CHANGEMAKER 2020 

October 27th: Sign up to participate

• Complete the Intent to Participate form. 
• Receive information and updates by joining a group chat.
• Click here for “how to get started.”

November 1: Attend Incubator Workshop at Harvey

• Participants meet with community experts, refine the direction of their project and learn about available resources and Round 1 requirements.

December 1: Project Proposal Form Due

• This will be reviewed in advance by the Round 1 judges.

December 7: Power Point Presentation Due

• Presentations must be submitted in advance via Dropbox for Round 1.

December 9: Round 1 at John Jay High School

• Present before panel of judges. Students have 3 minutes to present and judges have 3 minutes to ask questions.

After Round 1

• Finalists are selected to receive project seed-funding up to $1,000 and will have access to community experts to develop and pilot their ideas.

January 11: Incubator Workshop for Finalists at Rippowam Cisqua Upper School

• Participants meet with community experts again to “hatch” their projects, receive training on data collection, and learn more about Finals requirements. Students receive one point on final presentation for attending this workshop.
• Participants sign a Seed Funding Agreement and obtain info about how to get pre-approval for expenses and seed funding. Click here for purchase order.

March 7: Mid-Way Report Due online

• Finalists submit report on the status of their project. Click here. Students earn one point on final score for timely submission of this mid-way report before midnight on March 7, 2018.

Finalists, click here for Finals Overview, Tips and Timeline

April 26: Final Presentation Practice and upload by April 29

• Final Report and Power Point Presentations. Students will earn one point towards their final score for on-time submission of the final report and presentation before midnight on April 29, 2018. Link to submit audio or visual materials for final presentation here.
• Students will earn one point for practicing their presentation with a faculty member (and having the faculty member email us that they did this prior to submission of Final presentation. Aim to do this by April 26 so you have time to make suggested changes before the Power Point is due by midnight on April 29.

May 1st: Final Round at 6:30pm at the Bedford Playhouse

• Completed projects are presented at a community-wide Shark Tank event and Greenlight Award winner is selected. Click here for SCORE-IT score sheet.
• Student presentations should be no longer than 5 minutes.
• Student arrive by 6:15PM. You will be giving a presentation on stage before an audience.
• Everyone who attends will be entered into our raffle to win prizes from area stores and restaurants.  Please invite friends and family!
• The winning team receives $500 cash prize! Runner up $250 prize.
• Students and faculty mentors are asked to come up on stage at the end of the event for photos and a short reception with the judges. All participants are presented with a certificate or recognition from Westchester County.
• All finalists are celebrated and press release with project results and photos sent to media.

Return to the Toolkit

Download the app GroupMe and click below to join the group me chat for your school:

• JJHS 
• FLHS
• Harvey
• RCS
• Greeley

We will send out information and reminders this way. Thanks!

About Greenlight

We are looking for students who want to make a difference.  This year’s theme, Changemaker 2020, is a behavioral change challenge.  There are many ways to tackle environmental problems and we need many solutions to drive change. We hope students and faculty from all subjects will get involved.

Who should participate?

Students who care about the environment, want to make a difference, and want to experience leadership, teamwork, public speaking, and drive to create something to use in a real-world experience. These are key skills to learn, apply, and add to a college application.

How?

Choose any behavior people aren’t already doing – recycling, taking the bus, turning off lights (there are lists of hundreds of behaviors that are better for the environment) and then do something to get people to act that way.  Students may develop any project to create awareness, inspire or otherwise cause change, and use this “tool” to accomplish behavior change by May 1st.

• Policy/Government – drive change with a new rule
• Marketing/Film/Art/Photography — inspire change with a message
• Science/Tech/Entrepreneurship – help people change with an invention/solution
• Writing/Tech – instruct and make it easier to change with resources or events
• Marketing – promote change or promote a product that causes change
• Activism – drive change through grassroots organizing

Bedford 2020 encourages teamwork and multi-disciplinary approaches to tackle problems in our community. We offer resources on our website, at workshops, and in the way of seed-funding, community expert mentors, and public relations outreach. To see more resources for students, please visit the Greenlight Toolkit.

