Elizabeth Schuster - From Peace Corps to Environmental Economist

Marissa Ferrari - From Ms. Magazine to Mission-Driven Work

Marissa Ferrari is Partner and Creative Director at Sustainable Economies, where she works with mission-driven organizations at the intersection of nature and communities. Her winding path that took her from a childhood in rural Michigan to a career in brand strategy and communications, and what she's learned about creativity, storytelling, and finding your way when the road doesn't run straight. Marissa grew up in a small town in southwestern Michigan, spending her childhood building tree forts, wandering creeks, and roaming the woods behind her house. It was a relationship with the natural world that never left her. She went to college expecting to become a doctor, switched to literature and women's studies, and landed an internship at Ms. Magazine during the Gloria Steinem era. When that door didn't open the way she hoped, she spent years wondering if she'd missed her shot. What she found instead was a richer path with AmeriCorps, economic development, copywriting, advertising, and eventually a creative directorship that draws on every one of those stops. For Marissa, storytelling is the engine behind effective nonprofit communications. The best stories make the audience the hero. We drive decisions on how stories captures emotion, not by the data they share. Marissa’s ambition as a woman, from the internal friction of having teachers tell her to stop raising her hand, to how building her own practice - gave her room to finally see what she could accomplish. Her realization from this work is that we are not separate from nature, and the more people remember this, the more it fuels her hope. Episode in a glance 00:00 Introduction 00:53 Tree Fort Roots 02:38 From Biomed to Literature 06:17 Nonlinear Career Lessons 10:10 Storytelling and Creativity 21:32 Hope and Staying Connected About Marissa Ferrari Marissa Ferrari is Partner and Creative Director at Sustainable Economies, a consultancy supporting mission-driven nonprofits and public sector organizations working at the intersection of nature and communities. With a background in literature and women's studies and more than two decades in communications, brand strategy, and creative direction, she brings both artistic sensibility and research-driven rigor to the work of helping organizations find and tell their stories. Connect with Marissa Ferrari and her work at Sustainable Economies Sustainable Economies on LinkedIn → Sustainable-Economies [https://www.linkedin.com/company/sustainable-economies]  Sustainable Economies → sustainableeconomies.com [https://sustainableeconomies.com/] Send us a message! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2311933/fan_mail/new]

Elizabeth Schuster - From Peace Corps to Environmental Economist

Elizabeth Schuster is the founder of Sustainable Economies, a strategic planning, branding, and communications firm, and a partner in environmental economics. Her sustainability journey started from building forts in the New Hampshire woods to transforming a struggling Peace Corps assignment into a certified organic coffee co-op in Honduras. She grew up on 17 acres in New Hampshire, where early years of backpacking and time in nature laid the foundation for a lifelong commitment to the environment. But it was a study abroad in Venezuela, watching farmers grow food by hand, then seeing a pesticide bottle reused for drinking water - that crystallized her three-pillar approach to sustainability: human health, economic viability, and ecological impact. That has guided everything since. During Peace Corps experience in a remote Honduran mountain village she went on a mission to plant trees, which nearly stalled after a year with only 10 planted. By shifting from top-down volunteer to community collaborator and interviewing every household, learning about coffee, corn, and the real economic trade-offs families were navigating, she helped launch a certified organic coffee co-op that delivered both a higher market price and a reforested watershed. That discovery became the spark that shaped her entire career. From there, she pursued graduate work in agricultural and environmental economics, joined the Nature Conservancy as an environmental economist, and eventually built her own firm. She also shares what it means to be a qualitative collaborator in a field that often prizes pure data, and why the most impactful sustainability work is rooted in courage, inclusion, and hearing every voice. Episode in a glance 00:00 Introduction 00:36 Gordon the Whisper Whiner 01:16 Roots in New Hampshire 03:44 Peace Corps Turning Point 07:54 From Manufacturing to Economics 11:52 Data Trust and Closing About Elizabeth Schuster Elizabeth Schuster is the founder of Sustainable Economies, a strategic planning, branding, and communications firm, and a partner in environmental economics. With a background in environmental studies and a graduate degree in agricultural and environmental economics, Elizabeth spent four years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Honduras before going on to work as an environmental economist at the Nature Conservancy. She brings a systems-level, deeply collaborative approach to sustainability work — one grounded equally in data, community voice, and her three-pillar framework of human health, economic viability, and ecological impact. Connect with Elizabeth Schuster and her work Sustainable Economies on LinkedIn → Sustainable-Economies [https://www.linkedin.com/company/sustainable-economies]  Sustainable Economies → sustainableeconomies.com [https://sustainableeconomies.com/] Send us a message! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2311933/fan_mail/new]

