Get Up and Try

How does a small kid from a small town make a positive and lasting impact on the lives of many people? If you ask Tia Nelson, she’ll tell you that it is by using our power to get up every day and try. In this episode, we interview Tia Nelson about her decades of work in service of her father’s vision of improvingthe world’s most polluted environments in service of the people that live there. Fifty years ago, Gaylord Nelson - a small-town senator from Wisconsin - hosted a national sit-in to force a policy discussion about the growing environmental problems facing America. The act set off a chain of events that resulted in the most sweeping national environmental policy accomplishments in US history. Today, his daughter Tia continues that effort with a focus on building bridges between young environmental justice activists, conservative Republicans, concerned mothers, and all people that have an interest in addressing climate change. With her father as a role model and decades of experience working on environmental issues at home and abroad, Tia’s words brim with wisdom and experience. Though we interviewed her before the nationwide social justice protests began, her perspective has a lot a relevance now as each of us consider our role and responsibility in bringing groups together to develop real and durable solutions to our most pressing problems. For episode resources and materials, visit http://www.riseupmidwest.org/podcast