The GIA Environmental Challenge 2010

The GIA Environmental Challenge 2010 will be conducted from October 2010 through June 2011. During the Challenge, there will be three videoconferences. The videoconferences will be moderated by Empower Peace Founder Richard Rendon and Empower Peace Executive Director Tricia Raynard. The judges for the GIA Challenge will also be present at each videoconference. To meet our moderators and judges please scroll down.

Moderators

Mr. Rendon is the founder of Empower Peace. Mr. Rendon has over 25 years of experience in strategic communications and has created and managed hundreds of campaigns and projects over the course of his career. As CEO/Senior Advisor, he is responsible for the overall direction of Empower Peace, and heavily involved in the planning of specific programs.

As Senior Partner of The Rendon Group, Boston, Mr. Rendon was involved in the creation and development of many innovative community-based initiatives and social campaigns. By way of example: Mr. Rendon worked with community leaders and activists to create Team Harmony, which brought more than 14,000 middle and high school students together annually to discuss the issues of hatred and prejudice and to develop programs to promote diversity and harmony in schools and communities throughout New England. Team Harmony keynote speakers included former United States President Bill Clinton, then-US Senator and current Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former United States Attorney General Janet Reno, and the Reverend Bernice King (daughter of civil rights leader Martin Luther King).

Mr. Rendon also created the United We Stand for America (USA) project that was developed to give young people an outlet after September 11, 2001. More than 50,000 students from 700 Massachusetts schools wrote messages on individual pieces of fabric that were assembled to create a giant quilt of an American flag – more than 1/2 the size of a football field.

Working with the Islamic Society of Boston, the Office of the Massachusetts Attorney General, and the Governor's Task Force on Hate Crimes, Mr. Rendon also developed the "Outnumber the Hate" campaign. This Massachusetts school-based campaign encouraged students to rally against the hate, prejudice and intolerance experienced by Muslims and Arabs in the United States post 9.11. In response to the 1,700 hate crimes reported against Muslims and Arabs living in the US, Massachusetts students responded by creating over 1,700 messages of respect, diversity and tolerance.

Mr. Rendon takes great pride in the programs and accomplishments of Empower Peace.

Tricia Raynard is the Executive Director of Empower Peace and brings to the table more than fourteen years experience in the ever-changing information world of public and media relations. She has navigated projects from the brainstorming and planning stages straight through to the implementation of special event coordination, media advertising, and public education campaigns. As the Vice President of Public Relations and Special Events at The Rendon Group, she was instrumental in developing effective communications and special event strategies for all TRG clients including Merck, Time Warner, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation, the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative and the Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs.

Ms. Raynard specializes in developing large scale public outreach campaigns at all levels of the public from the local community upwards onto the international scene. As the Executive Director of Empower Peace, Ms. Raynard is responsible for further developing the educational programs currently offered, and oversees the broadcast media programs and works with the Empower Peace team to expand the footprint of this important program.

Before returning to TRG in 2000, Ms. Raynard was the vice president of public relations at Hawthorne Associates, a public relations at Hawthorne Associates, a public relations and marketing agency that specializes in the corporate training industry. While at Hawthorne Associates she was responsible for developing public relations programs, marketing events and promotional materials for well-respected corporate clients including Arthur Andersen Virtual Learning Network, McGraw-Hill Lifetime Learning, The Gallup School of Management and PRIMEDIA Workplace Learning.

Judges

Greg Cooper
Deputy Director of Consumer Programs, Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP)

Greg Cooper currently manages environmental programs targeting consumers, municipalities and businesses at MassDEP including programs focused on waste reduction, recycling, toxicity reduction, and composting. Past experience included running educational, regulatory, and technical assistance programs for MassDEP on climate change, vehicle and transportation emissions, and solid waste. Mr. Cooper holds a B.A. in marketing from the University of Southern California and an M.B.A. in Environmental Management from the University of California at Davis. He serves on the Northeast Recycling Council's Board of Directors and is the Commonwealth's representative to the Product Stewardship Institute. Prior to working with MassDEP, Mr. Cooper was the western regional distribution manager for Investor's Business Daily.

Priscilla Geigis
Director/Assistant Commissioner, State Parks and Recreation, Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation

Every August during her childhood, Priscilla hiked and camped with her family in state and national parks across the country establishing her love for the outdoors and our shared public resources. Now as the Assistant Commissioner and Director of the Division of State Parks and Recreation (DCR), she oversees the management of DCR properties spanning over 300,000 acres of land statewide from Cape Cod to the Berkshires. DCR properties encompass forests, parks, beaches, campgrounds and day use areas and afford visitors a variety of recreational opportunities. Priscilla has focused her efforts on promoting our natural resources and fostering stewardship through innovative programming, especially aimed at connecting kids (and kids at heart) to the great outdoors. Highlights include: Park Serve Day, Use Nature As Your Library, The Great Park Pursuit, the Park Passport Program and Healthy Heart Trails. She also serves as the Secretary/Treasurer on the Executive Board of the National Association of State Park Directors and works with other state park directors, the National Park Service and the National Recreational Professional Association to promote park stewardship.

Priscilla began her career in state government in 1992 at the Department of Fisheries, Wildlife and Environmental Law Enforcement, where she facilitated the strategic planning, policy and legislative initiatives and provided legal support for the department. She was integrally involved in all agency initiatives including, land acquisition, biodiversity, public access, rive protection, recreational user conflicts and environmental law enforcement. For five years, with the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs, she served as the Director for the state's nationally recognized Community Preservation Initiative and helped create a statewide constituency for environmentally sensitive land use planning and community preservation. Priscilla holds a law degree from the Northeastern School of Law, a master's degree in government administration from the Fels Center of Governments from the University of Pennsylvania and a bachelor's degree from Connecticut College.

Tom McShane
Consultant

Tom McShane, one of the original principles of the Dewey Square Group, specializes in the development and implementation of coordinated strategic campaigns regarding environmental and energy policy issues, permitting major development projects, and environmental impact review compliance.

Major high profile projects McShane has guided to successful completion include the first offshore LNG facility in the nation, the largest private-sector economic stimulus mixed use development project in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, a major commercial rezoning effort of over 400 acres in the heart of Montgomery County Maryland, the siting of the largest solid waste sanitary landfill in Massachusetts and the largest recycling plant in the state and a wide variety of energy projects fueled by natural gas, wind, solar, gasification, landfill gas, nuclear energy and biomass.

Major public policy campaigns Tom has worked on include a variety of topics such as Combined Animal Feedlot Operation (CAFO) regulation, promotion of alternative fuel vehicles, creation of renewable portfolio standard programs, enhanced recycling campaigns and open space preservation efforts.

For 12 years, McSane served as the primary environmental lobbyist for the Massachusetts executive branch under three different Administrations, building the coalitions and consensus for passage of all environmental statutes in the 1980s. Later, as Chief of Staff in the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs, McShane helped to develop and implement the Secretary's coordinated strategic internal and external communications plans.

In 1991, McShane was appointed by Governor William Weld as the Undersecretary of the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs, becoming Massachusetts' second ranking environmental official.

McShane remains deeply involved in the Walden Woods Project and the Thoreau Institute. He is one of the founding directors of the Island Alliance, the organization that successfully led to Boston's Harbor Islands designation as a new National Park.

McShane has also served as co-chairman of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce Energy & Environment Committee and is currently the Chairman of the Massachusetts League of Environmental Voters.

At the local level, McShane has served as a member of the Mansfield, MA, Planning Board and the municipal Master Plan Committee and as a Director of the Natural Resources Trust.