We are pleased to introduce the newest addition to the CWC Board of Directors: Sorrel Stielstra. Sorrel came to Claremont fifteen years ago and immediately threw herself into environmental, social, and economic justice issues through Sustainable Claremont.
Sustainability has been a life-long passion for her ever since childhood, owing in part to her father’s cutting-edge interest in energy efficiency and solar energy. She came to understand that social, economic, and environmental sustainability are linked. “You can’t attend very well to any of those without understanding that,” she said.
She also quickly discovered the joys of the Claremont Hills Wilderness Park when she arrived. Her major activity there is strolling with her dogs. She greatly appreciates the chance to relax and recharge.
“I just thought it was so spectacular that we had access to all of that open space with public access right above the city. It’s so congested down here. It’s very crowded, and being able to go up there just feels so lucky.”
“I felt really grateful to the people who had worked hard to to preserve that. We know that it all could easily have been developed. In so many places it is.”
Sorrel brings us her deep non-profit and governmental expertise from Sustainable Claremont as well as from her current job with Growing Inland Achievement, a regional “cradle-to-grave” non-governmental organization focused on educational and economic equity.
All these endeavors fit together within her larger sense of mission in the world: “the caretaking and preservation of resources and quality of life for people and animals and future generations.”
Welcome, Sorrel!