Scott Carney
Photo credit: Jake Holschuh
Investigative journalist and anthropologist Scott Carney (scottcarney.com) has worked in some of the most dangerous and unlikely corners of the world. His work blends narrative non-fiction with ethnography. Currently, he is a senior fellow at the Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism and a 2016-17 Scripps Fellow at the Center for Environmental Journalism in Boulder, Colorado. His books include the New York Times best seller "What Doesn't Kill Us" as well as "The Red Market" and "The Enlightenment Trap”.
Carney was a contributing editor at Wired for five years and his writing also appears in Mother Jones, Men's Journal, Playboy, Foreign Policy, Discover, Outside and Fast Company. His work has been the subject of a variety of radio and television programs, including on NPR and National Geographic TV. In 2010, he won the Payne Award for Ethics in Journalism for his story "Meet the Parents”, which tracked an international kidnapping-to-adoption ring. Carney has spent extensive time in South Asia and speaks Hindi.
3 words to describe Nature?
Stunning. Brutal. Fair.
3 things Nature taught you?
That there is no division between ourselves and nature.
That the outside world is also the inside world
How we think about the environment is also how we think about ourselves.
3 most treasured Nature spots?
The Nubble Westport, MA
Hampi, India
Outside Iquitos, Peru
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Calm, like the horizon has no limits.
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Like there will be something unexpected just around the next bend
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
In awe of the power of the earth.
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Like I'm at the beginning or end.
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Usually a little surprised. I count the seconds between the flash and the clap to try to figure out how far away it is. The other day I got stuck in a thunderstorm and the bolts crashed fifteen feet from me. It was pretty terrifying. My instinct was to lie flat on the ground.
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
IT depends where I am. If I'm inside a house watching a storm pass it's a strangely comforting feeling. If I'm outside it can be brutal.
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Ocean
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
I am nature. And so are you. 10
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
I remember climbing up the Nubble, a small but high rock that guards the Harbor in Westport, MA, while my mother yelled at me to get down. She was scared I would fall, but I just had to make it to the top.
Terry Giles
Terry Giles was born in St. Louis, Missouri. He received his Bachelor of Arts Degree from California State University at Fullerton and his Jurist Doctorate from Pepperdine University School of Law, where there is now a Terry M. Giles Honor Scholar. In 1975, he established what would become one of the largest and most successful criminal law firms on the West Coast. Some of Giles’ clients have included Richard Pryor, Kenneth Lay, J. Howard Marshall III and Martin Luther King Jr.’s remaining children. In 1983, Terry withdrew from the firm, disillusioned with the criminal legal system.
Starting over, he took a small Toyota dealership and built it into the fifth largest in the world. He then helped build a Canon copier distributorship into the third largest in the country and negotiated the sale of ComputerLand, a company with $2.5 billion in annual sales. He also reestablished his legal practice, but this time focused exclusively on civil trial matters and only for clients and causes that he believed in. In 2008 he was runner up for “National Jury Trial Lawyer of the Year” for his work in the Catholic predator priest cases in California.
Through the course of his career, he has bought/built 35 companies in a variety of industries. Today, his company, Giles Enterprises, has diversified interests in biotech, time management, European 5-Star hotels and restaurants, and financial portfolio investments. Part of his portfolio includes the Chateau Eza on the Mediterranean French Coast and Grand Hotel Son Net on Mallorca in Spain.
He is chairman of Landmark Worldwide Corporation, a San Francisco-based enterprise with 43 offices in 20 countries and Pacific Biomarkers, a diagnostic laboratory enterprise in Seattle. Additionally, Terry serves on the Boards of Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, the Pepperdine University Board of Regents, and The Giles O’Malley Foundation.
Terry has received the Medal of Honor Alumni Award from Pepperdine University, Alumnus of the Year from Pepperdine University School of Law, the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans Award, and the Distinguished Alumnus Award of California State University of Fullerton. He further serves as an adjunct professor of law at Pepperdine University School of Law.
3 words to describe Nature?
Beautiful. Powerful. Terrifying.
3 things Nature taught you?
Respect
Aloneness
Oneness
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Red Wood Forrest in California
The deserts of Arizona
The canyons and rock formations of Utah and Colorado
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Small
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Peaceful
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
In awe
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Happy
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Uneasy
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Nervous
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Mountain. The majestic nature of mountains inspires me.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
8, except when I am in it. Then it is definitely a 10.
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
Even as a kid, it occurred to me that we have a finite number of sunsets in our life. We do not know in advance how many that is, but I try to make sure to enjoy each one as much as I can.
Maria Jenson
Maria Jenson is recognized as a leader in the arts nationally for advancing innovative strategies to sustain creative communities in the midst of rapidly changing urban environments. As Creative and Executive Director of SOMArts, Jenson has deepened the organization’s commitment to racial equity, creating clear pathways for Bay Area artists to incubate new ideas and grow their careers. Through her leadership, Maria has expanded SOMArts’ educational and public programs, advanced new public-private partnerships, and fostered groundbreaking exhibitions such as The Black Woman is God, The Third Muslim: Queer and Trans* Muslim Narratives of Resistance and Resilience, and many more. These initiatives further SOMArts’ mission to engage the Bay Area’s diverse cultural communities in inspiring creative encounters at the intersection of art and social justice.