Please Promote Greenlight

Please announce this opportunity to your classes.

If you know of students who would be interested in or would benefit from this program, please encourage them to check out the website and sign up online to participate.

Click here for a flyer to share with students.

If you have been asked  to be a faculty mentor, click here for more information.

Congratulations, you are about to become part of something amazing!

To be a part of the Greenlight Award Competition, submit this form before October 27th.

This form indicates that the student or team of students named on the form have enlisted a faculty advisor and have begun developing ideas to improve into a project proposal.

Sign up here for updates. We will let you know about the mandatory Incubator Workshop where we will invite community experts to help you with your proposals, review the requirements for the Project Proposal Form, and help you prepare for the Round 1 expo and presentations in December.

Click here for more information.

We look forward to hearing more about your project in the coming weeks. If you have any questions, please feel free to email Bedford 2020.

Greenlight Award Intent to Participate 2017-2018

Greenlight Award Intent to Participate 2017-2018

The Changemaker 2020 competition is on! We are looking forward to hearing your big green ideas. Please sign up here to participate, and we will be sure to keep you in the loop about upcoming meetings, new materials and to help if you need it. Questions? Email: ellen.calves@bedford2020.org.

If you are human, leave this field blank.

Project or Group Name *

You can always update this as you develop your idea further, but let us know how we should refer to your project.

School *

1. What environmental issue are you addressing with your project? *

You should address an environmental issue within this community.

Briefly describe your idea. *

Your idea could include scientific or technological solutions, education/awareness (through art, persuasion, film, etc), policy and influence, research and reporting, grassroots action, or a combination of any of these (or others).

How will this idea help get people to change their behavior to address the issue stated above? *

Who in the community will you be reaching? *

a. Your idea should be realistic to implement within your school, neighborhood, congregation or among local businesses or other aspects of the community. Your reach may change as you begin to research the scale and feasibility of your project.

Faculty Advisor Name (first and last) *

Faculty Advisor Email *

Student 1 Name (first and last) *

Student 1 Email Address *

Student 1 Alternate Email Address (home, parent, or other)

At least one student on your team should provide an additional email address because the school email systems often reject our Bedford 2020 emails and we want to make sure your team stays in the loop. Thank you.

Student 1 Phone Number *

Student 1 Grade * 9 10 11 12

Student 2 Name (first and last)

Student 2 Email Address

Student 2 Alternate Email Address (home, parent, or other)

Student 2 Phone Number

Student 2 Grade Option 1 11 10 9

Student 3 Name (first and last)

Student 3 Email Address

Student 3 Phone Number

Student 3 Grade Option 1 11 10 9

Please add additional students and their email addresses below.

All student teams must work with an faculty advisor at their school as they develop their projects.  The faculty mentor will offer guidance, feedback, help with communication between students and Bedford 2020, and remind students about resources, goals and deadlines.

Faculty mentors for finalist teams are encouraged to attend the Finals in the spring.  We greatly appreciate faculty mentors and want to recognize you at the Finals!

Bedford 2020 will offer support to students throughout the contest

We hope faculty mentors will encourage students to take advantage of these opportunities.

