Fielding Participates in the 2023 Santa Barbara Earth Day Festival with Special Guest Jane Fonda

Climate activist and actor Jane Fonda speaks at Santa Barbara Earth Day 2023 (photo by Hilary Lyn)

The Santa Barbara event marked the 53rd time the festival took place in the coastal city making it among the longest-running Earth Day celebrations in the country. At the Santa Barbara Festival attendees were able to connect and engage with climate-forward businesses and organizations, climate-focused educational activities, environmental speakers, and enjoy locally sourced, climate-friendly food and beverage, and live music.

Like Fielding, Earth Day has its roots in Santa Barbara, California, with the first celebration taking place on April 22, 1970. Today, Earth Day is recognized worldwide with special events in 193 countries attended by more than 1 billion people.

This year’s Santa Barbara event attracted tens of thousands of local community members and international visitors alike including climate activist and actor Jane Fonda. Ms. Fonda was on hand to present the Community Environmental Council’s (CEC)  Environmental Hero Awards on Sunday at the Festival. Awards were received by Nalleli Cobo, an environmental justice advocate and winner of the 2022 Goldman Environmental Prize for North America, and Cesar Aguirre, Director of the Central California Environmental Justice Network, and rural frontline communities organizer.

Fielding has long been a supporter of Earth Day, as it shares the same focus on a sustainable future. Many Fielding alums are actively working around the world as advocates for social and ecological justice. To encourage and support this type of research with new students, Fielding offers a Sustainability Leadership scholarship that increases access and diversity toward greater multi-disciplinary research and practice in sustainability among individuals, organizations, governments, and global communities.

“We are thrilled to highlight a substantial scholarship for new students in Fielding’s Sustainability Doctoral Concentration that is funded by generous support from Fielding’s alums community, in particular sustainability leader, author, and coach, Dr. Kerul Kassel.” — Executive Director of Enrollment Services Lillian Simmons, M.S.

(L-R) Fielding’s Erica Fichter, Hilary Lyn, and Debbie Lemke

Fielding’s participation at this year’s Earth Day Festival was led by the university’s Director of Admissions Erica Fichter, MBA, M.Ed. The Fielding booth was a popular stop for festival attendees as they tested their environmental knowledge with a turn at Fielding’s Educational Spin Wheel. Included on Erica’s team were longtime Fielding staff members Brian Wallin and Ignacio Vargas. Also on hand to help were Fielding’s Director of Alumni Relations Hilary Lyn, and the Director of Academic Conference and Event Services Debbie Lemke.