AISA-GISS 2013 Keynote Speakers

Spencer West:  Keynote Speaker 1

Aged 5, Spencer lost both legs due to a genetic disease. In 2008, Spencer travelled to Kenya for an international volunteer trip with Me to We, where he helped build a school in a rural community in the Maasai Mara. On this trip, he met young people who strive to overcome challenges every day. He credits this experience for helping him recognize his true calling—to motivate and inspire people around the world. Since then, Spencer has inspired thousands of people. In June 2012, Spencer climbed the tallest mountain in Africa, Mount Kilimanjaro, to raise money for Free the children’ s clean-water projects in Kenya.

Find out more about Spencer on : http://www.metowe.com/personalities/spencer
Find out more about his Mount Kilimanjaro experience on http://www.freethechildren.com/redefinepossible/
Read his book, Standing Tall: My Journey

Justin Bedard: Keynote Speaker 2

Born in Lilongwei, Malawi, Justin spent his childhood playing in the islands of Indonesia and his formative years exploring the depth of Chinese culture. Justin has maintained an ongoing interest in community development and is recognized for his commitment to youth programs around the world. Justin has filled his life with adventure guiding, organizational consulting, leadership facilitation, community development, and time playing in the mountains. He was co-creator of the WAB Wild Outdoor Education Program at the Western Academy of Beijing and has been with JUMP since its conception in 2006. Justin holds a B.A. in International Development with a minor in Environmental Studies from the University of Guelph. Most notably, Justin has been awarded the Canadian St. John’s Ambulance Award of Merit and the Dragon Award for Courage and Service to Humanity.

Cassandra Lin: Keynote Speaker 3

At age 10, Cassandra Lin came across two troubling issues. Global warming, if allowed to continue at its current rate, could cause sea levels to rise two to six feet by 2100, thus submerging many coastal towns such as her own hometown of Westerly, Rhode Island in the USA. In addition, the high price of heating oil was preventing many RI residents from staying warm during the cold winter months. When Cassandra and a group of her friends discovered that waste cooking oil can be turned into biodiesel fuel, they started a project called TGIF: Turn Grease into Fuel. With TGIF, Cassandra and her team asked local restaurants and residents to donate their waste cooking oil to help heat the homes of families in need of emergency heating assistance. The plan worked, and four years later, TGIF continues to warm families in impoverished communities in Rhode Island and Connecticut. Cassandra even helped introduce and pass a law in RI to mandate waste cooking oil recycling for businesses.

The bill was passed in July 2011 and went into effect on January 1, 2012. To date, the project has collected 130,000 gallons of grease, which generated 100,000 gallons of biodiesel, and has donated 21,000 gallons of biofuel (an equivalent of $81,000) to help 210 families stay warm in the winter. By the EPA’s calculations, TGIF has offset more than 2 million pounds of CO2 from being released to the atmosphere. Additionally, Cassandra and her team helped convince the Westerly Public School district to use biofuel in all of the district’s school buses.

Cassandra was awarded the 2011 Prudential Spirit of Community Award, and was named one of the Top 25 Most Powerful and Influential Young People in the World by Youth Service America in 2012. She has also spoken at various events, including TedxEast in New York City, Future Trends Conference in Miami, FL and was invited by the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) to give two workshops to children and youth in Bandung, Indonesia during the UNEP TUNZA Conference for Children and Youth on the Environment in October of 2011.

Kenyan Panel: Keynote #4

John Kariuki Mwangi

John Kariuki Mwangi is the coordinator of Slow Food activities in Kenya. He was born in 1987, in Molo, Kenya. His years of professional experience includes representing the Youth and Africa at Slow Food International, administration and coordination of development projects in sustainable agriculture, education and socio-cultural sector with the aim of preserving food biodiversity, sustainable food production systems and cultural identities of local communities. He earned his under graduate degree in gastronomic sciences at the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Pollenzo, Italy. John is currently pursuing his Master’s degree in sociology (Community Development and Project Management) at Egerton University.
John served as a Slow Food International Vice President from 2007 to 2012. He is currently a member of Slow Food International councilor (representing East, Central and the Horn of Africa) and Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity Board of Directors. He has actively participated in development of Slow Food Youth Network and Slow Food Kenya. John has also written several articles that have been published on the Slow Food website, books and other magazines.
He considers studying at the University of Gastronomic Sciences and being involved in Slow Food activities as transformational. It has improved his understanding of the complexity of the world and the centrality of food to all cultures and has opened his eyes to the integral role that small-scale farmers play in feeding the world.

Vava Angwenyi

In 2009, Vava Angwenyi started VAVA COFFEE – a fair-trade coffee brand whose main aim was to contribute to better future prospects for local communities and the coffee industry as a whole. The company ensures sustainable livelihoods for the people and communities in which it works. Rather than give handouts, Vava Coffee gives hope for a better tomorrow to those it works with as well as their families by giving them a chance to earn a living and get out of poverty by engaging them in work activities they are skilled in performing. Vava Coffee not only works with small holder farmers in different coffee growing regions within Kenya but also has its coffee gift bags made by a group of women in the slums of Kibera. These women are either HIV positive and have been neglected by their families and others are former drug addicts whom have now sought treatment and engaging in a beneficial form of employment with Vava Coffee.
Last year, Vava Coffee was nominated as one of the top 12 Social enterprises worldwide by the BBC programme – World Challenge which seeks to recognize social enterprises worldwide that are giving back to their communities, showing innovation at grassroot levels and also using environmental friendly practices in their production. Vava herself was named to Business Daily Africa’s top 40 under 40 women in 2009, she has also been referred to in the media as “ Kenya’s Coffee Queen”  & “Coffee Crusader” ..

Vava holds a Bachelors degree in Statistics & Actuarial Science from University of Western Ontario – 2003, Masters degree-Msc in International Finance as well as Certificate in Global Asset Management from University of  Groningen – Netherlands –  2006.

One of her favorite quotes is by Blake Mycoskie (founder of TOMS) – “Love your work, work for what you love, and change the world – all at the same time.”

Samson Moloimet Ole Parashina

Samson Moloimet Ole Parashina is President of Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust (MWCT) in Kenya, and is the son of a Maasai chief and warrior. He was born, raised, and educated in the Kuku Group Ranch near Loitokitok in the Rift Valley, and first become aware of the concepts of conservation during a field trip to Tsavo National Park in second grade. Upon completing high school, Samson heard about Campi ya Kanzi, an eco-tourism lodge in the Chyulu Hills, the famed green hills of Africa. He started working here as a waiter for the guests but soon taught himself the skills required to be a wildlife guide, and went to Nairobi to sit for the guide exams. Samson passed the Bronze Level exam in 2002, then the Silver Level exam in 2006.In 2007, Samson was appointed President of the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust by the Trust’s board of directors. In 2009, he ran the New York Marathon to raise awareness and funds for MWCT.

In 2012, Samson was given an award by the United Nation’s Environmental Programme (UNEP) as the champion of the earth in grassroots leadership. Samson acts as a link between the local community and conservation partners such as the Maasai Preservation Trust, Kenya Wildlife Services, Group Ranches, Africa Wildlife Foundation and the Amboseli Elephant Trust. He engages these partners and community at various levels to foster a deeper understanding and need to co-exist with natural flora and fauna. He is also a community trainer in environmental management and runs a number of training and education forums for women’s groups, elders and Maasai warriors on wildlife-human conflict mitigation and conservation.