Small Planet Team
Frances Moore Lappé is a democracy advocate and world food and hunger expert who has authored or co-authored 16 books. She is the co-founder of three organizations, including Food First: The Institute for Food and Development Policy and, more recently, the Small Planet Institute. In 1987 she received the Right Livelihood Award (a.k.a, the “Alternative Nobel.”) Her first book, Diet for a Small Planet, has sold three million copies and is considered “the blueprint for eating with a small carbon footprint since long before the term was coined” [JM Hirsch, Associated Press].
Her most recent books include Hope’s Edge, written with her daughter Anna Lappé, about democratic social movements worldwide and Getting a Grip: Clarity, Creativity, and Courage in a World Gone Mad, awarded the Nautilus Gold/“Best in Small Press” award. In June 2008, that book and Diet for a Small Planet were designated as must-reads for the next U.S. president (by Barbara Kingsolver and Michael Pollan, respectively) in The New York Times Sunday Review of Books.
Read Frances’ complete bio here.
Anna Blythe Lappé is a national bestselling author and sought-after public speaker, respected for her work on sustainability, food politics, globalization, and social change. Named one of TIME’s “Eco-Who’s Who,” Anna has been featured in The New York Times, Gourmet, O: The Oprah Magazine, Domino, Food & Wine, Body + Soul, Natural Health, and Vibe, among many other publications.
Anna is a founding principal, with her mother Frances Moore Lappé, of the Cambridge-based Small Planet Institute, an international network for research and popular education about the root causes of hunger and poverty. The Lappés are also co-founders of the Small Planet Fund, which has raised more than $500,000 for democratic social movements worldwide, two of which have won the Nobel Peace Prize since the Fund’s founding in 2002.
Read Anna’s complete bio here
Richard Rowe, Ph.D., is a fellow of the Small Planet Institute and the publisher of Small Planet Media. He is founder, chair and CEO of Open Learning Exchange (OLE) International. Dr. Rowe has focused his career on national and international policies and services that strengthen children, families and communities. A clinical psychologist by training, he was Director of the Test Development and Research Office of the West African Examinations Council, a former Associate Dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education and director of Harvard’s interfaculty doctoral program in Clinical Psychology and Public Practice; he has served on the Massachusetts State Board of Education, chairing the Board’s education reform task force, and on the MIT Press Board of Directors. He is a member of the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council on Technology and Education and of the Clinton Global Initiative.
Anthony Lappé is media advisor and producer of web documentaries for the Small Planet Institute (See Getting a Grip on Money and Politics, Part 1 and 2). He is a founder of INVISIBLE HAND, a production company dedicated to helping groups and individuals create powerful media for change. After graduating from NYU and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, Anthony worked as a freelance feature writer for The New York Times while a producer for MTV News. In 2000, he helped found the Guerrilla News Network, whose groundbreaking web shorts won numerous awards including the Sundance Online Film Festival. He produced GNN’s award-winning Showtime documentary about Iraq, BattleGround: 21 Days on the Empire’s Edge. He has taught documentary video at NYU, Mediabistro and to Palestinian journalists in the West Bank. He has appeared on numerous media outlets around the world, including the BBC, Sky News and NPR, and has been a guest host on Air America Radio. In addition, Lappé has spoken at numerous college campuses and institutions, including the Library of Congress and London’s Institute of Contemporary Art. He has written for Details, New York, Paper, Vice and Salon, among many others. He is the co-author of True Lies (Plume) and author of Shooting War (Grand Central), which was called “scary smart” by Rolling Stone and one of the top graphic novels of all time by Rough Guides. It has been republished in France, Spain, Italy and the UK, where it’s being developed into a TV mini-series. In 2009, he was the story producer for Brink, a weekly news magazine on the Science Channel produced by CBS News Productions.
Brooke Ormond is the Outreach and Operations Manager, managing daily activities, speaking events, and assisting with planning and implementation of strategic direction. Brooke first joined the Small Planet Team to assist with Liberation Ecology, and is thrilled to play a part in the work and mission of Small Planet. She moved to Massachusetts after serving as an AmeriCorps member in Detroit, Michigan, where she worked at an adult literacy center. In addition to paralegal work, she has held internships with U.S. Senator Carl Levin and Detroit’s Federal Defender Office. Brooke graduated with a degree in Political Science from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Kate Ferranti currently serves as Programs Manager for Anna Lappé. She is responsible for coordinating events and speaking engagements related to the release of Diet for a Hot Planet: The Climate Crisis at the End of Your Fork and What You Can Do About It by Anna Lappé (Bloomsbury 2010). She also assists with research and strategic planning, contributing to the “Take a Bite” blog, and handling grant distribution for the Small Planet Fund. A life long cook and passionate eater, Kate is making a professional transition into the food advocacy movement after spending the fall of 2009 harvesting grapes, caring for pigs, and learning about sustainable agriculture as a volunteer on three organic farms in the Piedmont and Tuscany regions of Italy through World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF). She brings her passion for justice to the sustainable food world after spending nearly a decade as a labor activist, most recently as the deputy director of communications for Local 32BJ of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). Kate holds a B.A. in English Writing and Literature from Fairfield University. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, where she is a member of the Park Slope Food Coop and a frequent visitor to the Grand Army Plaza Farmers’ Market.
We are grateful for additional assistance and support from:
Samantha Mignotte, Program Assistant, Cambridge, MA
Stefan Sirucek, Senior Writer, Boston, MA
Annette Calabrese, Web Designer/Developer, Clawson, MI
Jordan Zurack, Web Designer/Developer, Clawson, MI
Pete Slonka, ProPC Service, technical support, Arlington, MA
Dan O’Connell, Media and Publicity Strategist, Boston, MA
Alex Tung, Intern, Tufts, Boston, MA
Nicole Crescimanno, Intern, Stonehill College, Easton, MA
Dory Dinoto, Intern, Boston University, Boston, MA
Coleman Fleming-Dumas, Intern, Suffolk University, Boston, MA