Contributors

The Resilient Activist enjoys sharing inspiring and nature-aware content from around the globe.  Hope you've enjoyed this article!

Sami Aaron is the founder of the nonprofit, The Resilient Activist, a nonprofit resource to build resilience, optimism, and hope in response to the impact of the climate crisis through community-building and deep nature connection. Contact Sami.

Elizabeth Allen is interested in working to better understand the intersections of complex topics such as climate change, poverty, disasters, public health, and mental health. She is a writer and researcher at heart who loves reading, journaling, and listening to Broadway musicals.

Briana Anderson is on a journey to find her place in environmental activism. Wildlife has been her passion since childhood, and she is on a continuous quest to learn everything she can about plants, animals, fungi, microbes, and the environment. She has researched best practices for coral reef conservation in Belize, pioneered non-harmful methods of researching bats with white-nose syndrome, and the relationship between the microbiome and cancer. She currently works as a veterinary technician at her local animal shelter and a teacher who gets to talk about wildlife all day. In her free time, she loves hiking, kayaking, cooking, drawing, and finding new ways to be plastic-free/zero-waste.

A mom to 2 growing girls, a wife, a daughter, a sister, an aunt, a cousin, a yogi, a foodie, a music lover, a co-worker, a beagle mom, a natural movement fanatic, a nature lover, an explorer...and someone who wants to leave the world in a better place for her daughters and others. Like slacklining, all the roles we play in our lives takes balance and mindfulness and practice. And these 3 guiding principles can be applied to how we treat and nurture the environment. It begins with my actions (big or small) and mindset and what I can share with everyone I meet.

Darlene Arnett has been a Missouri Master Gardener since 2012 and has obtained the Advanced Master Gardener certification. She loves veggie gardens and native plants of all kinds and wants to continue to educate herself and others about the intricate and interesting interactions of humans and the environment.  She loves passing on her knowledge and experience to others - even her mistakes!

Patti Beedles holds the unofficial title of Seed Nerd, and hopes to share her love of native plants with you. Patti works as a Program Associate with Kansas City WildLands, a program of Bridging the Gap.

Patti fell in love with the prairie ecosystem while earning her degree at the University of Kansas. She wove her love of native plants into her career working as the Grower at an ecologically based native plant nursery. Over her years at the greenhouse, Patti had the pleasure of propagating a few hundred species, including the threatened Mead's Milkweed (Asclepias meadii).

These days, she spends most of her time on the spectacular remnant landscapes in the Kansas City area, working to identify and collect native seed. Collaborating with a coalition of partners and volunteers, Kansas City WildLands Seed Team hand-collected 127 species and nearly 300 pounds of seed in 2017.

Patti enjoys homesteading, camping, and adventuring with her husband and 3-year-old daughter.

David Bilbrey is the founder of EcoThinkIt.com and the co-host of The Permaculture Podcast with Scott Mann. His focus is on regenerative enterprise and community development. He explores the intersection between permaculture and our economic and social systems. David has interviewed important thought leaders of our time.  Listen in at these links:

• Hunter Lovins https://www.thepermaculturepodcast.com/2018/1831/
• Otto Scharmer https://www.thepermaculturepodcast.com/2018/1813/
• Gregory Landua https://www.thepermaculturepodcast.com/2018/1828/
• Dr. Elaine Ingham https://www.thepermaculturepodcast.com/2018/1820/

Deborah Brenner-Liss, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist in San Francisco. She has been in private practice since 1980. For the past 3 or so years, her passion and vision have been directed toward attending to the climate crisis. She is in the process of creating a website, Finding Right Balance, findingrightbalance.com. The website is devoted to addressing where and how we humans have fallen out of  "right balance" with Mother Earth and with our fellow non-human creatures -- and highlighting many authors and organizations with suggestions as to how to heal the rift and move forward toward righting this balance.

Dawn Downey writes to incite compassion. Whether she’s challenged by Mother Nature or the nature of her wild mind, she hopes readers will recognize themselves in her stories—and then lovingly accept their own wild minds. Downey is the author of Blindsided: Essays from the Only Black Woman in the Room; Searching for My Heart: Essays about Love; From Dawn to Daylight: Essays; and Stumbling Toward the Buddha: Stories about Tripping over My Principles on the Road to Transformation. Learn more at DawnDowneyBlog.com.

