Adam Werbach

when he was 23 years old. cite web | url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F70F15FC345D0C718CDDAF0894DE494D81 | title=New York Times: "Sierra Club Gets a Young New Face" June 2, 1996 | accessdate=2008-04-07]

As a high school student in 1991, he founded the Sierra Student Coalition, the United States' largest student-run environmental organization. He later became the protégé of noted 20th Century environmentalist and Sierra Club Director David Brower, who hand-picked Werbach to run for the club's presidency. cite web | title=Metro Newspaper: "Fresh Prince: The Sierra Club's young president, Adam Werbach, heralds a new charge for environmentalists" January 8, 1998 | accessdate=2008-04-07 | url=http://www.metroactive.com/papers/metro/01.08.98/sierraclub-9801.html]

While he was an undergrad at Brown University, Werbach was a member of the all-male a cappella group, The Brown Derbies. cite web | title=BrownDerbies.com: Adam Werbach, Derby #45 | accessdate=2008-04-07 | url=http://www.brownderbies.com/roster-single.asp?member_id=awerbach]

In 1997, while president of the Sierra Club, Adam wrote "Act Now, Apologize Later," a series of essays and autobiographical anecdotes published by HarperCollins. In it, he recounted the stories of the many average citizens he'd met while visiting nearly every local chapter of the Sierra Club: "From rural priests to animal trackers, from a 12-year-old girl in California to three elderly women in Georgia, from senators to surfers and from Woody Harrelson to llama riders, an incredible array of people give us a thousand reasons to be hopeful." cite web | title=Metro Newspaper: "Fresh Prince: The Sierra Club's young president, Adam Werbach, heralds a new charge for environmentalists" January 8, 1998 | accessdate=2008-04-07 | url=http://www.metroactive.com/papers/metro/01.08.98/sierraclub-9801.html]

Werbach, a San Francisco resident, was appointed in 2003 by San Francisco city supervisor Chris Daly to the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission while then Mayor Willie Brown was out of town. cite web | title=New York Times: "Speaking of a Strained Transition..." October 24, 2003 | accessdate=2008-04-07 | url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F40712FD3E550C778EDDA90994DB404482]

In late 2004, he wrote and presented a speech referred to as "Is Environmentalism Dead?" (the official title was "The Death of Environmentalism and the Birth of the Commons Movement") at the Commonwealth Club of California. This widely-circulated, controversial speech suggested that advances in environmentalism had stalled, due to outdated thinking and approaches. He challenged the environmental establishment to tackle the issues differently, by linking environmental goals with other broad social and economic goals. cite web | title=Grist: "Is Environmentalism Dead?" January 13, 2005 | accessdate=2008-04-07 | url=http://www.grist.org/news/maindish/2005/01/13/werbach-reprint/] cite web | title=Joel Makower: "Adam Werbach's 'Autopsy' on Environmentalism's 'Death'" December 19, 2004 | accessdate=2008-04-07 | url=http://makower.typepad.com/joel_makower/2004/12/adam_werbachs_a.html]

Werbach formed a company, Act Now Productions, to consult to nonprofits and work with corporations that wished to green their enterprise, including clients such as Autodesk, Procter & Gamble, Cisco Systems, Columbia Records, General Mills, Sierra Club, and World Wildlife Fund. In 2006, he controversially began to work with Wal-Mart to help lead their efforts in sustainability. cite web | title=New York Times: "Wal-Mart Effort on Health and Environment Is Seen" June 22, 2006 | accessdate=2008-04-07 | url=http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/22/business/22walmart.html?ex=1160712000&en=5bf1fc52d4d5a2ea&ei=5070] cite web | title=San Francisco Chronicle: "Werbach at Wal-Mart?" January 6, 2008 | accessdate=2008-04-07 | url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/01/06/CM9TTS800.DTL]

In 2006 Werbach also started the Ironweed Film Club, a DVD service that sends subscribers an independent and/or progressive film each month.

In April 2006, Werbach was elected to the six-member international board of Greenpeace. cite web|url=http://www.greenpeace.org/international/about/how-is-greenpeace-structured/governance-structure/board | title=Greenpeace International Board of Directors | accessdate=2008-04-07]

In January 2008 Act Now Productions joined the global advertising firm Saatchi & Saatchi to become Saatchi & Saatchi S, which consults with large corporations to "create sustainable visions." cite web|url=http://www.adweek.com/aw/content_display/news/nontraditional/e3i7d49b23ff1cbe31a48642317141e2b1f | title=Adweek: "Publicis Groupe Goes Green" Jan 31, 2008 | accessdate=2008-04-07]

Adam also loves to spend time with his his wife Lynn, 3 children, and nephews Daniel and Michael.

References

External links

* [http://www.ssc.org/ Sierra Student Coalition]
* [http://www.amazon.com/Act-Apologize-Later-Adam-Werbach/dp/0060929413/ Werbach's book, "Act Now, Apologize Later," on Amazon]
* [http://www.actnowproductions.com/ Act Now Productions]
* [http://www.ironweedfilms.com/ Ironweed Film Club]
* [http://www.greenpeace.org/international/about/how-is-greenpeace-structured/governance-structure/board Greenpeace International Board of Directors]
* [http://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/forum/2008/04/2008-04-07b-forum.mp3 Interview (MP3) with Adam Werbach conducted by Michael Krasny on KQED public radio (April 7, 2008)]
* [http://www.saatchis.com/ Saatchi & Saatchi S]