D. Jeffrey Wright

Infobox Person
bgcolour =
name =Col. David J. Wright
image_size =164x247px


caption =Photograph from Facebook
residence =Caracas, Venezuela
nationality =North American, USA USA
ethnicity =Sicilian, English, Prussian
citizenship =US Expat
other_names =
known_for =Environmentalism, Conservation
education =9 years post secondary
employer =PAFUSA/FUPAVEN
occupation =Think Tank Strategist, CEO
home_town =Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
party =Social Democrat
religion =Episcopalian, Waldensian
spouse =Sophia Williams (divorced)
Sonia B. Ceballos Marvez
children =Four
relations =Joseph Henry Aigner, Rodolfo Ceballos, Nicholas A. Wright
website = [http://problemsmiths.blogspot.com The Problemsmith's Blog]
footnotes =

David Jeffrey "Jeff" Wright (born 1962) notable conservationist and activist throughout the environmental movement of the 1990s, now familiar as a think tank strategist, philosopher and NPO organizer. He got started in the non-profit sector and green causes in the late 1980s through prominent people he came to meet working as a communications installation contractor, auctioneer, and pastor in Wilmington and Greenville, Delaware.

Since 1996 he has been known as Col. David J. Wright, sometimes as D. Jeffrey Wright, Esq. in different social and professional circles, depending upon with which Caribbean country he is working. Wright is a goodwill ambassador for the Commonwealth of Kentucky and serves as the Executive Officer of Fundación Panamericana (FUPAVEN) which is located in Caracas, Venezuela where he also works independently as a freelance business consultant and policy analyst for foreign governments, organizations, and within the private sector. Much the consulting work he engages is sensitive and performed anonymously.

Career

In 2001 David founded the Pan-American Foundation in Kentucky, then in 2003 co-founded Fundación Panamericana in Caracas. Shortly thereafter he approached Caracas' Department of International Cooperation with a visionary project and was designated as an extraordinary goodwill ambassador at-large for a special mission between the Caracas metropolitan government, sister cities, and other cities in the US and around the world; except after establishing an office in the Port of Wilmington, the Mayor of Caracas, Alfredo Peña under investigation by the Venezuelan Attorney General fled Venezuela deserting his office to become a international fugitive and political refugee, causing the project to collapse.

David has been working with a number of businesses throughout Venezuela to create and execute adaptive business plans for small businesses (SME's) introducing new business models that are better able to cope with changing governmental policies. He aids government backed cooperatives who want to adopt the Rochdale Principles or become part of the International Cooperative Alliance ICA.

In 2007 he developed an initiative facilitating international commerce where small importers and exporters in Venezuela could utilize UN/CEFACT eDocs [cite paper|publisher=United Nations: Economic and Social Council|title=UN/CEFACT's e-Business Vision|date=2004-03-08|id=2004/9] provided by the UN free to standardize and expedite their imports and exports which is being stalled by bureaucracy. Through his foundation he is also a United Nations Global Marketplace intermediary for products and services representing various manufacturers throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.

Green pioneer

In 1988 David founded a charitable non-profit foundation that protected endangered turtle species called the Endangered Turtle Protection Foundation, now defunct. The organization was well received at the time as a serious conservation group working with the IUCN and leading research scientists like Peter Pritchard and Roger W. Barbour. It offered rewards for poachers of species listed in CITES and violations of the Lacey Act. [cite journal |publisher=California Turtle and Tortoise Club |journal=The Tortuga Gazette |title=Turtle Poacher Reward |volume=27:3 |date=1991 |issn=1073-1334] He also established a companion organization that catered to those who advocated turtles and tortoises as pets called the [http://www.matts-turtles.org Mid-Atlantic Turtle & Tortoise Society] which continues today after being re-instituted under different leadership and new charter in 1997.

He began his rise to prominence as an advocate for a healthy planet after publishing a journal on turtle conservation called the "Chelonian Conservationist". [cite journal |coauthors=Susan Mohring, Rueben Watson, Jeffrey Wright |publisher=Endangered Turtle Protection Foundation |title=Head Start Breeding Program |journal=Chelonian Conservationist |volume=1 |date=1990 |issn=1058-8310] As a result of filing his publication in the Library of Congress several months later he was asked by the US Fish and Wildlife Service to provide several hatchling turtles from his captive breeding program as requested by President George H.W. Bush for his grandchildren. Then the following spring his foundation took on the task of regional coordinators for the twentieth anniversary of Earth Day under Denis Hayes.

