Environmental publication Grist unveiled its latest edition today (March 21) of the Grist 50, in which the editorial team lays out the who’s who of this year’s environmental leaders. For 2017, Grist is shining a light on solutions-based thinkers whom they are calling “The Fixers.”
“There’s no question we live in unsettling times,” writes executive editor Scott Dodd. “But for the past few months, we at Grist have been able to indulge in a very effective form of group therapy, and now at last we can share it with the world.”
The Grist staff had some help in choosing the names for its second edition of this annual list including former Vice President Al Gore, political commentator Van Jones and model and activist Cameron Russell. Nearly half of the list features people of color. The same is true for last year’s.
Some of these include Xiuhtezcatl Martinez, a teenage indigenous musician who is one of the youth in the high-profile climate lawsuit against the federal government, and Dallas Goldtooth, an organizer with the Indigenous Environmental Network who helped put together the Native Nations Rise March earlier this month. But as Grist points out, Goldtooth is also a comedian, work that helps him “to process a lot of the batshit craziness.”
An innovator of color includes renewable energy entrepreneur Gilbert Campbell, whose company, Volt Energy, is currently working on the largest solar installation at a historically Black college. Then there’s Sean Watkins, a storyteller for The Solutions Project helping amplify the voices of climate leaders prioritizing clean energy.
Karina Castillo is a Miami-based scientist with Moms Clean Air Force. She’s taking on climate resiliency by working to make sure that her city is prepared for the next natural disaster: “In the Latino community, the ideas of legacy and conservation are really important. When you talk about protecting children, the mama bear comes out of people. And that’s an unstoppable force.”
Check out Grist’s full list to learn about all of this year’s “Fixers.”