With Appreciation

As we close out 2025, I’d like to thank the following people and organizations for continuing to lead with determination, creativity, and spirit—fighting for sustainability, a stable climate, and democracy at a moment in history when all are profoundly at risk.

Thank you, Brandon Kramer and Lance Kramer, for directing and producing “Holding Liat”—a film short-listed for an Oscar that tells a deeply human story through the difficult, unbearable reality of a couple taken hostage by Hamas militants in Gaza. And thank you to the courageous Beinin/Atzili family for inviting filmmakers into their lives during such a harrowing time.

Thank you to Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, California Governor Gavin Newsom, and Ceres CEO Mindy Lubber for standing firm—for being smart, strategic, and unflinching in the face of personal and institutional attacks. Your leadership defends not just policies, but the very principles of democracy and social progress.

Thank you to Peter O'Driscoll and the team at the Equitable Food Initiative (EFI) for conceiving, designing, implementing, and now taking internationally a systemic change in how we compensate farmers who grow specialty crops—and doing so in ways that is a win-win for farmers, for the retailers who sell their harvest, and for all of us who eat fruits and vegetables.

Thank you to George Mason University President Gregory Washington, who has stood strong and determined in the face of repeated and relentless attacks by the Trump Administration, and who continues to stand firm in defense of academic freedom and social justice.

“Thank you” seems like such an easy thing to say or write. But speaking it out loud evokes powerful emotions. When we find ourselves wondering, “What in the world can I, as one person, possibly do?,” make a list of three people. Write to them, text them, or call them. Tell them why you’re grateful. Be sure to tell them that you see what they’re doing and how it's making the world a better place. It will help them—and you.