Kimberly Heismann, Executive Director and Founder of Pop Sustainability
Kim founded Pop Sustainability as the culmination of 13 years of professional exploration in the field of sustainability. Upon learning about sustainability, Kim realized she had a personal commitment to these ideals ever since she can remember. Founded in 1998, Pop Sustainability’s organizational development, fundraising efforts, programs and campaigns have become the accomplishment of a lifetime for Kim.

Before starting Pop Sustainability, Kim worked for the United Nations Development Program. While there, she initiated an unprecedented fully electronic international conference which brought together professionals from around the world to discuss issues of public and private sector cooperation.

Earning her master’s degree from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), Kim specialized in non-profit management, sustainability and Latin American environmental policies. Kim has traveled throughout Europe and Latin America and has both lived and worked in two different Spanish-speaking parts of the world—Barcelona, Spain and Bogotá, Columbia.

Early in her career Kim worked for Colorado State Governor Roy Romer assisting his environmental advisor in advocating policies for the state and championed the recycling initiative for the State Capitol Building. Her first job was as a park ranger and tour guide for the National Park Service at Currecanti National Recreation Area in western Colorado.

Kim was awarded the Woman of the Year award for 2003 by New York CitiWorks.

Sonya Ledanksi, Office Manager and Project Assistant
(because everyone wears more than one hat around here!)
Sonya originally hails from Wisconsin. She later moved to Minnesota where she attended Saint Olaf College studying Theater, Music and Communications, and received her B.A. in Theater and Communications. Upon graduation, Miss Ledanski co-founded a successful theater company, Theater Pfeffernuss, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Within that company, she honed her publicity, marketing, and directorial skills, which are so pertinent to the programs at Pop Sustainability. In June of 2001, Sonya moved across the country to New York City. Sonya joined Pop Sustainability’s staff in August of 2003. In her spare time she continues to perform, in particular, on the cabaret circuit, as well as performing with New York’s VocalEase, a group of professional singers and actors that perform in nursing homes and hospitals around the metro area.

Douglas Cohen, Organizational Leadership Advisor
Principal – The Leadership Center
Founder – Sustainability Leadership Alliance

As an organizational learning consultant, Douglas has over 20 years experience helping organizations incorporate leadership intelligence into the daily workplace. He is the president of The Leadership Center, V.P. Leadership & Organization Development, True Insight Marketing and founder of the Sustainability Leadership Alliance.

Douglas has coached both individuals and executive teams for corporate clients such as Shell Chemical, AT&T, GTE, US West, Arthur Andersen, Prudential, Bayer, BOC Gases, Molson Breweries and ABB. Douglas's acumen for transferring corporate business practices into social service cultures has made him a sought-after coach on the non-profit front. Specifically, he has consulted for boards and coached the founding principals for organizations such as Comp2Kids, Pop Sustainability and UrbanMentor. Douglas's most robust work with this sector has been with both the California and the New York foster care system — where he's logged over 200 hours improving individual leadership and contributing to system reform nationwide. During one initiative, he provided training and development for foster parent volunteers who needed new skills to effectively lead neighborhood support groups.

Douglas consults with organizations based on a fundamental belief: Through great leadership, it is possible to shape the character and quality of each interaction, both in the workplace and in the customer community .

Douglas earned his Masters in Applied Behavioral Science from The Leadership Institute and holds an undergraduate degree in psychology from The Evergreen State College. He is also a member of the Organization Development Network of Greater New York and the New Jersey Organization Development Learning Community.

Joe Hunt – Marketing Consultant
Joe Hunt is the founding partner of RelationshipLink Business Advisors LLC, a New York based management consulting firm. The firm provides a full array of marketing and management services to business owners and entrepreneurs; from business planning to marketing and performance analysis.

Based on his 25 years of experience, on both the client and agency sides of the business, he founded RelationshipLink Business Advisors to address the issues that prevent businesses from achieving sustainable growth and profitability.

Joe has held senior management positions at some of advertising's premier organizations, serving a diverse group of companies from start-ups to household brands, and foreign companies seeking to penetrate the US market. His interest in performance measurement led him to build and manage, as CEO and Partner, two successful direct response and sales promotion agencies: J. Hunt & Fultz, Inc. and Solay/Hunt Inc.

Joe is a long-standing member of the New York American Marketing Association. For the past three years, he has served on the Board of Directors. Joe is also an adjunct professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology's Enterprise Studies Depart ment.

Abigail Boettger – Intern
Abby comes to Pop Sustainability from Ohio . She is a recent Dean's List graduate of Denison University with degrees in Spanish and History. In the fall she will be attending The George Washington University Elliot School of International Affairs. Over the years she has organized many events including a holiday party for victims of domestic abuse. She comes to Pop Sustainability to assist in programming, research and proposal writing.

Simran Sethi – PopZine Intern
Simran Sethi started her television career while still in attendance at Smith College . Before graduating cum laude with a BA in Sociology and Gender Studies, she was offered the job of Associate Producer for MTV News, and assumed the position following graduate studies in Italy .

After a prolific career in domestic television production–-including work on the ACE-award winning documentary Hate Rock , the human sexuality series Sex in the 90's , and the recipient of the 1994 International Film and Television award for best television documentary: 24 Hours in Rock and Roll --Sethi was asked to produce and anchor news for MTV Asia, and relocated to Singapore.

In her role as News Anchor/ Producer, Sethi was afforded the opportunity to travel and work throughout Asia , interviewing the world's top musical celebrities and entertainers. The stories that resonated most deeply, however, were the tales of real people: “Everyone has a rich and important story to tell. I have been in the fortunate position to document them, learn from them and share them with the world,” says Sethi.

Sethi was lauded by her peers and the press for her commitment to the issues impacting the youth of Asia --ranging from environmentalism to political activism to drug abuse. She was responsible for developing Voice for Choice , the first All-India Lok Sabha election coverage targeted at young voters. She also underwent an HIV-AIDS test on-camera, distributed condoms in red-light districts to promote safer sex practices and addressed experts on the HIV pandemic when invited to attend the International Conference on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific.

Sethi's commitment to news for young people continued in her role as Senior News Correspondent/ Senior Producer of MTV India in Bombay . Sethi played an instrumental role in shaping the channel's news programming and content on both television and radio, as founder and supervisor of the MTV India News department. She later expanded the scope of her work with the creation of her own production company SHE TV, consulting for BBC World television and Doordarshan radio.

After 4 years abroad, Sethi returned to the United States with a focus on augmenting her knowledge of the healing modalities she studied in India . She is a certified yoga teacher, reiki practitioner and childbirth support doula. After working at the largest holistic healing center in the country and founding an internet start-up, Sethi again returned to television as host of Oxygen's music program Daily Remix . Her vast experience with global music and cultures made her the ideal host of the only show on television dedicated to world music. Her personal commitment to spirituality and right livelihood, however, led her back to India for an intensive, year-long study of yoga, meditation and ayurvedic healing.

Simran Sethi is now a member of the charter class of Presidio World College —the United States ' first accredited MBA program dedicated to sustainable management practices. The program integrates ethical, social and environmental values with practical business knowledge. Sethi fuses this insight of the triple bottom line of business with her extensive experience in television reportage and passion for social and economic justice into her work on Ethical Marketplace .

© 2002 POP SUSTAINABILITY