May Boeve 2013 Institute for Policy Studies

May Boeve is an American environmental activist. She is a founder and executive director of

350.org 350.org is an international environmental organization addressing the climate crisis. Its stated goal is to end the use of fossil fuels and transition to renewable energy by building a global, grassroots movement. The 350 in the name stands fo ...

, a climate

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' called her "the new face of the climate change movement."

Career

Boeve attended

Middlebury College Middlebury College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Middlebury, Vermont, United States. Founded in 1800 by Congregationalism in the United States, Congregationalists, Middlebury w ...

, where she became involved with environmental and social justice activism. She helped get Middlebury's administration to commit to going carbon-neutral. Boeve then collaborated with

Bill McKibben William Ernest McKibben (born December 8, 1960)"Bill Ernest McKibben." ''Environmental Encyclopedia''. Edited by Deirdre S. Blanchfield. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale, 2009. Retrieved via ''Biography in Context'' database, December 31, 2017. is a ...

and others to launch the Step It Up initiative, which has hosted thousands of demonstrations and "organized the first open-source, web-based day of action dedicated to stopping climate change." Boeve was a contributor to the 2007 book "Fight Global Warming Now: The Handbook for Taking Action in Your Community," which was published by Holt.

350.org

Boeve founded 350.org in 2008 alongside

. Boeve is among relatively few women leaders of large environmental organizations, and was quoted saying "There's a structural sexism problem, full stop." At 350, Boeve has helped organize climate protests and advocated for

fossil fuel divestment Fossil fuel divestment or fossil fuel divestment and investment in climate solutions is an attempt to reduce climate change by exerting social, political, and economic pressure for the institutional divestment of assets including stocks, bonds, ...

and a global

Green New Deal The Green New Deal (GND) calls for public policy to address climate change, along with achieving other social aims like job creation, economic growth, and reducing economic inequality. The name refers to the New Deal, a set of changes and ...

. In 2011, Boeve was arrested while protesting the Keystone XL pipeline in front of the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

. Under Boeve's direction, 350 increased its staff size beyond its budget, leading to reports of turmoil within the organization and 25 people being laid off.

Recognition

Boeve won a

Brower Youth Award The Earth Island Institute is a non-profit environmental group founded in 1982 by David Brower. Located in Berkeley, California, it supports activism around environmental issues through fiscal sponsorship that provides the administrative and orga ...

in 2006. Boeve was profiled as a "Next Generation Leader" by ''TIME'' in 2015. She received a New Frontier Award from the John F. Kennedy Library in 2017 and was a finalist for a Pritzker award from the

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

Institute of the Environment and Sustainability in 2019.

Personal life

Boeve grew up in Sonoma and resides in the San Francisco Bay Area. She married David Bryson, a consultant, in 2018. Boeve is a direct descendant of

William Huntington Russell William Huntington Russell (12 August 180919 May 1885) was an American businessman, educator, and politician. Notably, he was a co-founder of the Yale University secret society Skull and Bones, along with Alphonso Taft. Early life Russell was ...

. She has cited Rebecca Solnit as an influence.

References

External links

* American climate activists American women environmentalists American environmentalists Middlebury College alumni American nonprofit chief executives People from Sonoma County, California {{DEFAULTSORT:Boeve, May Year of birth missing (living people) Living people