Board of Directors
Anai Rhoads is the Founder and Executive Director of AnaiRhoads.org. A social justice activist since 1991, Anai helped debunk UK Prime Minister Tony Blair’s pre-Iraq war Downing Street Dossier in 2003, proving the document was plagiarized by a student’s paper; convinced US figure skater Johnny Weir to not wear fur at the 2010 Olympics while serving as the media director for an animal advocacy group and was the first to expose the language in vaccine waivers that jeopardized parental rights in the United States; recognized by prominent international autism and vaccine groups.
Her work was featured in the Organization of the Islamic Conference Annual Report on Islamophobia in 2007, UNAIDS Global Coalition on Women and AIDS, Iranian-American Council, and she has been quoted in the New York Times, LA Times, Associated Press, Pacifica and dozens of other prominent media outlets around the world.
Chris Ford is a writer, activist and organizer who works on environmental, political, animal rights and human rights issues. Chris was twice elected to lead the Student Environmental Action Coalition, is the co-founder and former co-director of the Border Action Network, was a research associate for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and is the former senior writer for the American Civil Liberties Union’s Washington Legislative Office.
He has worked with numerous organizations including Save Ward Valley, Earth First!, the Southern Arizona Alliance for Economic Justice, Coalicion de Derechos Humanos and the American Friends Service Committee. Currently, Chris is the legislative and outreach director for AnaiRhoads.org.
Mike Roselle is the co-founder of the Ruckus Society, Earth First!, and the Rainforest Action Network. Mike was a Director for Greenpeace USA and a Board member of the National Forest Protection Alliance. As a timber campaigner, Mike worked on Ralph Nader’s Resource Conservation Alliance. Mike is currently working to stop mountaintop removal through his group, Climate Ground Zero and has co-authored Tree Spiker with Josh Mahan (2009).
James “Guin” McGuinness is the co-founder of Seeds of Peace and the Shundahai Network, a non-profit which fought uranium mining, nuclear power plants, nuclear waste transportation and nuclear waste dumping. He also worked with American Peace to stop nuclear testing in Nevada and Save Ward Valley. He collaborated actions with Earth First!, Greenpeace and many others. He was the Director of the Homeless Advocacy Project in Las Vegas. He currently works with Climate Ground Zero to stop mountaintop removal.
Keith McHenry is one of the original eight anti-nuclear activists that started Food Not Bombs in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1980. Keith was inspired to help start sharing vegan meals with the hungry when he was trimming produce at Bread and Circus Natural Foods, discarding five or six cases of organic produce every morning. Today the all volunteer movement he co-founded shares free vegan and vegetarian meals with the hungry on the streets of over 1,000 cities around the world.
After spending his childhood living at the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Big Bend and other National Parks he moved to New England to study painting at Boston University. Keith was introduced to the principles of social change by his American History Professor Howard Zinn. While in school Keith started the advertising firm Brushfire Graphics and won several Cio Awards. His clients included the Boston Red Sox and the Boston Celtics.
After volunteering with Boston Food Not Bombs for eight years he moved to San Francisco, California and started a second chapter. On August 15, 1988 he and eight other volunteers were arrested for “making a political statement” by sharing free meals at the entrance to Golden Gate Park. Keith was arrested another 100 times and spent over 500 nights in jail. He face 25 to life in prison when he was framed under the California “three strikes and your out” law. Amnesty International declared all Food Not Bombs volunteers prisoners of Conscience working for Keith’s unconditional release and the United Nations Human Rights Commission designated him as a political prisoner. Keith was beaten by the police while volunteering with Food Not Bombs and required two surgeries after one particularly violent assault.
Keith co-authored the book “Food Not Bombs, How to Feed The Hungry and Build Community” which has sold over 10,000 copies in English and thousands more in Spanish, French, Italian and Russian.He tours the world helping Food Not Bombs groups and speaking about the history, principles and current actions of this global movement. When he is not on tour Keith shares vegan meals with the hungry each week with his local Food Not Bombs chapter in Taos, New Mexico. He is starting a small farm and continues to paint and draw. Keith designed the Food Not Bombs logo and many of the images associated with the movement. Keith is also writing another book and volunteers with the global coordination office of Food Not Bombs.
Shelley Bluejay Pierce is the Media Director for “Project Indigenous,” a company that provides quality educational programs that teaches from the Indigenous perspective through the humanities. She is also a Contributing Producer for “First Voices Indigenous Radio,” a weekly radio show broadcasting from New York City that provides a voice for Indigenous issues, concerns, cultures, and customs and broadcasts on FVIR and WBAI 99.5 FM.
Shelley is a contributing journalist for “Native American Times,” which includes covering all White House level press, and “Our Voice” newspaper in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Shelley’s work has appeared in the Pacific Free Press, Anairhoads.org, Dandelion Salad, FPCN-Global Environmental Network, Intercontinental Cry, and La Luciole.
Will Potter is an award-winning independent journalist based in Washington, D.C., who focuses on “eco-terrorism,” the environmental and animal rights movements, and civil liberties post-9/11. Will has written for publications including The Chicago Tribune, The Dallas Morning News and the Vermont Law Review. He has testified before the U.S. Congress about his reporting, and was the only dissenting witness against the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act. He is the creator of GreenIsTheNewRed.com, and is the author of “Green Is The New Red,” forthcoming from City Lights Books.
James Jordan is the National Co-Coordinator for the Alliance for Global Justice (AFGJ). James focuses on building international labor solidarity, and on trade issues, especially regarding their effects on family farmers and farm workers in Colombia, Mexico, Haiti, the United States and elsewhere.
Jordan Flaherty is a journalist, an editor of Left Turn Magazine, and a staffer with the Louisiana Justice Institute. He was the first writer to bring the story of the Jena Six to a national audience. His work has been published and broadcast in outlets including Die Zeit (in Germany), Clarin (in Argentina), Al-Jazeera, TeleSur, Huffington Post, Democracy Now! and AnaiRhoads.org. He is the author of FLOODLINES: Stories of Community and Resistance from Katrina to the Jena Six.
John Atkeison works for a solar power equipment manufacturer. He has been a campaigner, publicist and lobbyist in the energy policy arena. Global Warming and the resulting climate changes have been his primary focus since 1998. John has worked professionally as a campaign manager at the congressional level, a publisher, and an information technology consultant. He has served as a volunteer television producer for the cable news magazine GreenViews and volunteer producer for the troupe Climate Action Theatre, both of which he initiated. He has also served as a speaker for community education and organizing efforts, union negotiator, and has been a candidate for public office. He served as Director of Climate and Clean Energy programs at the Alliance for Affordable Energy in New Orleans. John returned to the Gulf Coast from Washington DC, Los Angeles and Philadelphia.
