Clean Air is a community organization that builds power by developing grassroots leaders who organize their communities to run and win environmental justice and public health campaigns in Western New York. It was founded in 2007 by WNY residents who were impacted by environmental pollution and concerned about the impacts to their health and health of their families.

Janna Willoughby-Lohr took a leap of faith in 2013 when she founded Papercraft Miracles, an eco-friendly stationery and bookbinding studio. They create decorative handmade papers, plantable seed bombs, wedding invitations, handbound journals and photo albums, pop-up books, paper flowers and more.

Kerry Planck is owner of New York State’s only organic dairy goat farm and and founder of Alpine Made, an organic soap and skincare business that supports healthy, clean, sustainable living. Not a bad resume but also an evolving one for a business owner and mom who started her career as a USDA inspector.

Kerry Planck might not have originally planned to emulate her grandfather, who operated five different family farms. She pursued degrees in environmental forest biology and a Masters in ecology before becoming an inspector with the US Department of Agriculture. It was in 2009 that she and her then-husband started their family and she reached back to her roots and established her 15-acre goat farm.

Sarah Bachwitz is the founder and president of Empower Camp, a new non-profit created to ignite young women’s inner power. It is a non-denominational camp program, open to all cultures, religions and backgrounds for young women ages 14-18.

Empower Camp was founded in the depths of the Gobi Desert. Yes, you read that correctly. The Gobi Desert in Mongolia. Sarah hiked 100 kilometers across the Gobi Desert without the comforts of home and realized that it is not the clothes she wears or her social media or anything else that defines her. Sarah says, “What defines her is her inner power. Her inner power got her through those nine days in the desert and her inner power will continue to allow her to chase her dreams and live boldly.”

Originally from Allentown, PA, Joelle Logue has a BA in Political Science/English from the Pennsylvania State University and an M.A. in Journalism from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has worked as a newspaper editor and advertising copywriter but her passion now is as an advocate for women’s issues.

Jill Spisiak Jedlicka life’s mission appears to be hereditary. According to Jedlicka, “My early environmental career was associated with education and outreach on the Buffalo River.

SoPark Corporation was founded in 1981 by Robert Stevenson with just two employees. It has grown to 78 employees today. And later this year, current president and COO, Rupa Shanmugam will become the majority owner.

Rahwa Ghirmatzion was born in Asmera, Eritrea in the middle of a civil war. She came to Western New York as a refugee at the age of eight with her family, after living in Sudan. She was educated in Buffalo Public Schools and SUNY Buffalo State.

As a Lockport-based freelance journalist and writer, Keah Brown has written articles and essays for a variety of publications, including Lenny Letter, Teen Vogue, Catapult, Lit Hub, Harper’s Bazaar, Essence Magazine, The National Eating Disorders Association and more.

Annette Pinder is the President and Publisher of Buffalo Healthy Living, a free full-color magazine established in 2010, and read by about 150,000 people each month in print, and online. A benefit corporation, Buffalo Healthy Living is a for-profit entity that is devoted to health, fitness, and nutrition for people of all ages. Benefit corporations are authorized in only 33 states and the District of Columbia, and are unique in that they have a social responsibility to positively impact the community and the environment.