GREEN FOR ALL EXPANDS D.C. OFFICE WITH THE ADDITION OF JESSY TOLKAN AND TERENCE SAMUEL

[OAKLAND, CA] – Green For All announced today the expansion of its Washington, D.C., office with the addition of Jessy Tolkan and Terence Samuel.  Tolkan, formerly of Energy Action Coalition, joins as Political Director.  Samuel, previously with TheRoot.com, joins as Communications Director.

“As we work to build access and opportunity in and political will for a clean-energy economy, we are delighted to welcome Jessy and Terry to our team,” said Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins, CEO of Green For All.  “Their unparalleled leadership and depth of experience will help strengthen Green For All’s efforts to develop and scale more equitable solutions to poverty and climate change.”

Tolkan will lead the national nonprofit’s efforts to deepen and advance its legislative agenda, including passing comprehensive federal climate and energy legislation, and a jobs bill that includes provisions to expand opportunities for the country’s most vulnerable communities.  She will also be instrumental in growing and activating Green For All’s extensive network of supporters and strategic partnerships. 

“We are standing in the midst of a historic opportunity to build a strong and inclusive green economy,” said Tolkan.  “I am honored to join this exceptional team that has been leading this charge.”

Tolkan comes to Green For All after serving as executive director of Energy Action Coalition, a network of more than fifty youth organizations united in their fight for a clean-energy future.

Among her achievements, last year Tolkan organized the largest single lobby day on Capitol Hill focused on global warming.  In 2004, she helped to register more than 130,000 young voters and produce one of the highest youth-turnout rates in the country. She also played a lead role in organizing POWER SHIFT 2009, the largest youth gathering on global warming.  Tolkan has been featured in various publications such as The New York Times, TIME, Vanity Fair, and Rolling Stone.

As Communications Director, Samuel will develop and direct the organization’s communications strategies to promote best practices and advance its policy initiatives to key stakeholders including media, Members of Congress, industry leaders, local electeds, and grassroots organizations. He will also oversee Green For All’s award-winning online efforts. 

“No issue is more crucial to the short-term recovery of America than widespread and sustained job creation, and none more central to its long-term viability than the development and expansion of an energy economy that stops doing harm to the planet,” Samuel said. “Together, these two ideas pose some of the most important political and economic questions of our time. I can’t think of a better place to engage in that debate right now than at Green For All.”

Previously, Samuel served as deputy editor of TheRoot.com, the Washington Post Company’s  web site aimed at a predominantly African-Americans audience.  He was an integral part of the leadership team that developed and launched the publication, and oversaw its daily operations and long-term editorial strategy.

Samuel is a veteran reporter with over twenty-years of experience. For the past six years, he has written a weekly column for The American Prospect, one of which appears in the Best American Political Writing of 2009 (Public Affairs).  Prior to TheRoot.com, Samuel was director of editorial programming at AOL Black Voices where he managed an editorial team of thirty writers and editors responsible for creating and promoting content for African-American users. He was the chief congressional correspondent for U.S. News & World Report for five years before that and served as a national correspondent for The St. Louis Post-Dispatch and The Philadelphia Inquirer.