Kehkashan Basu (born in 2000) was elected, at the age of 12, for a 2 year term as UNEP’s (United Nations Environment Programme) Global Coordinator for Children & Youth and a member of its Major Groups Facilitating Committee and she is the youngest person and the first minor, ever, to be elected into this position in the history of UNEP. She is the winner of the 2016 International Children’s Peace Prize. She is a United Nations Human Rights Champion, a National Geographic Young Explorer, one of Canada’s Top25 Women of Influence and has been named as one of the Top100 SDG Leaders in the world in 2020.

Her internationally acclaimed work on sustainability has resulted in her appointment as a Climate Reality Mentor, a One Young World Ambassador, Honorary Advisor for the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development – New York, Global Teen Leader at We Are Family Foundation, members of World Oceans Day Global Youth Advisory Council and EarthEcho International Youth Leadership Council. She is also the youngest member of Canada’s Women in Renewable Energy forum and the Council Lead at Toronto-St.Paul’s Constituency Youth Council.

 

Kehkashan is the founder of global social innovation enterprise, GREEN HOPE FOUNDATION , whose mission is to engage all sections of civil society, especially those who are marginalized, using ESD (Education for Sustainable Development) as a transformative tool to provide them with knowledge, behaviors and skills to think and act for a sustainable future. It now has over 2000 members and chapters in 16 countries. Kehkashan is the author of “The Tree of Hope” which was launched at the United Nations in New York, during the 2015 UN Children’s Summit. The book tells the story of young people taking actions to mitigate climate change. Her blogs have been published by the Huffington Post, UNICEF and many other portals.

 

She complements her grassroots advocacy with influencing policy making at the highest levels of governance, by amplifying youth voices through her speeches and interventions. A powerful and much sought after speaker, she has spoken at over 200 United Nations and other international summits, traveling to over 40 countries.

 

In recognition of her work on nuclear disarmament, she was awarded the first ever Voices Youth Award in commemoration of the legacy of Mikhail Gorbachev & George Shultz. She is a L’Oréal Paris Women of Worth Honoree, Starfish Canada’s Top25 Environmentalists Under 25, the recipient of the 2020 Women Super Achiever Award, the John Muir Conservation Award for Habitat Restoration, the Straubel Leadership Award, Community Award for Youth Service in Ontario, the 2019 Innovator of the Year ( Awarded at HundrEd Innovation Summit in Helsinki on 8th Nov 2018 chosen from the world’s top 100 innovations in Education) . Kehkashan has also received international awards from UNCCD (United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification ) in 2012 , the 2012 Korea Green Foundation award, the 2013 International Young Eco-Hero award from Action for Nature, USA & the 2014 Kids are Heroes, USA award, 2014 GESS award as Ambassador for the Environment and the 2014 Solar Pioneer Award , the 2015 Non-Resident Indian of the Year Award, the 2015 & 2018 International Diana Award , the 2017 Turner Social Change Prize, the 2017 National Energy Globe Award , the 2018 Rising Star Award in Toronto on the occasion of International Women’s Day and she was one of the five Caribbean & the Americas Region Winners for the Commonwealth Youth Awards for Excellence in Development Work 2018. She has been named as one of Toronto’s most inspiring women changemakers. Kehkashan joined the World Future Council as a Youth Ambassador in 2012, when she was just 12 years old. She is now the youngest Councillor at the World Future Council.

 

Follow her on social media: Facebook, twitter, instagram and YouTube. Kehkashan talked about three different songs during the podcast. This is the link to the first song, the second song will be available soon on her website and the third song can be found via our Spotify Playlist #WalkTalkListen consisting of songs chosen by our podcast guests.

 

Please let me/us know via our email incubationlab@cwsglobal.org what you think about this particular episode and the previous ones. We would love to hear from you.

 

Please like/follow our Walk Talk Listen podcast and follow @mauricebloem on twitter and instagram.  Or check us out on our website 100mile.org (and find out more about our app (android and iPhone) that enables you to walk and do good at the same time!

Ana Clara Giovani is a journalist, video editor, and teacher. In Brazil, she is a member of the Focolare Movement as a Youth for a United World and internationally she is a member of the Religions for Peace Youth Media Team. Ana Clara Giovani was born in São Paulo, Brazil and holds a Bachelors Degree in Communication, with a specialty in Journalism. She lived in the Philippines for a year to study Spirituality, Global human formation, and Training in Social Service, where she started working as a multimedia expert for educational institutions. Currently she is a teacher of a public school in the rural area as part of a program of Educational Leadership called Teach for All. Inspired by Chiara Lubich, the founder of the Focolare Movement, Ana engages to promote social justice, youth and women empowerment, and intercultural and interreligious harmony.

