Born and raised in South Africa, Alex there started a nationwide coalition of college students to work on climate change. After coming to Seattle to work on his Ph.D, he became involved in the fossil fuel divestment movement, inspired by the success of the South African divestment movement. He helped lead the successful University of Washington divestment campaign, and writes on the intellectual underpinnings of divestment, including a report to the Gates Foundation. So what the heck is fossil fuel divestment about? Alex can break it down for you!
Mike McGinn
Organizer, Climate Activist, Former Mayor
I started this podcast in 2014 because I wanted to highlight people I met when I was Mayor of Seattle. I hoped that hearing stories from people on the front lines of social change - how they got started, what they cared about - would inspire others to take action. If you go through the archives you'll find interviews with some some great people.
We're on hiatus right now, but I'm pretty sure we're coming back! And we did our best to make the prior episodes "evergreen" - not tied to topical events - so give one a try and see what you think.
A little background - the title is derived from the teachings of Marshall Ganz. Change ultimately comes from people sharing their stories to build a shared narrative of the world they want to see.
I hope you'll check out some of the prior shows, and, even better, get involved yourself in trying to change things for the better.