GrassRoot Ohio

Carolyn Harding with Seal Russell and Sean Fabb-Soto, both “Ohio State University students and organizers for the local hub of the Sunrise Movement here in Columbus. Through youth-led activism, Sunrise is working on the local, state, and national levels, with climate experts, progressive lawmakers, and community leaders to work towards a livable future for all.

The Green New Deal aims to put an end to climate change while creating just transitions for those whose livelihoods have been decimated by the increasing threat that the climate crisis has posed. Here in Columbus, We are working on projects to inform and expand the electorate, as well as getting members of the community engaged in the environmental activism, through actions like strikes and protests. One such action is the Earth Day Climate Strike, coming up this April 22nd. We would love to get an even bigger turn out than we did for our December Strike.” Sean Fabb-Soto

https://www.facebook.com/sunrisecolumbusoh/

sunriseMovement.org

Green New Deal Presenters at OSU:

Cathy Cowen Becker - #Readyfor100 [email protected]

Joel Wainwright - #OSUGeographyDepartment.

Fadhel Kaboub - associate professor of economics at Denison University and president of the Global Institute for Sustainable Prosperity

http://www.global-isp.org/

And on Twitter @GISP_TWEETS

Morgan Harper - 3rd District Ohio Congressional candidate.

Morganharper.org

Xavier Carrigan - 5th District Ohio Congressional candidate.

https://www.mxc2020.com/

GrassRoot Ohio w/ Carolyn Harding - Conversations with every-day people, working on important issues here in Columbus and all around Ohio!

Every Friday 5:00pm, EST on 94.1FM & streaming worldwide @ WGRN.org

Check us out and Like us on Face Book: https://www.facebook.com/GrassRootOhio/

All shows/podcasts archived at SoundCloud! https://soundcloud.com/user-42674753

Carolyn Harding with Randi Pokladnik and Dustin White, both working to raise awareness and build coalitions to fight the huge plastics petrochemical hub build-up along the Ohio River, euphemistically referred as the #AppalachianStorageHub.

Randi Pokladnik was born and raised in the Ohio Valley in Toronto Ohio, a small town just north of Steubenville Ohio. She has degrees in Environmental engineering, chemistry, and a masters and doctorate degrees in Environmental studies. She is a retired research chemist and educator. She writes and volunteers for Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition. Her main concerns are clean air, water and climate change and getting plastics and toxic chemicals out of our lives.

Dustin White, a project coordinator with the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition (or OVEC) which is headquartered in Huntington WV. Dustin grew up in Southern WV’s “coal fields” and has roots to the area going back 11 generations. He began his work with OVEC as a volunteer and later on staff fighting Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining. In 2014, he worked to get emergency relief to communities impacted by the WV Water Crisis when the petrochemical company, MCHM burst from its holding tank above the public water intake in Charleston, WV, leaving 300,000 residents in 9 counties without water for weeks.

Now, he works on what is the newest threat to Appalachia’s health, safety, and vitality ­– a proposed petrochemical mega-complex, known as the Appalachian Storage and Trading Hub, in the upper Ohio River Valley, that would impact air quality and threaten the drinking water of over 5 million people all for the primary purpose of manufacturing new single use plastics.

https://ohvec.org/

http://www.peopleoverpetro.org/

GrassRoot Ohio w/ Carolyn Harding - Conversations with every-day people, working on important issues here in Columbus and all around Ohio!

Every Friday 5:00pm, EST on 94.1FM & streaming worldwide @ WGRN.org

Check us out and Like us on Face Book: https://www.facebook.com/GrassRootOhio/

All shows/podcasts archived at SoundCloud! https://soundcloud.com/user-42674753

Carolyn Harding w/ Paul Sherlock and Molly Martin, both advocates for the Homeless in Cleveland, Ohio.

Paul is a long-time Environmental, Anti-war, and Social Justice activist. He took part in the great march for climate action, spent 4 1/2 weeks at Standing Rock protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline, took part in protests for Tamir Rice in Cleveland, and he’s been arrested multiple times for protesting fracking and the trump health care cuts.

