Our work is a collaborative effort among many partner organizations and individuals. Each year, our Smarty Pants Awards honor some of those folks who are helping us build a climate smart community. Check out the latest winners, below, and keep scrolling to read back through the descriptions of previous years winners!
2024 Smarty Pants Awards
Congratulations to All. Our favorite event of the year is our year-end celebration where we celebrate collaborative climate efforts.
Masters in the Fine Art of Community Building: Climate Ride Team - Patrick, Mackenzie and Hannah
Climate Ride is a Montana based nonprofit that organizes people-powered adventures around the world with a goal of creating a greener world – and 60% of their team happens to lives in Missoula: Mackenzie Cole, Patrick Colleran, and Hannah Matthews. This year, these three dedicated individuals are receiving our “Masters in the Fine Art of Community Building” award.
Mackenzie, Patrick, and Hannah, alongside their organization, made a commitment to offset their organization’s operational emissions by investing in a local efficiency project through Climate Smart Missoula’s Footprint Fund. What ended up happening was not only a positive emissions reduction, but a powerful example of community collaboration.
Years ago, Homeword, a Missoula-based nonprofit that helps to create safe, healthy homes people can afford, installed solar panels at their Orchard Gardens property off Reserve Street. This investment was meant to offset residents’ energy use, and Homeword committed to paying for all remaining utilities year-round to keep costs affordable. Recently, Homeword staff noticed that the utility costs at Orchard Gardens had increased and then discovered that two of the four solar inverters had stopped working. The nonprofit was met with a conundrum: they couldn’t afford to replace the inverters … and the rising utility costs were pushing them over budget.
That’s when we made the connection between Homeword and Climate Ride. In the spring of this year, Climate Ride helped purchase two new solar inverters for the property (thanks to the support of Orion Thornton – who won a Smarty Pants award last year!) and the solar was turned back on. During a gathering this summer, Patrick celebrated this as a project that centered sustainability, environmental justice and equity. And it set a powerful example for the rest of our community. “When three nonprofits can come together to fund a project like this …,” he said, “with limited budgets, too, I think there’s a lot of room for voluntary projects like this from for-profit organizations.”
In addition to reinstating solar at Orchard Gardens, two years ago Climate Ride decided Missoula really needed a local bike ride to support local climate-aligned nonprofits – including Climate Smart Missoula – through community fundraising. This family-friendly ride now bookends our Climate Solutions week. Lead by these three at Climate Ride, it’s a super fun ride with a great after celebration – and in the process, a fantastic community builder. They have also launched a new program called “Tail Winds,” which allows their clients to financially contribute to realizing projects like the one at Orchard Gardens. Hannah, Mackenzie and Patrick didn’t have to do any of these things; and they didn’t have to do them here. But they leaned into this place and in doing so, brought Missoulians together around positive climate action. Thank you for your work, energy and dedication in building community.
Catalyst for Change: Keith Fichtner
There are few instances in the climate movement where a single dollar can have a significant impact - unless we’re talking about that dollar as an investment. Every dollar sitting in our bank accounts can be leveraged at least 10 times by the financial institution holding it. In other words, our $100 can become a $10,000 loan – and much of that money is currently lent to fossil-fuel interests. Retirement accounts and other investments are equally exponential, but building a conscientious portfolio can be complicated.
Enter in Keith Fichtner, a financial advisor with Edward Jones who is this year’s recipient of our Catalyst for Change award. Keith began working with Families for a Livable Climate in 2021 to put on workshops for everyday folks, offering education around their options for sustainable investing – no matter their income level. Sarah Lundquist, the executive director of Families for a Livable Climate, said, “Keith is unique in his advocacy of socially responsible investing - most advisers immediately brush it off, but he knows it is possible and is so great about working with clients to help align investments with values.”
Keith helps people move their investments out of fossil fuels and into organizations that champion causes important to them, from climate solutions to fair labor practices. He’s honed his expertise and goes above and beyond to ensure the portfolios he builds contain investments that actually do what they say they do, and are not just greenwashing. It takes extra time and research, but he’s made the commitment to ensure every dollar invested is amplified for good. To date, Keith’s work with businesses, nonprofits and individuals has resulted in $21 million being divested from fossil fuels. He does it not only because he’s passionate about serving clients’ interests, but because it matters to him personally and it’s a smart investment! “Whether they hire me as an adviser or not, I will help decarbonize a portfolio …” Keith said during a Decarbonize Your Money webinar put on by Families for a Livable Climate. “Because I think it’s [for] the greater good of our county and our climate and everything else that’s important to me.”
A Montana native and avid runner, fisherman and hiker, Keith has truly found his niche in the climate movement, combining his joy and enthusiasm for the outdoors, financial investing and serving his community into one small office off Russell Street. He’s helping people with small and large investments plan for both their future and the livable future of our planet. And he’s just a seriously nice guy! Keith has been a true catalyst for change, transforming single dollars into impressive positive investments. Thank you for finding your place in this movement and bringing such joy and positivity into all you do.
Doctorate of Drive & Determination: Elena Evans
There are people in our community – and around the world – who are prone to asking: If not me, who? Our Doctorate of Drive and Determination, a new award, goes to someone willing to ask this question and step up, even with an already full-time job and two kids. Elena has a long history of leadership in Montana as the former Executive Director of the Montana Association of Conservation Districts and through her current work as an Environmental Health Manager for Missoula County. As a geologist, she's leveraged these positions to protect one of our most precious resources: clean water. And she oversees the Air Quality program, helping bring essential grants, support and resources to this work that is a cornerstone to climate resilience.
In fact, she’s gone above and beyond to ensure we at Climate Smart, in partnership with the Air Quality program, could apply for and receive some significant grants, the management of which can be a pain in her rear! She's done this work quietly, mostly in the background, and without much outside gratitude from those who benefit from her daily effort. This year, though, she came out of hiding and picked a tough fight with our current Public Service Commission over their failure to deliver reliable, affordable, and sustainable energy to utility customers across Montana. From the start, her insurgent, independent campaign reminded us what we can do when we work together. She and her supporters gathered over 7,000 signatures to get on the ballot, raised over $100,000, and earned the trust of an unusually high number of people on both sides of the aisle across western Montana.
In PSC District 4, which stretches across seven counties, more than 3,000 voters cast their ballots for both President-elect Trump and Elena who was running against an incumbent Republican commissioner in a district gerrymandered to ensure a Republican win. Ultimately, over 57,000 Montanans from across the political spectrum cast votes for a nonpartisan candidate during a hyper partisan election, resulting in by far the closest PSC race this year; Elena came within 10 points of winning. I recently got an email from Elena and her campaign. She wrote, "I won't stop fighting for candidates who have the independence to do what's right. I won't stop fighting for a better future for our children. And I dearly hope you won't either."
The most effective leaders tend to be work horses rather than show horses, and Elena is a real leader. She does the right thing and the hard thing even when the odds are long, and the rewards are slim. Best of all, she doesn't quit when she loses. She keeps on fighting, always with a smile. We need leaders like her now more than ever.
Shining Star: Gwen Lankford & Rising Star: Cecelia Spencer
These two awards go hand in hand. One is a student at Hellgate High School who is a shining example of youth leadership, and one is a dedicated community advocate who uses her gift for communication to inspire others. And how cool is this, they happen to be a mother-daughter duo.
We’ve been lucky to know and work with Gwen for many years, and even more closely since 2020 when she joined our board of directors. A communications professional by trade, she has used her skills within many different contexts, from working closely with the Salish and Kootenai tribes as they developed their groundbreaking climate plan, to her current job as communications director for the Montana ACLU, to serving on the boards of numerous Missoula organizations, including ours. Gwen has a gift for articulating the big picture, helping ground us and remind us of the values we aspire to: not just preserving a safe climate, but building a community that truly cares for one another and the place we call home in a reciprocal way. She is generous in sharing her indigenous cultural lens, as a person of Salish descent whose ancestors have been in this place since time immemorial, bringing this deep sense of generational perspective to her work. Gwen is not just smart and thoughtful – her wisdom comes from the heart, and she brings a genuineness that people connect with and are inspired by.
We’ve also had the pleasure to see Cecelia in action more recently, and it’s clear that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree! Like her mom, Cecelia has a gift for clear, heartfelt communication. At the same time, Cecelia is bringing her own unique perspective to her climate work as a young woman growing up in a very different climate reality than previous generations.
Two years ago, Gwen and Cecelia spoke at the statewide Climate Advocacy Day at the Montana State Capitol in Helena at the beginning of the last legislative session. The Montana Legislature isn’t known to be the most welcoming place when it comes to talking about climate, but these two must have worked their magic because we somehow emerged from the last session with our right to a clean and healthful environment intact.
Gwen and Cecelia again collaborated for an interview as part of Montana Public Radio’s excellent Grounding podcast this fall. For all those who haven’t listened yet, please do yourselves a favor and go home and check it out. You’ll see why we are so impressed. Again this fall, Cecilia graciously agreed to be part of a panel discussion on Climate and Mental health during climate solutions week, where she added so much to a rich and meaningful conversation.
We are incredibly lucky to have these two in our community. Gwen is an amazing role model for parents, both in the way she has brought up two incredible kids and given them the skills to handle hard things, but also is continually finding new ways to contribute to her community. And we are also awed by Cecelia, this amazing young person with wisdom and poise beyond her years, but also a sense of humor and not taking herself too seriously – as is only right for a 16 year old.
