Kathleen Rogers is the President of EARTHDAY.ORG. Under her leadership, it has grown into a global year-round policy and activist organization with an international staff. She has been at the vanguard of developing campaigns and programs focused on diversifying the environmental movement, highlighted by Campaign for Communities and Billion Acts of Green. Prior to her work at EARTHDAY.ORG, Kathleen held senior positions with the National Audubon Society, the Environmental Law Institute, and two U.S. Olympic Organizing Committees. She’s a graduate of the University of California at Davis School of Law, where she served as editor-in-chief of the law review and clerked in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.

KATHLEEN ROGERS

The history of Earth Day is pretty remarkable. The net result is 20 million people came out on the streets. It remains the largest civic day of action in human history. There’s no other country, no other world that ever had 20 million people coming out on the streets around a single issue. That was on April 22, 1970, and right after that, it became apparent with that many people that Congress and State legislators had to do something about it because, frankly, they were afraid of that many people all speaking in one voice.

The philosophy of Earth Day is very much about building a big movement, making sure it’s diverse, constantly improving the ways that people access information, and have access to mechanisms for legal relief.

Over the course of the next couple of decades it became year-round, it went international. This organization now works 365 days a year. At this point, we’re in 192 countries with about a billion people participating, so we take advantage of that bully pulpit to really educate people about critical issues.

Not a single country in the world makes–probably one of the most important skills you’ll ever have–which is understanding the planet, a requirement to graduate high school. Nobody graduates from our highschools in the U.S. or any other high schools around the world having those skills.

Photos courtesy of EARTHDAY.ORG

To learn more about EARTHDAY.ORG and get involved in initiatives visit:

Earth Day 2021
Registration of Earth Day Event Page

Main Initiatives
The Canopy Project
Foodprints for the Future
Regenerative Agriculture
Climate Literacy
Earth Challenge (Citizen Science Initiative)
Great Global Cleanup

This interview was conducted by Mia Funk with the participation of collaborating universities and students. Associate Interviews Producer on this podcast was Yujin Lee.