Paul is an Advocate for the homeless-15 years of weekly outreach, meeting the homeless where they live. For the past 8 years, he’s been involved with The Metanoia Project, a non-profit organization that runs an overnight hospitality center for shelter resistant homeless, serving for 4 1/2 of those years as board president. He is Involved in the current fight Metanoia is having with the City of Cleveland.

https://metanoiaproject.org

Molly Martin is the Development and Communications Coordinator for the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless. She grew up in Cleveland and is a graduate of the University of Michigan. She lived in Nashville, working for the Metropolitan Homelessness Commission and The Contributor, a street newspaper sold by people experiencing homelessness. She recently received a Master of Public Policy at the University of Virginia, focused on policy strategies for community wealth building and racial equity. At NEOCH, she is responsible for development, communications, assists in advocacy and organizes special initiatives.

https://www.neoch.org

GrassRoot Ohio w/ Carolyn Harding - Conversations with every-day people, working on important issues here in Columbus and all around Ohio!

Every Friday 5:00pm, EST on 94.1FM & streaming worldwide @ WGRN.org

Check us out and Like us on Face Book: https://www.facebook.com/GrassRootOhio/

All shows/podcasts archived at SoundCloud! https://soundcloud.com/user-42674753

Carolyn Harding with Jen Mendoza and Drew Dielman, both activists in Cincinnati working with STAND.earth on the campaign to expose Proctor & Gamble’s use of endangered Boreal forest wood to make toilet paper.

Jen Mendoza is a Cincinnati based organizer. She was the lead organizer in the Stop Wage Theft legislative campaign, winning an ordinance in the city of Cincinnati. She has also worked on campaigns to stop nuclear bail outs, coal fired plant production, and to enact stricter regulations on injection wells in Ohio. She spent 6 months in Standing Rock as a orientation facilitator and a cook during the DAPL Dakota Access Pipe Line resistance and is now working on the forest defense campaign with Stand.earth and the NRDC in Cincinnati which aims to move P&G to more sustainable sourcing practices.

Drew Dielman is a UC University of Cincinnati, student and an artist activist involved in several organizing projects on and off campus. A member of Socialist Alternative, Drew builds intersectional coalitions within Cincinnati based movements. He has been a team member of the Cincinnati affinity group under Stand.Earth supporting the lobbying and research efforts of the campaign to stop coal fired plants, and to push for stricter regulations on injection wells.

GrassRoot Ohio w/ Carolyn Harding - Conversations with every-day people, working on important issues here in Columbus and all around Ohio!

Tune in every Friday 5:00pm, EST on 94.1FM & streaming worldwide @ WGRN.org

For updates and Info- Like our Face Book page: https://www.facebook.com/GrassRootOhio/

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All shows/podcasts archived at SoundCloud! https://soundcloud.com/user-42674753

Carolyn Harding w/ Adrienne Hood.

Adrienne is a life long resident of Columbus, Ohio. Her son, Henry Green V was murdered by two Columbus Police officers on June 6, 2016. That day she joined the involuntary club that changed her life forever. At that point she believed she had one of two options, sink, suffer and die silently, or fight. She has chosen the latter.

“It is a terrible system that we must fight against, but it is a fight that we must do nonetheless! I have two other children and three grandchildren and their protection/safety along with the rest of my community is important to me.”

GrassRoot Ohio w/ Carolyn Harding - Conversations with every-day people, working on important issues here in Columbus and all around Ohio!

Tune in every Friday 5:00pm, EST on 94.1FM & streaming worldwide @ WGRN.org

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All shows/podcasts archived at SoundCloud! https://soundcloud.com/user-42674753

Carolyn Harding with local women organic farmers. Kate Hodges, of Foraged & Sown organic farm, and Katie Hawkins, of Happy Toes homestead. Both women got started as urban farmers, one is certified organic and the other is in the transition to organic certification.

