Board & Staff
Rick Theis, Founder and President
Leadership Institute for Ecology and the Economy
About 15 years ago, Rick participated in a city leadership program sponsored by the local chamber of commerce. His environmentalist friends asked, "Why isn't there something like that for environmentalists?" That question stuck in the back of his mind.
Over the years, while he worked as executive director of the Sonoma County Grape Growers Association, he realized that protection of ag land required better city planning and urban growth boundaries. Urban planning became an avocation. He served on the Santa Rosa Planning Commission and became a founder of the Sonoma County Transportation Land-Use Coalition. He also saw the need to protect wildlife habitat and open space. He realized that his lifelong concern for social justice fit together with concern for economic and environmental issues as integral to the concept of sustainability.
He had saved to be able to retire at age 55, but found his investments enabled him to quit his day job at 52. He took the equity from the employee stock benefits he acquired while working as the public relations director for the
wine division of The Coca-Cola Company in the early 80s and launched the Leadership Institute For Ecology and the Economy in January 2000.
He sees the Institute as more than a leadership program for environmentalists; it is an opportunity for all members of the community interested in a sustainable future to learn about the ecosystem we live in, and to realize that public policy must change if we are to have a better future for ourselves and our children.
Rick grew up in Watkins, a small farming community of 750 people in central Minnesota near Lake Woebegone. That is also the hometown of Eugene McCarthy, who had profound effect on his political development while a student of the 60s. After graduating with a degree in political science, he produced television programs for the University of Minnesota, taught media production, and earned his MS in information media. On the side, he wrote the wine column for the Minneapolis Star until he moved to San Francisco in 1980 to work for Wine Institute. In 1981 he moved to Atlanta to work for Coke until the wine division was sold off, whereupon he settled in Sonoma County in 1984. He lives with his wife Carolyn Johnson and an Australian Shepherd named Lizard near Sebastopol, where they are building an eco-friendly house.
The book that changed his life: Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child. "It seems silly, but it opened a great appreciation for food and wine that led to an interest in traveling to visit other cultures and knowing more about the food we eat and the wine we drink."
Someone he highly admires: Eleanor Roosevelt. "She overcame the obstacles of shyness and wealth to become one of the world's great humanitarians."
Car he'd like to drive: "A GM EV1 electric car that I could charge with solar panels. I was on the waiting list for more than 6 months when GM cancelled all orders. Very disappointing."
Travels: All 50 states, most of Canada (except Prince Edward Island and the Yukon), Mexico, Costa Rica, France, England, Germany, Italy, Holland Belgium, Soviet Union, India, Greece. "India will change your life."
|
