I work with the Operating Team chairs to set goals and ensure accountability amongst the Operating Team. It entails working one on one with Operating Team members, maintaining a working relationship with Coalition partners, and maintaining a relationship with the Board of Directors.PAST ROLES: Organizing Director (2008-2010), UCLA ESLP Co-Director (2007-2008), UCLA E3 Co- Chair (2007-2008)
SCHOOL: UC Los Angeles, 2008
MAJOR: International Development Studies
OTHER OCCUPATIONS: Teacher
HOMETOWN: Los Angeles, CA
CONNECT: Facebook
About Me
Pamela grew up in Los Angeles, California. She enjoys simplicity, spending time outdoors, and spending time with family and friends. Currently she is the advisor and mentor of the California Students Sustainability Coalition’s Operating Team. For three years she has held numerous leadership positions within the Coalition, from leading university, statewide and national policy advocacy efforts to co-teaching undergraduate student ran courses on social change at UCLA. As Organizing Director of the CSSC, shes worked to coordinate CSSC’s statewide campaigns, leadership retreats, events, and other organizing efforts. In 2009 she was one of the lead California organizer’s for the national youth movement, Power Shift, the largest lobbying day around climate change policies in the nations history. Her passions lie most in education, political engagement, developing leadership and building community. Aside from the CSSC, in 2009 she was the project lead of Education for Downtown Los Angeles’ Neighborhood Council and advocated for sustainability accredited research courses within local Community College’s. She has served as a organizer for the Obama Campaign in rural Florida and also sits on the community board for the Story of Stuff Project. She currently teaches a middle school class at Sequoyah Elementary and volunteers her time with Heal the Bay and her local neighborhood council’s sustainability committee. She holds a Bachelors of Arts in International Development Studies and Environmental Systems and Society from UCLA, and has studied abroad in Central and South America. Her hobbies include playing piano, painting, and doing anything active- including body boarding, playing sports, and biking.
Why I Got Involved In CSSC
Like many of us, I realized that there are many social, ecological, and economic crisis’ around the globe, but that there is a lot of good as well. I wanted to be involved and try to make a difference, but wasn’t sure how. I looked for groups to get involved in, but found none that interested me. In a class at UCLA, “Effective methods for Social Change,” I met students that were apart of this group called E3. Went to a meeting, where they told me about the CSSC convergence at UC Davis in Spring 2007. I went to the convergence and met amazing, smart, powerful, and driven people… came back inspired… got involved on my campus, and later became the chair of E3.
The Area of Sustainability That Interests Me Most
Culture Shift; Building Community; Political Engagement; Localization of goods and services; Creating Equity; Transforming Education; Transforming Food Systems; Transforming our selves and how we relate to one another
The Role of Student Action in Sustainability
Students are vital to this movement because they are motivated, smart, optimistic, and they have a strong community to support them. Dr. King was only 25 when he led the bus boycott and Cesar Chavez was 35 when he initiated the farm workers movement.
Sustainability Projects I’ve Worked On
- TGIF at UCLA
- push for TGIF at UC, CSU, and CC campuses
- UCLA Food Systems Working Group
- UCLA Fair Trade Coffee Campaign and ASUCLA Responsible Purchasing
- Student advocacy for a stronger UC Policy on Sustainable Practices
- Power Shift 2009
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