Joanne Gerson, Founder/Co-Chair Green Umbrella/ Faith Communities Go Green, created educational programs including Kinder-Zoo, Cincinnati Zoo’s first preschool program, and The Super Saturday Program, an enrichment program for gifted children, which she directed for ten years. Through her business, Decorative Art, she painted furniture and murals. Passionate about environmental issues, she founded the Rockdale Temple Environmental Committee, Shomrei Olam - Jewish Environmental Advocates, served as Montgomery Planning Commissioner leading the revisions of Montgomery Storm Water and Lighting Zoning Codes, Program Committee Chair for Hamilton County Regional Planning Partnership, and member Green Umbrella’s Watershed Task Force. A graduate of University of Wisconsin, holds three U.S. Patents, dressage enthusiast with national awards.

James P. Buchanan, Ph.D., Co-Chair Green Umbrella/ Faith Communities Go Green, was educated at Yale University and University of Chicago where he completed a Ph.D. in comparative religions and value systems. He also studied at the Sorbonne in Paris, The University of Moscow, and the University of Beijing. His teaching and research has focused upon ethics, global systems, and interfaith dialogue. He held the first endowed chair in Ethics/Religious and Society at Xavier before becoming University Professor and Executive Director of The Brueggeman
Center for Dialogue at Xavier University. He will become Emeritus Director on January 1^st, 2021.

Caroljean Willie, Ph.D., Co-Chair Green Umbrella/ Faith Communities Go Green, a Sister of Charity of Cincinnati, holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology, a Master’s Degree in Reading and a Ph.D. in Multicultural Education. She has extensive experience working cross-culturally throughout the United States, the Caribbean, Africa, Europe, Asia, South and Central America as an environmental educator, teacher-trainer and cultural diversity consultant. Before becoming program director at EarthConnection, she served two terms of office as the NGO representative at the United Nations for the Sisters of Charity Federation and continues to work with microfinancing projects in Africa.

Ryan Mooney-Bullock is the Executive Director of Green Umbrella, a non-profit focused on improving the sustainability of the Greater Cincinnati Region through cross-sector collaboration. She has spent the last 20 years working in science and environmental education and environmental policy. She developed and managed the Green Learning Station at the Civic Garden Center during its formative years. Her BA in Environmental Studies from the University of Chicago focused her on environmental policy and the human-environmental interaction, and her MS in Environmental Science from Antioch University New England deepened her understanding of natural systems and how to educate about them. A seasoned program manager, educator and communicator, Ryan is most energized when she is helping people make connections between their passions and what is going on in the natural and human worlds around them.

 Chip Harrod is the executive director of EquaSion, a nonpartisan, interfaith organization   that through education, dialogue, and advocacy promotes inclusion, equity, and justice   for  everyone. Under Chip’s leadership, EquaSion took the lead in organizing the   Cincinnati Regional Coalition Against Hate, and currently sponsors the Cincinnati Festival   of Faiths, A Mighty Stream: An Interfaith Community of Sacred Activists for Racial Justice,   and just recently in collaboration with Green Umbrella, Faith Communities Go Green. A   former attorney, Chip served two terms on the Ohio Advisory Committee to the United   States Commission on Civil Rights. He was the originator and founding president of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center.

Anas B. Malik, Ph.D., Professor and Chair, Political Science Department, and Chair, Committee on Climate Change, Xavier University. Anas’s interest is in cultural and religious factors in constituting polycentric order in Islamic and inter-religious contexts. As a political economist interested in development, his early work emphasized the consequences of the strategic pursuit of political survival. He focused on Pakistan in two book projects, Polycentricity, Islam, and Development: Potentials and Challenges in Pakistan and Political Survival in Pakistan: Beyond Ideology. He is generally interested in developing countries where the central authority has low political capacity.  He holds a Ph.D. in Political Science, and an M.A.in Economics, from Indiana University, Bloomington, a B.A. Highest Honors, International Political Economy, Marlboro College, Marlboro, Vermont. 

 Jeremy Spiegel is the Assistant Director of the Jewish Community Relations Council   of Cincinnati, a role he has held since 2022. Prior to this role, Jeremy spent nine   years in youth engagement and education roles, first as an English teacher in Madrid,   Spain, followed by five years on campus at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign   and two years as a Jewish youth director in Columbus. A native of Blue Ash, Jeremy   is excited to return to Cincinnati and build community alliances across ages, religions,   and cultures. He is passionate about environmental protection, a passion he acquired   at a young age from his grandfather. Jeremy has a BA in Journalism and History from the University of Maryland and a Masters in Jewish Professional Studies from the Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership.