Ellen Davis, 512-639-9959 or ellen.davis@sierraclub.org
(Oakland, California) – A Tennessee congressman who has been a leader on energy and social justice issues, a Native American environmental activist, and a photographer who has captured the beauty of America’s national parks and national monuments are among those receiving awards from the Sierra Club this year.
The organization’s top honor, the Sierra Club Changemaker of the Year Award, goes to Winona LaDuke, who lives and works on the White Earth reservation in northern Minnesota. As Executive Director of Honor the Earth, LaDuke works nationally and internationally on the issues of climate change, renewable energy, and environmental justice with Indigenous communities. She also started the award-winning White Earth Land Recovery Project, which has worked to protect Indigenous plants and heritage foods from patenting and genetic engineering.
“Winona is an enduring and towering example for anyone aspiring to become an effective human rights and environmental activist,” said Sierra Club President Ramón Cruz.
The Emerging Changemaker Award goes to Angelle Bradford from New Orleans, Louisiana. Bradford serves on the Executive Committee of the Delta Chapter of the Sierra Club and has been a leader in local and national lobbying efforts for clean transportation.
The Club’s top award for public officials, the Edgar Wayburn Environmental Champion Award, goes to Congressman Stephen Cohen from Tennessee. Since being elected to Congress in 2006, Cohen has supported a wide range of energy and environmental justice issues in his own district in Memphis, across Tennessee and throughout the country.
Three other public officials are receiving the Environmental Service Award, which honors persons in public service for long-term commitment to the environment and/or environmental justice: District of Columbia Councilmember Mary Cheh, Broward County Commissioner Beam Furr, and Sam Rasoul, a Delegate in the Virginia House of Delegates. As the longtime chair of the D.C. Council’s Transportation and Environment Committee, Cheh has spearheaded some of the most progressive environmental legislation in the country – measures that have served as models for other municipalities and states. Furr has been a leader in helping implement climate resilience strategies for the Southeast Florida region. Rasoul has fought to stop environmentally destructive pipeline projects in Virginia.
The Ansel Adams Award for Photography goes to QT Luong of San Jose, California. Luong is the author of the 2019 book, Treasured Lands: A Photographic Odyssey Through America's National Parks, and the 2021 book, Our National Monuments: America's Hidden Gems.
The Ansel Adams Award for Video goes to Dane Myers of Dunnellon, Florida. Myers produced a unique “rap-umentary” titled “Clouds of Different Colors” to publicize the dangers posed by the burning of sugar cane in south Florida.
The Rachel Carson Award, which honors sustained achievement by professional journalists or authors, goes to Craig Pittman of St. Petersburg, Florida. Pittman is a former reporter for the Tampa Bay Times and is the author of six books. His most recent books are Cat Tale: The Wild, Weird Battle to Save the Florida Panther (2020) and The State You're In: Florida Men, Florida Women, and Other Wildlife (2021). He also writes an environmental issues column for the Florida Phoenix.
The Robert Bullard Environmental Justice Award goes to Dr. Sacoby Wilson of College Park, Maryland. Wilson directs the Center for Community Engagement, Environmental Justice, and Health at the University of Maryland School of Public Health. The center provides technical assistance and research support to communities fighting against environmental injustice and environmental health disparities in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia region and across the nation.
The William O. Douglas Award, which recognizes individuals who have made outstanding use of the legal/judicial process to achieve environmental goals, goes to Colette Pichon Battle of Slidell, Louisiana. Battle founded the Gulf Coast Center for Law & Policy (GCCLP) which has recently become Taproot Earth, a new organization building a global movement to advance climate justice.
The EarthCare Award, which honors individuals or organizations that have made a unique contribution to international environmental protection and conservation, goes to Earthworks, a U.S.-based organization working to protect communities and the environment from the negative impacts of mining and fossil fuel extraction.
The William E. Colby Volunteer Leadership Award, the Sierra Club’s op award for volunteers, goes to Verena Owen of Winthrop Harbor, Illinois. Owen was one of the principal founders of the Club’s Beyond Coal campaign, which has been one of the most successful national campaigns in Sierra Club history. She also has coordinated a monthly call of volunteer co-leads for Sierra Club campaigns and national programs.
Others receiving national awards from the Sierra Club this year are:
Atlas Award (for administrative contributions to Sierra Club chapters): Joe Andrews of Los Angeles, California, and Patty Sappingfield of Mission Viejo, California. Andrews serves as both Legal Chair and Political Compliance Officer for the Angeles Chapter. Sappingfield has held a variety of administrative positions in the Sierra Sage of South Orange County Group, including serving as treasurer from 2005 to 2021.
Chapter Strong Award (honors Sierra Club groups or chapters for outstanding work in building chapter strength and capacity and includes a $3,000 prize): Teresa Ball of Waldorf, Maryland. Ball was a founding member of the Maryland Chapter’s Growing for Change Taskforce, which was formed to develop programs of inclusion and equity.
Environmental Alliance Award (honors Sierra Club volunteers who have helped further environmental goals through collaboration with other, non-Sierra Club constituencies): Karen Campblin and Douglas Stewart of Fairfax, Virginia. As co-chairs of the Virginia Chapter’s Transportation and Smart Growth Committee, Campblin and Stewart have brought people from various organizations together to advocate for solutions to the difficult transportation issues facing Northern Virginia.
Madelyn Pyeatt Outdoors for All Award (honors Sierra Club volunteers who have worked proactively to make outings more accessible and more inclusive for persons of any age and includes a $500 prize): Maryvonne Devensky of Gainesville, Florida. Devensky founded the Inspiring Connections Outdoors program for the Suwannee-St Johns Group in Florida.
Outings for Action Award (honors Sierra Club volunteers who combine outings with education and/or advocacy work): Rocky Milburn of Lutz, Florida. Milburn has led conservation-focused outings for both youth and adults in the Florida Chapter’s Tampa Bay Group.
Volunteer Achievement Award (honors Sierra Club volunteers for a single act of importance to the environment or to the Sierra Club): Ramesh Bhatt of Boulder, Colorado; Andrea Collins of Minneapolis, Minnesota; Zane Franke of Portland, Oregon; and Katie Whitehead of Chatham, Virginia. Bhatt has worked to get stronger regulations for Colorado’s oil and gas industry. Collins and Franke worked together to create a Volunteer Week for the Wisconsin Chapter. Whitehead led a coalition that stopped the extension of a fracked gas pipeline in Pittsylvania County.
Volunteer Service Award (honors Sierra Club volunteers for strong and consistent commitment to the environment or the Sierra Club over an extended period of time): Anne Henny of Berkeley, California; David Reid of Swannanoa, North Carolina; Ann Marie Salvador of LaPuente, California; Liz Wessel of Madison, Wisconsin; and Sean Wirth of Sacramento, California. Henny has been a long-time conservation activist in California and a leader in helping the Sierra Club incorporate the rights of indigenous people into its lands work. Reid has been a long-time leader on forest issues for the North Carolina Chapter. Salvador has been a long-time volunteer with the Angeles Chapter’s Inspiring Connections Outdoors program. Wessel has been a long-time leader for both the Four Lakes Group and the Wisconsin Chapter. Wirth is a long-time conservation chair for the Mother Lode Chapter in California.
For more information on the Sierra Club awards program, visit www.sierraclub.org/awards.
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.