Women's Environmental Leader Award 2008 Women's Environmental Leader 2007 Women's Environmental Leader Tonight we gather in celebration and recognition of extraordinary women. Intelligent, passionate, creative minds who dare to dream! It is my pleasure to introduce this year’s recipient of the Women’s Environmental Leader award.
2006 Women's Environmental Leader ![]()
Today, WE LEAD and Unity College proudly welcome land conservationist and author, Alix W. Hopkins, to our campus and to our community. Alix Hopkins has spent over 20 years in various aspects of land conservation. After working in Utah to learn about avalanche control, on a ranch in Wyoming, in a salmon cannery in Alaska, in both public relations and political organizing, as a freelance photojournalist, and finally as founding executive director of Portland Trails- it would seem obvious to any average person that it is about time for a break. Perhaps you would vacation in the tropics, knit scarves for the whole family, or take a desk job. However, if you happen to be Alix Hopkins, the only natural thing to do would be to embark on a nationwide journey and write an acclaimed book. When we heard about Alix Hopkins accomplishments, we discovered quickly that we were not dealing with your average woman. Ms. Hopkins has spent the last four years collecting the voices of land conservation from around the United States and synthesizing them into Groundswell, her latest writing. Groundswell captures, in word and breathtaking photograph, the stories of six communities that used grassroots organizing and unlikely partnerships to achieve their environmental goals. From a community supported agriculture program in Wisconsin, to a river restoration coalition in the Bronx, to her own experiences at Portland Trails- Alix takes the reader step by step through the challenges and triumphs of community organizing. In each story, there is one striking similarity: at the conclusion of the conservation work, the individuals succeed in not only transforming the physical surroundings, but in transforming as human beings. The communities do not only save the landscape, but they save themselves, as well. Over winter break, I had a telephone conversation with Alix in which we discussed the how people’s attitude change when they are exposed to the open air and are able to work with the land. As founding executive director at Portland Trails, Alix experienced this firsthand. The citizens of Portland were given a local escape from busy streets and found themselves making friends out of strangers who walked the same trails. Even more meaningful were the connections made within the organization under Alix’s intuitive leadership. Before I hung up with her, I asked Alix if there was anything vital to include in my welcome speech. She replied, “Speak from your heart.” Groundswell, as much as it is a handbook for community organizing, is a heartfelt ode to community. As a reader, when I turned through the final pages of Groundswell, I could not help but think: What next? The versatile, inexhaustible Alix is currently the co-president of the Pownal Land Trust, on the board of the Northern Forest Canoe Trail and the Maine Cost Heritage Trust. So today, on behalf of WE LEAD, I warmly offer Alix yet another position: the Fourth Annual Women's Environmental Leader Award recipient. This award honors a woman who is an outstanding leader in an environmental field and is a model for future generations of women environmental leaders. I think we’ve found our woman. Please join me in congratulating Alix. Keep up the great work. Citation written and presented by Sara Trunzo |