Mary Hoffman, executive director of Adams State University Community Partnerships, served as a mentor at The Climate Reality Leadership Corps training, held in Denver, March 2-5. Nobel Laureate and former U.S. Vice President Al Gore conducted the training, which was attended by 975 participants from 30 countries.
Gore established the Climate Reality Leadership Corps in 2006, following release of his Academy Award-winning film An Inconvenient Truth. The Corps is a global network of activists committed to spreading awareness of the climate crisis and working for solutions. An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power will be released in late July, 2017. The proceeds from these two movies go toward educating people on the scientific evidence of climate change through Gore’s Climate Reality Project.
"This was a wonderful opportunity to connect with people from all over the world who are concerned about our climate changing, including university scientists," Hoffman said. "I was able to meet Al Gore, shake his hand, and thank him for his leadership." She mentored students and professors from University of Michigan, Wartburg College, University of Iowa, and University of Nevada. In addition to information on climate science and solutions, the event provided training on how to tell the story of climate change and inspire communities to take action.
Hoffman was trained as a climate leader at a similar event held in Chicago in 2013 and was subsequently chosen as a mentor for the Denver training. That work included planning ten acts of leadership around climate change. At the Denver event, she helped mentees develop their own climate commitment action plans. She will maintain contact with them and link them to other resources.
In addition to Gore, Climate Reality Corps presenters included former Colorado Governor Bill Ritter, Jr. As governor, he established Colorado as a national and international leader in clean energy. He later founded the Center for the New Energy Economy at Colorado State University.
