Recognizing individual efforts in climate engagement to inspire others to action
||| FROM SHANNON BORG for MADRONA INSTITUTE |||
The Madrona Institute has awarded the David Giuliani Climate Leadership Award to public policy leader Paula Sardinas, National Black Professional Lobbyists Association (NBPLA).
Paula Sardinas, the new David Giuliani Climate Leadership Award Recipient, 2023
This award, created in 2022, recognizes and honors individuals who have made significant efforts to advance climate action, locally and regionally. Through this recognition, The Madrona Institute seeks to inspire all of us to take the initiative for greater protection of our community and our planet. Carbon emissions reduction is crucial this decade in order to avoid the worst effects of climate change.
A Pacific Madrone tree will be planted in Ms. Sardina’s honor at the Ihiya Biological Preserve on San Juan Island, in partnership with The San Juan Preservation Trust, as part of a “Climate Grove” of Pacific madrones to be planted this decade. Ms. Sardina will also receive a $1,000 award and a carved wooden plaque.
Paula Sardinos will be the first speaker in a 3-part virtual speaker series, Women of Color in Leadership, beginning in May. Attendees can watch the series at three events held at the San Juan Island Library. Get on our mailing list to be informed about upcoming events by visiting our
website at www.madrona.org.
About Paula Sardinas
Paula Sardinas, NBPLA, is the Founder and President/CEO of FMS Global Strategies, LLC, a #Black and other #BIPOC Governmental Affairs Advocacy firm, and The Purpose Driven Girl, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, focused on empowering #BIPOC women and girls who are often unable to use their voice— due to intersectionality and structural racism.
Her public policy career spans 28 years working in Telecom, Engineering, Banking, IT, STEM, Cannabis, Social Equity, and Financial Literacy. She is a member of the National Black Professional Lobbyist Association in good standing. She began her career as an intern on President Bill Clinton’s campaign in 1992 and has gone on to serve as the Statewide political director, Women for Change on the Obama Campaign in both 2008 and 2012. She has recently served as the coalition builder for both Pete Buttigieg and Joe Biden and Washington State Presidential campaigns.
Sardinas earned her AA and BBA from Columbia College in Missouri and studied for her MBA at the College of William and Mary. She has also worked with and for the Administrations of Presidents Clinton, Bush, Obama, and Biden in various roles.
About the David Giuliani Climate Leadership Award
David Giuliani was a remarkable leader, founding Clean and Prosperous America, Clean and Prosperous Washington, and the Low Carbon Prosperity Institute. He was a key stakeholder in the passage of the Climate Commitment Act (CCA) in the Washington State Legislature in 2021, legislation which has been called the “gold standard” of state climate policy, as well as providing financial support for The Madrona Institute’s climate policy and governance research.
Giuliani was best known as the co-inventor of the Sonicare toothbrush and the Clarisonic skin care system, and as co-founder and CEO of both companies. Giuliani was responsible for over twenty patents, and in 1997 was honored as the “United States Small Business Person of the Year” by President Clinton. Over the last 10 years, Giuliani turned his attention to solving the problem of climate change.
David Giuliani received the first Madrona Leadership Award on January 26, 2022. With his passing on March 3, 2022, The Madrona Institute named this climate action award in his honor on March 12, 2022, with the planting of his honorary Pacific Madrone at the Ihiya Biological Preserve. The Award will be made on an annual basis until 2030.
The Madrona Institute is an independent 501(c)3 non-governmental organization based in the San Juan Islands of Washington. The Madrona Institute’s Mission is to engage current and future generations in the conservation and stewardship of our local ecosystem, and to encourage community dialogue and leadership on climate-related issues. This mission is accomplished through youth conservation and stewardship corps in the San Juan Islands, and through initiatives on climate change.
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“madrona” is the local common name for Arbutus menziesii. I am amused (and a bit baffled) that an organization called the “Madrona Institute” would refer to the trees as Pacific Madrones.