay Aquarium staff and youth in the Teen Conservation Leaders Social Media track on a pilot to study the impact on youth empowerment and agency of co-creating hopeful environmental content.

Elin is the author of You Are Never Alone, You Are Stardust, Wild Ideas, Not Your Typical Book About the Environment and other award-winning books for children and adults. Her books for have received rave reviews from the Economist, Brain Pickings, the Washington Post, Publishers Weekly, and Kirkus Review. Her work also appears in Hakai Magazine, New Scientist, BBC Wildlife, Conservation Magazine, Bay Area Parent, Green Teacher, and numerous online sites. Elin founded the writing program at the Osher Life Long Learning Institute at California State University, Monterey Bay and has been awarded writer-in-residence posts at: Hedgebrook, Berton House, Conservation International, Crofton House and, Mesa Refuge.

Elin holds a Ph.D. in Science Communication and International Environmental Policy through King’s College London (King’s College Alumni Research Scholarship Recipient). She obtained her Bachelor of Science degree in Zoology (Honours) from the University of Guelph and a Master of Arts in Science Learning in Informal Settings from the University of British Columbia.

For more about Elin and her work, please visit www.elinkelseyandcompany.com