“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” Martin Luther King, Jr.
Winning in the conservation movement is about recognizing mutuality in the destiny of the natural environment and the people who live in it, and how...
John C. Robinson
On My Mountain
Fairfield, California
Year: 2011
John C. Robinson
Connecting Inner City Kids to the Great Outdoors
John C. Robinson feels his purpose in life is to share his knowledge and love of nature and birds. In particular, he has a passion for exciting inner city youths about the natural world.
John’s resume is full of enough accomplishments for two lifetimes: author of six books, career biologist, chief ornithologist, professional speaker, computer programmer, and President of his own environmentally-focused company, On My Mountain. While his talents are wide-ranging, his aspirations have remained consistent: to educate and inspire underserved communities of children, empowering them to take notice of nature and take action to preserve it.
John used his Toyota TogetherGreen Fellowship to continue this quest, starting with the creation of an environmental “Starter Kit” that will include, among other items, his book, Birding For Everyone. He worked closely with Audubon Centers and leveraged connections with other conservation organizations and agencies to expand awareness and reach 1000 youth from inner-city communities. Partners in Flight, which has a proven track record in engaging students in conservation projects, was a key collaborator in supplying projects, educational materials, and conservation plans for the youths to implement.
John also worked with other local conservation leaders and other Toyota TogetherGreen fellows on designing materials, developing tools, and gathering the resources to help prepare our future environmental stewards. John has already proven himself as an environmental role model; and was given the mentor award for his class.
Featured Current Fellow
Featured Past Fellow
Sausalito, California
Mira Manickam believes that there are many ways to connect to nature, and that environmentalists should encourage all types of connections. The world is full of these connections: an amateur fisherperson on the pier with a beer at the end of the hard working day, a church group barbecuing under a grove of London Plane trees in the park, or a rancher attuned to the growing habits of prairie...