ACN to host executive director of the Sierra Club for special presentation and fundraiser
ASHLAND, Ohio – The Ashland Center for Nonviolence (ACN) will welcome Ben Jealous, the executive director of the Sierra Club, to Ashland University for a fundraising dinner and presentation on Wednesday, March 26. Jealous’ presentation is free and open to the public and begins at 7 p.m., at the John C. Myers Convocation Center, while the fundraising event is from 5-6:30 p.m.
Jealous will present “Why We Will Win,” a summary of his own journey into environmental activism and why he is convinced humanity will rise to overcome the urgent challenge of climate change. He will outline the major victories society has already achieved, the path forward and what each of us can do so that the next generation will not have to fear for the future of planet Earth itself.
Jealous is the seventh executive director of the Sierra Club, the oldest environmental organization of its kind in the U.S. Its mission is to protect wildlife and wild places, ensure clean air and water, fight climate change, transition to a clean energy economy and preserve public lands and waters.
A life-long environmentalist and social activist, Jealous became the youngest president/CEO of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and served in that role from 2008-13. He also is a former Democratic nominee for governor of Maryland and was the executive director of the National Newspaper Publishers Association. Early in his career, Jealous was an investigative reporter at Mississippi’s Jackson Advocate newspaper.
In addition to leading the Sierra Club, Jealous is currently a professor of practice at the University of Pennsylvania. A Rhodes Scholar, he earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and government from Columbia University and a master’s degree in comparative social research from the University of Oxford.
The fundraising event will be held in the Heritage Room of the Convocation Center, with a buffet-style dinner. The dinner will feature an exclusive interview with Jealous conducted by Patricia Saunders, Ph.D., director of the environmental science program and professor of biology at AU. Tickets cost $100 per plate and reservations can be made at this link. For more information, contact Elizabeth Buttil, assistant director of ACN, at ebuttil@ashland.edu or 419-289-5313.
In addition to ACN, the Ashland University Honors Program and Bob and Jan Archer are sponsoring this special event, and it is also part of AU’s 2024-25 Environmental Lecture Series.
ACN, in its 21st year, promotes alternatives to violence through education, training and building relationships that foster awareness and consideration of issues related to nonviolence and social justice, and supports ways to create a caring community that is inclusive and just.