RE-RELEASE: Joseph Klatt - Closing the Loop on Plastic Waste

Did you know that plastics are as different from each other as paper is from metal? Joseph Klatt, founder of Marble Plastics, dives into the complex world of polymer types and how they impact our efforts to recycle plastic waste. Joseph’s passion for sustainability was sparked by an unlikely source - a college job collecting recycling by bicycle. This hands-on experience ignited his fascination with waste management, leading him to pursue environmental studies. Joseph's career took him from the Ohio EPA, where he developed an innovative business-to-business recycling platform, to the Netherlands, where he joined the open-source Precious Plastic community. There, he gained invaluable insights into small-scale plastic recycling and fostering a grassroots movement. His journey continued in Portugal, training communities worldwide to implement Precious Plastics' recycling technology. Driven by a desire to tackle the plastic crisis head-on, Joseph founded Marble Plastics, creating beautiful, durable goods from 100% recycled plastic sheets. Discover how this green champion transformed his passion into a mission to revolutionize plastic recycling. Episode in a glance - The plastic waste issue and its impact on the environment - Joseph's journey into plastics - Connecting businesses for waste recycling and reuse - The path to developing community at Precious Plastic - How different polymers and their impact on recycling - Marble Plastics and their sustainability work About Joseph Klatt Joseph Klatt is the founder of Marble Plastics, a company pioneering the creation of beautiful, durable products from 100% recycled plastic sheets. His passion for sustainability was ignited by a college job collecting recycling by bicycle, which led him to study environmental management. After developing a business-to-business recycling platform at the Ohio EPA, Joseph joined the open-source Precious Plastics community in the Netherlands, where he gained expertise in small-scale plastic recycling and fostering mission-driven movements. He then transitioned to Portugal, training communities worldwide to implement Precious Plastics' recycling technology. Driven by a desire to revolutionize plastic recycling and promote circularity, Joseph founded Marble Plastics to transform plastic waste into stunning furniture, countertops, and wall coverings, diverting materials from landfills while creating beautiful, eco-friendly products. Connect with Joseph Klatt, Precious Plastic, and Marble Plastics Precious Plastic → https://www.preciousplastic.com/ [https://www.preciousplastic.com/] Marble Plastics → https://marbleplastics.com/ [https://marbleplastics.com/] Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/marbleplastics/ [https://www.instagram.com/marbleplastics/] Send us a message! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2311933/fan_mail/new]