• Ideas, Inspiration and Questions Answered. At the kickoff meetings Bedford 2020 staff and volunteers are there to help students brainstorm ideas for projects.
• Expert Advice and Resources. Teams refine project ideas with the help of community “experts” at the Incubator workshop.  Information will also be presented about behavior change, how to put together a budget, and what is required for the Round 1 proposal and presentation.
• How to Score Well. Encourage students to use the Round 1 SCORE-IT worksheet like a rubric when preparing their written proposal. The judges are asked to review proposals prior to the presentations (but students should prepare the oral presentation as if the judges have not read the written proposal).
• How to Present Well.  At Round 1, students will have 3 minutes to present and 2 minutes to answer questions. Students are encouraged to practice their oral presentations with a faculty member and again, use the SCORE-IT like a rubric.
• Public Speaking Experience and Feedback. All student participants will watch the Round 1 presentations and are encouraged to bring family, friends, and faculty mentors.
• Finalist Support and Feedback. Finalists will receive funding approvals and get feedback from the Round 1 event. There will be another opportunity to meet with community experts to learn more about data collection methods and receive help on their specific project. Students will earn a point towards the final event for attending this workshop.
• Mid-Way Check-In. Short Update will be due in early February and is a “check in” that milestones are being completed and to see if finalists need further support from community experts. Students will earn a point towards the final event for completing this form on time.
• Get Funded. Purchase orders must be filled out and submitted to be reimbursed for approved expenses.  Students will earn a point for using their budget and other resources effectively.
• Final Report and Power Point Presentations. Students will earn one point towards their final score for on-time submission of the final report and presentation.
• Finals – Everyone is a Winner. Students will be presented with certificates from the County and are strongly encouraged to bring friends and family to this fun event. We encourage faculty mentors to also attend.  Students will earn one point for practicing their presentation with a faculty member (and having the faculty member email us that they did this) prior to the Finals. Students and faculty mentors are asked to come up on stage at the end of the event for photos and a short reception with the judges.

Resources for Greenlight Competitors

In addition to the many opportunities for feedback and help above, the Greenlight Award Toolkit has forms, inspiration and resources for participants. We also have set up Group Me app group chats for students to get reminders from us. Click here to sign up for one.

Forms for Greenlight Competitors

Intent to Participate Form: Here

All teams must fill out this form with a general outline of their project in order to be entered into the competition.

Project Proposal Form: Here

Your students should use these questions on this form as a guide to formulate and design their proposal.

Scoring Rubric: Here

Teams should look over this rubric closely as they create their Round One and Final Presentations.

Contact:

Faculty mentors are encouraged to contact us if you have any questions or concerns.

2016-2017 Greenlight Award Competition – Solid Waste Ideas! from Bedford 2020 on Vimeo.

Whether they went home with a trophy or not, all eight finalist teams in the Bedford 2020 Greenlight Award competition at Fox Lane High School on Friday, May 20, took on a challenge to combat greenhouse gas emissions or protect natural resources. All worked diligently to implement their projects and to improve our community this year. All deserve a round of applause!

According to Olivia Farr, Co-founder of Bedford 2020, “Each project was entirely unique and every one made a difference, and for that all of the teams deserve recognition and thanks for their great work.”

These student projects have made an impression in our community and will continue to have a positive impact on the environment as they live on, Bedford 2020 hopes that the contest has had an impact on the students as well. Finals judge Jeff Tannenbaum thinks it will; as he said, “There is no better way for kids to learn than through experiential learning – especially on long term projects. The Greenlight Finals were very inspiring and I am sure this program will benefit the contestants in terms of confidence, entrepreneurship, and tenacity far into the future.”

Not only will these student projects live on beyond the Greenlight Award contest of 2015-2016, Bedford 2020 looks forward to partnering with other area schools to bring this opportunity to more students and evolve the Greenlight Award into an inter-school competition in the coming year. For more information visit www.bedford2020.org/greenlight

See below for photos and descriptions of the winning projects as well as the other finalist projects in the Greenlight Award competition.

High School Greenlight Award Winners Make the Case for Energy Efficiency

Seniors Jesse Hoogland, Maya Koneval and Sajay Srivastava won the High School Greenlight Award and the $500 prize for their project on Efficient Lighting at Fox Lane High School. By evaulating lighting inefficiencies around the school and performing a cost benefit analysis to estimate monetary waste, the team concluded that the school could purchase LED bulbs for the entire building “for $38,700, and in one year the school would save $116,000 in energy costs.” They also evaluated places where sensors and timers could cut down on light use and save both energy and money for the school. The team’s faculty advisor, Fred Neumann, also received a $500 grant. Perhaps returning students will take up the reins of this great project and push for adoption of these cost-effective recommendations at Fox Lane and other BCSD schools.