 

Youth for a United World (the youth of the Focolare Movement) instagram is: @y4uw.official. Religions for Peace Youth Multimedia Team also has instagram: @rfp_youth . You can follow Ana as well on instagram and twitter.

 

Don't forget to check our Spotify Playlist #WalkTalkListen consisting of songs chosen by our podcast guests. Outside of the artist/song mentioned by Theon in this episode, available via this link, he also mentioned the following songs to me: Wake Up Everybody -John Legend; Harvest for the World -The Isley Brothers; and “There’s Hope” -India Arie which I added to the #WalkTalkListen Playlist

 

Please let me/us know via our email incubationlab@cwsglobal.org what you think about this particular episode and the previous ones. We would love to hear from you.

 

Please like/follow our Walk Talk Listen podcast and follow @mauricebloem on twitter and instagram.  Or check us out on our website 100mile.org (and find out more about our app (android and iPhone) that enables you to walk and do good at the same time!

Rev. Dr. Theon Johnson III came to the California-Nevada Conference from Mississippi. An Ordained Elder in The United Methodist Church, Theon has served as a campus minister and in local churches.  Upon arriving in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2012, he became the youngest person in history to serve on the pastoral team at Glide Memorial United Methodist Church .  In addition to providing pastoral support for congregants, supporting thousands of clients, and interacting with community partners and elected officials, he considered serving as a cheerleader for the 150+ member GLIDE staff one of his primary roles.

 

Theon was appointed to serve alongside the people of Downs Memorial United Methodist Church on July 1, 2018.  

 

He completed a Bachelor of Science degree in Philosophy-Religious Studies (Minors in Education and Faith & Work Initiative) from Millsaps College in 2006.  He completed his theological studies at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C. (M.Div., 2009).  While in Washington, D.C., he served with the Education Leadership Formation division of the United Methodist General Board of Church and Society on Capitol Hill.  Theon holds a Ph.D. in Educational Administration and Supervision from Jackson State University (2018).  His research interests explore dynamics related to organizational leadership, culture, and strategy.

 

He serves widely with civic, social, and ecumenical organizations. You can follow his church via instagram and facebook. He is a great story teller and you might even experience him starting to preach during this episode, check it out!

 

Don't forget to check our Spotify Playlist #WalkTalkListen consisting of songs chosen by our podcast guests. Outside of the artist/song mentioned by Theon in this episode, available via this link, he also mentioned the following songs to me: Wake Up Everybody -John Legend; Harvest for the World -The Isley Brothers; and “There’s Hope” -India Arie which I added to the #WalkTalkListen Playlist

 

Please let me/us know via our email incubationlab@cwsglobal.org what you think about this particular episode and the previous ones. We would love to hear from you.

 

Please like/follow our Walk Talk Listen podcast and follow @mauricebloem on twitter and instagram.  Or check us out on our website 100mile.org (and find out more about our app (android and iPhone) that enables you to walk and do good at the same time!

Max Finberg is the President and CEO of  Growing Hope Globally. Founded in 1999 as Foods Resource Bank, Growing Hope Globally started when Ohio Farmers Vernon and Carol Sloan invited their neighbors to become part of the solution to world hunger by shipping corn from their fields to developing countries. They quickly learned shipping was too costly – nearly 15 times the cost of the grain itself – and would wreak havoc on local farmers and markets. Then they came up with a unique solution: Use the proceeds from crops raised and sold in the U.S. to fund agricultural development programs overseas. That seed of an idea has blossomed into a network of community Growing Projects in more than 20 states.  Together, GHG served over 2 million people and helped them to grow lasting solutions to hunger. You can follow Max his organization via facebook, instagram and twitter.

 

Don't forget to check our Spotify Playlist #WalkTalkListen consisting of songs chosen by our podcast guests. Please let me/us know via our email incubationlab@cwsglobal.org what you think about this particular episode and the previous ones. We would love to hear from you.

 

Please like/follow our Walk Talk Listen podcast and follow @mauricebloem on twitter and instagram.  Or check us out on our website 100mile.org (and find out more about our app (android and iPhone) that enables you to walk and do good at the same time!

