Board of Directors

by emaguire — last modified 2009-09-16 10:52

Rudolf Amenga–Etego is a prominent lawyer and civil society figure in Ghana. Rudolf is the Executive Director of GrassRootsAfrica. He previously worked for the Integrated Social Development Center (ISODEC) as the Director of Advocacy and Campaigns. The program was established as a response to the impact of International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank polices with the poor and disadvantaged in Ghana. As an active student leader during the repressive Rawlings regime, Rudolf fought to restore democracy. He was jailed without prosecution several times during Rawlings rule in the 1980s for voicing the concerns of Ghanaian citizens.

The Integrated Social Development Centre works closely with the National Coalition Against the Privatization of Water where Rudolf serves as the National Campaign Coordinator for the Coalition. The coalition is a broad consortium of organizations including health professionals, academia, trade unions, students, disabled, and women's groups. They have been instrumental in raising public awareness about the water policies set by the World Bank. World Bank involvement led to a 95% increase in water rates in 2001 in Ghana. Rudolf fears privatization will reduce access to clean and affordable water. The Integrated Social Development Centre works to inform players in both government and civil society of the consequences of a globalized economy.

Maude Barlow is the National Chairperson of the Council of Canadians and chairs the board of Washington-based Food and Water Watch. She is also an executive member of the San Francisco–based International Forum on Globalization and a Councillor with the Hamburg-based World Future Council. Maude is the recipient of eight honorary doctorates as well as many awards, including the 2005 Right Livelihood Award (known as the “Alternative Nobel”), the Citation of Lifetime Achievement at the 2008 Canadian Environment Awards, and the 2009 Earth Day Canada Outstanding Environmental Achievement Award. In 2008/2009, she served as Senior Advisor on Water to the 63rd President of the United Nations General Assembly. She is also the best selling author or co-author of 16 books, including the international best seller Blue Covenant: The Global Water Crisis and The Coming Battle for the Right to Water.

Dennis Keeney was Director of the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture from 1988 to 2002. He is an Emeritus Professor of Agronomy and of Agriculture and Biosystems Engineering at Iowa State University. He is also a Senior Fellow at the Council for Agricultural Science and Technology, an Ames Senior Fellow at the Department of Soil, Water, and Climate in the College of Agricultural, Food, & Environmental Sciences at University of Minnesota, and a Senior Fellow at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy in Minneapolis. He is also the past president of the Iowa Environmental Council.

He has been involved in numerous projects with IATP, including hypoxia, bioenergy, water quality, water efficiency, and Farm Bill conservation policy. He is also a member of Spira/GRACE Advisory Board, Thomas Jefferson Agriculture Institute Board of Directors, Water for Iowans Board of Directors, and Iowa State Water Resources Center Advisory Board. He grew up on a general dairy farm in central Iowa and is still involved with a grain farm in central Iowa. Agriculture has always been his first interest, love and passion.

Kelsie Kerr is a passionate chef and cooking instructor. Most recently she was chef of Chez Panisse Restaurant. As an instructor, Kelsie has taught cooking classes in and around the Bay Area and operated an intimate cooking school in her home, which received rave reviews from students and media alike. As a writer, Kelsie has collaborated and contributed to Alice Water’s cookbooks: The Art of Simple Food, Chez Panisse Vegetables, Chez Panisse Café Cookbook, and Chez Panisse Fruits. Kelsie is currently director of the Cooking School at Cavallo Point, the Lodge at the Golden Gate, at Fort Baker in Marin County.

Elizabeth Peredo Beltrán, who graduated as a social psychologist from the Catholic University of La Paz in 1992, has worked on issues of gender and ethnicity for 10 years and has published numerous articles and books about women’s rights, gender, ethnic and social identity, domestic work, and gender/class relationships, methodologies of qualitative research; gender, water, trade and women rights. Since 1999, she has worked with the Solon Foundation in Bolivia, where she coordinated the Social Committee for the Labor Rights of Urban Indigenous Domestic Workers.

