Michael Brune
Michael Brune (born 24 August 1971) became the youngest executive director of the Sierra Club at 38 years of age, an American environmental organization founded by preservationist John Muir, UC professor of botany Willis Linn Jepson, and attorney Warren Olney in 1892. Brune was hired by the 15 member board of directors to his position as executive director in January 2010, after Carl Pope was fired.[1]
Prior to working for the Sierra Club, Brune was the executive director of the Rainforest Action Network for seven years. He also worked as an organizer for Greenpeace.[2]
In 1999, while working at the Rainforest Action Network, Brune ran a successful campaign to get Home Depot stores to stop purchasing and selling wood from old-growth forests. Time magazine listed this as its top environmental story of that year.[3]
Brune is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post, a progressive website founded by Arianna Huffington, as well as Daily Kos.
In 2008 he published a book called Coming Clean -- Breaking America's Addiction to Oil and Coal.[4]
In 2014 Brune was confirmed as the Hillary Institute of International Leadership's Hillary Laureate in recognition of his work on climate change issues. He was then awarded, jointly with Amazon Watch's Atossa Soltani, the four yearly Hillary Step prize.[5]
In August 2021 the Sierra Club announced that Brune was resigning as executive director, effective as of the end of the year.[6]
References
- ^ Sierra Club Announces New Executive Director (Press Release)
- ^ Sierra Club Names its New Leader at Washington Post
- ^ Speak Softly and Carry a Big Green Stick from Alameda magazine
- ^ Coming Clean: About the Author
- ^ Hillary Step Prize Awarded - Hillary Institute Press Release
- ^ "Michael Brune Stepping Down as Sierra Club Executive Director". Sierra Club. Retrieved 28 September 2021.