Goldman Environmental Prize Blog

Dear friends and colleagues: Happy New Year to all. We hope that 2019 will be a year of victories and progress toward protecting our planet and restoring ecosystems that have been damaged by human activities. Here’s one victory to share with you: 2019 marks the 30th anniversary of the Goldman Environmental Prize. The Goldman family…

Program Officer Ryan Mack looks back on his first time meeting 2018 Goldman Environmental Prize winner LeeAnne Walters. LeeAnne Walters led a citizens’ movement that tested the tap water in Flint, Michigan, and exposed the Flint water crisis. In late February 2018, I flew out to Norfolk, Virginia, to meet with LeeAnne Walters, our 2018…

In 2010, Tuy Sereivathana (Vathana) won the Goldman Environmental Prize for introducing innovative solutions to mitigate human-elephant conflict in Cambodia, empowering local communities to cooperatively participate in endangered Asian elephant conservation. Today, Vathana leads the Cambodia program focused on protection of Asian elephants in Prey Lang forest as program director at Wild Earth Allies. According…

In this Q&A, we dive deeper into 2018 Goldman Environmental Prize winner Manny Calonzo’s advocacy for a lead-free future in the Philippines. Learn how he got involved in the issue, his current projects, and key lessons learned from his campaign to persuade the Philippine government to ban lead paint. Goldman Environmental Prize: How did you…

This is a blog post by Myriah Cornwell, Program Officer at the Goldman Environmental Prize. Prior to the 2018 Prize Ceremony, Myriah visited winner Manny Calonzo in the Philippines to learn about his advocacy and get a first-hand look at his work. The bright red and yellow children’s table and chair are stacked in the…

This month, we were fortunate to have three Goldman Environmental Prize winners in San Francisco taking part in the Global Climate Action Summit (GCAS): Hammer Simwinga (Zambia, 2007), Feliciano dos Santos (Mozambique, 2008), and Howard Wood (Scotland, 2015). The Summit, initiated by California Governor Jerry Brown, brought together a range of environmental leaders and activists with…

We are thrilled to report that three Goldman Environmental Prize winners have been selected to serve as Climate Trailblazers for the Global Climate Action Summit (GCAS) taking place in San Francisco, September 12-14, 2018. Hammer Simwinga (Zambia, 2007), Feliciano dos Santos (Mozambique, 2008), and Howard Wood (Scotland, 2015) will take part in the Summit and affiliated…

We sit down with Francia Márquez, 2018 Goldman Environmental Prize winner from Colombia, in our latest Q&A. A passionate community leader and activist, Marquez continues to work on a variety of social, political, and environmental issues since winning the Prize in April. Read her Q&A below to learn what motivated her to fight, organize, and…

This is a post by Goldman Environmental Prize Program Officer Ryan Mack, who documents his visit to Cali, Colombia, to meet with 2018 Prize winner Francia Márquez. A formidable leader of the Afro-Colombian community, Márquez organized the women of La Toma and stopped illegal gold mining on their ancestral land. People are a whirl in…

This is a guest blog post by 2007 Prize winner Hammarskjoeld Simwinga (Zambia, 2007), who attended the Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide annual meeting alongside 22 other Prize winners in May 2018. This May, the Goldman Environmental Foundation brought together 23 African Prize recipients in Arusha, Tanzania, for a big reunion at the ELAW international meeting.…