We’d all do well to follow Cecelia’s advice from the Grounding podcast: “Put on your pants, get up and go do something! Don’t worry about making mistakes. Do what you can and be brave.”
Doctorate of Dedication - Jennifer Robohm
Back in 2018 I got an email from an acquaintance / friend:
Amy, I’m done sitting on the sidelines. This last governmental report is just too much. What are ways that I can get involved with your group? …. One thought I had was becoming some sort of ‘champion’ at my workplace …
And from here, this accomplished professional began to orient her life - and work the intersection of climate and mental health. What one passionate, tenacious person can do! This year’s Doctorate of Dedication goes to our friend and colleague Jen Robohm.
Jen is a PhD psychotherapist who directed the University of Montana's Clinical Psychology Center for over a decade before joining the faculty of the Family Medicine Residency of Western Montana, where she trains young family physicians. She also has a small private practice and teaches undergraduates at UM. In all of this she prioritizes and weaves together mental health and climate issues and solutions, making space to understand, feel, and talk. This is crucial work.
Jen’s dedication runs deep. She is on the Board of Montana Health Professionals for a Healthy Climate, has helped us over many years, participating in Climate Ready Missoula summits and as an active member of our Wildfire Smoke, Heat and Health Working Group.
A few years ago, Jen was awarded a Bloomberg Fellowship at Johns Hopkins with a focus on the physical and mental health impacts of climate change, leading to a Master’s in Public Health.
And she’s been applying this knowledge. According to Jen: “I want to bring climate change into the classroom and the clinic: a pharmacy colleague from UM and I developed a course on “Climate Change and Health in Montana” for undergraduates and health professions graduate students, and we helped to develop a similarly named webinar series for practicing health professionals.”
Most impressively, she saw the need to broaden the climate and health conversation beyond health and medical students. Two years ago, Jen stepped up to create a new UM Davidson Honors College class, Climate Change, Mental Health and Resilience. The first year was so popular that she’s back again this year. Our intern Melody was a student in that inaugural class and appreciates Jen’s ability provide space to learn climate coping skills. According to her UM colleague Peter McDonough: “Jen inspired and help make possible UM’s Climate Change Studies efforts to weave mental health into our curriculum, and her class is universally loved by her students. She is a badass.”
Jen is also a fantastic mom, and like many of this, care for the next generation inspires her to show up and move mountains.
When asked “What do you love about this community?” Jen said: There are a lot of “do gooders” here who I really respect and admire for their willingness to dig in and make a difference.” We’ll, we admire Jen, for doing just that. Her thoughtfulness, grit and persistence inspire us every day. She is so well deserving of another degree, Climate Smart’s Doctorate of Dedication.
2023 Smarty Pants Awards
Masters in the Fine Art of Community Building: Lisa Davey
When we talk about making an impact or solving problems, we often think about policy changes or concrete, quantifiable outcomes. These things are crucial, but they don’t happen on their own: it takes the behind the scenes work of building relationships and bringing people together to build the power to create those changes. This year’s Masters in the Fine Art of Community Building is someone who understands this in her core, and embodies it everyday as the lead organizer for Common Good Missoula. Congratulations, Lisa Davey!
Lisa has been in this current role only for a couple years, but she’s been organizing for nearly her entire life - starting at a young age as she dealt with some very hard life situations and had to advocate for the needs of a child who was born very prematurely. Her vulnerability and deep capacity for empathy are core to how she interacts with others. She believes wholeheartedly in everyone’s ability to be a leader. Combine this with her strong sense of justice and sharp strategic mind, and you’ve got the recipe for a community-builder extraordinaire.
As a skilled organizer, Lisa also understands how everything is connected. Common Good Missoula is a broad-based organization made up of diverse member institutions that bring their constituents together to advocate on issues facing our community. From the beginning, Lisa has advocated strongly for climate groups to be at the table with this newly formed effort. She innately understands how climate issues are connected with so many other challenges facing Missoula, knows we can do more and solve these problems more equitably when we do it together. A connected community is a resilient community, and we’re so grateful for Lisa and her deep investment in organizing and community-building to benefit all of us.
Caleb Koebble: Rising Star
Our Rising Star award is all about recognizing folks who are just at the beginning of their climate leadership journeys and are already blazing a bright path! Originally from Georgia, Caleb came to Montana for graduate school at UM, completing a masters in philosophy just last year. As he was finishing his degree, the newly formed Montana chapter of the national organization Interfaith Power and Light just happened to be seeking their very first Executive Director, and were smart enough to reel Caleb in.
Working with any nonprofit comes with its challenges. Add to that, IPL being a brand new organization, and doing work at the intersection of two intense and potentially polarizing issues - the climate crisis, and religion & spirituality - you really need the right person for that job! Luckily, Caleb has not just been up to the challenge, he’s shined in this role. In his first year, he traveled across the state and worked with dozens of churches, helping them understand their carbon footprint and share ways to take action. Here in Missoula, he’s sought out opportunities to partner with other local climate organizations and taking the initiative to learn the ins and outs of electrification, a topic near and dear to our hearts, so he can better help faith communities save energy in their facilities.
Caleb is a different kind of star - someone who attracts the respect and attention of those around him not because he’s loud and dramatic, but because he’s humble, thoughtful, and quietly persistent. Members of the IPL board who work closely with Caleb say he is “patient”, “brings good humor to hard things”, “a collaborator”, and “a joy to work with”. We can’t think of qualities that are better suited to bringing new groups and audiences into the climate movement, and we’re so excited to see where Caleb goes from here.
Karen Sippy: Doctorate of Dedication
In a nutshell, Karen is a "professional tree hugger" who has invested so much in the Missoula community. Among her many accomplishments, Karen founded the organization Trees for Missoula 12 years ago and has served as its sole volunteer executive director since its inception. In this time, Karen has been a fierce advocate for a healthy urban forest through community stewardship, education, and outreach. She's been instrumental in supporting the city's urban forestry department in their important work.
Karen's background as an educator has allowed her to be a successful champion of trees. She's equipped countless individuals and groups across the community with both practical and philosophical knowledge about urban forestry. She's built relationships with volunteers, residents, businesses, non-profits, and local government. Karen consistently claims she's not an arborist, but she's darn close to being an expert on urban trees!
Karen’s total dedication to trees and the people that love them make her well-deserving of this award - and we know she’ll continue to find ways to be a tree advocate now that she’s retired and handed Trees for Missoula to Climate Smart Missoula. We’ll work hard to honor her work and channel her boldness, grit, and passion for our community!
Caroline Bean: Catalyst for Change
Each year we offer our Catalyst for Change award to an individual that has just the right alchemy and, by their creativity, wisdom, and bravery, create the best kind of action seemingly out of thin air. No one is more deserving of this Smarty Pants award than Caroline Bean, a colleague who has truly catalyzed some amazing climate action! Caroline has been making good stuff happen in Missoula since before Climate Smart was founded, as an AmeriCorps member with the City of Missoula. Following a stint in grad school, she returned to Missoula and came on as program director at Climate Smart, where she helped craft our Climate Ready Missoula resiliency plan, and planned a super successful virtual Building(s) for the Future Summit. For the last two years, she’s been the Climate Action Program Manager for Missoula County and we are all so amazed at and stunned at the change Caroline has catalyzed.
Climate work is like climbing a mountain – we don’t always see the top but we know where we’re headed. At the same time, this mountain is not an island - other peaks and hills surround it, with things we could be doing on each. Caroline has an uncanny ability to focus on the climb and yet consider those other peaks. It’s as if we all stay focused circling around the mountain we’re on while Caroline - strategically and innovatively - finds ways to leap.
A quick example: a year ago we learned about a prize offered to communities to build a clean energy coalition; what might the innovation needed to make our application stand out? Caroline’s idea was to lean into equity and with her relationship with Mountain Home Montana, create a new coalition to work with single moms and begin to diversify the workforce needed for the clean energy transition. We not only won this prize, but last week we went to Atlanta where Caroline gave a final pitch and we won second place - a total of over $250,000 has come to our community to build this coalition.
We are so grateful for Caroline’s wild knack for knowing when to leap, when to stir things up, and for the shifts she has sparked!
Special Mention: Young Climate Leaders
This year, in addition to our official awards, we’ve been so impressed by some of the younger folks in our community that we wanted to specially recognize and thank them. We were lucky enough to work directly with three fantastic college interns: Aubrey Frissell, who is an accomplished artist and created some amazing graphics for us and for our Electrify Missoula campaign; Reeve Schroeder, who spent numerous hours cleaning and distributing HEPA air purifiers and even choreographed a social-media-worthy dance for Wildfire Smoke Ready week; and Georgia Walker-Keleher, a master of energy modeling who built a super useful interactive tool to help map out pathways to reaching our community’s 100% clean electricity by 2030 goal.
In addition to these awesome interns, three of the youth plaintiffs from Held v MT live right here in Missoula: Grace Gibson-Snyder, Olivia Vesovich and Mica Kantor. It’s hard to understate the impact that these three and their fellow plaintiffs have had as they’ve made their case to the courts and to the world. We’re so grateful and proud of how they’ve carried the torch, and the best thing we can all do to thank them is to keep showing up alongside them.
When we talk about making an impact or solving problems, we often think about policy changes or concrete, quantifiable outcomes. These things are crucial, but they don’t happen on their own: it takes the behind the scenes work of building relationships and bringing people together to build the power to create those changes. This year’s Masters in the Fine Art of Community Building is someone who understands this in her core, and embodies it everyday as the lead organizer for Common Good Missoula. Congratulations, Lisa Davey!