Angela Huffman - Fighting for the Future of the Family Farms

Angela Huffman is the President and co-founder of Farm Action, a nonpartisan, farmer-led watchdog that holds government and corporate power accountable in food and agriculture. She's back to talk about sustainability as it relates to agricultural policy and family farms, and what it really takes to push for change in Washington. Angela is the sixth generation on her family's farm up in northwest Ohio. She's really seen firsthand how hard farmers work, how little control they often have over their success, and how corporate consolidation has quietly reshaped the food system over the last forty years. That's the story she carries with her into every letter to Congress, every rally, every petition. It's also what makes her so clear-eyed about the stakes: the average American farmer is around 60 years old, and unless something shifts, a lot of those farms, and a lot of those communities, won't make it to the next generation. Angela walks us through what Farm Action actually does day to day, from tracking shareholder reports and USDA data to running a consolidation data hub that maps every sector of agriculture. She unpacks why so many farmers are pushed into growing commodity crops like corn and soybeans, how contract growers raising chickens for companies like Tyson can be blackballed for simply speaking out, and the years-long fight to restore truth to the "Product of USA" label so consumers finally know where their beef is actually from. And she leaves us with something we can all do about it, whether that's signing up for a newsletter, calling your member of Congress, or voting with your food dollars at the farmers market down the street. Episode in a glance * 00:10 Meet Angela Huffman & Farm Action * 01:29 Inside Farm Action's Watchdog Research * 07:38 What It's Really Like to Be a Farmer Today * 12:44 Tyson, Contracts & Retaliation Against Farmers * 15:23 The Product of USA Labeling Win * 20:35 How You Can Help Fix the Food System About Angela Huffman Angela Huffman is the co-founder and president of Farm Action, a national advocacy organization fighting corporate consolidation across the U.S. food and agriculture system. A sixth-generation Ohio farmer with a background in English and public policy from Ohio State, Angela has spent more than 15 years at the intersection of farming, communications, and federal policy, translating on-the-ground realities into pressure that moves lawmakers. Connect with Angela Huffman and her work with Farm Action Angela on LinkedIn → Angela Huffman [https://www.notion.so/33750ef6575c804b8d96dcad7f8b38a1?pvs=21] Farm Action → farmaction.us [https://farmaction.us/] Send us a message! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2311933/fan_mail/new]

Angela Huffman - Why Are Food Prices Rising While Farmers Struggle?

Angela Huffman is the co-founder and president of Farm Action, a watchdog organization working to dismantle corporate consolidation across the U.S. food supply chain. In this conversation, she unpacks how a handful of corporations came to shape what ends up on America's dinner plates, and what it will take to shift that power back toward farmers, workers, and consumers. Two hundred years ago, Angela's family put down roots on a patch of land in northwest Ohio. Six generations later, she's still there, raising Katahdin sheep between trips to Washington, D.C., where she splits her time lobbying for the very kind of family farm she grew up visiting. Her path wasn't a straight line. It wound through a year teaching English in Japan, where a convenience-store sandwich quietly exposed how broken American food had become. It passed through a volunteer stint gathering signatures for an Ohio animal welfare ballot measure, and a slow-dawning realization that the farmers she loved were getting squeezed, not by the weather, but by the market itself. That realization became Farm Action. With co-founder Joe, Angela built an organization that treats research as the foundation and communication as the lever. The work starts by uncovering how corporate power distorts the food system, then translating it into language the public and policymakers can actually act on. When egg prices spiked during the avian flu, her team dug in and showed that the largest producers had zero outbreaks yet were posting record profits. The narrative shifted. Prices came down. Episode in a glance * 1:32 Meet Angela Huffman, sixth-generation Ohio farmer with roots 200 years deep * 2:05 Life on the farm raising Katahdin sheep while balancing policy work * 3:36 From farm kid to policy advocate: realizing farmers needed a stronger voice * 4:47 Discovering a different food system in Japan * 17:03 Co-founding Farm Action: taking on corporate consolidation in agriculture * 19:14 Volunteering on the 2010 Ohio farm animal welfare ballot About Angela Huffman Angela Huffman is the co-founder and president of Farm Action, a national advocacy organization fighting corporate consolidation across the U.S. food and agriculture system. A sixth-generation Ohio farmer with a background in English and public policy from Ohio State, Angela has spent more than 15 years at the intersection of farming, communications, and federal policy, translating on-the-ground realities into pressure that moves lawmakers. Connect with Angela Huffman and her work with Farm Action Angela on LinkedIn → Angela Huffman [https://www.notion.so/33750ef6575c804b8d96dcad7f8b38a1?pvs=21] Farm Action → farmaction.us [https://farmaction.us/] Send us a message! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2311933/fan_mail/new]