Kelly Meyer
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Kelly Chapman Meyer, passionate environmental activist, began as a member of the NRDC Action Forum and is currently a Co-Chair of the NRDC Leadership Council, where she lobbies on behalf of environmental policies and legislation. She is a board member of Heal the Bay and worked to help pass the Environmental Education Initiative which provides environmental education for all children in the state of California, K – 12. In 2008, with her partner Tom Schey, she built the first LEED Platinum home in California (www.project7ten.com) that was used to educate the public on Green building and raise money for environmental causes. She recently supported the implementation of the Marine Life Preserve Area (MLPA) on the coast of Southern California.

As co-founder of the Women’s Cancer Research Fund, a program of the Entertainment Industry Foundation, (www.womenscancerresearchfund.org) she has helped raise over $40 million for ground breaking Bio-Marker research and medical institutions. She and her co-founders received Glamour magazine’s Women of the Year Award in 2004.

Inspired by First Lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” campaign, Kelly is currently focused on the launch and expansion of the Teaching Garden (www.takepart.com/teachinggarden) into 1,000 schools within the next two years. With the goal of solving childhood obesity, this program focuses on integrating better nutrition habits and fitness into schools across the nation. By introducing organic gardening along with a nutritional curriculum and technology that allows schools to communicate with other participants, the hope is to re-establish what it means to be healthy for the next generation.

A strong supporter of the public school system, she was president of the PTA at Point Dume Marine Science School in Malibu. She recently completed a solar and wind energy project at her children’s public elementary school where the community experienced first hand, the concept of thinking globally while acting locally. A true outdoorswomen, she is an avid surfer, stand up paddler, yoga devotee, tri-athlete and hiker. She is the mother of two, Carson and Eli, and wife of Ron Meyer, President and COO of Universal Studios.

Blog Entries by Kelly Meyer

Teaching Gardens are Sprouting

(1) Comments | Posted May 1, 2012 | 3:00 PM

Dr. Seuss' timeless story, The Lorax, reinforces what we as moms instinctively know -- when kids plant the seeds and nurture and harvest the plants, they learn the value of good eating habits and appreciate the environment.

On Teaching Garden planting days, I often ask kids to...

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Video: Gardens That Teach

(4) Comments | Posted March 28, 2012 | 10:18 AM

Gardens can be many things.

When we planted our first Teaching Garden, we were thinking about helping kids connect with the earth in a way that would get them excited about eating fresh foods. Soon after our first success, the American Heart Association adopted us, and we...

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Redefining Veterans Day

(9) Comments | Posted November 9, 2011 | 2:05 PM

I grew up in Colorado Springs in between Ent Air Force Base, Fort Carson, and the Air Force Academy. As a kid, I remember our family hosting and entertaining cadets from the Air Force Academy at our house. My dad is a World War II Air Force veteran, my step-dad...

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What A Fortune-Teller Told Me About My Marriage

(7) Comments | Posted October 3, 2011 | 12:11 AM

As an environmental activist, it was refreshing to be asked to write about marriage. Shortly after I got married, for the first and, probably, last time, I went to a fortune-teller on a friend's recommendation. Now, the experience didn't change my life and didn't even really alter my opinion of...

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National Launch of the First "Teaching Garden"

(6) Comments | Posted April 5, 2010 | 12:07 PM

Five years ago, at age 11, my daughter blogged about the plight of "school lunches" at her elementary school. Then she blogged an update when she got to middle school. I remember a statistic at the time saying that obesity-related illnesses in the future would impact...

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Protecting Our Oceans

(3) Comments | Posted July 23, 2009 | 10:19 AM

Imagine a world without fish. It's closer than you think. And, it's not the legacy I want to leave for my children. As a Southern California resident and long-time ocean activist, I care deeply about the state of our sea and know we cannot take it for granted. It provides...

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Video: Building A Better Green House

(21) Comments | Posted November 9, 2007 | 7:00 AM

Project7ten , named for the address of our model green house, is a three-dimensional example that showed people the reality of green building and green living. People can come and tour the house to see how beautiful, but also how possible it is to live green. It's a showcase...

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Sheehan and Sting

(24) Comments | Posted August 22, 2005 | 9:29 PM

The other night I was listening to Sting's song "They Dance Alone," and I came to a new and profound understanding of Cindy Sheehan's protest in Crawford, Texas. As I heard Sting's stirring lyrics about Chilean women dancing in the streets with photographs of their sons and husbands who...

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