Lisa has been in this current role only for a couple years, but she’s been organizing for nearly her entire life - starting at a young age as she dealt with some very hard life situations and had to advocate for the needs of a child who was born very prematurely. Her vulnerability and deep capacity for empathy are core to how she interacts with others. She believes wholeheartedly in everyone’s ability to be a leader. Combine this with her strong sense of justice and sharp strategic mind, and you’ve got the recipe for a community-builder extraordinaire.
As a skilled organizer, Lisa also understands how everything is connected. Common Good Missoula is a broad-based organization made up of diverse member institutions that bring their constituents together to advocate on issues facing our community. From the beginning, Lisa has advocated strongly for climate groups to be at the table with this newly formed effort. She innately understands how climate issues are connected with so many other challenges facing Missoula, knows we can do more and solve these problems more equitably when we do it together. A connected community is a resilient community, and we’re so grateful for Lisa and her deep investment in organizing and community-building to benefit all of us.
Caleb Koebble: Rising Star
Our Rising Star award is all about recognizing folks who are just at the beginning of their climate leadership journeys and are already blazing a bright path! Originally from Georgia, Caleb came to Montana for graduate school at UM, completing a masters in philosophy just last year. As he was finishing his degree, the newly formed Montana chapter of the national organization Interfaith Power and Light just happened to be seeking their very first Executive Director, and were smart enough to reel Caleb in.
Working with any nonprofit comes with its challenges. Add to that, IPL being a brand new organization, and doing work at the intersection of two intense and potentially polarizing issues - the climate crisis, and religion & spirituality - you really need the right person for that job! Luckily, Caleb has not just been up to the challenge, he’s shined in this role. In his first year, he traveled across the state and worked with dozens of churches, helping them understand their carbon footprint and share ways to take action. Here in Missoula, he’s sought out opportunities to partner with other local climate organizations and taking the initiative to learn the ins and outs of electrification, a topic near and dear to our hearts, so he can better help faith communities save energy in their facilities.
Caleb is a different kind of star - someone who attracts the respect and attention of those around him not because he’s loud and dramatic, but because he’s humble, thoughtful, and quietly persistent. Members of the IPL board who work closely with Caleb say he is “patient”, “brings good humor to hard things”, “a collaborator”, and “a joy to work with”. We can’t think of qualities that are better suited to bringing new groups and audiences into the climate movement, and we’re so excited to see where Caleb goes from here.
Karen Sippy: Doctorate of Dedication
In a nutshell, Karen is a "professional tree hugger" who has invested so much in the Missoula community. Among her many accomplishments, Karen founded the organization Trees for Missoula 12 years ago and has served as its sole volunteer executive director since its inception. In this time, Karen has been a fierce advocate for a healthy urban forest through community stewardship, education, and outreach. She's been instrumental in supporting the city's urban forestry department in their important work.
Karen's background as an educator has allowed her to be a successful champion of trees. She's equipped countless individuals and groups across the community with both practical and philosophical knowledge about urban forestry. She's built relationships with volunteers, residents, businesses, non-profits, and local government. Karen consistently claims she's not an arborist, but she's darn close to being an expert on urban trees!
Karen’s total dedication to trees and the people that love them make her well-deserving of this award - and we know she’ll continue to find ways to be a tree advocate now that she’s retired and handed Trees for Missoula to Climate Smart Missoula. We’ll work hard to honor her work and channel her boldness, grit, and passion for our community!
Caroline Bean: Catalyst for Change
Each year we offer our Catalyst for Change award to an individual that has just the right alchemy and, by their creativity, wisdom, and bravery, create the best kind of action seemingly out of thin air. No one is more deserving of this Smarty Pants award than Caroline Bean, a colleague who has truly catalyzed some amazing climate action! Caroline has been making good stuff happen in Missoula since before Climate Smart was founded, as an AmeriCorps member with the City of Missoula. Following a stint in grad school, she returned to Missoula and came on as program director at Climate Smart, where she helped craft our Climate Ready Missoula resiliency plan, and planned a super successful virtual Building(s) for the Future Summit. For the last two years, she’s been the Climate Action Program Manager for Missoula County and we are all so amazed at and stunned at the change Caroline has catalyzed.
Climate work is like climbing a mountain – we don’t always see the top but we know where we’re headed. At the same time, this mountain is not an island - other peaks and hills surround it, with things we could be doing on each. Caroline has an uncanny ability to focus on the climb and yet consider those other peaks. It’s as if we all stay focused circling around the mountain we’re on while Caroline - strategically and innovatively - finds ways to leap.
A quick example: a year ago we learned about a prize offered to communities to build a clean energy coalition; what might the innovation needed to make our application stand out? Caroline’s idea was to lean into equity and with her relationship with Mountain Home Montana, create a new coalition to work with single moms and begin to diversify the workforce needed for the clean energy transition. We not only won this prize, but last week we went to Atlanta where Caroline gave a final pitch and we won second place - a total of over $250,000 has come to our community to build this coalition.
We are so grateful for Caroline’s wild knack for knowing when to leap, when to stir things up, and for the shifts she has sparked!
Special Mention: Young Climate Leaders
This year, in addition to our official awards, we’ve been so impressed by some of the younger folks in our community that we wanted to specially recognize and thank them. We were lucky enough to work directly with three fantastic college interns: Aubrey Frissell, who is an accomplished artist and created some amazing graphics for us and for our Electrify Missoula campaign; Reeve Schroeder, who spent numerous hours cleaning and distributing HEPA air purifiers and even choreographed a social-media-worthy dance for Wildfire Smoke Ready week; and Georgia Walker-Keleher, a master of energy modeling who built a super useful interactive tool to help map out pathways to reaching our community’s 100% clean electricity by 2030 goal.
In addition to these awesome interns, three of the youth plaintiffs from Held v MT live right here in Missoula: Grace Gibson-Snyder, Olivia Vesovich and Mica Kantor. It’s hard to understate the impact that these three and their fellow plaintiffs have had as they’ve made their case to the courts and to the world. We’re so grateful and proud of how they’ve carried the torch, and the best thing we can all do to thank them is to keep showing up alongside them.
2022 Smarty Pants Awards
Caitlyn Lewis – Rising Star Award
Caitlyn Lewis founded, directed, and grew Soil Cycle into a thriving and very cool nonprofit and partner organization. With a love for soil and bicycling, Caitlyn saw a niche that cried out to be filled, taking her passion and inspiration to make it happen. In the few years since the organization started, they’ve diverted 400,000 lbs of food scraps from the landfill! Wasted food has a massive carbon footprint – in the US, it accounts for more emissions than the airline industry. Put it another way, its emissions are equal to the annual CO2 emissions of 42 coal-fired power plants! Composting matters.
Soil Cycle’s vision of composting via bike pickup is a doubly awesome climate solution and valuable service for Missoulians, and Caitlyn has also ensured that Soil Cycle is a vehicle for building community. From the beginning, she brought folks in by offering volunteer opportunities, workshops and other educational opportunities. Caitlyn consistently showed up – out and about in our community, with fun and creative activities to get people excited about soil! And she also showed up for fellow nonprofits, supporting and partnering in countless events.
Today, Caitlyn is the Events & Education Coordinator with Families for a Livable Climate where she uses her strengths as an organizer and draws on her communications background to bring more people into the climate movement. We know she’ll continue to shine brightly in this role!
Jeff Mogavero - Masters in the Fine Art of Community Building & Uphill Running
Jeff Mogavero received this well-deserved Masters award for his efforts to bring Running Up For Air - RUFA - to Missoula. Jeff has managed to find the sweet spot in the famous Climate Action Venn Diagram: the intersection of What brings you joy, What can I do, and What needs to be done. Jeff loves to run, he can organize wacky endurance events, and we need healthy air! Jeff came to us in 2019 with the idea that Missoula needs a Running Up For Air event. This series, which started in Salt Lake City, is a bit crazy - run or hike up a mountain for up to 12 hours, all to bring attention to our need for clean air, and to support a nonprofit working for it. Jeff thought: We have Mt Sentinel and this sounds super fun, so he convinced the Runners Edge (where he works) that we need this in our community and started to make it happen. It’s not easy - there are permissions to get, routes to figure out, volunteers to wrangle, winter dangers to contend with, basically a lot of time and resources - which Jeff cheerfully worked through for RUFA 1 and 2. And, coming up Feb 11 - RUFA Mt Sentinel #3!
It’s clear to us, after participating in 2020 and 2022, that an event like this - fun and hard but not a race - really does build community. Our many local outdoor enthusiasts see that they too can step up, volunteer, and raise money for a good cause - clean air and Climate Smart. Last year, RUFA- Mt Sentinel raised over $15,000 for our wildfire smoke community protection efforts. Jeff moved to Missoula in 2019, and jumped right in to building community. Today he also shares his love of trail running as a coach, and according to his website, “I’m Jeff and I like to play outside”. Keeping a playful and hopeful spirit also builds community and is something we need! We appreciate that Jeff has prioritized helping us at Climate Smart raise the funds we need to do our work and bringing more people into building climate resilience, a connected community, and clean air.
