Martin Kearns, Founder/President Martin Kearns has been Co-Founder and Executive Director of Green Media Toolshed (GMT) since May of 2000 and writes one of the leading blogs on network-centric advocacy.

GMT is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping the environmental movement communicate more effectively by offering a professional suite of communication tools, trainings and services. GMT offers the technology groups need along with the training and support to develop strategies that leverage those tools for the benefit of member organizations and coalitions.

Kearns founded the Netcentric Campaigns division of Green Media Toolshed to link the skyrocketing interest in networks following 9-11 to the progressive advocacy and campaigning space.

Previously, Kearns founded the Georgia River Network, a state based conservation group solely dedicated to the conservation of Georgia's rivers. Kearns also served as Executive Director of the Georgia River Network. He worked for three years for the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. Kearns has been political fundraiser for candidates for the US House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate.

Kearns holds a Bachelor degree in Political Science from LeMoyne College and a Masters degree in Environmental Studies from Yale. He spent two years in Kingston, Jamaica as a Jesuit International Volunteer teaching computers at St. George's College and working with inner city youth. He is a runner, hiker and fisherman. He and his wife Maryann are raising their three children in Silver Spring, MD.

Karen Showalter, Manager (Network Advocacy) Karen joined Netcentric Campaigns in June 2007. She has worked with both domestic non-profit and international organizations, most recently the Bank Information Center - an organization promoting social and economic justice and ecological sustainability at the international financial institutions. At BIC, Karen coordinated centralized outreach and built partnerships with civil society and institutional actors concerned with the projects and policies of the World Bank and other actors. From 2000 to 2003 Karen coordinated volunteers, public relations and outreach for the Youth Tutoring Program, a nonprofit organization serving refugee children living in Seattle's public housing communities. As a Natural Resource Management Specialist with the Peace Corps in Niger from 1996-1999, Karen designed environmental education campaigns, spearheaded soil restoration and reforestation efforts, and trained local counterparts in participatory analysis techniques for identifying community needs and resources.

Karen has also worked as a Small Business Mentor with the Washington Community Alliance for Self-Help (Washington CASH), a Job Search Mentor for the International Rescue Committee, a Master Composter for Seattle Tilth, and a Research Assistant for both the National Park Service and the Mountain Institute. She has conducted research on Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya and Sagarmatha National Park in Nepal.

Karen holds a B.A. in History, Honors from the University of Michigan, and a Masters in Public Affairs/International Development from the Woodrow Wilson School of Princeton University. She is fluent in Zarma and proficient in French and Spanish.

Laurie Moy, Connect US Fellow Laurie is studying International Media and is especially interested in the use of technology to strengthen organizations involved in social change.She has a great deal of experience in using the internet for nonprofits - particularly in the field of online volunteering. In addition to forming and running a small nonprofit of her own, Pearls of Africa, she has spent considerable time coaching organizations around the world on how to use the web for campaign promotion and for mobilizing online volunteers. Laurie is also keenly interested in nonprofit use of web 2.0 tools, such as wikis, blogs and online social networks. She maintains two blogs, www.40Brown.wordpress.com and www.gradmama.wordpress.com.

In addition to her work with nonprofits, she has a very deep interest in international development, foreign policy and social change. With a degree in East Asian Foreign/Defense Policy from Boston University, and work experience in sub-Saharan Africa, Laurie understands the foreign relations realm well.

Tom Glaisyer, Senior Network Consultant Tom Glaisyer is an experienced project manager specializing in organizational change and technology assimilation of social software. Recently, he has focused his expertise on applying social networking thinking and technology to international affairs particularly in the peace and security, and conflict resolution fields.

Tom contributed significantly to the design and rollout of a collaborative site developed in conjunction with a civil society conference on conflict prevention held at the United Nations in summer 2005. More recently, he launched the blog The Morningside Post, at the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University where he completed his M.I.A in May 2006. Tom has explored many of these cutting edge ideas in writings.

Tom also brings campaign experience to his work at Netcentric Campaigns. He was a volunteer coordinator for John Edwards in Massachusetts in the 2004 presidential primary, the Media Operations department in the 2004 Democratic Convention, and the Get-Out-The-Vote preparations and activities during the 2004 presidential election in Ohio, the 2002 Senate election race in South Dakota working on the Rosebud Indian reservation, and the 2000 Presidential election in Florida. He has 10 years of experience working as a technology and change management consultant in the private sector where he focused on the implementation of large back office systems and the changes they generated in the workplace.

Melanie Alston-Akers, Internet Strategy Professional Through January 2006, Melanie Alston-Akers was the director of the Moving Ideas Network. As the leading source for progressive policy on the net, Moving Ideas provides the policy background for online activism, coordinating resources from its more than 180 member organizations and partners. Before joining Moving Ideas, Melanie worked for the Academy for Educational Development on a contract with the U.S. Departments of Education and Labor where she coordinated content for the School-to-Work Internet Gateway. She has a bachelor's degree from Princeton University and a Master of Public Policy degree from the University of Michigan. Melanie and her partner live in Howard County, Maryland with their daughter and sons.