Since 2015, Kate Hodges has farmed two certified organic acres of herbs, vegetables, and berries on multiple growing sites around Central Ohio. She is a first-generation, female farmer committed to environmentally- and socially-just practices.

Kate is the flavor finder of Foraged & Sown. She has been gardening her whole life and foraging for much of it. She finds herself enamored equally with cultivated and wild flavors.

As farmer, you'll find her building perennial systems and carefully harvesting to ensure plant vigor. As forager, you'll find her traversing different terrains in search of greens, berries, nuts and roots.

foragedandsown.com

Katie Hawkins of Happy Toes Homestead, grew up gardening and fell in love with cooking from scratch for friends and family in college. Her passion for making tasty, sustainable food inspired her to create Happy Toes Homestead, LLC. in 2017.

Before digging into farming, she studied Environmental Studies at Denison University and, over the years, she worked on a variety of local (and a few not-so-local) small-scale farming operations and farmers markets. Happy Toes Homestead, LLC. is her (and her husband, Jacob's) home, and she believes in using farming practices that not only produce absolutely delicious vegetables, fruits, and herbs and breathtakingly beautiful flowers, but that also help her local community enjoy healthy and green lifestyles.

happytoeshomestead.com

And a shout out to:

Emily Pek, founder of Frayed Knot Farm. Thirty miles east of downtown Cleveland, Emily grows over 50 varieties of annual and perennial flowers, many of which are heirloom seeds on less than an acre. Using hand scale and regenerative farming practices, the farm has transformed from mowed grass and heavy clay soil to a thriving ecologically diverse ecosystem. Flowers and foraged botanicals are cut for CSA bouquet subscriptions, weddings & events and workshops.

https://www.frayedknotfarm.com/

And a shout out to:

Annie Warmke - BlueRockStation.org

WomenGrowOhio -https://www.facebook.com/womengrowohio/

photo of Kate Hodges at Foraged & Sown Organic Farm

GrassRoot Ohio w/ Carolyn Harding - Conversations with every-day people, working on important issues here in Columbus and all around Ohio!

Tune in every Friday 5:00pm, EST on 94.1FM Columbus, Ohio & streaming worldwide @ WGRN.org

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All shows/podcasts archived at SoundCloud! https://soundcloud.com/user-42674753

GrassRoot Ohio radio/podcast with Stefanie Penn Spear- Cleveland resident/environmentalist on her upcoming journey with #eXXpedition - the two year all-women sailing trip around the world studying the devastating impacts plastic pollution in the Oceans. We will also get an update from Bev Reed of Concerned Ohio River Residents, working to raise awareness and stop the PTTGlobal Cracker Plant in Belmont County, Ohio.

Stefanie Spear works with people and organizations leading the charge for change. She has more than 30 years experience as an entrepreneur and leader in the grassroots environmental movement with a special focus on communications and marketing. She is the founder of EcoWatch, Expedite Renewable Energy and Stellar Consulting, the company she currently runs. Her main focus throughout her career has been uniting and amplifying the voices of the grassroots environmental movement to mobilize millions of people to engage on the most important issues impacting people and planet. In January 2020, Stefanie will be joining the crew of eXXpedition, an all-women crew sailing around the world to raise awareness about the devastating environmental and health impacts of single-use plastics, for the leg from Panama City to the Galapagos Islands. When Stefanie is not working, she’s likely paddleboarding her beloved Lake Erie or some other body of water. Follow Stefanie on Twitter at @StefanieSpear and Instagram at cle.sup.

Bev Reed is a lifelong resident of the Ohio River Valley. She is a registered nurse but currently works for her family business and for Freshwater Accountability Project, a nonprofit based in Ohio. She helps with Concerned Ohio River Residents, working to educate the community on and organize around the proposed PTT Global ethane cracker (plastics) plant and associated petrochemical build-out of the Ohio River basin.

Bev is an avid mountain biker and enjoys the beautiful, rich mountains and valleys that Appalachia has to offer for recreation. She is also a youth mountain bike coach for a team based in Wheeling, West Virginia.

https://www.facebook.com/ConcernedOhioRiverResidents/

https://www.nocrackerplantov.com

GrassRoot Ohio w/ Carolyn Harding - Conversations with every-day people, working on important issues here in Columbus and all around Ohio!