Earth Day

To get started on the monumental task of organizing Earth Day for the state of Delaware David solicited the donation of an office space from a local businessman in downtown Wilmington. Shortly thereafter Mike Gallagher, a student from the University of Delaware [cite news |publisher="Wilmington News-Journal" |title=An Atlas supporting Earth Day |author=Gary Soulsman |date=1990-04-01] having heard on the radio about the new local Earth Day headquarters, decided to visit David and the ad hoc Delaware Earth Day Society was born. To promote the campaign they printed t-shirts, buttons, and created a special commemorative poster with internationally known artist and illustrator Suzanne Duranceau of Montreal with the Smithsonian Institute, [cite news |publisher="Smithsonian Magazine" |title=The Trilogy of the Earth |author=Suzanne Duranceau |date=1990-04-01] the poster/lithograph was sold to raise funds to support their events and used as a gift for volunteers and selected community leaders. By the time Earth Day came around they had recruited the personal support of Delaware politicians Sen. Joe Biden, Sen. Bill Roth, Hon. Tom Carper, Gov. Mike Castle, and additional support from corporations like DuPont and Johnson Controls using a pair of Macintosh Pluses on a computer network called Econet they coordinated and publicized over 100 "Earth Day" and "National Celebration of the Outdoors" events all over the State of Delaware. The society organized events with groups that were not traditionally perceived as environmentally friendly to get them recognition for their good works like the Delaware Trapper’s Association by cleaning up the Nonesuch Creek in New Castle and with the [http://www.fourseasonsmc.com Four Seasons Motorcycle Club] a chapter of the AMA by planting nearly a thousand trees and presenting the public with 10,000 more. The program even extended itself to Southeastern Pennsylvania involving the Amish and Mennonites in tree planting activities. The height of the green holidays included wetlands rehabilitation, city cleanups, a rock concert, a reggae festival, and a regional environmental awareness event called Earth Expo held at the Christiana Mall that boasted 100 exhibits and attracted over 250,000 people.

Earth Expos

He kept organizing ecological expositions and events every year in the Mid-Atlantic region even after moving to Kentucky in 1992 under the trade name Earth Expo. David used his Delaware political connections to establish inroads in Kentucky's political circles resulting in similar green festivals in Lexington, Kentucky and later helped organize a follow-up to the Earth Summit in 1993 called "Rio to the Capitals" [cite news |publisher="The Courier-Journal", Louisville, Kentucky |title=From Rio to the Capitals |author=Associated Press |date=1993-04-27] in Louisville where he met Vice-President Al Gore who was the keynote speaker.

Reforestation

In 1994 he developed a reforestation program for the city of Lexington that helped homeowners affected by weather related disasters replace trees at their homes. The free tree distribution was being held as a result of the ice storms that destroyed approximately 20% of Lexington’s urban forest; the program distributed almost 100,000 trees to 3000 homeowners. Later that year with the support of his friend, Pennsylvania tree farmer Dave Johnston, he founded the Ecology Crossroads Cooperative.

To celebrate for the 25th Anniversary of Earth Day the organization distributed over a million trees throughout the Mid-Atlantic seaboard with free tree distribution events in Philadelphia, Washington DC, Baltimore, and Wilmington, Delaware he was touted as a modern day Johnny Appleseed. [cite news |publisher="Washington Post" |title=Saving a Forest of Surplus Trees |author=Steve Bates |date=1995-03-13]

By 1996, his organization was giving away millions of seedling and sapling trees through several nationwide tree planting programs. Following Hurricane Bertha and Hurricane Fran that affected North Carolina his organization rushed to help residents and distribute 500,000 trees free for a special "Disaster Re-Leaf" [cite news |publisher="Lexington Herald-Leader" |title=Branching Out to North Carolina |author=Beverly Fortune |date=1996-10-29] program sponsored by government, businesses in the Research Triangle and individual contributions. The program was part of a Thanksgiving Day feature program on NPR called "All things considered".

The 1997 campaign he was organized and promoted was developed using savvy high-tech media relations using Punxsutawney Phil as their mascot 97 with a live cybercast on the Internet and additionally making an nationwide announcement on NBC with the fine gentlemen of the groundhog's secret inner circle about Arbor Day at sunrise on February 2, Groundhog Day from the groundhog's home in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. At the time the whole organization was being run from an old school bus which housed eight computer terminals in the backwoods countryside of small town called Bighill, Kentucky near Berea, Kentucky. With the additional support of rocker Ted Nugent and country star Billy Dean they launched a series of national public service announcements on prominent cable channels, a month later they moved to a 20,000 square foot facility to expand their operation.