Chris DeCardy, Communications Director, The David And Lucile Packard Foundation Chris DeCardy is communications director for The David and Lucile Packard Foundation in Los Altos, CA. He was previously executive director of Environmental Media Services from 1999 through 2002. He joined EMS as associate director in 1995 after heading the communications department at the Center for Policy Alternatives (CPA), a state-level progressive policy think tank. He became executive director of EMS in January 1999. Previously, DeCardy worked as an account manager for Fenton Communications, a progressive public relations firm. DeCardy holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Wisconsin and a master's from Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, with a focus on environment and natural resources policy and an emphasis on market-based environmental regulation. He serves as board chair for the Biodiversity Project and is a founder and board chair of the Green Media Toolshed, a nonprofit clearinghouse of communications tools for the environmental community. He led EMS's work on the "Give Swordfish a Break" campaign with SeaWeb and the Natural Resources Defense Council, which won a Silver Anvil Award from the Public Relations Society of America.

Lisa Dropkin, Principal, Edge Research Lisa has worked on the consulting or client side of market research for 10 years, serving a diverse array of clients from Fortune 1000 companies to progressive non-profits to start-up e-commerce ventures. Prior to joining Edge Research, she served as research director for SeaWeb, an innovative non-profit specializing in ocean conservation communication. Lisa has also served as a Vice-President at the Mellman Group, a public opinion research and campaign strategy firm specializing in Democratic candidates and progressive issue campaigns. Clients included Democratic members of the House and Senate, the League of Women Voters, numerous conservation and progressive advocacy groups and several public relations firms including Fleischman Hillard and Powell Tate. Lisa received her B.A in Political Communications from the George Washington University.

Jane Elder, Executive Director, The Biodiversity Project Jane brings more than twenty years of experience in the environmental movement to the Project, with expertise in both policy and communications. She serves as the primary liaison to leaders in the environmental community, developing the partnerships that are essential to our work. She coordinates and directs our fundraising efforts, was the primary author of the Biodiversity Road Map, has facilitated the majority of our workshops and is often a speaker at the Project and other conferences. Before coming to the Project, Jane directed the Sierra Club's Ecoregion Planning Program, and served as Great Lakes Program Director and Midwest Representative for the Club. She holds degrees in Land Resources (MS, 1991) from the University of Wisconsin, and Communications (BA, 1976) from Michigan State University.

Patrick Mellody, Advertising Consultant Patrick Mellody is on the transition team for Governor-Elect Ed Rendell in Harrisburg, PA. During the gubernatorial race Mellody was charged with being the Executive Director of Northeast Pennsylvania for Rendell for Governor. In addition to his campaign duties he was a senior adviser to the PA Senate's Democratic Floor Leader, Senator Robert J. Mellow. Previously, he was the lead on media strategy on behalf of U.S. software and hardware industries as Public Relations Manager and Spokesperson for Business Software Alliance(BSA). Mellody served as Press Officer and Spokesperson at the U.S. Department of State. From 1992- 1996, he worked in several positions at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration including Special Assistant to the Administrator, Producer for NASA Television and Press Secretary to the Astronauts. Mellody spent two years as a media consultant for the 1996 Clinton/Gore Presidential campaign pioneering the use of technology and satellites in a presidential race. He also served as Deputy Press Secretary in Kentucky and as a member of then Governor Clinton's advance team for the 1992 Clinton/Gore Presidential campaign. Mellody holds a bachelor's degree in Communications from Marywood University.

Holly Minch, Vice President, Spitfire Strategies Holly recently joined Spitfire Strategies to lead its nonprofit training and capacity building programs. Prior to joining Spitfire Strategies, Holly served as director of the SPIN Project, a nonprofit communications consulting firm assisting grassroots groups nationwide with strategic support, training, coaching and public relations resources. Holly was the editor of the 2004 book Loud and Clear in an Election Year: Amplifying the Voices of Community Advocates, created to help nonprofits convey their messages in the election environment. Prior to joining the SPIN Project, Holly was Associate Press Secretary at the Sierra Club in Washington, D.C. Holly also serves in a leadership role with the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network. Holly holds a B.A. in English Literature and Language from the University of Southern California.

Jillaine Smith, Manager of Programs, Grantmakers for Effective Organizations Jillaine Smith is manager of programs for Grantmakers for Effective Organizations. She is responsible for leading GEO's programs and member services, including the Web site, publications, e-newsletters, membership and communications. Prior to joining GEO, she was associate director of the Institute for Global Communications and developed and led Benton Foundation's program in "Strategic Communication in the Digital Age." Jillaine holds a certificate from Georgetown University in Organization Development and she completed the Coaches Training Institute. She has served on several nonprofit boards, including Green Media Toolshed, the Nonprofit Technology Enterprise Network, and Institute for Global Communications, and she is board chair of iEARN-US: the International Education and Resource Network. Her career in this field began in the early 1980's as project coordinator for a ground-breaking United States-Soviet satellite/video simulcast that introduced Jillaine to the promise and potential of using communications technologies for social change. For seven years she was associate director of the Institute for Global Communications, a major player in introducing the Internet and its benefits to nonprofit organizations throughout the United States and the world. Between 1996 and 2002, Jillaine led the development of the Benton Foundation's work in "strategic communications in the digital age," tracking trends and practices in nonprofit communications. She is a frequent speaker and media source on strategic uses of the Internet, and has many years' experience in project development and management, training, documentation and editing. She serves on several nonprofit boards and advisory committees.