Gretchen is an engaged citizen, passionate about creating safe spaces for needed public conversations, supporting collaborative action, and bridging divides between diverse communities. She is bilingual in Spanish, studied at Drew University’s United Nations semester, and has degrees in Politics and Conflict Analysis & Resolution.
She has experience as a trainer, teacher and small business owner, and has been a climate advocate since 2006, discovering Citizens’ Climate Lobby in 2013. In 2021 she was trained on the MIT/Sloan En-ROADS climate simulator, attaining the status of Climate Ambassador, and periodically utilizes this powerful visual tool in interactive discussions. She served on the City of Tempe’s Sustainability and Resilience Commission for 6 years, and on the Apache Blvd. Project Area Committee for the entire 12 years it existed.
She was awarded the Arizona Faith Network’s “Above and Beyond” Award in 2021, the City of Tempe’s Chuck Malpede Neighbor of the Year Award in 2014, and the Tempe Community Action Agency’s “Dave Tally Award” in 2011.
2 topics · no fee, no honorarium, no mileage
Review available topics below. Use the “Request This Free Speech” button and fill out the contact form. Gretchen contacts you to discuss the details of the request.
Engage your audience with a real-time policy simulator. This is a fun way to learn more about climate change issues, solutions, and the relative effectiveness of policy solutions. Can the audience solve the climate problem (stay below 1.5°C)? The audience chooses the levers they think will have the biggest impact and as a group we see what happens. The tool simulates their proposed solution(s) instantly in “real-time”.
Climate Interactive and MIT Sloan have worked together to build a worldwide, science-based climate simulator. The audience is engaged to offer suggested solutions to slow climate change. This stimulates discussions as to why actions may or may not be as effective as expected. We’ll also share bipartisan actions that the US Congress is considering and evaluate what impact those actions are likely to have on climate change. Participants leave the discussion with new insights into policy approaches.
Ground your exploration of climate action within your specific faith tradition, or learn about interfaith approaches to faithfully cherishing creation. This presentation will be created to meet the identified objectives of the faith or interfaith community providing the invitation.
Climate is a topic that can touch all areas of our lives, from the most personal and daily decisions about having and raising a family to global water, immigration or energy policy. How do we settle into the wisdom of our own faith tradition and allow it to assist us in solving global challenges with love and power, day in and day out, year in and year out?
This program is more about creating a shared journey into a faith community’s awareness of what cherishing creation means today than a presentation of information.
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