All this advertising and marketing using groundhogs and rock stars to give away trees brought much attention and rustled the leaves of a nonprofit giant. Soon an organization called the National Arbor Day Foundation said that David Wright was infringing on their trademark rights and diluting their business so they filed a lawsuit saying that the words "Arbor Day" could not be used on the internet or in press releases issued by Ecology Crossroads. So David as the owner of the websites freetrees.com and arborday.com got bitter about the whole thing, and took on the Goliath organization choosing to fight the suit out in a federal court saying that Arbor Day was a public holiday and part of the public domain, "that the 25 year old National Arbor Day Foundation could not trademark the words Arbor Day anymore than they could trademark Mothers Day or Christmas Day." [cite news |publisher="Los Angeles Times" |title=A Dispute Takes Root: There should seem to be little to argue about over planting trees. But two groups dedicated to doing that are in a jealous spat over name recognition. |author=Frank Clifford |date=1997-04-08] [cite news |publisher="The Courier-Journal", Louisville, Kentucky |title=Foundation tells Berea co-op use of name confuses public - Arbor Day dispute has grown into a lawsuit. |author=Joseph Gerth |date=1997-04-24] In 1999 David settled the trademark infringement case by selling the arborday.com website to the Arbor Day Foundation and held his last free tree program in Reno, Nevada on the 30th Anniversary of Earth Day. In less than seven years he had distributed over 10 million trees.

New visions

In 2002 following the death of his mother, David returned to the US from Venezuela for a short time and lived an eremitic misanthropic lifestyle as a wanderer on the open road in a converted school bus to reevaluate his priorities and redefine his worldview. He traveled from Kentucky to Delaware to Miami to Kentucky only to repeat the cycle again. He parked the bus at night in roadside rest areas, truck stops, and in Wal-Mart parking lots to sleep; when he needed money he would look for a flea market, showing up early he would buy certain items at a low price to sell later the same day at a higher price. To actualize his lifestance he would have to overcome many obstacles including religious values, political views, language barriers, cultural identity, and would modify his entire belief system if he would ever be able to follow the life he was choosing to pursue; a process that would prove to take years.

Later in 2002 he decided to test certain markets and become a minor importer of specialty items into Venezuela, buying a few hundred dollars worth of used goods he had not seen much of in the marketplaces of Caracas. He went to the Goodwill and a number of well known flea markets like Websters and Sunrise in Florida and bought gift items, fishing tackle, police equipment, and collectibles like baseball cards and coins. He parked his school bus at the Miccosukee Indian Reservation, and packed the goods he had bought into 20 large suitcases and boarded a cruise ship in Fort Lauderdale arriving at Margarita Island just before Christmas.

Working with his foundation in North America remotely by computer from Venezuela during the week and going to a flea market in Caracas on the weekends, he quickly found himself speaking better Spanish, successful with lots of sales, as well as making many new acquaintances. His hidden agenda has succeeded many fold, he had made friends with people that had similar interests like sports fishermen, people who had disposable incomes (collectors), and with police officials. David was now determined to establish a branch of his foundation so finally in October of 2003 he established Fundacion Panamericana with other people in Caracas. Studying international diplomatic protocol he launched the new foundation in Caracas with a special international program with city's government. When his short career as a diplomat abruptly ended in 2004 following the mayor deserting his office, he returned to the US for further reflection.

Upon returning to Miami to pick up his school bus he went to Kentucky to spend time with his children, then while staying in a campground and having seen his kids off for the new school year he heard about Hurricane Charlie so he went to see how he could help the victims. Arriving in DeSoto County 48 hours following the hurricane, he volunteered for the Red Cross, the Salvation Army, and with Catholic Charities to help distribute necessary supplies and to perform emergency roof repairs for residents of Arcadia.

A couple weeks later another major hurricane hit Florida, Hurricane Frances at Fort Pierce, after the storm passed, David went there to work with the Red Cross, Treasure Coast Chapter to man the phones, prepare a shelter for displaced victims, and aid in distribution logistics. There he had the opportunity as to work with President George W. Bush distributing water and ice to area residents affected by the hurricane. While in Fort Pierce he also had the opportunity to help organize a supplemental aid program sponsored the Fort Pierce Seventh Day Adventist Church experiencing a whole different aspect of human nature.

While wrapping up his participation in the Frances disaster relief effort another storm came to Fort Pierce called Hurricane Jeanne but this time he became a victim of a fallen tree losing his bus and most of his personal possessions, so he salvaged what he could and went back to Venezuela.

Philosophies

Throughout the years David has always been well read, as with most people during their studies, he came to admire particular people in history for their achievements, teachings, beliefs, and views; but perhaps not quite from the seldom noticed perspectives he has developed when combined with his experiences. In his years, David became a self-disciplined follower of Plato, Immanuel Kant, Thomas Paine, Benjamin Franklin, Simon Bolivar, Henry David Thoreau, Henry Clay, Thomas Aquinas, and Ralph Waldo Emerson among others.

