067 | Climate Change & Hope for A Better Future with Nicole Rom

Announcement: The Sovereign Circle begins this February 2019 ~ Learn More Here After experiencing California's wildfires, witnessing the increasing amount of hurricanes on the news and hearing firsthand accounts from friends and family of climate change throughout the world, I knew I wanted to interview an expert on this topic for the Rising Women Leaders podcast. I just so happened to know the perfect person to interview - my sister, Nicole Rom. Nicole has been the Executive Director of Climate Generation for 12 years, empowering individuals and their communities to engage in solutions to climate change. Nicole breaks down what we need to know about our current state of the world and where we are headed when it comes to rising temperatures, sea levels and how we will be affected in the coming years. We discussed everything from how our family impacted our love for the environment, daily actions we can take to lower our carbon footprint, how to navigate the inherent grief of this issue as well as stories to cultivate hope. I hope you enjoy the show. In this episode we discussed: Our family ancestry of individuals who deeply cared about the environment and how that impacted our values growing up A definition of climate change and what we are facing today Navigating grief and hope in changing times Climate Generation's mission and impact Daily life changes and actions we can take on a personal, local and global level to make a difference Resources Nicole recommends for educating ourselves (films, books and websites to check out) Upcoming trainings and projects at Climate Generation   "One of the most important things we can do is normalize the conversation on climate change. I know many of us are scared. You feel like you need to know the science… Don't worry about it…All you have to say is "I'm worried about this. This is what i'm seeing. This is who is going to be impacted." It is from that place you can connect with someone heart to heart."   Stay in Touch with Nicole: Personal: Twitter: @RomNicole Instagram: @nroutdoors Facebook: facebook.com/nicolerom Work: Twitter: @ClimateGenOrg Instagram: @ClimateGenOrg Facebook: facebook.com/ClimateGen   > > Nicole has been the Executive Director of Climate Generation since the organization was established in 2006, which has included starting and sustaining the organization by providing visioning and development activities for the organization and its programs. Prior to Climate Generation, Nicole managed the education programs for the National Wildlife Federation's Great Lakes office in Ann Arbor, MI. Nicole taught undergraduate and graduate level courses in environmental education and climate change at the University of Michigan and Hamline University. Nicole was an Environmental Educator with the U.S. Peace Corps in the Republic of Kazakhstan for 2 years. She received her M.S. in Environmental Policy, Behavior, Education and Communication from the School for Environment and Sustainability at the University of Michigan and a B.A. from Bates College. She was a 2010-2011 Humphrey Policy Fellow at the University of Minnesota. Nicole served on the Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness Board for six years and various search committees, including the RE-AMP Network CEO and Minnesota Environmental Fund Executive Director. She was a RE-AMP Steering Committee at-large member from 2013-2017 and served on the Executive Committee and the Global Warming Strategic Action Fund Committee. Nicole was recognized in 2015 as a 40 Under 40 clean energy leader by Midwest Energy News. Nicole is passionate about the outdoors, loves the lakes in Minnesota, cycling and skiing.