Earth Day 2021

Beatrice Namunyak Lempaira, is production manager for BeadWORKS, a program of TNC’s partner Northern Rangelands Trust's business arm, Northern Rangelands Trust-Trading (NRT-T), in Kenya.

BeadWORKS partners with established women’s groups in conservancies to help them turn their traditional craft skills into a viable, sustainable business. BeadWORKS currently empowers 1,250 women in nine conservancies, enabling women to earn more money creating traditional handicrafts than from other work that can have harmful impacts on the environment."I have seen women buy land through saving their BeadWORKS income," Beatrice said. "These days, I even have men coming up to me and asking how their wives can join BeadWORKS!"

During our Earth Day virtual event, “Change Starts Here,” Beatrice will talk about her work with women like Joyce Lelukai, featured in the video below, and how the work has been a catalyst for social change. Over and above having extra money for daily needs, the women feel they have a higher social standing in society and are empowered to have a say in what goes in their households and conservancies.

Aliya Jasmine is an award-winning TV Host & Producer. She received her Masters degree in Environmental Journalism from the University of Southern California.  She is a Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, and co-founder of the environmentally-focused creative agency, Lili Media & Design Lab. You likely recognize her from years of hosting prime time shows and documentaries for NBC News in Los Angeles, Discovery Channel, and MTV Canada. Her reporting in British Columbia's Great Bear Rainforest is what introduced her to The Nature Conservancy's work in the region, and eventually led her to join the Board of Directors in Canada.

Kosis Ifeji is a high school junior, intersectional climate justice activist and environmental steward from Bangor, Maine. Her passion for the environment led her to pursue citizen science efforts through her school's Stormwater Management and Research Team (SMART), which focuses on monitoring the health of the Penobscot watershed. Kosis shares her time as a Maine Environmental Changemakers fellow, co-chairs the Nature-Based Education Consortium (NBEC) Climate Education Task Force, serves on the NBEC Steering Committee, and collaborates with the Maine Climate Table Intergen cohort. Kosis also advocates for policy and culture-based change in both her school and local communities through addressing the inequities at her school district. In her free time, Kosis loves all things Harry Potter and cooking and baking for herself and for others. 

TNC’s Senior Scientist for Agriculture & Food Systems Dr. Michael Wironen provides technical and strategic leadership to projects and collaborations with leading agriculture and food companies, including Syngenta, Walmart, McDonald’s and AB InBev. His portfolio includes place-based projects in Africa, Asia and the Americas. His work focuses on achieving sustainable intensification, while driving toward a regenerative food system, including leveraging carbon and other ecosystem service markets. During the "Change Starts Here" Earth Day event, Michael will teach viewers about regenerative agriculture and provide tips on how to make educated, more sustainable food choices.

Julie Robinson is director of TNC's Belize Program, which aims to align science, technology, policy, finance and livelihoods for the benefit of people and the environment. Julie joined the Conservancy in 2006 as a marine program manager, building research and management capacity of local partners. She has led multi-disciplinary planning and science teams and built partnerships across diverse sectors and disciplines including government, private sector and non-profit organizations. All of Julie’s conservation work is based on consultation, as she has built a long process for cultivation and building consensus amongst resource users and managers. 

Julie has a B.Sc. in biology from the University of South Florida and is currently pursuing a P.S.M. in ocean food systems with the University of New England. She has a 10-year-old son with an affinity for history, aviation and the ocean, and together they enjoy walking their dogs, riding bikes and swimming in the ocean and rivers.