Middle School Winner Installs Solar “Sun Stop” at FLMS

Asa Friedrich, an eighth grader, won the Middle School Greenlight Award and the $500 cash prize for his design, building, and installation of what he calls The Sun Stop: a shelter where students can wait for the bus under cover from the elements and charge their electronic devices at its solar-powered charging station. Asa would like to build more and larger Sun Stops, and hook them up to provide solar energy into the grid. This prototype serves as a demonstrative, educational tool for students to see and use solar power and read about how it works right in front of the Middle School while they wait for the bus. Asa worked with his faculty advisor, Christopher Grove, to build and install The Sun Stop.

High School Finalists:

Pound Ridge Elementary School Composting Program Implemented by High School Senior

Full implementation of a composting program at Pound Ridge Elementary School is the successful impact of Jessica Smith’s Greenlight Award project. A senior at Fox Lane High school, Jessica worked with the PRES administration and teachers, visited classrooms and taught the students about the importance of composting, sent home information to encourage composting at home, and integrated the program into the classrooms, cafeteria, and with the school garden program. Where no program existed before, there is now a successful composting program and a model for other schools in the district.

High School Sophomores Work Towards Enabling Local Food For All

Making local, healthy, fresh food available to all in our community is what high school sophomores, Michelle Paolicelli and Kathryn Tortorella set out to do with their Greenlight Award Project. In New York State paper “food stamps” have been replaced by an electronic system where the state deposits funds for low-income families to buy food on an Electric Benefits Transfer (EBT) card that works like a debit card. However bringing an EBT machine to a local farmers’ market is a process fraught with time-consuming meetings, paperwork and government hoops to jump through. Our community should be proud that Michelle and Kathryn have had the meetings, gathered the data, filled out the paperwork, and jumped through many of the hoops necessary to get approval by the state for an EBT machine (for free) at the Bedford Hills Farmers’ Market. Local organization and farm market coordinator, Bedford Hills Live, will continue to monitor the process with the state until the machine is installed and will work to publicize its installation to the community who will use it.

Recycling Labeling Throughout the School District by High School Ninth Grader

Long term conditioning to impact behavior change is the intent of ninth grader George Quinn’s waste disposal bin labeling project. By undertaking to label every recycling and waste bin in the Bedford Central School District with uniform labels provided (free) by Recycle Across America, George anticipates that students will begin a school-long journey that will positively impact participation in school recycling because of a recognizable, systematic waste disposal system. While it is difficult to measure results of this project in the first couple of months, we are confident that this program will influence students, faculty and staff over time and increase recycling participation rates at all our schools. George has recently joined the Garden Club in their waste reduction efforts and it will be exciting to watch them build off of the great work George started with this project.

Middle School Finalists:

Aquaponics: Seventh Graders Build a Closed-Loop System to Educate Middle School About Sustainability

“Educating the community” is what these three seventh grade finalists set out to do and they learned even more in the process of designing and building an aquaponics growing system in their science classroom with the help of their teacher Carl Koehler. The closed-loop system is now set up as an example of sustainable growing and many students will see it and learn from it. The boys explained to the judges how the system works: the fish feces fertilizes the plants through the roots that hang down in the water and the roots filter the water to keep the tank clean for the fish.

The Forest of Possibilities: Sixth Grader Coordinates Giant Volunteer Effort for Land Conservation and Tree Planting

“400 new trees” and “over 70 volunteers” are the numbers reported by the Fox Lane Middle School sixth grade finalist, who worked with Jeff Main at Ward Pound Ridge Reservation to engage student and parent volunteers on several occasions to remove invasive species, clear a path, and plant 400 baby trees in the area that was once known as the Cathedral of the Pines but was decimated in Superstorm Sandy. All the volunteers learned a great deal about land conservation and will one day see a beautiful forest grow up and be restored where vine-choked stumps used to be. Eugenia wants to continue working in land conservation with volunteers at either at Ward Pound Ridge or in other parks in our area.

