Social Cause Projects

Here are some featured projects and experiences that I found to be fun, rewarding, challenging, intellectually stimulating, life-changing, and catalyzing. As I spent 10 years as a social activist, most of these projects are, of course, social and environmental justice projects. I look forward to working on more web projects in the future.

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Mariri Magazine – the Voice of the Forest

Mariri Magazine is a journal about the rainforest for people who love the rainforest. I founded this web magazine to accomplish 2 goals: 1) to raise awareness of the incredible beauty of tropical rainforests and the indigenous peoples who live there 2) to gain hands on experience in web development and search engine optimization.

The inspiration to launch Mariri was planted in 2004, during a 4 month sabbatical in Brazil, where I had the opportunity to travel with 2 documentary film teams 5 days by boat to a remote Kaxinawa village close to the border of Peru to document an important tribal ceremony – the Festival of the Royal Hawk. It was the first time in over 30 years that the Kaxinawas from different villages in the region had gathered together to enact the Festival of the Royal Hawk as one people. They performed the dance of Mariri, a dance that celebrates Mariri, the sacred, life-giving force of the forest.

During that time in Brazil, I had the privilege of meeting with anthropologists and environmental activists who were instrumental in the creation of indigenous territories and extractive reserves, frequently at the expense of their personal safety. I was also touched by the wealth of knowledge that the indigenous elders possessed regarding medicinal plants of the rainforest. For this reason, I was inspired to launch Mariri Magazine.

Mariri Magazine is powered by Joomla!, and open-source content management system. Contributors to Mariri include conservation activists, scientists, and writers who have a deep interest in indigenous culture and rainforest conservation. Currently, new articles are published on a quarterly basis.

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Sustainable World Coalition is a coalition of individuals and supporting organizations working to create a world that is environmentally sustainable, socially just and spiritually fulfilling.

In 2006, we produced a 56 page Sustainable World Sourcebook as a complimentary publication for the participants of the Sustainable World Symposium in May. My involvement in this project was both author and editor of sections covering the following topics:

• Environment – Climate Change, Oceans
• Globalization – International Trade Policy
• Sustainable Business – Triple Bottom Line

Click here to download a free copy of the Sustainable World Sourcebook.

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United Nations World Environment Day 2005, in San Francisco

Mia Hanak, Lorna Li, Al Gore, Monica Maduro, Manex Ibar

In June 2005, San Francisco hosted United Nations World Environment Day. 200 mayors from major cities around the globe came to San Francisco to ratify the Urban Environmental Accords, a commitment at the city-level to forge a path towards a sustainable urban future.

The Natural World Museum joined forces with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to produce the innovative Art for the Environment global exhibition series, designed to utilize art inspired by nature as a catalyst for cultural evolution. Occupying half of the spacious Fort Mason Festival Pavillion, NWM’s exhibition featured environmental art from around the world.

Over a period of 5 days, we hosted influential speakers on environmental and social justice, such as Al Gore and his groundbreaking presentation on climate change, which later became the movie An Inconvenient Truth.

Other environmental heavy-hitters included Randy Hayes, Joanna Macy, Hunter Lovins, and more.

My role with Natural World Museum included strategic alliance building, program development, corporate sponsorships and marketing.

Joanna Macy and Lorna Li

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Zapatista Human Rights Observer

In 2001, I spent 6 weeks in Chiapas, Mexico learning about indigenous rights and the Zapatista movement with Global Exchange. During this time, I participated as a human rights observer for the Centro de Derechos Humanos Fray Bartolome, documenting the movements of the Mexican army in the militarized zone.

Government policy at the time was to wage a campaign of low-intensity warfare against indigenous populations that were sympathetic to the Zapatista movement. What ensued was an undeclared war against the Tzotzil, Tzeltal, Tojalobal, Chole, and Mame indigenous people of Chiapas.

Nearly one third of Mexico’s military forces were stationed in the indigenous territories of Chiapas. Military bases were set up between villages and towns, forcing travelers to pass through checkpoints and have their documents routinely scrutinized by soldiers. Trained paramilitary forces terrorized communities in waves of violent attacks, such as the 1972 Massacre at Acteal, a five-hour killing spree which resulted in the deaths of 45 innocent people, mostly women and children.

This experience revealed how deeply divided class and politics are in Southern Mexico. Party affiliation defines the education, health care, and social security available to an individual and their family. Children of Institutional Revolutary Party (PRI) supporting parents went to PRI funded schools, children of National Action Party (PAN) supporting families when to the PAN funded schools, and Zapatista children more often than not, had no schools to go to.

At the heart of the Zapatisa movement is the fight of indigenous peasants for their right of land ownership. An excellent book for understanding the complex economic and political factors responsble for the rise of the EZLN and Zapatista movement is Basta! Land & the Zapatista Rebellion in Chiapas, by George A. Collier with Elizabeth Lowery Quaratiello.

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Tibetan Cultural Preservation