It's time once again for the Board Spotlight! This month, learn all about your EENC president, Shannon Culpepper. She is the Waste Reduction Coordinator for Chatham County Solid Waste & Recycling.
Shannon got her start in EE by doing a little bit here and there while working at a landfill and with a local non-profit organization, but she didn't know that environmental educator could be a full time job. After she finished graduate school and was trying to find a job, she applied to an AmeriCorps program focused on providing environmental education to underserved populations. She was offered a position and while working with the NC Air Quality Department, had the wonderful experience of developing a program that provided EE to older adults. At the same time, she started working on her EE certification and really started to learn about environmental education and the opportunities to do EE as a career. While she is not currently a full time environmental educator, it is a part of her job and she enjoys providing information about solid waste, recycling, reduction, and composting to the citizens she serves.
Shannon decided to serve on the EENC board because she is always looking for opportunities to volunteer, particularly in environmental education. When she learned about EENC and the board, she thought that would be a great opportunity to help the environmental education community in the state. She served as the Policy Chair for two years (she loves policy!) then as President-Elect before becoming President. She feels lucky to be a part of this organization and is happy to help support EE in the state and beyond.
Shannon hopes to accomplish several things during her time as president. She is especially excited that EENC was chosen as one of 10 affiliates of NAAEE for an ee360 grant last year and just received approval for a second year of funding. Shannon serves on the ee360 team and this work has been fruitful for EENC. The ee360 team had two goals for Year 1, one of which was to hire our Executive Director - done! The Year 2 goals are to increase the diversity, equity, and inclusion in EENC (and EE in general) and increasing the effectiveness of the EENC board of directors. The ee360 work has been extremely beneficial to the growth of EENC and Shannon looks forward to continuing these efforts in 2018 and beyond.
Three fun facts about Shannon:
Shannon loves cats - household, stray, big cats, any kind really. Her latest obsession is a sand cat. She suggests that you look it up if you aren't familiar and swears you won't be disappointed.
She used to be able to run a mile in less than 6 minutes, but claims she couldn't get anywhere close to that now.
She is a Ravenclaw and her Patronus is a husky. According to Shannon: "What else do you need to understand who I am?"
Comments