Fox Lane Ride Share: Middle Schooler Takes on Creating Carpooling Website for FLMS

“Approximately 500 hours” is how much time the finalist sixth grader at Fox Lane Middle School, told the judges he estimates he spent on designing and working with programmers in India to launch a Fox Lane Ride Share website to encourage and coordinate carpools among Fox Lane Middle School families. The website has not yet been tested in the community, but there is no doubt that his time will not be wasted as he has pledged to continue to roll out the idea and engage parents in participating next year. With all of the cars going to many of the same practices and school events, encouraging carpooling should save on car emissions as well as increase safety due to less cars on school property.

April 20, 2016
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Greenlight Award Finals: Student Climate Action Projects go Into the “Shark Tank” at Fox Lane High School, Friday, May 20 at 7pm

Eight local students will go into the “Shark Tank” at Fox Lane High School Auditorium on Friday, May 20^th to compete in finals of Bedford 2020’s the Greenlight Award contest. The entire community is invited to attend what is sure to be an exciting and inspirational evening featuring environmental leaders from the Bedford community. Similar to the popular television show, our renowned panel of judges will hear presentations of finalists’ “big green projects” and ask them tough questions to determine which project has proven to have the greatest potential impact. At the end of the night, one team from the Middle School and one from the High School will win the Greenlight Award and a cash prize.

Bedford 2020 and Bedford Central School District teamed up to pilot the Greenlight Award Competition this year. The program has garnered a great deal of interest and support from the student body, school faculty and staff and community members. “We were blown away by how many students were interested in participating in the competition and by the creativity and range of environmental solutions that have been presented as part of this year-long program” said Olivia Farr of Bedford 2020

The finalists are now finishing up their projects and preparing their presentations for the final, community-wide event. Here is a summary of the projects:

HIGH SCHOOL FINALISTS

Farmers’ Market EBT Machine

Michelle Paolicelli and Kathryn Tortorella, high school juniors, set out to install an EBT machine at a local farmers market to enable low-income people to gain affordable access to local food. This team has reached out to and partnered with community organizations like Neighbors Link and Bedford Hills Live. They have gathered demographic research to support an EBT effort in Bedford Hills and they are conducting surveys through Neighbors Link to assess interest. Due to the short time frame of the Greenlight Award competition, the machine installation will not happen by the finals, but by doing the research, gathering data, preparing the paperwork, creating advertising materials, and planning/holding an event at the market to promote the concept of the machine, the students hope to get the ball rolling for Bedford Hills Live to complete the job in the future.

Recycling Labeling

Ninth grader George Quinn is working with Recycle Across America to obtain standardized recycling labels and install them on every trash and recycling bin in the BCSD School District. Part of his project is to determine the effectiveness of the labeling by measuring the recycling levels before and after the labeling.

Composting at Pound Ridge Elementary School

Jessica Smith, a 12 grader, set out to educate the students at Pound Ridge Elementary about the benefits of composting and to set up a composting system at the school to convert food scraps into usable compost for the school garden. She has sent home flyers to explain the program to parents and to also encourage composting at home. She is presenting to the students and working with the third graders to help monitor the program in the cafeteria. She hopes to have the full program up and running before the finals. As part of the program the students will measure the amount of materials that are sent to the composter by weighing the food scraps collected so that they can compile data on the amount of waste diverted from the waste stream.

Efficient Lighting Solutions
Maya Koneval, Jesse Hoodland, Sajay Srivastava, seniors, will outline discoveries found through testing with lumen sensors around the high school and will make administrative recommendations for efficient lighting solutions. They obtained data sensors to track lumen output of various lights around campus and spoke with custodians, faculty and administrators about the lighting and possible alternative solutions. By the finals they will likely produce a list of recommendations that will be up to BCSD to actually implement. However Maya, Jesse and Sajay might be able to get some commitments from the school on changes to happen in the near future.

