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May 26, 2022

Our guests today are three friends from the Central Coast of CA who share a mission: to make the Earth a better place for all their descendants. Earth Day, Earth Month, Earth Year–why not an Earth Eternity? We know that nothing lasts for eternity; one day, scientists say, our Sun will fail us and leave everything in darkness and cold, long after life on planet Earth no longer exists. But what about now? How do we celebrate our Earth’s longevity, long after a day in April, a month in Spring or a year from now? Spend the next hour with our guests June Cochran, Kelly Fisher and Grace Gautereaux while we vision together an Earth Eternity healed of the many mistakes we made while generations embraced the notion that Earth’s resources were boundless, that our greed was “good” and that our abuses would never be noticed.



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MORE ABOUT OUR GUESTS

June Cochran, a native Californian, earned her undergraduate degree at U.C. Berkeley, where she learned how to protest injustices, and her Master’s degree at Occidental in Urban Studies. June then became a reporter, a high school teacher, a college instructor and an Instructional Specialist, training teachers for Stockton Unified School District. Possessing a deep desire to educate herself and others on resiliency and equity issues, she started and advised a high school club titled E.N.U.F. (Earth Needs Us Fast); organized a Green Shalom action group at a synagogue; produced a number of informative video programs for the media; and became an integral contributor in key groups engaged in a positive movement toward a solution-based future. 

As coordinator of the San Luis Obispo Climate Coalition, her mission is to increase awareness of the advantages of decarbonization in order to strengthen our energy profile and our local economy, give residents the power to put their talents to work, and prepare our isolated area for unexpected events. In 2018, June received the SLO Climate Coalition’s “Climate Champion Award,” of which she is quite proud. In all of June’s work for change, her emphasis is on raising public awareness, organizing educational events, and networking. She volunteers as a national responder for the American Red Cross and has helped install solar through Grid Alternatives, including two all-female installations. 

June and her husband, Fred Fink, live in Shell Beach, CA. They do this work primarily for her daughter and son, who both work in the field of public health; a daughter-in-law who is a high school counselor; a son-in-law who is an engineer; and four grandsons—two in California and two in New York—and for all their descendants, as well as for all future individuals and families. June is committed to creating a vibrant, just, and sustainable world for ALL people for generations to come.

Kelly Fisher serves as the program director and co-founder of the San Luis Obispo Climate Coalition’s Micro-Community Collaborative. Their Resilient SLO Challenge program is designed to promote equity, resilience, and climate protection regionally. Kelly also serves as a highly qualified expert with the United States Army Senior Education Program, where she assisted in the development of the Women, Peace and Security curriculum. Kelly serves as a Deputy Congressional Director for the United States’ Women’s Caucus at United Nations, a Board member of the American Red Cross Pacific Coast Chapter and a member of the Coalition for Women’s Appointments. 

Before devoting her full-time support to the achievement of United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, Brigadier General Fisher retired from 40 years of US military service. Her most recent duty assignments include Land Component Commander of California Army National Guard with concurrent duty as Deputy Commandant - Reserve Affairs United States Army War College. General Fisher also served as the special assistant to the Chief of National Guard Bureau, and a member of the Department of Defense Joint Chiefs of Staff to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the Wisconsin National Guard’s Sexual Harassment, Assault, Response and Prevention Program. 

Grace Gautereaux serves as the Outreach Specialist of the San Luis Obispo Climate Coalition’s Micro-Community Collaborative. She promotes the Resilient SLO Challenge to local households to encourage individual and collective action around resilience, sustainability, and equity. She works with local agencies to advertise financial and other support opportunities to users and coordinates with financial stakeholders to create compelling, locally-oriented incentives to participate in the challenge. In addition, Grace has worked with partner agencies to develop a Fellowship opportunity that will bolster Resilient SLO mobilization initiatives on the ground in San Luis Obispo communities. Grace also works as a “CivicSpark Fellow” for the Tri-County Regional Energy Network (3C-REN) where she helps to develop policy, workforce preparedness, and homeowner education around building electrification and energy efficiency initiatives on the Central Coast. Grace graduated from Willamette University with a BA in Politics concentrated in international renewable energy policy and economics. 

 

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People of Faith for Justice is a 501(c)(3) non-profit  organization.



CREDITS

The People of Faith for Justice Podcast is produced and edited by Jeff Manildi

Music for the People of Faith for Justice Podcast is provided by Andrew Gorman