What kind of leadership do human societies need right now? What areas of focus are most germaine to addressing climate change?

This Earthworms conversation explores these questions with Jennie C. Stephens, Northeastern University professor and director of the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs, and author of the new book DIVERSIFYING POWER - Why We Need Antiracist, Feminist Leadership on Climate and Energy (Island Press, September 2020).

Stephens advocates for - and shares examples of national and local leadership in - an Energy Democracy focused enough to supplant the literal power structure of the fossil fuel Polluter Elite. With an appreciation for compassion and empathy as essential leadership qualities, Stephens recognizes the critical value of a new order to democratize the dynamics of society and the energy empowering us all. 

THANKS to Andy Heaslet, Earthworms engineer, supported by Jon Valley and Andy Coco.

Related Earthworms Conversations: Envision Charlotte (North Carolina) Rolls on Circular Economy (March 2020)

A 1999 vision seeded by two Missouri women sprouted, the next year, as a tax-supported program from our state's Department of Conservation. Flourishing today in a non-profit's fertile soil, Grow Native! stands like a swath of Big Bluestem and Blazing Star as one of the strongest native plant programs around.  

       
Carol Davit, Executive Director of the Missouri Prairie Foundation, tells how a diversity of forces grew success. Like the many "weeds" native to this idea, Grow Native! spread to include plant growers, seed producers, home and professional gardeners, and garden centers, statewide. Now housed within MPF, Grow Native! continues expanding beyond a tax-supported agency's state lines, cultivating ecological landscapes in Kansas, Iowa and Illinois.

Perhaps unique in the U.S., the Grow Native! inclusion of public education, professional development, and lively marketing covers the critical human roles so the plants and habitats they create can speak for themselves. Native plants will grow on you!

Check out Carol Davit's pean to prairies, for TEDx Gateway Arch. 

THANKS to Andy Heaslet, Jon Valley and Andy Coco, Earthworms mighty cohort of audio engineers.

Related Earthworms Conversations:

Nature's Best Hope? Ecologist Doug Tallamy says WE ARE (Feb 2020)

Lawn Alternatives with Neil DeBoll of Prairie Nursery (Aug 2017)

Natives Raising Natives: Inspiration from Butterflies and People (May 2017)