“Forces of Nature” is a documentary featuring the amazing stories of the 2008 Brower Youth Award winners. Earth Island Institute established the Brower Youth Awards in 2000 to honor founder and legendary environmental activist, David R. Brower, and to call forth a new generation of leaders. The annual Brower Youth Awards honor six young people for their outstanding activism and achievements in the fields of environmental and social justice advocacy.

2008 AWARD WINNERS

Marisol Becerra, 18
Chicago, IL
Marisol mapped and inventoried the industrial toxins found in her predominantly Mexican-American community.

Jessie-Ruth Corkins, 17
Bristol, VT
Jessie-Ruth is the core leader of the Vermont Sustainable Heating Initiative, a group of students representing 200-plus youth from 26 high schools.

Timothy DenHerder-Thomas, 21
St. Paul, MN
Timothy demonstrated that climate solutions are bold opportunities for economic profit and community building as opposed to personal sacrifices.

Kari Fulton, 22
Washington, DC
Kari worked on two different environmental justice projects that connect and inspire people on both the local and national levels.

Phebe Meyers, 18
Woodstock, VT
Phebe launched a youth non-profit and created a migratory corridor in the Costa Rican rainforest, restoring it with native trees.

Ivan Stiefel, 22
Mullica Hill, NJ
Ivan co-created an alternative spring break for university students to stand in solidarity with communities affected by coal industry abuses.

ABOUT DAVID BROWER

David Brower was a pioneering leader in the evolution of the 20th century environmental movement. Time after time in a career that evolved over more than 60 years, until his death in 2000, he saw the need for expanding what people thought of as environmental, to meet the needs of an evolving, fair, sustainable society. A key part of Brower’s vision for action was his mentorship of younger emerging leaders. Earth Island Institute founded its Brower Youth Awards program to celebrate the spirit of Brower’s mentoring, and it has expanded its New Leaders Initiative to provide other opportunities for young people finding their way in working for the planet’s agenda.

In his 60-plus years of activism, nothing gave Brower greater joy than see the success of the many young leaders he mentored, among them Dave Foreman, Amory Lovins and Julia Butterfly Hill. “My secret,” Brower said, “is to surround myself with bright, young people, stand back, then wallow in their accomplishments.”