Green Philly Women Week

We love getting to know local, green women that are making a difference like Julie Slavet, Katherine Gajewski & Sandy Bauers. Today we get to know another woman, defending our waters for the future generations. Maya K. van Rossum is Delaware Riverkeeper of the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, an organization with over 14,000 members and active volunteers. Maya has worked for the DRN for almost 20 years and testifies before state and national governing bodies to protect the river from threats including fracking, degradation, dumping, pollution and detrimental construction. Some of her accomplishments include: Find out more about Maya, the Delaware Riverkeeper Network and more, after the jump!

This week Green Philly Blog is interviewing some of Philadelphia’s women sustainability leaders in honor of closing out March as International Women’s History Month. Some of the women are well-known in our city, and some are a little more under the radar. Today, we head over to Chestnut Hill College to talk with two religious women. Growing up Catholic, I didn't hear much about 'sustainability' or treasuring our Earth in Church lectures. But is God green? It was quite interesting to sit down with two sisters about their views on how sustainability and religion fit together. Sister Mary Elizabeth Clark was a GPB guest blogger, is Director of the Sisters of Saint Joseph Earth Center, and Special Assistant to the President of Chestnut Hill for Sustainability. Sister Miriam MacGillis is founder of Genesis farm, an organic earth literacy center in New Jersey.

This week Green Philly Blog is interviewing some of Philadelphia’s women sustainability leaders in honor of closing out March as International Women’s History Month. Some of the women are well-known in our city, and some are a little more under the radar. Our interview for today is with Executive Director of Tookany/Tacony-Frankford (TTF) Watershed, Julie Slavet! A Boston native, Julie Slavet has been involved in the sustainability scene for over 30 years. Designing her own undergraduate degree in environmental studies (since it didn't exist yet) at Smith College, she proceeded to get an energy independence internship with the National League of Cities and receive her grad degree at UMass. She's worked in a variety of places including work on local, sustainable initiatives in Washington and local governments in Massachusetts. Not one to settle for par, she left a Dallas Texas Suburban hell to raise her family in the more walkable Philadelphia community, Jenkintown. After working various local communication positions and learning about sustainable initiatives in Philly, she landed her role at the Tookany/Tacony-Frankford Watershed. Let's get to our interview with (the other) Julie!

This week Green Philly Blog is interviewing some of Philadelphia's women sustainability leaders in honor of closing out March as International Women's History Month. Some of the women are well-known in our city, and some are a little more under the radar. Our interview for today is with Drexel Senior and Drexel's (only environmental group) Sierra Club President, Nicole Koedyker! We first noticed Nicole Koedyker on our Facebook, Twitter & blog comments with her green wit & knowledge. When we attended a Sierra Club meeting at Drexel, we previewed first hand how she combined a mix of green 'lessons', local events and motivating eco-curious students to get involved in Meatless Monday, Earth week events & a clothing swap on campus. As a Drexel Senior majoring in international business & economics, this lady stays active in the college sustainability scene. Her missions include working student groups to divest from fossil fuels from the endowment, ban bottled water, and encouraging Drexel to complete the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education's Sustainability Tracking and Assessment Rating System. On a personal level, she's very likable. Her cat Meowies would be Pounce DeLeon's BFF, and we love her bike & spin class teaching enthusiasm. Let's get to our interview with Nicole! (Check it out, after the jump!)

This week Green Philly Blog is interviewing some of Philadelphia's women sustainability leaders in honor of closing out March as International Women's History Month. Some of the women are well-known in our city, and some have yet to break out from under the radar. We kick off our week's interviews with Katherine Gajewski!   As Director of Sustainability for Philadelphia, Katherine Gajewski has helped our city become greener since July of 2009. Prior to coming on board to head the sustainability front for Mayor Michael Mayor Nutter, she worked on the smoke-free legislation for Breathe Free Philadelphia Alliance and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Gajweski has lived everywhere from Montana, Vermont, Seattle and Chicago. We asked her a few questions to find out more about Mayor Nutter's sustainable lady-in-charge. (Jump on through to read the Q&A, & find out where in the world Katherine would magically transport herself if she could!)