As an ardent advocate for the civic and democratic roles cultural institutions should play, Jenson has championed creative projects in community-based and DIY as well as more formal and institutional spaces. Prior to joining SOMArts, Jenson was a key member of the External Relations team in the Marketing and Communications Division managing the transition, rebranding and reopening of SFMOMA during the museum’s $300 million expansion. At SFMOMA, she worked across all departments as a lead project manager on marketing and engagement initiatives and she launched innovative community partnerships as the museum’s Cultural and Civic Ambassador. Jenson produced the museum’s Economic and Cultural Impact study in collaboration with the Boston Consulting Group, demonstrating the crucial role of cultural institutions in the civic and economic life of San Francisco.
Jenson was the Founding Director of ArtPadSF — an independent art fair launched in 2010 in partnership with Chip Conley. ArtPadSF transformed the Phoenix Hotel into an immersive and interactive platform to engage Bay Area artists, gallerists and art lovers, and enjoyed a successful three-year run that helped to launch the careers of many emerging artists.
A graduate of the 2018 Getty Foundation Executive Leadership Institute, Jenson is a sought-after speaker and thought leader on the role of cultural institutions in fostering a more democratic and equitable society. As the Bay Area continues to change, Jenson is leading SOMArts into its next iteration, strengthening and activating all parts of SOMArts' multivalent programming, including growing the organization's site-specific commissions and programs, as well as reinvigorating its artistic presence in the Bay Area.
3 words to describe Nature?
Solitude. Grace. Ancestral
3 things Nature taught you?
Resistance
Adaptability
Collaboration
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Leo Carillo Beach (Malibu, CA)
Multnomah Falls (Oregon)
Cadeques, Spain
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
At peace and whole
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Mythic, rooted
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
Powerful
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Hopeful
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Sensual, alert, focused
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Edgy
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Ocean
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
Planting a tree in my backyard and watching it grow over the years.
Ken Gart
Ken Gart has been a partner at The Gart Companies since its inception in 1992. Prior to that time he was Co-President and Chief Merchandising Officer at Gart Bros. Sporting Goods, a family-owned and operated corporation, from 1983 to 1992. Ken started Specialty Sports Venture, LLC (SSV) in 1994 and built it to over 140 stores and into the nation’s leading specialty ski and bicycle retailer. SSV included Aspen Sports, Telluride Sports, Boulder Ski Deals, Colorado Ski and Golf and roughly 30 other trade names. The company was sold to Vail Resorts in 2010.
Ken was chairman of the Board of Denver Bike Sharing (DBA B-Cycle) where he was appointed to the position by then Mayor and now Governor John Hickenlooper. Denver B-Cycle was the first major city-wide bike sharing to launch in the US. Ken is currently chair of the Board for RPM Events Group which owns the Colorado Classic and Velorama. The Colorado Classic is a global professional cycling competition and Velorama is a music festival. The goals of the RPM Events Group are around health & wellness & economic development for Colorado. Ken has been called by Governor Hickenlooper his “Bike Czar”. This is a voluntary position to make Colorado the most bicycle friendly state in America.
Ken has held various memberships, directorships and chairmanships with The Nature Conservancy, the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, Telluride Foundation, Colorado Conservation Trust, Denver Area Council Boy Scouts of America, Denver Metro Boys & Girls Clubs and the Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau. Further, he serves on numerous other non-profit boards and committees.
Ken Attended Claremont Men’s College and graduated from Middlebury College and Stanford Graduate School of Business. He and his wife Rebecca have three children. Ken is an athlete, having climbed over 30 of Colorado’s 14,000-foot peaks, and is an enthusiast in the sports of skiing and cycling.
3 words to describe Nature?
Passion. Relief. Opportunity.
3 things Nature taught you?
Stop Breathe Relax Listen as you say so well
Instant change of perspective. It forces to think differently.
Self awareness and all the possibilities
3 most treasured Nature spots?
On any mountain with any of my 3 children. The time with my children in nature is priceless. The bond it creates is profound and so rewarding.
Any aerobic outdoor location. I love how exercising in the outdoors makes me feel. It is more than simply getting a shot of endorphins, it is more a full experience of feeling alive.
On a Colorado mountain, in winter, during a powder day, the rush is priceless
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel…?
Inspired. Small. and refreshed. It brings me back to this balcony in Italy, 20 years ago, overlooking the sea. My wife and I had just gotten engaged. We were looking at the water and started to cry, thinking about both of our parents who had passed away. There is something about self reflection and the ocean.
When you see a forest, it makes you feel…?
Fresh and full of air. Climbing up a mountain, you pass a point where you loose the trees. It is too high for them to grow, not enough oxygen and moisture. So when you come down the mountain and reach the tree line, smelling the pine cones and all the different aromas, it is comforting and refreshing. It is like coming home after a hard day’s work.
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel…?
Reminds me of the smallness of the human species. How little we matter. How our impact on the world (in the big sense) is borderline insignificant.
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel…?
It is a moment of reflection. It puts me in touch with the day that is ahead and the day that has passed. It reminds me of the cycle of life, the beginnings and the ends, the past and the future, what was, is and will be.
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel…?
I really like the thunder. It is a cool way to experience nature. Feeling the energy around you, this incredible force of nature that is so powerful. It is inspiring.
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel…?
On the other end, the wind howling makes me ominous. When I am hiking, biking, climbing, and its starts to blow, I get the feeling of being threatened.
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Mountain through and through
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
9
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
Camping. Our family wasn’t too big on camping, but I remember the few moments we did, with my father and brothers. What I remember the most is the campfire. Being in the outdoors, around the campfire, hearing the fire crackle, smelling the wood burning, it is a powerful experiences that touches so many senses. It is extremely comforting yet threatening. As a child, it is life changing.