Dr. Kusumita P. Pedersen is Professor Emerita of Religious Studies at St. Francis College and Chair of the Interfaith Center of New York. She is also a member of the Climate Action Task Force (CATF) of the Parliament of the World's Religions and of the Climate Working Group of the Committee of Religious NGOs at the United Nations. She is co-author of Global Ethics in Practice: Historical Backgrounds, Current Issues and Future Prospects (Edinburgh University Press, 2016) and co-editor of Faith for Earth: A Call to Action (UN Environment Programme and Parliament of the World’s Religions, 2020).

 

Kusumita mentions Father Thomas Berry in the podcast as a geologian (as mentioned by Father Thomas himself) studying the human-earth relation, but we didn't have time to further elaborate about him, so please check this link for some further information. She also mentions the Temple of Understanding in this podcast.

 

Kusumita also refers in this podcast to a recent research done by Pew Research Center on youth and their parents and religion in the US, you can follow the link here.

 

Kusumita has compiled and edited librettos for two works by Philip Glass: Symphony No. 5: Bardo, Requiem and Nirmānakāya (1999) and The Passion of Ramakrishna (2006).  She has been a student of Sri Chinmoy (1931-2007) since 1971 and her book Love and Transformation: The Philosophy of Sri Chinmoy is forthcoming from Lexington Books. 

 

Don't forget to check our Spotify Playlist #WalkTalkListen consisting of songs chosen by our podcast guests. Please let me/us know via our email incubationlab@cwsglobal.org what you think about this particular episode and the previous ones. We would love to hear from you. 

 

Please like/follow our Walk Talk Listen podcast and follow @mauricebloem on twitter and instagram.  Or check us out on our website 100mile.org (and find out more about our app that enables you to walk and do good at the same time!

An extra long podcast episode with President and CEO, Seungah Jeong of the company MPOWERD to make this Women's History Month extra special. Seungah has spent her career shaping global brands and driving them toward success.  She’s a pro at managing teams, leading retail partnerships and building things from scratch, especially when it comes to small business. A company co-founder in her own right, Seungah brings to MPOWERD two decades of consumer goods experience, balancing a keen eye for design with a sharp business acumen. With a background in philosophy and environmental studies, she’s passionate about the potential companies have to create positive impact. In her spare time, Seungah's an avid reader, runner and kickboxer – and she's even been known to bust a move!

 

Real Leaders, a digital and print magazine has been recognizing the business leaders creating a positive social and environmental impact for over a decade. In celebration of Women’s History Month, they highlighted 100 women who are leading us towards a brighter future and Seungah is on their list! A lot of reasons to make this last episode of the Women's History Month an extra long one! Hope you enjoy it as much as we did making it.

 

You can follow MPOWERD on facebook, instagram and twitter.

 

Don't forget to check our Spotify Playlist #WalkTalkListen consisting of songs chosen by our podcast guests. Please let me/us know via our email incubationlab@cwsglobal.org what you think about this particular episode and the previous ones. We would love to hear from you.

 

Please like/follow our Walk Talk Listen podcast and follow @mauricebloem on twitter and instagram.  Or check us out on our website 100mile.org (and find out more about our app that enables you to walk and do good at the same time!).

Gissou Nia is a senior fellow with Middle East Programs at the Atlantic Council. She currently leads an effort to build a strategic litigation program on the Middle East and North Africa.

 

Nia is a human rights lawyer and non-profit leader. She serves as board chair of the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center where she is helping develop and oversee the group’s human rights advocacy and legal programs, which seek to promote accountability, respect for human rights and the rule of law in Iran. She previously served as the Executive Director for the group, and as the Deputy Director of the Center for Human Rights in Iran.

 

Nia started her career in The Hague, where she worked on war crimes and crimes against humanity trials at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the International Criminal Court. She lectures and publishes widely on human rights developments in the Middle East and North Africa, as well as the rule of law in post-conflict and transitional societies.

 

Although not mentioned in this episode, Gissou Nia picked the following two songs for our Spotify Playlist #WalkTalkListen: Awake of Tycho and illuminant of Trilucid & Esque. 

 

Please let me/us know via our email incubationlab@cwsglobal.org what you think about this particular episode and the previous ones. We would love to hear from you.