Anna Gilmore is a humble student of "Writing for the Environment" offered at Rockhurst University who is interested in deep connections to earth through mindfulness, meditation, and movement. She is exploring sustainable agriculture through Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF).

Indigo Gilmore grew up in a midwestern prairie. She has taught environmentalism to children and adults and has been an environmental and human rights activist for years. Today, she uses her creativity to bring Nature Connection and Justice ideals to the surface of others' minds. Her favorite forms of artistic Nature relief are poetry, painting, and dance.

Anna Graether lives in the Kansas City area and has had a life-long interest in nature connection and the environment. She is currently focused on climate action by expanding the Homegrown National Park* by encouraging people to plant natives in their yards, common spaces in their neighborhood, in medians, and in parks. Provide a home for pollinators and all those critters that are part of the food web! *See Doug Tallamy’s book, Nature’s Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation That Starts in Your Yard.

Tobi Holloway is passionate about taking good care of ourselves, each other, and our planet. She is on the Board of The Resilient Activist and a blogger on the site. "I am especially interested in aligning our strengths and choices with our highest values. This requires deep dives into what we really care about as well as a persistent, gentle vigilance to navigate toward it. My focus is on upstream changes to our mindsets and behaviors. I hope to minimize the trade-off between activism and self-care and instead maximize the way they enhance each other -- improving wellbeing at every level.  I’m inspired to be part of The Resilient Activist because of the positive, optimistic approach to effecting change when change is hard."

Mary was a founding member of the board of the Resilient Activist and does tech consulting for us. She would like to make more changes in the care of our planet than just refusing plastic shopping bags and over-packaged products. Even better would be to make big changes with kindness and a light heart. Contact Mary.

Laura Huff Hileman is a Jungian-oriented dreamworker and spiritual director who believes dreamwork offers us the wisdom, community, and perspective we need for soulful thriving in challenging times.  Through her practice, Fire by Night Dreamwork, Laura facilitates dreamwork for groups and individuals.  She teaches at The Haden Institute in North Carolina. Laura Huff Hileman, M.A., M.S., Certified Dream Mentor & Spiritual Director, Fire by Night Dreamwork

Christine is a senior interior designer and CEO of CJI Design Group. She believes in developing design solutions that improve her clients' quality of life through the incorporation of sustainable and motivational design practices.

Ken Lassman is a fifth generation, lifelong resident of Douglas County in Kansas. He is the author of Wild Douglas County (2007) and Seasons and Cycles: Rhythms of Life in the Kansas River Basin (1985), and has a weekly online nature calendar at Kaw Valley Almanac. Ken is also an occupational therapist working at Topeka Independent Living Resource Center. He helped found and is a member of the Kansas Area Watershed Council and has led nature walks and given presentations to various organizations over the last four decades.

Anne Melia is an environmental and political activist, currently knocking on doors and having as many awesome conversations as possible in advance of the August primary and November general election in Kansas. She is on a journey to re-evaluate her life goals and actions towards a path of deeper self-discovery and increased environmental and social activism. "The challenges of 2020 crystallized in my mind both the desire to become more actively involved in efforts to address climate change and social equity issues, but also the need for a nurturing community to provide safety and respite. Through the Resilient Activist, I have found opportunities for activism as well as connectedness and community. I am excited for the opportunity to join with Sami and others to further the vision and mission of the organization."

Blogger Alejandra Orozco focuses on a variety of sustainability aspects for our everyday lives. Read more of her insightful articles on Porch.com.

Phoebe Pinkner is a photographer, videographer, and aspiring environmental activist based in St. Louis. She sees her life’s work as amplifying the vision of a hopeful, intersectional, and irrepressible eco-revolution. For inquiries, contact her at phoebemussman@icloud.com.

Beth Sarver is an Artist and Trauma-Informed Resilience Educator. Her approach to resilience skill building is centered in play, mindfulness, social emotional learning, creative problem solving and brain education. She feels the gravity of our environmental situation and the awareness of human suffering. As a mother, she is committed to breathe deeply and co-create a different story with our children-- one about wisdom, wellness and resilience. The Resilient Activist inspires the fierce mama bear within to dance, open-hearted, in the ongoing journey of learning and adapting in community. Check her website at www.BreathingRoomKC.com.

Lisa Walker is a proud SAHM (Stay at Home Mom). She enjoys trail hiking and beach-combing with her husband Jake when not busy with her boys and home improvement projects. She created NeighborhoodSprout.org as a passion project to share her love of homeownership with others.