Monica Tranel - Catalyst for Change
Monica Tranel is our 2022 Catalyst for Change award recipient. Catalysts are crucial components of our complex world - from essential microscopic biological catalysts like enzymes, all the way to people that are catalysts. According to dictionary.com, a catalyzing person is one whose talk, enthusiasm, or energy causes others to be more enthusiastic or energetic. There are very few people in our community and Montana that conjure the energy needed to catalyze big change, and even if not immediately successful, keep on conjuring, never giving up on us, this place we love, and our climate. For over 20 years, and before many of us were paying attention or knew we even had a public service commission, Monica worked to grow Montana’s clean energy economy, working with wind developers and others as an attorney, supporting farmers, ranchers, and local energy producers. This work continues.
As a lawyer, she has taken on some of the biggest out of state energy corporations and our monopoly utility – and she’s won, standing up for consumers and everyday Montanas, catalyzing more Montana-made clean energy. She recently deposed NorthWestern Energy over their plans to build a massive methane gas plant, a polluting plant we would end up paying for in more ways than one. Monica’s run for the PSC helped educate all of us about wonky energy policy. Although that didn’t quite work out, she didn’t give up. In her run to represent us - and work for clean energy and climate solutions - she catalyzed so much energy and brought so many people into the fight for the future we believe in. As she frequently says she is “All In” - two of our favorite words. For all of us who work on climate, we need Catalyzers like Monica who stay all in, even if we don’t succeed the first or second or third time. Together we are resolved.
Peter McDonough - Doctorate of Dedication
Peter McDonough is the dedicated, hard-working, and always-there-for-students Director of the Climate Change Studies program at the University of Montana. Peter is universally beloved by his students, and this year UM’s 2022 graduating class voted to give Peter the Most Inspirational Teacher Award. Not only is he a talented teacher on all sorts of climate-related topics - he’s taught courses on energy, climate solutions, human health, biomimicry, and more - but he also goes the extra mile to support students, listening deeply as they share how difficult the world they face is and helping them navigate a path though. Peter just stepped down from his tenure on the Board of Directors at Climate Smart to more fully devote himself to his students and his critical work at the University of Montana. Peter is also deeply committed to building community, service, sustainability and giving his time and energy. He always shows up for the late night ROOTS festival waste management extravaganza, the definition of dedication! Peter has two masters degrees but no doctorate yet, so we are honored to round out his academic resume by awarding him a Doctorate of Dedication. (Yes, it’s true - we are Climate SMART after all, we actually do have powers to award both Masters in Fine Arts and Doctorate degrees.)
Orion Thornton - Doctorate of Dedication
Orion’s work orbits around Missoula, Montana, climate solutions, and the sun. With total dedication to those four things, Orion started and grew a solar company in Montana and then brought part of it to Missoula. Orion has been dedicated to the Montana solar energy industry for over 13 years, both as an industry professional and advocate through lots and lots of community education and outreach. He founded OnSite Energy - a Certified B Corp - and is today a partner and chief technical officer.
Orion has been a board member with the Montana Renewable Energy Association for 6 years, an instructor for Solar Energy International, and has spent an enormous amount of time educating people from all sectors, including our community and local government leaders, on how we can add more big and small solar systems, batteries, and clean energy. He has taken the lead on developing truly innovative solar projects, including the 432KW system on Missoula County’s detention center, the largest rooftop solar project in the state. The path to get to “yes” on that project wasn't always clear, but Orion wasn’t deterred and helped get it done. He has also taken the lead, pro-bono, to help get solar panels on our “Little House” office. Orion has an uncanny ability to understand technical details and explain these simply. He can zoom in and out, always knowing that our north star is 100% clean electricity and a climate-safe world. He is truly an unsung hero, well-deserving of a Doctorate of Dedication.
Caitlyn Lewis founded, directed, and grew Soil Cycle into a thriving and very cool nonprofit and partner organization. With a love for soil and bicycling, Caitlyn saw a niche that cried out to be filled, taking her passion and inspiration to make it happen. In the few years since the organization started, they’ve diverted 400,000 lbs of food scraps from the landfill! Wasted food has a massive carbon footprint – in the US, it accounts for more emissions than the airline industry. Put it another way, its emissions are equal to the annual CO2 emissions of 42 coal-fired power plants! Composting matters.
Soil Cycle’s vision of composting via bike pickup is a doubly awesome climate solution and valuable service for Missoulians, and Caitlyn has also ensured that Soil Cycle is a vehicle for building community. From the beginning, she brought folks in by offering volunteer opportunities, workshops and other educational opportunities. Caitlyn consistently showed up – out and about in our community, with fun and creative activities to get people excited about soil! And she also showed up for fellow nonprofits, supporting and partnering in countless events.
Today, Caitlyn is the Events & Education Coordinator with Families for a Livable Climate where she uses her strengths as an organizer and draws on her communications background to bring more people into the climate movement. We know she’ll continue to shine brightly in this role!
Jeff Mogavero - Masters in the Fine Art of Community Building & Uphill Running
Jeff Mogavero received this well-deserved Masters award for his efforts to bring Running Up For Air - RUFA - to Missoula. Jeff has managed to find the sweet spot in the famous Climate Action Venn Diagram: the intersection of What brings you joy, What can I do, and What needs to be done. Jeff loves to run, he can organize wacky endurance events, and we need healthy air! Jeff came to us in 2019 with the idea that Missoula needs a Running Up For Air event. This series, which started in Salt Lake City, is a bit crazy - run or hike up a mountain for up to 12 hours, all to bring attention to our need for clean air, and to support a nonprofit working for it. Jeff thought: We have Mt Sentinel and this sounds super fun, so he convinced the Runners Edge (where he works) that we need this in our community and started to make it happen. It’s not easy - there are permissions to get, routes to figure out, volunteers to wrangle, winter dangers to contend with, basically a lot of time and resources - which Jeff cheerfully worked through for RUFA 1 and 2. And, coming up Feb 11 - RUFA Mt Sentinel #3!
It’s clear to us, after participating in 2020 and 2022, that an event like this - fun and hard but not a race - really does build community. Our many local outdoor enthusiasts see that they too can step up, volunteer, and raise money for a good cause - clean air and Climate Smart. Last year, RUFA- Mt Sentinel raised over $15,000 for our wildfire smoke community protection efforts. Jeff moved to Missoula in 2019, and jumped right in to building community. Today he also shares his love of trail running as a coach, and according to his website, “I’m Jeff and I like to play outside”. Keeping a playful and hopeful spirit also builds community and is something we need! We appreciate that Jeff has prioritized helping us at Climate Smart raise the funds we need to do our work and bringing more people into building climate resilience, a connected community, and clean air.
Monica Tranel - Catalyst for Change
Monica Tranel is our 2022 Catalyst for Change award recipient. Catalysts are crucial components of our complex world - from essential microscopic biological catalysts like enzymes, all the way to people that are catalysts. According to dictionary.com, a catalyzing person is one whose talk, enthusiasm, or energy causes others to be more enthusiastic or energetic. There are very few people in our community and Montana that conjure the energy needed to catalyze big change, and even if not immediately successful, keep on conjuring, never giving up on us, this place we love, and our climate. For over 20 years, and before many of us were paying attention or knew we even had a public service commission, Monica worked to grow Montana’s clean energy economy, working with wind developers and others as an attorney, supporting farmers, ranchers, and local energy producers. This work continues.
As a lawyer, she has taken on some of the biggest out of state energy corporations and our monopoly utility – and she’s won, standing up for consumers and everyday Montanas, catalyzing more Montana-made clean energy. She recently deposed NorthWestern Energy over their plans to build a massive methane gas plant, a polluting plant we would end up paying for in more ways than one. Monica’s run for the PSC helped educate all of us about wonky energy policy. Although that didn’t quite work out, she didn’t give up. In her run to represent us - and work for clean energy and climate solutions - she catalyzed so much energy and brought so many people into the fight for the future we believe in. As she frequently says she is “All In” - two of our favorite words. For all of us who work on climate, we need Catalyzers like Monica who stay all in, even if we don’t succeed the first or second or third time. Together we are resolved.
Peter McDonough - Doctorate of Dedication
Peter McDonough is the dedicated, hard-working, and always-there-for-students Director of the Climate Change Studies program at the University of Montana. Peter is universally beloved by his students, and this year UM’s 2022 graduating class voted to give Peter the Most Inspirational Teacher Award. Not only is he a talented teacher on all sorts of climate-related topics - he’s taught courses on energy, climate solutions, human health, biomimicry, and more - but he also goes the extra mile to support students, listening deeply as they share how difficult the world they face is and helping them navigate a path though. Peter just stepped down from his tenure on the Board of Directors at Climate Smart to more fully devote himself to his students and his critical work at the University of Montana. Peter is also deeply committed to building community, service, sustainability and giving his time and energy. He always shows up for the late night ROOTS festival waste management extravaganza, the definition of dedication! Peter has two masters degrees but no doctorate yet, so we are honored to round out his academic resume by awarding him a Doctorate of Dedication. (Yes, it’s true - we are Climate SMART after all, we actually do have powers to award both Masters in Fine Arts and Doctorate degrees.)
Orion Thornton - Doctorate of Dedication
Orion’s work orbits around Missoula, Montana, climate solutions, and the sun. With total dedication to those four things, Orion started and grew a solar company in Montana and then brought part of it to Missoula. Orion has been dedicated to the Montana solar energy industry for over 13 years, both as an industry professional and advocate through lots and lots of community education and outreach. He founded OnSite Energy - a Certified B Corp - and is today a partner and chief technical officer.