 

Please like/follow our Walk Talk Listen podcast and follow @mauricebloem on twitter and instagram.  Or check us out on our website 100mile.org

Singer-songwriter and humanitarian Maya Azucena and she is known for making music that uplifts the soul. Among several awards for her music and humanitarian outreach, Azucena garnered a Grammy Certificate for contributing her 4-octave range and soul-stylings to a feature performance with Stephen Marley on Best Reggae Album of the Year, “Mind Control.” Brooklyn-native Maya is an avid independent touring artist and songwriter performing globally. Maya has devoted a significant amount of her career to human rights participation. In 2006, Maya sang at the "Save Darfur: Rally to Stop Genocide" on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. in solidarity with Barack Obama, Paul Rusesabagina, George Clooney, Elie Wiesel and numerous other performers, activists, and celebrities. More recently, she performed as a part of Marcus Miller's concert for Japanese tsunami relief. She sang alongside bassist Marcus Miller, keyboardist Robert Glasper, and rapper Q-Tip. She wrote two songs for the IFC documentary Lockdown USA, which examines the 1972 Rockefeller Drug Laws. Maya provided music for Emmy-Winning UN documentarian Lisa Russel's latest film Not Yet Rain, regarding the advancement of Women's health laws and reproductive rights in Ethiopia. She also performed two years in a row at the Susan G Komen Race for the Cure in New York City's Central Park. The race is a massive fundraiser for breast cancer research. Maya produced Hope Night, a concert event devoted to domestic abuse awareness. The event brought together several nonprofit organizations and speakers, including Governor ’’David Paterson’’. In 2008 Maya and her band did a five-week US State Department-sponsored tour of Burma, China, Philippines and Sri-Lanka as part of The Rhythm Road/American Music Abroad Program, performing concerts and workshops while appearing national press in an effort to create cultural exchange. Since then, in 2009, Maya did a similar tour for cultural exchange in Honduras and El Salvador, and will be returning to Honduras for another program.You can find more info on her website: mayaazucena.com

 

At the end of the podcast, Maya is asking the to let us know if our podcast episode resonates with the listeners and I can't agree with her more. Please let me/us know via email incubationlab@cwsglobal.org what you think about this particular episode and the previous ones. We would love to hear from you.

 

Please like/follow our Walk Talk Listen podcast and follow @mauricebloem on twitter and instagram.  Or check us out on our website 100mile.org

Step Vaessen is a Senior International Correspondent of Al Jazeera English who is back in her home country The Netherlands since a year now. Previously she reported on Asia for more than 20 years and was one of the most senior international journalists covering the region. After Asia she went for a couple of years to Moscow. She has been working for Al Jazeera since 2006 and before she worked for NOS-TV. She witnessed first hand most of the major news events in Asia: the fall of president Soeharto in 1998, the violent aftermath of the referendum for independence in East Timor, the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004, the Rohingya crisis in Myanmar, the protests against Jakarta governor Basuki Tjahaya Purnama and major natural disasters in Indonesia, Pakistan, the Philippines and numerous religious and ethnic conflicts. She covered stories in China, Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Japan and South Korea. She made several documentaries for 101 East: Indonesia's killing fields about anti-communist massacres in 1965, Indonesia's Rock governor about the rise of president Joko Widodo and a film for the Correspondent series: Trail of Murder, Indonesia's bloody retreat from East Timor, which was nominated Best Documentary at the Asian TV awards in Singapore. For Talk to Al Jazeera she did several interviews with Indonesia’s president Joko Widodo and Jakarta's governor Basuki Tjahaya Purnama. She published a book (in Dutch), Jihad with Sambal, and won an Academy Award in 2005 for her reports on the Indian Ocean tsunami. Step and I know each other from Indonesia as we were both in that country during the 2004 Tsunami. During our conversation Step refers to the recent riots that occurred in the Netherlands, this is a link to the story. You can follow Step via twitter and instagram.

 

Please like/follow our Walk Talk Listen podcast and follow @mauricebloem on twitter and instagram.  Or check us out on our website 100mile.org

Alicia Fall is the founder of Her Many Voices Foundation (HMVF), a small organization that does big things in the world. The mission of the foundation is to ignite the Artivist (Artist/Activist) in all people, in order to move their passions to purpose, for the betterment of women, children and our Mother Earth. They aim to achieve their vision by uniting humanity through the arts. The "Her"  in Her Many Voices makes reference to Mother Earth and the "Many Voices," to all of her children, which makes us all sisters and brothers. Comprised of artists, activists and global community members, Alicia and her team believe that women and children are the primary shapers of the future of our global community and we believe that providing vulnerable populations with education and resources to elevate themselves will uplift the community as a whole.

 

In the conversation, Alica refers to Earth Day, April 22nd as a special event will be happening to celebrate Indigenous Wisdom.  You can follow the Foundation on Facebook and Twitter. This episode contains an Alicia Fall's original song called "Many Blessings".

 

Please like/follow our Walk Talk Listen podcast and follow @mauricebloem on twitter and instagram.  Or check us out on our website 100mile.org