Tune in every Friday 5:00pm, EST on 94.1FM & streaming worldwide @ WGRN.org

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All shows/podcasts archived at SoundCloud! https://soundcloud.com/user-42674753

Carolyn Harding with Jonathan Beard and David Harewood, organizers for Everyday People for Positive Change, a citizen ballot initiative committee seeking to improve Columbus City Council.

(from website) “We believe our city council and our elections should be structured in such a way so that council members are accountable to ordinary citizens. We believe in fair and competitive elections for a responsive and representative council.”

Jonathan Beard serves as Treasurer of Everyday People for Positive Change. He has participated with three such groups since 2013, calling for reforms in the structure of city council and campaign finance reform, including serving as co-chair of Represent Columbus, the only citizen-led charter amendment initiative to make it to the ballot in the charter's 100 year history (2016). Beginning in 1996, Beard served for 22 years as President and CEO of Columbus Compact Corporation the nonprofit organization charged with developing and leading community strategies for areas of Columbus that met federal statutory criteria for "pervasive poverty and social distress." In this role, he organized and led a wide variety of grassroots economic development and neighborhood improvement initiatives. He has served as a little league coach and Board Chairman for the Driving Park Youth Baseball League, served as a member of the Board of Directors of the United Way of Central Ohio, Ohio Dominican University, and on community advisory groups including with COTA, MORPC, PNC and Huntington National Bank, and has volunteered with numerous civic groups. Beard received a BA in Political Science from the University of Pennsylvania, and a Masters in Public Administration from the Ohio State University. He is married with two children, and a resident of the Near East Side of Columbus.

David S. Harewood moved to Columbus in the summer of 2011, working to protect collective bargaining rights for the state's union employee population. He spent the next few years working with groups like Working America and the NAACP to register voters and promote progressive causes in the greater Twin Cities, Detroit, and Philadelphia areas, then returned to Columbus to focus on more local matters. A founding member of the People's Justice Project, former Ohio field director of the National Association for Civil Discourse, David is a progressive organizer who strongly believes that good government is possible so long as it's responsive to the needs and desires of its people.

http://everydaypeoplecolumbus.us/

GrassRoot Ohio w/ Carolyn Harding - Conversations with every-day people, working on important issues here in Columbus and all around Ohio!

Tune in every Friday 5:00pm, EST on 94.1FM & streaming worldwide @ WGRN.org

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All shows/podcasts archived at SoundCloud! https://soundcloud.com/user-42674753

GrassRoot Ohio radio/podcast with Mia Lewis (Ohio District 12) and Meryl Neiman (Ohio District 3) will share what these grassroots groups are doing for DEMOCRACY in Central Ohio.

Mia Lewis works for Common Cause Ohio and is one of the leaders of Indivisible: Ohio District 12. Indivisible OH12 has been busy standing up to the Trump agenda since January 2017, registering and turning out voters, recruiting and supporting candidates, and holding elected officials accountable. They are looking forward to having all hands on deck for 2020 and helping everyone find a way to get involved and make a difference.

Meryl Neiman is a recovering attorney turned entrepreneur and writer who now spends a lot of her time as an activist and organizer. She's a leader with Indivisible Columbus District 3 and with Ohio Progressive Action Leaders ("OPAL"), a coalition of Indivisible and other group leaders state-wide. OPAL's Mission Vote 2020 Vision campaign is focused on defeating Trump in Ohio in 2020 and flipping two additional Ohio Supreme Court seats to ensure fair redistricting.

GrassRoot Ohio w/ Carolyn Harding - Conversations with every-day people, working on important issues here in Columbus and all around Ohio!

Tune in every Friday 5:00pm, EST on 94.1FM & streaming worldwide @ WGRN.org

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All shows/podcasts archived at SoundCloud! https://soundcloud.com/user-42674753