Orion has been a board member with the Montana Renewable Energy Association for 6 years, an instructor for Solar Energy International, and has spent an enormous amount of time educating people from all sectors, including our community and local government leaders, on how we can add more big and small solar systems, batteries, and clean energy. He has taken the lead on developing truly innovative solar projects, including the 432KW system on Missoula County’s detention center, the largest rooftop solar project in the state. The path to get to “yes” on that project wasn't always clear, but Orion wasn’t deterred and helped get it done. He has also taken the lead, pro-bono, to help get solar panels on our “Little House” office. Orion has an uncanny ability to understand technical details and explain these simply. He can zoom in and out, always knowing that our north star is 100% clean electricity and a climate-safe world. He is truly an unsung hero, well-deserving of a Doctorate of Dedication.
Past Awardees
2021 Smarty Pants Awards
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We were so thrilled to give our 2021 awards at our Year-end Celebration. It's wonderful to celebrate our community and our climate heroes.
You can read our recap in the Missoula Current: Smarty Pants awards Missoulians for climate action |
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Doctorate of Dedication - Karen Knudsen
To be dedicated is “to commit to a particular course of thought or action” says Webster's dictionary. And this thoroughly describes our friend, colleague and the vice-chair of our Board of Directors, Karen Knudsen. Karen has been the executive director at the Clark Fork Coalition since 2007. Over the decades the coalition has accomplished so much for our river – from getting rid of that damn dam to protecting water quality – from the headwaters passed Missoula to Smurfit-Stone. And it’s safe to say we own our water system, and are now reducing its carbon footprint, thanks in part to Karen and the Clark Fork Coalition. The list of the Coalition’s accomplishments is rather lengthy – I won’t share them all – but Karen recognized early that water and the health of rivers is a climate issue. And we need to commit to collaboratively find local solutions. She and her staff hosted the first extensive community climate conversation in 2011 - that “Climate Wise” effort was the precursor to the climate efforts that launched Climate Smart and has driven our work. Karen was instrumental in helping to start Climate Smart and stayed involved to help us become our own nonprofit. With her many years of experience, she is always available to advise and mentor. She is brave, wise, and willing to tackle the biggest of issues. We know that the most talented “Doctors” are curious and smart at diagnosing not just the problem but the solution, so we are proud to one-up that Master’s degree Karen currently holds with this Doctorate of Dedication.
To be dedicated is “to commit to a particular course of thought or action” says Webster's dictionary. And this thoroughly describes our friend, colleague and the vice-chair of our Board of Directors, Karen Knudsen. Karen has been the executive director at the Clark Fork Coalition since 2007. Over the decades the coalition has accomplished so much for our river – from getting rid of that damn dam to protecting water quality – from the headwaters passed Missoula to Smurfit-Stone. And it’s safe to say we own our water system, and are now reducing its carbon footprint, thanks in part to Karen and the Clark Fork Coalition. The list of the Coalition’s accomplishments is rather lengthy – I won’t share them all – but Karen recognized early that water and the health of rivers is a climate issue. And we need to commit to collaboratively find local solutions. She and her staff hosted the first extensive community climate conversation in 2011 - that “Climate Wise” effort was the precursor to the climate efforts that launched Climate Smart and has driven our work. Karen was instrumental in helping to start Climate Smart and stayed involved to help us become our own nonprofit. With her many years of experience, she is always available to advise and mentor. She is brave, wise, and willing to tackle the biggest of issues. We know that the most talented “Doctors” are curious and smart at diagnosing not just the problem but the solution, so we are proud to one-up that Master’s degree Karen currently holds with this Doctorate of Dedication.
Catalyst for Change - Dave Morris
Each year we offer just one Catalyst for Change award – given to someone who has increased the rate of positive change. In this case catalyzing the people and the efforts that make good change happen. We are excited to give this award to Dave Morris. Dave is a true educator at heart and professionally – instructing and guiding outdoor programs and always weaving in and helping his students understand complex environmental, ecological, energy and climate issues. For the Wild Rockies Field Institute, he has led their Cycle the Rockies course many times – starting in eastern Montana, they bicycle across the state, visiting Montana’s energy-producing facilities, and engaging in honest conversations with people from all sides of the climate issue. No doubt, through his willingness to help others engage in hard conversations, he has catalyzed deep change in both his student’s understandings and in those he seeks out, from the ``the other side” if you will. I’ll share the main way Dave has catalyzed our work. A couple years ago, he was planning to travel and burn some carbon – which we all do – and he came upon a pretty creative carbon offset program - in New York - that raises funds for low-income home energy saving efforts. He gave them some money to offset his travel - and guilt - but didn’t stop there. He came to us and said: “We could do this. Climate Smart should offer this. I will help.” He did, and we now have an official carbon offset Footprint Fund designed to help our low-income neighbors save energy and money. He then got this cool group of skiers – the Badwaxers – to donate, and right now our weatherization partners at the Human Resource Council are using these funds to improve homes.
Ahead of COP26, Dave also spent six months on a zero-carbon solo Climate Courage Tour. He travelled 3535 miles by bicycle and every place he stopped he found the people or groups working on climate – hearing their stories, sharing them on his amazing blog, finding inspiration in their efforts, and inspiring them with his dedication. He catalyzes conversations and action and no doubt will continue to do. We are grateful for you Dave, and honored to give you our Catalyst for Change award.
Each year we offer just one Catalyst for Change award – given to someone who has increased the rate of positive change. In this case catalyzing the people and the efforts that make good change happen. We are excited to give this award to Dave Morris. Dave is a true educator at heart and professionally – instructing and guiding outdoor programs and always weaving in and helping his students understand complex environmental, ecological, energy and climate issues. For the Wild Rockies Field Institute, he has led their Cycle the Rockies course many times – starting in eastern Montana, they bicycle across the state, visiting Montana’s energy-producing facilities, and engaging in honest conversations with people from all sides of the climate issue. No doubt, through his willingness to help others engage in hard conversations, he has catalyzed deep change in both his student’s understandings and in those he seeks out, from the ``the other side” if you will. I’ll share the main way Dave has catalyzed our work. A couple years ago, he was planning to travel and burn some carbon – which we all do – and he came upon a pretty creative carbon offset program - in New York - that raises funds for low-income home energy saving efforts. He gave them some money to offset his travel - and guilt - but didn’t stop there. He came to us and said: “We could do this. Climate Smart should offer this. I will help.” He did, and we now have an official carbon offset Footprint Fund designed to help our low-income neighbors save energy and money. He then got this cool group of skiers – the Badwaxers – to donate, and right now our weatherization partners at the Human Resource Council are using these funds to improve homes.
Ahead of COP26, Dave also spent six months on a zero-carbon solo Climate Courage Tour. He travelled 3535 miles by bicycle and every place he stopped he found the people or groups working on climate – hearing their stories, sharing them on his amazing blog, finding inspiration in their efforts, and inspiring them with his dedication. He catalyzes conversations and action and no doubt will continue to do. We are grateful for you Dave, and honored to give you our Catalyst for Change award.
High Performance Energy Star - Shane Morrissey
Anybody who knows Shane, knows he’s not only a A high performing climate-minded professional but he is an incredibly high performing human! Not one to tout his accomplishments, we’ve decided to take the opportunity to do that for him. Shane’s been an active and member of the Consolidated Planning Board; drawing on his years of experience in the architecture industry to advise on sustainable development practices in Missoula. As a Senior Associate Architect at MMW, Shane is a professional that practices what he preaches consistently advocating for energy efficiency measures on his many projects. As a former co-worker of mine, I know first hand how much time and effort he puts into integrating sustainable practices throughout everything he does. So Equally, perhaps more important, he is a high performing human and community member! At home he’s proud father, no this is not a gotcha moment Shane don’t worry, to flocks of chickens, which legend has it he defended FROM A BOBCAT with his bare hands. Don’t get between shane and his chickens. He is a committed member of our Building(s) for the future task force and always seems to carve out time between project management and running ultra marathons to advise on key Footprint Fund projects and to throw his weight behind critical climate-aligned building code and policy developments. From all of us at Climate Smart, thanks for helping design a better future!
Anybody who knows Shane, knows he’s not only a A high performing climate-minded professional but he is an incredibly high performing human! Not one to tout his accomplishments, we’ve decided to take the opportunity to do that for him. Shane’s been an active and member of the Consolidated Planning Board; drawing on his years of experience in the architecture industry to advise on sustainable development practices in Missoula. As a Senior Associate Architect at MMW, Shane is a professional that practices what he preaches consistently advocating for energy efficiency measures on his many projects. As a former co-worker of mine, I know first hand how much time and effort he puts into integrating sustainable practices throughout everything he does. So Equally, perhaps more important, he is a high performing human and community member! At home he’s proud father, no this is not a gotcha moment Shane don’t worry, to flocks of chickens, which legend has it he defended FROM A BOBCAT with his bare hands. Don’t get between shane and his chickens. He is a committed member of our Building(s) for the future task force and always seems to carve out time between project management and running ultra marathons to advise on key Footprint Fund projects and to throw his weight behind critical climate-aligned building code and policy developments. From all of us at Climate Smart, thanks for helping design a better future!
