This is Part 7 in an 8-Part “Giving Thanks” series, a Global Exchange exclusive highlighting individuals (chosen by Global Exchange staff members) who are contributing to our social justice work in some way. This series will culminate with a “Giving Thanks” video to be launched right here on Wednesday, November 24th. So please join us in recognizing those special individuals who are helping to make this world a better place.

Global Exchange proudly honored Van Jones earlier this year as the Domestic Honoree during our annual Human Rights Awards. Here Global Exchange and Green Festivals Co-Founder Kevin Danaher takes the opportunity to personally thank Van for his contributions to the green movement:

I am thankful that I have been lucky enough to know Van Jones —as a mentor, colleague and friend—because Van has done SO MUCH to combine the struggle against inequality with the environmental struggle to create a nature friendly economy model. If we had a few thousand Solutionaries like Van, the transition to sustainability would have already taken place.

Van Jones and Kevin Danaher at Global Exchange 2010 Human Rights Awards gala.

Van Jones has been a pioneer in many areas. He was one of the first courageous leaders to call attention to police violence in poor neighborhoods, and he connected it to the violence of US foreign policy in many parts of the world. He has been one of the most articulate spokespeople linking the need for jobs in the inner city with the need to save our environment from the destructive effects of profit-oriented policies.

His path-breaking book The Green Collar Economy: How One Solution Can Fix Our Two Biggest Problems —the first by an African-American environmentalist to make the New York Times Best Seller list—made irrefutable arguments for linking green job creation with the need for more racial equality in our society. While a member of the Obama White House Van pushed the bureaucracies to put more money into green job creation. And now he continues that work, inspiring action for social justice everywhere he goes.

Thank You Van Jones!

If you want to keep up to date about Van and Kevin, here’s how:

Follow Van Jones on Twitter and Facebook.

Follow Kevin Danaher on Twitter and Facebook.

Who are YOU thankful for? Add your own thank you message in the Comments section to recognize someone you think is doing great social justice work. And if you feel so inspired, Retweet and Share this post to help spread the recognition all of our ‘Thankees’ deserve. Thank YOU.

With all the excitement surrounding the Green Festival happening this weekend in San Francisco, we almost forgot to tell you about the upcoming webinar “Is Green Entrepreneurship right for you?” which is coming up fast. It will be an encouraging discussion about green entrepreneurship with Kevin Danaher, Green Festival/Global Exchange Co-Founder and inspiring leader in the green economy, and Scott Cooney, the author of Build a Green Small Business and the founder of GreenBusinessOwner.com.

The details:
Date: Thursday, November 11, 2010
Time: 12PM Noon Pacific; 1PM Mountain; 2PM Central; 3PM Eastern
Length: 60 minutes

In this hour-long online conversation, Danaher and Cooney will cover:

  • Personal success factors and habits for green entrepreneurs
  • Hot opportunities to start a green business
  • The biggest challenges facing startups and ways to overcome them

Have Your Questions Ready! There will be a Q&A session after the presentation and you can ask your question(s) via chat-room. You’ll be able to participate from anywhere in the world, all you’ll need is a computer with an internet connection.

To participate: Register here.

Investment: Just $15. That’s less than the cost of your monthly gym membership dues, which if you’re like me and rarely go, would be better spent on something like this webinar.

If you register but cannot attend you will receive a recording of the webinar with audio and the complete slideshow.

We hope you are able to join us for this webinar and leave equipped with answers and feeling inspired to embrace the green entrepreneur inside you.

Do you know any budding green entrepreneurs? We’d love it if you helped spread the word about this webinar, so click the Retweet and Share buttons next to this post if you’re feeling inspired to help. The earth thanks you!

On the fence? Here’s a little more about the green guys leading this webinar:

Scott Cooney is a sustainable strategy advisor, author, professional public speaker, and the principal of GreenBusinessOwner.com, he advises businesses on executive strategy and implementation of sustainable principles as a driver of business success. Scott’s book, Build a Green Small Business: Profitable Ways to Become an Ecopreneur (McGraw-Hill), has been hailed by green business professionals, including Horst Rechelbacher (founder of Aveda), as a great starting point for aspiring eco-entrepreneurs to understand the wealth of opportunities available in the green economy for entrepreneurs, no matter what level of formal education or startup capital they have.

Dr. Kevin Danaher is Co-Founder of Global Exchange, Founder and Executive Co-Producer of the Green Festivals, and Executive Director of the Global Citizen Center. Dr. Danaher has spoken at universities and for community organizations throughout the U.S. on issues ranging from the dynamics of the global economy to how we can replace the power of transnational corporations with local green economy networks. Dr. Danaher has published numerous articles and is the author and/or editor of twelve books, including his latest, Building the Green Economy: Success Stories from the Grass Roots.

What People are Saying about Kevin’s past webinars:

Here’s what people have said about previous webinars with Dr. Kevin Danaher:
“A force multiplier”
“An excellent webinar filled with useful information”
“Nice job. Well worth the $.”
“It was indeed informative.”
“Very well run.”
“Thanks so much. That was awesome.”
“Gracias to you all….very informative, very helpful!”
“Good job, keep up the inspiring work Antonia and Kevin!”