MIDDLE SCHOOL FINALISTS

Conservation at Ward Pound Ridge

Eugenia Kaltsas, a 6^th grader, organized a volunteer effort at Ward Pound Ridge Reservation to do a land conservation project in the former Cathedral of the Pines that was mostly destroyed by Superstorm Sandy. Volunteers will pull invasive plants and plant trees. Eugenia recruited volunteers by making announcements and putting up flyers at school. She has already had one volunteer day where volunteers pulled out mile-a-minute vines and cleared a path. On May 1^st she will return with a team of volunteers to plant up to 200 trees. The results will come in the future when the trees grow, sequester carbon and release oxygen as well as restore this beautiful, natural place.

Aquaponic Farming

Ian Delannes-Molka, Harrison Konopka, Rahul Menon, 7^th graders, are building an aquaponic, closed-loop, sustainable growing system in the Middle School and will use it to educate the school community and inspire research and action. In an aquaponic system, the fish in the tank provides nutrients to the plant through the roots that hang down in the tank, and the roots filter the water to keep it clean for the fish. The students want to bring awareness of environmental and health benefits of sustainable growing and will use surveys to determine if student awareness increases.

Fox Lane Ride Share

Jackson Lawrence, a 6^th grader, has set out to create a carpooling system to be implemented at Fox Lane Middle School. He has done a “mock up” of a website for parents to use to give and get rides for their children. Jackson is now working with programmers in India to design and launch his website. He has prepared flyers to educate people about the site and how to use it. If the site is ready, he hopes to pilot it with a small group of people, gather feedback and measure results before the finals.

Sun Stop

Asa Friedrich, an 8^th grader, is building a prototype bus shelter with a solar panel roof that will actively produce light and power as well as provide shelter from the elements. He plans to install this at Fox Lane Middle School and test it as a bus shelter/power generator. He has been working on building the project and has met with several community experts such as Brian LaKamp of Totem, Inc., a solar entrepreneur, and Mark Theilking, Executive Director, Energize NY. Asa plans to measure the electricity produced by the SunStop and interview students about their impression of it.

Bedford 2020 is working to partner with more area schools to bring this opportunity to more students and evolve the Greenlight Award into an inter-school competition in the coming years.

How the Greenlight Award Contest works:

• Students work in teams or individually to come up with a project in the fall that will have an impact on reducing greenhouse gas emissions or protect natural resources in the community. Bedford 2020 helps students create a plan. The pilot launched last fall with over 60 students attending the kick-off meeting.
• In December, all teams presented before the Round One judges who chose the finalists. 30 students participated in Round One and 9 final projects were selected to move ahead and compete in the finals. Bedford 2020 granted the finalists seed-funding to fully develop their ideas and connected them with community experts.
• Each team has a faculty advisor who has generously volunteered to oversee these students throughout their projects.
• On May 20th finalists will present their results before a panel of judges who will decide which project wins the Greenight Award.

The finals will be an exciting and entertaining event. At the event Bedford 2020 will also honor Drew Patrick for his incredible commitment to sustainability and his support of Bedford 2020 initiatives.

April 25, 2016

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Fox Lane Students Enter the “Shark Tank” Facing an Impressive Panel of Expert Judges at Greenlight Award Final Competition on May 20th

On Friday May 20, eight Fox Lane High School and Middle School students will enter Bedford 2020’s virtual “shark tank” and compete for the Greenlight award. This event will be the culmination of a year-long contest in which students have been developing and bringing to life big green ideas and competing for the distinction of winning the Greenlight award. Community members are invited to attend this event and watch our local students (aka, our future environmental leaders) in action.

Like the popular TV show, “Shark Tank”, students will present their final projects to a panel of distinguished, expert judges who will ask them tough questions and then vote for the Greenlight winners, one from the high school and one from the middle school. The final eight competitors were selected from a pool of thirty students who participated in round one of the competition last December.

When the student finalists enter the “tank” on May 20^th, they will be facing a panel of “sharks” with deep and varied experience in the areas sustainability, business and in the non-profits world. Panelists were selected based on their depth of knowledge, entrepreneurial spirit and passion for making a difference on our planet. Olivia Farr, Co-Founder of Bedford 2020 explained, “We wanted judges who would bring a depth of knowledge and real life experience to the task of questioning competitors and selecting the final winners. We also thought it was important to identify panelists who would inspire and serve as role models for our competitors and everyone in the audience.”