Master's in the Fine Art of Community Building (and phone banking) - Caitlin Piserchia
Anyone who knows Caitlin knows she is passionate and dedicated to the climate cause in all she does. I (Abby) first met Caitlin back when I was a grad student in the UM EVST program and she was one of the student leaders of the campus divestment movement. I remember attending a rally where she spoke and thinking, wow… I had nowhere near the amount of composure and climate awareness she has when I was an undergrad! Her passion was inspiring. Caitlin has carried that passion into her current work as an organizer with the Montana Chapter of the Sierra Club. In this role, Caitlin has been an active member of our Missoula “ad hoc” climate and clean energy group that initially convened to draft and successfully push for adoption of Missoula’s 100% clean electricity commitments in 2019. Through this group, which continues to meet regularly, Caitlin has been instrumental in bringing an equity focus to Missoula’s 100% efforts. She has offered useful resources and facilitated conversations that helped jumpstart the process of creating a Climate Advisory Board within local government that will bring an equity and justice lens to Missoula’s mitigation and resiliency efforts. When it comes to working for climate equity and a just transition, Caitlin doesn’t just talk the talk - though she does that too, with a willingness to have hard but necessary conversations. But she walks the walk, participating actively in community organizing work and building relationships. On top of that, this fall she has had the unenviable but important job of tracking the ins and outs of federal climate legislation and helping Montanans voice their support to our Senators for the Build Back Better bill in particular. If and when it finally gets across the finish line, Caitlin will have definitely played her part in making it happen with countless (virtual) phone banks and outreach to help folks take action. This kind of organizing work is often pretty thankless and behind the scenes, so we are thrilled to be able to recognize Caitlin with this Masters in the Fine art of Community Building (and phone banking!) for all she does for Missoula and beyond. Congratulations, Caitlin!
Anyone who knows Caitlin knows she is passionate and dedicated to the climate cause in all she does. I (Abby) first met Caitlin back when I was a grad student in the UM EVST program and she was one of the student leaders of the campus divestment movement. I remember attending a rally where she spoke and thinking, wow… I had nowhere near the amount of composure and climate awareness she has when I was an undergrad! Her passion was inspiring. Caitlin has carried that passion into her current work as an organizer with the Montana Chapter of the Sierra Club. In this role, Caitlin has been an active member of our Missoula “ad hoc” climate and clean energy group that initially convened to draft and successfully push for adoption of Missoula’s 100% clean electricity commitments in 2019. Through this group, which continues to meet regularly, Caitlin has been instrumental in bringing an equity focus to Missoula’s 100% efforts. She has offered useful resources and facilitated conversations that helped jumpstart the process of creating a Climate Advisory Board within local government that will bring an equity and justice lens to Missoula’s mitigation and resiliency efforts. When it comes to working for climate equity and a just transition, Caitlin doesn’t just talk the talk - though she does that too, with a willingness to have hard but necessary conversations. But she walks the walk, participating actively in community organizing work and building relationships. On top of that, this fall she has had the unenviable but important job of tracking the ins and outs of federal climate legislation and helping Montanans voice their support to our Senators for the Build Back Better bill in particular. If and when it finally gets across the finish line, Caitlin will have definitely played her part in making it happen with countless (virtual) phone banks and outreach to help folks take action. This kind of organizing work is often pretty thankless and behind the scenes, so we are thrilled to be able to recognize Caitlin with this Masters in the Fine art of Community Building (and phone banking!) for all she does for Missoula and beyond. Congratulations, Caitlin!
Doctorate of Dedication (doubled) - Bryan von Lossberg + Dave Strohmaier
We don't whimsically give out Doctorate degrees. Usually it’s just one. But this year we are compelled to give a shared Doctorate of Dedication Smarty Pants award to two local elected officials who have been dedicated to figuring out how our community can reach our 100% Clean Electricity goal, and have put their time, energy and smarts into this ongoing, painstaking effort. And so much more. Bryan von Lossberg and Dave Strohmaier tonight each receive this Doctorate for their work together, as electeds, with us, and with many of you here tonight, and with County and City staff.
Of course they each offer unique gifts and talents to this work. As a County Commissioner Dave has led Missoula County’s efforts to keep our climate and energy commitments front and center. Working with Josh and Juan, they have not just called this time a “Climate Emergency '' but then have put in place policies to reduce our County’s carbon pollution. Making cryptocurrency businesses use new clean energy happened because of Dave’s leadership. Dave has publicly weighed in on many controversial and crucial climate decisions locally and at the state and federal level. His background in wildland fire ecology and fire management brings a unique perspective to our local climate resiliency efforts. Indeed he is an active member of the Climate Ready Missoula Implementation Team, finding time to lend his expertise and ask the right questions. Dave is a brave and smart leader. He has single-handedly made the Big Sky Rail Authority a thing - working wisely with rural county’s across Montana - and beyond - and when these energy-saving trains quietly rumble through Missoula, carrying happy passengers of all stripes, it will be because of Dave’s vision (and love of trains). Most importantly to this D of D award however is his commitment to lead the County’s efforts to not just pass a resolution to get to 100% clean electricity but to do the hard work and negotiations to actually get there. He’s been steadfast, strategic and tireless in this effort.
The second awardee in this shared Doctorate of Dedication is Bryan von Lossberg. As most of you know Bryan just completed 8 (!) years on Missoula’s City Council, the last four as Council Chair. Before and during his Council tenure, Bryan has been a clean energy champion. From his time as the executive director of AERO, he has worked to understand the mundane intricacies of energy policy and regulations. Not easy. He was set up for this work from his time building rockets but sorry - no time for those stories tonight). Bryan led our Solaize efforts a few years back - many of those rooftop solar panels you see are here because of Bryan. Although for his Council Tenure, Bryan may best be remembered for his time and tenacity in condemning and the municipalization of our Water system, he’ll also be remembered for climate and energy actions. With his council colleagues, we have an extra $100,000 capacity for City efforts in this year’s budget. Bryan recognized the lead and made it happen. Council work is often not understood, underpaid, with lots of “no good deed goes unpunished” work. Bryan has always remained professional. TOgether with Dave he’s been doing the hard work of trying to find a path to meet our 100% goal. He may be done at Council – an amazingly successful tenure - but we know he is not done with doing what he can to move clean energy forward and be part of climate solutions. Bryan has left Council, but he has not left this work. He’s told me again and again how dedicated he is to accelerating our work and our successes. We’re thrilled he’s staying in this fight.
Both Bryan and Dave now have Doctorates to accompany their Master’s degrees. We’re guessing many honorary doctorates will follow. We’re proud to say this Smarty Pants Doctorate was the first!
2020 Smarty Pants Awards
(L - R): Tom Javins, Ethel MacDonald, Andrew Valainis, and Laurie Yung
Read about each below.
Read about each below.
Catalyst for Change: Tom Javins
Some community do-gooders are visibly out in front, while others create positive change behind the scenes, in ways not seen. Tom is one of these latter change-makers, well-deserving of our annual catalyst award. A semi-retired mechanical engineer, two summers ago Tom approached us at a wildfire smoke workshop we were co-hosting with Missoula’s Health Department. He recognized immediately that we needed more options than pricey HEPA portable air cleaners, and we needed to better understand how HVAC systems in homes and commercial spaces work. Tom’s response to seeing the need: “I think I can help”. And help he did. He transformed his basement into a lab and volunteered oodles of time to testing inexpensive DIY fan/filter combinations, ensuring these met safety standards. He tried to catalyze a fire, and when he couldn’t, confirmed these are great to recommend, catalyzing instead a movement for healthy indoor air! Anytime we (Amy at Climate Smart or Sarah Coefield at the Health Department) needed his advice, he was ready to help, even starring in video films and media stories. These efforts have had a ripple effect, as folks seeking clean indoor air throughout the western US have benefited from Tom’s work. And Tom didn’t stop there. Incredibly, as a contractor on a Missoula wildfire smoke air study led by the EPA, he decided to generously donate the income he earned to Climate Smart so we could continue catalyzing change! And finally, it’s not all air for Tom—he and his wife Beverly collected pounds of Arrowleaf Balsamroot seeds to help us restore our surrounding hills, and he’s been busy re-roofing bluebird boxes on these same hills. We’re so thrilled to honor Tom.
Some community do-gooders are visibly out in front, while others create positive change behind the scenes, in ways not seen. Tom is one of these latter change-makers, well-deserving of our annual catalyst award. A semi-retired mechanical engineer, two summers ago Tom approached us at a wildfire smoke workshop we were co-hosting with Missoula’s Health Department. He recognized immediately that we needed more options than pricey HEPA portable air cleaners, and we needed to better understand how HVAC systems in homes and commercial spaces work. Tom’s response to seeing the need: “I think I can help”. And help he did. He transformed his basement into a lab and volunteered oodles of time to testing inexpensive DIY fan/filter combinations, ensuring these met safety standards. He tried to catalyze a fire, and when he couldn’t, confirmed these are great to recommend, catalyzing instead a movement for healthy indoor air! Anytime we (Amy at Climate Smart or Sarah Coefield at the Health Department) needed his advice, he was ready to help, even starring in video films and media stories. These efforts have had a ripple effect, as folks seeking clean indoor air throughout the western US have benefited from Tom’s work. And Tom didn’t stop there. Incredibly, as a contractor on a Missoula wildfire smoke air study led by the EPA, he decided to generously donate the income he earned to Climate Smart so we could continue catalyzing change! And finally, it’s not all air for Tom—he and his wife Beverly collected pounds of Arrowleaf Balsamroot seeds to help us restore our surrounding hills, and he’s been busy re-roofing bluebird boxes on these same hills. We’re so thrilled to honor Tom.