Currently, at the Solon Foundation, she is responsible for the program on Women, Cultural Identity, and Work Rights. She is a member of the Bolivian Movement Against FTAA-WTO, The Women's Committee of the Hemispheric Social Alliance (HSA), and the Integral Water Management Committee in Bolivia.

Mary Ricci is an activist especially interested in local economic and other community-based issues. She is a professional writer and editor. In the past she has worked as a news writer and as a software engineer. Mary has worked as an editor on many books and magazines, including five titles in the Re/Search series. As a software engineer, she released seven video games, two children’s educational titles, and ten business applications.

Sue Rome is an educator. She taught economically disadvantaged children in Louisiana for 10 years, and has taught Special Education in Virginia for 16 years. She currently is the chair of the Special Education Department and a teacher at Taylor Middle School in Warrenton, Virginia. She received a Bachelor of Science and a Masters Degree in Special Education from Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, Louisiana. She also received a Masters Degree in Public Administration from Virginia Polytechnic University. She volunteers for several community organizations and is passionate about gardening.

Alan Snitow is an award–winning documentary filmmaker and journalist. His book Thirst: Fighting the Corporate Theft of Our Water (co-authored with Deborah Kaufman and Michael Fox) was published by Wiley and Sons imprint Jossey Bass in 2007. His films include “Thirst” (PBS's POV series, 2004), “Secrets of Silicon Valley” (PBS–Independent Lens, 2001), and “Blacks and Jews” (Sundance Film Festival, PBS-POV, 1997). Prior to founding Snitow–Kaufman Productions, he was a News Producer for Bay Area Fox affiliate KTVU–TV for 12 years. As News Director at the Bay Area Pacifica Radio station KPFA–FM, he won a Corporation for Public Broadcasting Gold Award for Best Local Newscast. He is a graduate of Cornell University and lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