The panel of distinguished judges selected for the Greenlight finals includes:

Wendy Gordon, Co-founder, CEO 3P Partners, Inc. Experienced entrepreneur and pioneer in the conscious consumer movement, Wendy is founder and CEO of ‘Positive Impact Points’ or PIPs Rewards. A trademarked brand of 3P Partners, a Certified B Corporation, PIPs leverages the power of points, smart tools and games to record and reward daily life choices that deliver personal and planetary benefit. PIPs won ‘Best Game’ prize in BigAppsNYC 2014 competition, the nation’s leading civic innovations competition.

Derval Thomas works as an environmental engineer at EPA with bachelor and masters degrees in chemical engineering. Bedford resident, Thomas, has been working for the Environmental Protection Agency for over 28 years, where he currently manages a technical staff of seven engineers in his position as Chief of the Hazardous Waste Compliance Section. In his current role, he is responsible for ensuring that the regulated community (industrial, manufacturing, and hospital sectors) complies with regulations under the Resources Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), a federal environmental law. Working with EPA’s and Department of Justice legal teams, Derval coordinates development of enforcement cases against companies found in violation of RCRA regulations and he participates in legally binding negotiated settlement of these cases.

Jeff Tannenbaum, Founder Fir Tree partners, sPower: Sustainable Power Group, and Pacenation.org. Katonah resident Jeff Tanenbuam formed Fir Tree Partners, a private global investment firm, in 1994 and serves as its Chairman.  Mr. Tannenbaum founded and currently chairs sPower, one of the largest solar utilities in the US. Through the Fir Tree Philanthropies (“FTP”). Mr. Tannenbaum focuses on accelerating America’s energy independence and promoting sustainable capitalism through innovations in public policy, finance and entrepreneurship. FTP sponsors a variety of global sustainability projects and operates a Scientist in Residence program in Long Island. Through FTP, Mr. Tannenbaum organized our nation’s first major bi-partisan symposium focused on eliminating foreign oil dependence and hosted President Obama’s energy cabinet members for their 100 day planning retreat.  Mr. Tannenbaum also founded and chairs the not for profit PACENation.org which has helped create a new form of financing home and building energy retrofits.

Jayni Chase, Environmental Education and Green School Advocate. Acting on the belief that positive environmental change must begin with the education of our children, Jayni Chase founded the Center for Environmental Education in 1988 and authored Blueprint for a Green School, published by Scholastic in 1995. She is the Founding Chair of the GREEN Community Schools initiative, being implemented in 5 cities by the direct-service organization, MGR Youth Empowerment. She serves on the boards of Cool Globes, MGR Youth Empowerment, the USGBC Center for Green Schools, Friends of the Earth, the NY Harbor Foundation and is a member of Pleiades, a network of women working on sustainability.

David Fenton, Chairman of Fenton. David founded the Fenton agency in 1982 to create communications campaigns for the environment, public health and human rights. David also leads the agency’s Energy and Climate practice, while also contributing to other NGO, foundation, government and corporate responsibility clients. The National Journal called David “the Robin Hood of public relations,” while PR Week named him “one of the 100 most influential P.R. people.” Some of his best-known campaigns include aiding the rise of MoveOn.org, stimulating the rise of organic food sales, a decade representing Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress, saving swordfish from extinction with a coalition of top chefs, running Yoko Ono’s campaign which helped stop fracking in New York State, working with Al Gore and the United Nations on climate change, public health campaigns against tobacco and toxic chemicals, and many others.

This panel of judges will hear students present their final project on topics ranging from a solar bus shelter to a farmers’ market food justice program to launching elementary school composting to a program for removing invasive plants from a local preserve and more. This is sure to be an action-packed and engaging evening, not to be missed. The event takes place at the Theater at Fox Lane High school at 7:00pm on Friday, May 20th. Be sure mark your calendar and come see our local “shark tank” in action find out who will win Greenlight award. For more information, visit www.bedford2020.org.