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NCIPL / Eco-Justice Connection Director
Susannah Tuttle, M.Div (she/her)
Susannah Tuttle joined the staff of the NC Council of Churches (NCCC) in August 2011. In this role Susannah has served as the director of the NC Interfaith Power & Light (NCIPL) campaign for over a decade and in 2020 launched the Eco-Justice Connection as a strategy to highlight the intersectional work of the Council. She received a Masters of Divinity degree from the Unitarian Universalist Seminary – Starr King School for the Ministry at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, CA. In 2004 Susannah was hired as UNC Chapel Hill’s first Sustainability Research Associate and went on to co-initiate Trace Collaborative, LLC a consulting firm specializing in the implementation of sustainability within the design and construction industry. Susannah is a founding member of the Southeast Faith Leaders Network (SFLN) and is an active member of the US Climate Action Network. She currently serves on the Executive Board of the Southeast Climate & Energy Network (SCEN), the Advisory Boards of Carolinas Integrated Sciences Assessment (CISA), and UNC Law School’s Center for Climate, Energy, Environment, and Economics (CE3). Susannah lives on a gravel road in Orange County, NC with her husband who is a builder, gardener, and musician, and their two beloved dogs. Contact Susannah: susannah@ncipl.org
NCIPL / Eco-Justice Connection Coordinator
Ren Martin (they/them)
Ren Martin recently joined the NC Council of Churches team in July, 2022 after working at Virginia Interfaith Power & Light as a communications coordinator. Ren is a Fall 2021 graduate of Virginia Tech, where they earned their bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Sciences, with minors in urban forestry and leadership. During their time at Virginia Tech, they were able to teach title I school children, lead as a VP in a student organization, and worked with North Carolina’s Cooperative Extension. Born and raised in Richmond, Virginia, Ren grew up visiting their grandparents in the countryside of Buckingham, VA. Due to these experiences, they have a profound love for the environment, making artwork, and meeting new people. Ren was raised as a Catholic and later came back to the faith during their time in college. Now, Ren’s spirituality is a large part of their life, and they are eager to learn from all walks of life. Ren hopes to bring about positive change in the world around them through visual storytelling, communication, and outreach. Through this, Ren aims to uplift and empower people to create a more sustainable future for us all. Contact Ren: ren@ncchurches.org
NCIPL / Eco-Justice Connection 2023-2024 Intern
Shereese Alston (she/her)
Hi, my name is Shereese Alston. I’m a MSW student at UNC-Chapel Hill. Reflecting on who I am and what makes me move the way I do throughout the world is all about what is pleasing to God. I find that to be what makes me who I am. As a spiritual being, I have to respect the world around me, which means doing everything I can to recognize when I may be causing harm to the Earth. That could be throwing trash on the road or driving to a destination when I could ride my bike or walk. Choosing my field experience means believing deeply that I could help change the current direction we are going when it comes to climate change and connecting my passion for children and the array of challenges they face regarding climate change and environmental issues.
Click here – NC Council of Churches staff list
Click here – NC Council of Churches Governing Board Members
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VOLUNTEER LEADERS
Youth Leaders Initiative (YLI) Founder
Rishi Ranabothu
Rishi’s passion to ensure a green and bright future for everyone led him to found the Youth Leaders Initiative at NCIPL while he was working towards his Eagle Scout rank as a student in Cary, NC. He launched YLI to work with youth of all faiths to bring energy efficiency and sustainability to their congregations and ultimately protect all of God’s creation. Rishi spread his love and knowledge of STEM by teaching under-privileged students robotics at the Boys and Girls Club. During his time with NCIPL he enjoyed camping with his Boy Scout Troop, volunteering for the Cary Teen Council and running Track and Cross Country. He continues to love visiting and exploring new places with his family. Rishi is now pursuing higher education to be a medical doctor and save people’s lives is his goal.
NCIPL Energy Working Group Chair
Community United Church of Christ
Dr. Gary Smith
Gary received a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Lehigh University, and spent his career in pharmaceutical research. A member of Community UCC in Raleigh, Gary co-founded their Justice in a Changing Climate initiative. He has a passion to reduce fossil fuel use which he pursues through chairing NCIPL’s Energy Working Group, helping churches obtain PV solar, and reducing his own energy consumption; his home is heated and cooled by geothermal HVAC and includes a solar array that provides 80% of their electricity. He enjoys nature, science and the out of doors, the latter especially while on a bicycle. Contact Gary: smithgk@mindspring.com
Chair & Environmental Ministry Liaison of NC Episcopal Dioceses
Church of the Nativity Episcopal
Dr. Carl W. Sigel
After retiring from the pharmaceutical industry, Dr. Carl Sigel volunteers for organizations that promote mitigation and adaptation to climate change and restoring biodiversity. Carl is deeply committed to nonprofit organizations that focus on the environment, community service, youth education and development, food security, and social justice. With a lifetime interest in sustaining the Creation, he represents NCIPL and the Raleigh Convocation of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina on the Diocesan Chartered Committee for Environmental Ministry. Contact Carl: cwsigel@aol.com
Author – Hospitable Planet: Faith, Action, and Climate Change
Yavneh: A Jewish Renewal Community
Dr. Stephen Jurovics
Stephen Jurovics, Ph.D., spent the last 16 years of his corporate career as a contractor to the EPA working on several aspects of climate change. Prior to that, he worked almost three decades for IBM in positions ranging from aerospace engineering to building energy analysis. His book Hospitable Planet: Faith, Action, and Climate Change was published by Morehouse Publishing, an imprint of Church Publishing. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Southern California and B.S. and M.S. degrees from Columbia University. Contact Stephen: saj18@bellsouth.net
NCIPL Leadership Council Member
Unitarian Coastal Fellowship
Penny J. Hooper
Penny Hooper and her husband built a passive solar home in 1982 in Smyrna, on the central coast of NC where he runs their commercial fishing operation, and they raised their two children. In the new millennium, 2000, they finally added a heat pump and central air conditioning, just as the kids were headed to college! In 2010 they added 12 PV panels on their roof which provides about half of their electricity. She started the Green Sanctuary team at her Unitarian Coastal Fellowship church in 1998 and served as the Sustainability Committee Chair and lead Biology Instructor at Carteret Community College before her retirement in 2010. Her continuous environmental activism is well known in her county and won her the Woman of the Year Award in 2016. Contact Penny: pjhooper@ec.rr.com
NCIPL Historian & Founding Steering Committee Member
Pullen Baptist Church
Dan Figgins
Dan Figgins’ final assignment with the U.S. State Department was as the U.S. Representative to the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) in Nairobi, Kenya. He teaches political science courses at NCSU including “Global Environmental Treaties and Policies.” In 1998, he helped start a weekly Sunday school class on Earth Care at Pullen Baptist Church in Raleigh. In recent years Linda Rodriquez, wife of NCIPL Leadership Council member Bob Rodriquez, has led the class expanding its format from studying books to inviting outstanding environmental experts and social action leaders. Dan has been a member of NCIPL and its predecessors since 1998 when volunteers organized to support NC Council of Churches’ staff work on environmental stewardship. Because Dan participated the planning of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit at UNEP headquarters in 1989, he has been aware of the reality of climate change and its human-caused weather disruptions for more than a quarter of a century. Contact Dan: dwfiggins@gmail.com