Through the profound study of many philosophical and religious points of view specifically those of the Brights, Agnostics, Anglicans, Determinists, Deists, Freethinkers, Optimists, and even the Rastafarians he has developed a great ability as a world-class thinker. The worldview he has developed is profoundly liberal but it condemns and ignores those who have failed to learn the basics of human civility common in even the most primitive groups that still exist today, his view identifies these common people who are often poor and undereducated as the life blood for many current governments.

Personal life and education

David was born in New Jersey in 1967. He grew up in the Philadelphia and South Jersey areas. David had a very active childhood that included little league, youth hockey, soccer and Boy Scouts. He spent a lot of time with his father, a professional photographer at the time going fishing, camping and attending vocational schools. In 1974, while his father was in a photography class, young David was at the computer lab learning BASIC and FORTRAN programming languages.

David attended quite a few different colleges and universities most often as an academic audit student, while in college he earned the nicknames “Problemsmith” and "Disputatious" because he had a knack for helping people resolve personal issues and engaging fierce arguments using sophistry. In 1988 when he was finished with college he married Sophia Williams a month after meeting her on a rainy day at California State University, Los Angeles. Later that year he received his Doctorate in Biblical Studies from the Universal Life Church.Citation|title="Universal Life Church website"|url=http://www.ulchq.com/|accessdate=2008-09-18] David worked as a pastor, auctioneer, and electrical contractor for the next twelve months after moving to the culturally rich Little Italy section of Wilmington, Delaware, later that year he had his first child Nicholas at.Citation|title=" St. Francis Hospital, Wilmington, Delaware"|url=http://www.stfrancishealthcare.org/|accessdate=2008-09-19] In 1989 he became a student once again just long enough to earn a certificate in non-profit management from the University of Delaware.

A few years later looking for a more wholesome lifestyle he and his family moved making Kentucky their new home shortly thereafter Maya-Lis his second child was born. After coming to Kentucky and performing notable work in conservation and environmental stewardship, he became recognized as an ambassador for the Commonwealth of Kentucky by being honored with the title of Colonel by Governor Paul E. Patton and joined the lifetime ranks of the Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels to promote goodwill for Kentucky. In years following while engaged in a federal lawsuit David and his wife separated, and later divorced.

Following his separation in 1999 while living alone with his children in California, David looked for love online using ICQ and found his current partner Sonia Ceballos from Caracas. Sonia came to Mexico meeting David in the international airport in Tijuana, during the course of their first year together they left the Mojave Desert where they lived and traveled about the United States with David’s two children in a motor home on an extended vacation winding up in Kentucky where David still owned a small farm. There he established a poultry hatchery he called the Indian Fort Trading Post raising and reselling chicks, goslings, and ducklings, though successful locally he decided to close the business because it was too seasonal.

Hearing about the Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela from his new mate and developing governmental initiatives the Commonwealth of Kentucky focused on Latin American countries when he decided to start the Pan-American Foundation where he currently works.In 2001 he had his second son Arol in a Caracas maternity clinic and began to expatriate to Venezuela since then he has been living in Caracas. To better his Spanish and meet people he worked Saturdays in a Caracas flea market in the heart of city, in front of the Quinta Crespo farmers market. His second daughter Zoie was born in Caracas in 2005. David became a member of the Fifth Republic Movement MVR in 2006 to support revolutionary agricultural and international trade reform agendas.

From early in life David was always active joining many organizations of various types, though he never stayed with any particular organization very long because of his ever evolving scope of interests. He belonged at one time or another to 4H, the Sierra Club, Rotary International, Lions Club, IGFA, FFA, Sons of Italy and the Knights of Columbus among others, as if just to further his knowledge, abilities and social skills.

ee also

*Conservation ethic
*Ecology movement
*Environmental movement
*Environmentalism
*Forest farming
*List of environment topics
*Simple living
*Senator Gaylord Nelson

References

Further reading

*Jones, Brereton and Miller, Penny, "The Public Papers of Governor Brereton C. Jones 1991-1995" (2001) ISBN 0813121965

External links

* [http://problemsmiths.blogspot.com/ The Problemsmith's Blog]

Persondata
NAME=Wright, David Jeffrey
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=D. Jeffrey Wright, Col. David J. Wright, Jeffery Wright
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Environmental activist, Conservationist, Strategist, Philosopher
DATE OF BIRTH=December 24, 1962
PLACE OF BIRTH=Trenton, New Jersey
DATE OF DEATH=living
PLACE OF DEATH=