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Take Action Act to protect our food from irradiation. Explore Further Mission Who We Are Board of Directors Career Opportunities Newsletters Contact Us Press In The News Ohio Elections Commission Pursues Frivolous Case Against Consumer Group Proposed Carlsbad Desalination Project to Cost Up To Three Times More Than Claimed Issue 2 Passes: Agribusiness Rewrites Ohio's Constitution Milwaukee Water System Lease Could Cost Community Millions Per Year More >> See all headlines >> See all headlines >> Help Us Grow	Board of Directors by emaguire — last modified 2009-09-16 10:52 Rudolf Amenga–Etego is a prominent lawyer and civil society figure in Ghana. Rudolf is the Executive Director of GrassRootsAfrica. He previously worked for the Integrated Social Development Center (ISODEC) as the Director of Advocacy and Campaigns. The program was established as a response to the impact of International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank polices with the poor and disadvantaged in Ghana. As an active student leader during the repressive Rawlings regime, Rudolf fought to restore democracy. He was jailed without prosecution several times during Rawlings rule in the 1980s for voicing the concerns of Ghanaian citizens. The Integrated Social Development Centre works closely with the National Coalition Against the Privatization of Water where Rudolf serves as the National Campaign Coordinator for the Coalition. The coalition is a broad consortium of organizations including health professionals, academia, trade unions, students, disabled, and women's groups. They have been instrumental in raising public awareness about the water policies set by the World Bank. World Bank involvement led to a 95% increase in water rates in 2001 in Ghana. Rudolf fears privatization will reduce access to clean and affordable water. The Integrated Social Development Centre works to inform players in both government and civil society of the consequences of a globalized economy. Maude Barlow is the National Chairperson of the Council of Canadians and chairs the board of Washington-based Food and Water Watch. She is also an executive member of the San Francisco–based International Forum on Globalization and a Councillor with the Hamburg-based World Future Council. Maude is the recipient of eight honorary doctorates as well as many awards, including the 2005 Right Livelihood Award (known as the “Alternative Nobel”), the Citation of Lifetime Achievement at the 2008 Canadian Environment Awards, and the 2009 Earth Day Canada Outstanding Environmental Achievement Award. In 2008/2009, she served as Senior Advisor on Water to the 63rd President of the United Nations General Assembly. She is also the best selling author or co-author of 16 books, including the international best seller Blue Covenant: The Global Water Crisis and The Coming Battle for the Right to Water. Dennis Keeney was Director of the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture from 1988 to 2002. He is an Emeritus Professor of Agronomy and of Agriculture and Biosystems Engineering at Iowa State University. He is also a Senior Fellow at the Council for Agricultural Science and Technology, an Ames Senior Fellow at the Department of Soil, Water, and Climate in the College of Agricultural, Food, & Environmental Sciences at University of Minnesota, and a Senior Fellow at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy in Minneapolis. He is also the past president of the Iowa Environmental Council. He has been involved in numerous projects with IATP, including hypoxia, bioenergy, water quality, water efficiency, and Farm Bill conservation policy. He is also a member of Spira/GRACE Advisory Board, Thomas Jefferson Agriculture Institute Board of Directors, Water for Iowans Board of Directors, and Iowa State Water Resources Center Advisory Board. He grew up on a general dairy farm in central Iowa and is still involved with a grain farm in central Iowa. Agriculture has always been his first interest, love and passion. Kelsie Kerr is a passionate chef and cooking instructor. Most recently she was chef of Chez Panisse Restaurant. As an instructor, Kelsie has taught cooking classes in and around the Bay Area and operated an intimate cooking school in her home, which received rave reviews from students and media alike. As a writer, Kelsie has collaborated and contributed to Alice Water’s cookbooks: The Art of Simple Food, Chez Panisse Vegetables, Chez Panisse Café Cookbook, and Chez Panisse Fruits. Kelsie is currently director of the Cooking School at Cavallo Point, the Lodge at the Golden Gate, at Fort Baker in Marin County. Elizabeth Peredo Beltrán, who graduated as a social psychologist from the Catholic University of La Paz in 1992, has worked on issues of gender and ethnicity for 10 years and has published numerous articles and books about women’s rights, gender, ethnic and social identity, domestic work, and gender/class relationships, methodologies of qualitative research; gender, water, trade and women rights. Since 1999, she has worked with the Solon Foundation in Bolivia, where she coordinated the Social Committee for the Labor Rights of Urban Indigenous Domestic Workers. Currently, at the Solon Foundation, she is responsible for the program on Women, Cultural Identity, and Work Rights. She is a member of the Bolivian Movement Against FTAA-WTO, The Women's Committee of the Hemispheric Social Alliance (HSA), and the Integral Water Management Committee in Bolivia. Mary Ricci is an activist especially interested in local economic and other community-based issues. She is a professional writer and editor. In the past she has worked as a news writer and as a software engineer. Mary has worked as an editor on many books and magazines, including five titles in the Re/Search series. As a software engineer, she released seven video games, two children’s educational titles, and ten business applications. Sue Rome is an educator. She taught economically disadvantaged children in Louisiana for 10 years, and has taught Special Education in Virginia for 16 years. She currently is the chair of the Special Education Department and a teacher at Taylor Middle School in Warrenton, Virginia. She received a Bachelor of Science and a Masters Degree in Special Education from Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, Louisiana. She also received a Masters Degree in Public Administration from Virginia Polytechnic University. She volunteers for several community organizations and is passionate about gardening. Alan Snitow is an award–winning documentary filmmaker and journalist. His book Thirst: Fighting the Corporate Theft of Our Water (co-authored with Deborah Kaufman and Michael Fox) was published by Wiley and Sons imprint Jossey Bass in 2007. His films include “Thirst” (PBS's POV series, 2004), “Secrets of Silicon Valley” (PBS–Independent Lens, 2001), and “Blacks and Jews” (Sundance Film Festival, PBS-POV, 1997). Prior to founding Snitow–Kaufman Productions, he was a News Producer for Bay Area Fox affiliate KTVU–TV for 12 years. As News Director at the Bay Area Pacifica Radio station KPFA–FM, he won a Corporation for Public Broadcasting Gold Award for Best Local Newscast. He is a graduate of Cornell University and lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.