Master in the Fine Art of Community Building and Bicycle Riding: Ethel MacDonald
Ethel, once introduced in a different Missoula Current article as a “gal about town,” is a bicycling icon in Missoula. Did you know that Ethel rides her age every birthday? As Ethel’s odometer ticks up, so does the strength of our community. Her 80th birthday ride along the Bitterroot Trail was a community event with people joining the caravan for however many miles they were up for that day. Ethel is, of course, so much more than biking. She has been a longtime advocate of open space, serving on the open space advisory board for over a decade, and the Bitterroot Trail alliance calls her “one of Missoula’s preeminent advocates for sustainable and active transportation.” Ethel doesn’t just live out her values on a personal level, she works tirelessly to advocate for systemic change as well. We’re not the first people to recognize Ethel for her hard work—in 2005, Ethel was named Peacemaker of the Year by the Jeannette Rankin Peace Center—and we’re sure we won’t be the last. We’re thrilled to present the Masters in the Fine Art of Community Building and Bicycle Riding to Ethel MacDonald.
Ethel, once introduced in a different Missoula Current article as a “gal about town,” is a bicycling icon in Missoula. Did you know that Ethel rides her age every birthday? As Ethel’s odometer ticks up, so does the strength of our community. Her 80th birthday ride along the Bitterroot Trail was a community event with people joining the caravan for however many miles they were up for that day. Ethel is, of course, so much more than biking. She has been a longtime advocate of open space, serving on the open space advisory board for over a decade, and the Bitterroot Trail alliance calls her “one of Missoula’s preeminent advocates for sustainable and active transportation.” Ethel doesn’t just live out her values on a personal level, she works tirelessly to advocate for systemic change as well. We’re not the first people to recognize Ethel for her hard work—in 2005, Ethel was named Peacemaker of the Year by the Jeannette Rankin Peace Center—and we’re sure we won’t be the last. We’re thrilled to present the Masters in the Fine Art of Community Building and Bicycle Riding to Ethel MacDonald.
JD in Solar Savvy and Advocacy: Andrew Valainis
Andrew is currently working on a master’s degree, but we’re awarding him a JD, which in this case stands for Just Do It! That seems to be Andrew’s unofficial personal and professional motto. Andrew has been the executive director of the Montana Renewable Energy Association (MREA) since 2016, working to level the playing field for clean energy across the state through policy advocacy and education. At Climate Smart, we’ve been lucky to collaborate with Andrew on numerous events and efforts. He is not only a self-described energy nerd, able to explain the arcane details of policy and the nuts and bolts of renewable energy generation, but he’s also always ready to jump in on any scheme we come up with for spreading the word about solar. Planning a big Clean Energy Expo in addition to MREA’s annual Clean Energy Fair? Just do it! Last minute change of plans to a virtual solar happy hour at the beginning of a pandemic? Just do it! Donning an alien suit for some silly ad libbing? Sure, why not?! Andrew’s “Just Do It” attitude is exactly what’s needed for growing renewable energy in Montana. And we’re grateful that he’ll be putting on his JD hat in Helena for the upcoming 2021 Montana Legislative Session as he lobbies for clean energy. He’s always ready, always willing, to get the job done.
Andrew is currently working on a master’s degree, but we’re awarding him a JD, which in this case stands for Just Do It! That seems to be Andrew’s unofficial personal and professional motto. Andrew has been the executive director of the Montana Renewable Energy Association (MREA) since 2016, working to level the playing field for clean energy across the state through policy advocacy and education. At Climate Smart, we’ve been lucky to collaborate with Andrew on numerous events and efforts. He is not only a self-described energy nerd, able to explain the arcane details of policy and the nuts and bolts of renewable energy generation, but he’s also always ready to jump in on any scheme we come up with for spreading the word about solar. Planning a big Clean Energy Expo in addition to MREA’s annual Clean Energy Fair? Just do it! Last minute change of plans to a virtual solar happy hour at the beginning of a pandemic? Just do it! Donning an alien suit for some silly ad libbing? Sure, why not?! Andrew’s “Just Do It” attitude is exactly what’s needed for growing renewable energy in Montana. And we’re grateful that he’ll be putting on his JD hat in Helena for the upcoming 2021 Montana Legislative Session as he lobbies for clean energy. He’s always ready, always willing, to get the job done.
Doctorate of Dedication: Laurie Yung
Although Laurie already has a PhD, her dedication to Montana climate efforts has her deserving a second Doctorate, one we are honored to bestow. Her deep knowledge of and approach to the ways we can best build a climate literate and action-oriented society has greatly benefited our community and state. Too often climate advocates and fixers understand well the physics, chemistry and ecological facts of climate change, but less so the social science. Laurie’s day job is Professor of Natural Resource Social Science and Co-Chair of the University of Montana’s Department of Society & Conservation, where she works to understand what moves people to make climate smart decisions, bridging the “hard” and “soft” sciences. She tirelessly teaches, mentors, and leads, at UM and beyond. We are all indebted to Laurie who has volunteered her expertise with two major efforts. First, she was instrumental in developing Climate Ready Missoula—our County and City resiliency plan—providing just the help we needed, from the initial science primer, through facilitating 100+ people workshops, to crafting the final plan. And as an ex officio member of the Governor’s Climate Solutions Council, she worked day and night to ensure Montana’s Climate Action Plan had the right strategies to meet the moment. We could go on and on. A true unsung hero in our community, we are so grateful for Laurie’s dedication!
Although Laurie already has a PhD, her dedication to Montana climate efforts has her deserving a second Doctorate, one we are honored to bestow. Her deep knowledge of and approach to the ways we can best build a climate literate and action-oriented society has greatly benefited our community and state. Too often climate advocates and fixers understand well the physics, chemistry and ecological facts of climate change, but less so the social science. Laurie’s day job is Professor of Natural Resource Social Science and Co-Chair of the University of Montana’s Department of Society & Conservation, where she works to understand what moves people to make climate smart decisions, bridging the “hard” and “soft” sciences. She tirelessly teaches, mentors, and leads, at UM and beyond. We are all indebted to Laurie who has volunteered her expertise with two major efforts. First, she was instrumental in developing Climate Ready Missoula—our County and City resiliency plan—providing just the help we needed, from the initial science primer, through facilitating 100+ people workshops, to crafting the final plan. And as an ex officio member of the Governor’s Climate Solutions Council, she worked day and night to ensure Montana’s Climate Action Plan had the right strategies to meet the moment. We could go on and on. A true unsung hero in our community, we are so grateful for Laurie’s dedication!
2019 Smarty Pants Awards
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Catalyst for Change: Jeff Smith
This Catalyst for Change award to Jeff Smith, a long-time community conservationist who, as the co-leader of 350 Montana, has been laser-focused on keeping fossil fuels in the ground. Jeff is indefatigable in his efforts to push NorthWestern Energy and the Public Service Commission (PSC) to make decisions that move us toward a decarbonized world. We began working with Jeff and his team at 350 to pass Missoula’s 100% clean electricity resolution, and Jeff was invaluable in bringing focus to this effort. Climate Smart and 350 played different roles in this effort, demonstrating how trust is built and how we’re stronger together. Jeff is impressively principled, believing in strong, visible activism that is always strategic and respectful. We’re honored to honor him. |
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Rising Star: Winona Bateman
This award goes to a community member “ALL IN” for climate action. A year ago, Winona had a moment of reckoning about the climate crisis and since then has dived in wholeheartedly to become a full-time advocate. Drawing on over a decade of professional experience in the communications world, and channeling her deep concern for her daughter’s future, she founded Families for a Livable Climate, bringing families of all kinds into the climate movement and helping them find their place and voice. In just one year, Winona has forged connections with groups and people across the state, with her signature wholehearted enthusiasm and passion. Every time someone like Winona decides to go all in—responding to the climate crisis with the urgency it requires—it empowers others to step up and do the same. With all she’s done in just a year, we’re excited to see where she goes and how many others she inspires. Rise star rise! |
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Masters in the Fine Art of Community (and Bicycle) Building: Bob Giordano
Bob is the Executive Director and Founder of the Missoula Institute for Sustainable Transportation and Free Cycles, both dedicated to increasing access to and usage of walking, bicycling, and public transit. Through policy, programming, and outreach, their work improves the health and wellbeing of our community and environment. Bob is the key bicycle champion in our community. Since 1996, over 200,000 people have visited the Free Cycles, and at least 20,000 bicycles have been earned and built. Bob ensures that Free Cycles serves as an important community gathering space, hosting a wide range of events. Most importantly, Bob is a kind, generous, creative, and committed force for climate action who is in it for the long haul. He’s a Master! |
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Doctorate of Dedication: Nick Silverman
Nick is a hydro-climatologist by profession, applying state-of-the-art climate models to inform decision-making, working to improve resources for farmers, ranchers, recreationalists and government. He’s an author of the 2017 Montana Climate Assessment and effectively shares climate science in engaging ways. Whenever we need a science explainer, whether it’s for workshops on wildfire smoke or presentations on climate projections, Nick is there. Nick is also a key member of our Climate Resiliency Planning Steering Committee, serving as Technical Advisor and diving in deep to help us understand everything from Missoula’s aquifer to human climate migration. And his efforts stretch beyond Missoula—he’s providing expertise to Montana’s Health and Climate Assessment and is on the Board of a new group: Missoula Health Professionals for a Healthy Climate. Nick is incredibly generous with his time and completely enjoyable to work with, deserving this Doctorate #2. |
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Doctorate of Dedication: Donna Gaukler
Most of us don’t really understand and appreciate the dedication of our City staff, but appreciate them we should. As Director of Missoula’s Parks and Recreation Dept. since 2002, Donna is one of our City’s gems, making a real difference in the lives of all Missoulians. She works tirelessly to lead the City in providing places and programs accessible to everyone and notes that “It is in parks where we meet our neighbors, learn about each other, our community, and become stewards of our environment." Donna has decades of dedication to building a livable future, never shying away from the challenges of climate change. Through her leadership in the development and adoption of land use and management plans, to guiding improvements in neighborhood and regional parks and conservation lands, to serving on our “Climate Ready Missoula” Steering Committee, we all benefit. She also loves our urban forest as much as we do and supports our shade shelter building efforts. With such dedication, Donna deserves this Doctorate and our deep gratitude. |
2018 Smarty Pants Awards
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Doctorate of Dedication: Ben Schmidt
Ben is stepping down after two decades of service as the chair of the City’s Energy and Climate Team! In this role, Ben helped coordinate the very first City greenhouse gas inventory back in the 1990s, and jump started conversations about climate change and energy before it was cool. Among other things, the ECT also supported Missoula’s joining Cities for Climate Protection, and the Conservation and Climate Action Plan. In addition to chairing the Energy and Climate Team, Ben also designates the proceeds from the annual Pumpkin Run, which he coordinates, to fund solar and clean energy projects. Ben’s deep and abiding dedication to climate issues is why he’s the perfect candidate for this award. Ben may be stepping down from as ECT chair, but we know he will continue to move these issues forward in his characteristically humble yet persistent way. Thank you, Ben! |
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Masters in the Fine Art of Community Building: Nicky Phear
Nicky is also moving on from a position she’s held for the last 10 years - Director of the Climate Change Studies program at the University of Montana. Nicky truly embodies the title of this award. Under her visionary leadership, CCS has become an integral part of the larger Missoula community, offering students invaluable opportunities for internships and connections with many local organizations and nonprofits, including us! Nicky was a member of the original Mayor’s advisory Team that helped push the City into more formal planning around climate change, and she was also a key member of the Adapt group that hosted community summits over several years, the outgrowth of which is Climate Smart Missoula. Although Nicky has decided to move on from UM, community building is in her bones and we can’t wait to see what she does next! |
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Partners for Renewable Energy Possibilities (PREP): Missoula Electric Co-op and KettleHouse Brewing Co.
