Michelle Brickner Selected as a Champion of Sustainability

Entrepreneurs for Sustainability (E4S), a Cleveland based economic development organization dedicated to putting sustainability to work since 2000 named seven new Champions of Sustainability at their monthly Third Tuesday Network Event Tuesday evening at Great Lakes Brewing Company. The 2011 class joins 59 past Champions that have been nominated and recognized by their peers across the E4S network. Michelle Brickner, Art Teacher and Organic Community Garden Coordinator at Saint Martin, was nominated by Devon Lynch-Huggins-Szep and selected as one of the 2011 class.

E4S Interim Executive Director Michael Dungan congratulated this year’s honorees and thanked them for the example they set in the community. He commented that, “E4S Champions carry the special distinction of being nominated by their peers for the work they do as implementers as well as for the inspiration they provide for others. We welcome this year’s group to our growing roster of individuals who are embedding sustainability principles in their organization’s operations, product design, company culture and client services.”

In Michelle's nomination narrative Devon highlighted the numerous ways Michelle has implemented sustainable business practices at Saint Martin and positively affected all three areas of the triple-bottom line model of sustainability. Devon highlights how Michelle also contributes to the entire community at Saint Martin: "Michelle is inspiring because she has found a way to make other people want to learn about the things she values. When she recommends a book, people read it. When she invites students to an event, they go. When she brushes the dirt off a vegetable she has just pulled from the garden and hands it to a student who has never really stopped to think about where food comes from, he eats it. Michelle doesn’t teach or lead in a way that says, 'I have information that you need.'  Instead, she imagines progress, pursues it and invites people to join her. The best teachers are passionate and curious about a subject and are willing to invite others to join them as they pursue the subject.  As she has pursued her love of art, design, local food, community gardens while navigating the process of developing and managing a community organic garden at Saint Martin de Porres High School in the Saint Clair Superior Neighborhood, Michelle Brickner has established herself and her work as a model for her students and her colleagues."

Michelle has also participated in a number of conferences and events at which she has shared best practices. At the 1^st annual National Green Schools Conference in Minneapolis, Michelle participated in a panel on implementing the triple-bottom line model of sustainability in schools. She also presented at the Ohio Farm to School Conference. She and her garden interns presented at the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Food Policy Coalition’s Community Food Skill Share and she is in the process of preparing to present at the 2^nd annual National Green Schools Conference, which will be held in Denver in February 2012.  

Thank you, Devon for your nomination and congratulations, Michelle!