"Solutionaries" attend Green Festival in Chicago, May 2010

The average lifetime of a species on planet earth is about one million years. Seeing as we humans are about 200,000 years old, you could say that we are exiting our adolescence and entering adulthood. We are waking up to the simple fact that our actions have consequences, such as degrading the environment, and we need to take responsibility for those consequences.

Correspondingly, progressive forces around the world are going through a maturing process, transitioning from being focused on protest (complaining about what we don’t like), to being focused on projects (actually building the next system—sustainability). We are going from a largely negative approach—standing up in opposition to things we define as bad (war, environmental destruction, inequality, injustice)—to creating the alternative institutions that will eventually become mainstream.

The term Solutionary is far better than revolutionary because it carries none of the negative, destructive connotations of revolution. The human race is entering a new epoch. Every revolution up until now has been a national process, with the revolutionaries seeking to gain control of the capital city in order to run that nation differently. The current transition is a global revolution in values: making a transition from a system where money values rule over the life cycle to one where life values rule over the money cycle.

Solutionaries can be activists or entrepreneurs. They know that the key skill set is organizing. They see each problem in the world as an opportunity for action that fixes the problem or at least lessens the suffering and increases the joy. Here are some examples.

Solutionaries look at the inequality in the world economy and address it by:
• opening Fair Trade shops that sell craft products made by low-income producer groups;
• developing Fair Trade certification systems (e.g., TransFairUSA) to educate consumers and drive revenue to the poorest;
• providing financing and technical assistance to grassroots groups in the global south so they can earn their way out of poverty and not be dependent on charity.

Solutionaries look at the fact that we are running out of clean, drinkable water, and they use that fact as the starting point for:
• inventing waterless urinals that each save 40,00 gallons of water per year;
• designing rain catchment systems;
• educating the public about the bogus bottled water industry and promoting the use of reusable water containers filled with tap water.

Huge crowds enjoy the Green Festivals in Washington, DC, San Francisco, Seattle and Chicago.

Solutionaries look at the 245 million tons of garbage we Americans send to landfills every year and they address it by:

• starting companies such as TerraCycle, which makes dozens of products from waste materials;
• launching recycling and composting programs that divert waste into productive uses (e.g., San Francisco diverts 72% of its waste into recycling and composting, generating income and saving money in landfill costs);
• expanding the Green Festivals, which for nine years have brought together hundreds of thousands of solutionaries and divert more than 90% of the events’ waste into recycling and composting.

So, from now on, when you see a problem in the world, put on your SOLUTIONARY hat and think of how that problem is an opportunity and a challenge to your creativity to find an organizational answer to the problem.

We can either curse the darkness, or we can create cooperative workshops making beeswax candles.

Are you a Solutionary? Check out this video where I discuss how we can unite Solutionaries. And if you have solutionary ideas, we’d love to hear from you!

Back by Popular Demand! In December 2009, we held the first Green Career Webinar here at Global Exchange. It was our first Webinar and the response was great. (The event sold out!) Clearly people are hungry for green jobs. So after making a few tweaks based on feedback from participants we’re hosting a second Green Career Webinar this Thursday, June 3rd at Noon PST. Just $10 gets you in.

This webinar will feature Carol McClelland, PhD and Kevin Danaher, PhD for a 60-minute interactive webinar conversation and Q&A about green careers.

During this second edition Webinar participants will learn:

• A simple visual map of the over 50 industries and sectors that make up the green economy;
• A tactical way to find the green career focus that matches your experience and passions;
• Practical job search strategies you can use to land your green job

There will be a Q&A session following the presentation.

Get to Know the Webinar hosts:

Carol McClelland is the author of Green Careers For Dummies and the Founder and Executive Director of Green Career Central, a full-service online resource center dedicated to providing career guidance, coaching, and resources to clarify the ever-evolving world of green career possibilities for professionals and career counselors. Her website is filled with lots of great information and articles (lots of it free!) for folks looking to find their dream green career.

Kevin Danaher is Co-Founder of Global Exchange, Founder and Executive Co-Producer of the Green Festivals, and Executive Director of the Global Citizen Center. He has spoken at universities and  community organizations throughout the U.S. on issues ranging from the dynamics of the global economy to how we can replace the power of transnational corporations with local green economy networks. Dr. Danaher has published numerous articles and is the author and/or editor of twelve books, including his latest, “Building the Green Economy: Success Stories from the Grass Roots“.

Who doesn’t love a good testimonial? Check out these quotes from past Webinar participants:

“An excellent webinar filled with useful information.”
“Nice job. Well worth the $10.”
“It was indeed informative.”
“Very well run.”
“Thanks so much. That was awesome.”

Now is YOUR Time to Find the Green Career You’ve Always Wanted!

The goal of this Webinar is for you to leave with practical next steps to realizing your dream green career. So if you or someone you know is interested in learning more about Green Careers and how to find yours today, we hope you join us this Thursday at Noon PST for the Green Careers Webinar. Register today to guarantee your spot. Since the first Green Webinar sold out, it’s possible that may happen again.