This year’s wildcard award honored the team efforts of Missoula Electric Co-op and KettleHouse Brewing Co. for their community solar project atop the new KettleHouse taproom in Bonner. This ingenious partnership is well-deserving of this award: not only is it a great example of community solar collaboration, which allows MEC members to buy into the shared solar system and reap the benefits of renewable energy, but anyone who buys a panel gets a free beer whenever they want one. That’s a pretty good deal all around! Thanks to Mark Hayden, General Manager of MEC, and Tim O’Leary, KettleHouse owner, for joining forces, and we hope this project inspires more creative clean energy partnerships like this across our community! |
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Catalyst for Change: Tom Platt
This year's award honors someone whose can-do attitude and zeal for solving challenges continues to inspire us. Tom passed away much too soon from cancer earlier this year. Tom was truly the instigator that this effort to achieve 100% clean electricity needed to get off the ground. He doggedly researched and documented ways to achieve that goal, and was a primary author of the initial 100% Clean Electricity Options Report. Tom was also the brainchild behind the innovative poplar farm adjacent to the wastewater treatment plant, which grows sustainable timber while diverting millions of gallons of treated effluent from our river. As Amy says, as with so many things he did, Tom was “all in” on these projects, and his work is an incredible legacy and gift to our community. We were grateful to be able to give Tom his award earlier this summer. |
2017 Smarty Pants Awards
2016 Smarty Pants Awards
Beth couldn't be there to accept her award in person - thanks for being her stand-in, Chase!
Diana was surprised to find that her award included literal smarty pants - decorated with the Climate Smart logo, of course!
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Doctorate of Dedication: Sarah Coefield, Air Quality Specialist, Missoula City/County Health Department
Sarah is dedicated to clean air - both indoors and out - more than anyone on the planet. Really. She poured herself into helping Missoula County residents stay healthy and safe during the worst wildfire smoke season ever recorded in this area. Her darkly humorous twice daily air quality reports kept us all going this past summer. And she was our primary partner in launching the HEPA air filter distribution program, which provided filters and clean air to vulnerable individuals and schools throughout Missoula County. Years ago, Sarah started thinking of a new, not-yet-tested program to give people clean air, and her dedication to working with us to figure out the pieces was key. She invested so much of herself into helping others, setting the bar for the rest of us. We cannot thank Sarah enough for her energy, smarts, and heart. We have the utmost respect for you Sarah! You can read more from and about Sarah here. Masters in the (Fine) Art of Community Building: Don, Sarah, and Chris of MMW Architects - together with Steve Nelson and Home ReSource
Our Summer Smart initiative has us creating shade for Missoula's hot summer afternoons. Trees are fantastic but why not also build shade? Though we thought this might be a good idea, it took creative and talented partners to make our first shade shelter become a reality, partners who knew how to both design something cool, but also build it. Don, Sarah and Chris with MMW architects were with us every step of the way, designing an architecturally awesome structure, helping us figure out the site, engineering, materials and more. Together, we got the design approved, moved rocks and hung rebar. Their vision of a structure that used recycled scrap wood was a perfect fit to partner directly with Steve and his work crew at Home ReSource who figured out just how to wrangle wood scraps into a shelter and then actually did it! All four of these folks are smart, fun, and generous, just what's needed to build community. And they're even up for shelter #2 in 2018! Photos and more of the story behind this amazing Shade Shelter along the Milwaukee Trail, south side of the Clark Fork River, are here. Catalyst of Change: Jeremy Drake, Home ReSource Community Engagement Manager
Jeremy is honored for his tremendous work to move Missoula toward Zero Waste. Waste has long been something that everyone talks about but few are bold enough to address. Not Jeremy. He and Home ReSource ED Katie Deuel led the discussion on our waste stream at a Climate Smart Community Summit and directed it toward the transformative concept of Zero Waste, which in 2015 became an official City Resolution. Fast forward 2 years and Jeremy is still leading that charge. Working with the City, we have ZERO by FIFTY: Missoula’s Pathway to Zero Waste, a forthcoming plan to reduce landfill waste 90% by 2050. Thanks to Jeremy, there’s a ton of momentum and zero waste ripples – from new compost services to Logjam’s new recycling efforts. Jeremy does this work because it’s truly his passion. He leads the education of hundreds of 5th graders in the Home ReSource ZWAP! Program, and he reminds us all “You can’t recycle your way to Zero Waste.” Jeremy is Missoula’s rock star of reduction, reverend of reuse, wrangler of recycling, catalyst of compost and overall czar of Zero Waste. Certificate of Excellence in Energy Savings: Rose Dickson
From June through November 2017, 100 Missoulians participated in our pilot Energy Smart Challenge. Each week, participants received an email with tips, tools and resources to reduce their energy use at home. Then at the end of the month, they completed a survey telling us what they did and learned, earning points each month for doing so. Rose took the lead early and was our Energy Challenge winner! Her enthusiasm showed it's possible for everyone - renters and homeowners alike - to save energy, in big and small ways. Great job, Rose, and thanks for helping make this initial round of the Challenge a success! Doctorate of Dedication: Beth Schenk, St Patrick Hospital and Climate Smart Executive Team When it comes to commitment, Beth knows what it takes to see things through. She wears many hats in our community. A member of the Climate Smart Executive Team, she is a nurse scientist and sustainability coordinator at St. Pat’s hospital, an active researcher and professor, and has helped transform St. Pat’s with their waste reduction and sustainability plan. Beth has been unwavering in her dedication to Climate Smart Missoula from day 1, offering brilliant strategic guidance and generously giving her time and energy. Thank you, Beth! Masters in the (Fine) Art of Community Building: Fernanda and Robert co-owners of Imagine Nation Brewing Fernanda and Robert had a dream to brew awesome craft beer and use it to create social change – and we’ve seen that dream become reality over the last year! Climate Smart hosts our Monthly Meetups at INB the first Thursday of every month – just one of the many community-building happenings there in any given week. The INB vision is strengthening the social fabric of our city. We are so grateful for Fernanda and Robert’s smiles, encouragement, and support of Climate Smart. Masters in Solar: Diana Maneta, executive director, Montana Renewable Energy Association Diana has been a bright light in our community! As the executive director of the Montana Renewable Energy Association from 2010 until very recently, she led MREA as they advocated for smart policy at the Montana legislature, hosted Clean Energy Fairs around the state, and helped make Solarize Missoula possible. Diana’s quiet leadership helped solar energy shine brighter than ever – and connected Climate Smart Missoula with statewide policy efforts and partners that help make renewable energy more accessible right here in our community. Catalyst of Change Award: Jack Lawson, CEO, Missoula Federal Credit Union Jack has been instrumental in turning good ideas into action! As President and CEO of Missoula Federal Credit Union, he’s made a bold and visible commitment to values-based banking – from supporting Solarize and Summer Smart, to LEED certified and energy efficient MFCU buildings, to encouraging sustainability efforts with staff and MFCU’s 47,000(!) members. We’re grateful for Jack’s creative approach and partnership with Climate Smart, and are excited to see the impact he and MFCU will have in the years to come. |
