The Alliance is pleased to welcome community leaders to Rally to share their insights with us:
Nina Simon
Nina Simon is the Spacemaker & CEO of OF/BY/FOR ALL, a global nonprofit that creates digital tools to help civic and cultural organizations become more inclusive, relevant, and sustainable. The OF/BY/FOR ALL Change Network program involves over 50 museums, libraries, parks, theaters, and nonprofit organizations, all taking bold strides to become of, by, and for their diverse communities. Prior to founding OF/BY/FOR ALL, Nina was the Executive Director of the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History, where she led a dramatic turnaround and eight years of growth rooted in community involvement.
Nina is the best-selling author of The Participatory Museum (2010) and The Art of Relevance (2016). She has been named an Ashoka fellow, a “museum visionary” by Smithsonian Magazine, and Santa Cruz County Woman of the Year. Nina lives off the grid in the Santa Cruz Mountains with 20 people, 24 chickens, 3 dogs and 1 zip line.
James Edward Mills
James Edward Mills is a freelance journalist who specializes in telling stories about outdoor recreation, environmental conservation, acts of charitable giving, and practices of sustainable living. He has worked in the outdoor industry since 1989 as a guide, outfitter, independent sales representative, writer, and photographer. He is the author of the book “The Adventure Gap: Changing the Face of the Outdoors” and the co-writer/co-producer of the documentary film An American Ascent.
James has written for the Wisconsin State Journal, Madison Magazine, and Wisconsin Trails. He is currently a contributor to several outdoor-focused print and online publications such as National Geographic Adventure, Rock & Ice, Alpinist, SUP, Elevation Outdoors, Women’s Adventure, the Clymb, Park Advocate, High Country News, Land & People, Outside Magazine and The GuardianIn 2020 James’s book The Adventure Gap was named by Outside Magazine as one of the 10 “Outdoor Books that Shaped the Last Decade”.
Currently as a faculty assistant at the University of Wisconsin Nelson Institute For Environmental Studies James teaches a summer course for undergraduate students on diversity, equity and inclusion in outdoor recreation and public land management called Outdoors For All.