Meet The Faces Of Rising Earth

Lauren Wigo is a multidisciplinary youth educator, somatic movement therapist, writer, and homeschooling mother of three. For over 30 years, she has integrated experiential anatomy, bodywork, developmental movement, yoga, meditation, and related practices into her private therapeutic work, supporting clients in recognizing habitual movement patterns and developing more integrated ways of moving and being.

Throughout her career, Lauren has brought movement and awareness practices to youth through organizations such as The Door, The Lower Eastside Girls Club, and various schools across New York City. In 2016, she cofounded Rising Earth Human Impact Education, a nonprofit dedicated to creating immersive educational experiences with youth and for youth, rooted in ecological healing and restoring relationship with land and place.

The organization’s work began with youth-driven content creation, including graphic short stories, and has since evolved into multidisciplinary creative projects that connect youth directly with plant life and ecosystems in their communities, supporting them in sharing that connection with others.

She serves as lead producer and Director of Youth Programs, co-directing all programs and creative projects and guiding the development of sensory-based, place-rooted experiences that invite deeper connection with the natural world.

As an artist and educator, Maggie has written several, interdisciplinary art curriculums for the New-York Historical Society and has helped hundreds of teen artists at LaGuardia Arts High School (aka New York City's acclaimed "Fame" school) develop their artistic skills and harness them for good. With her remaining hours, she's led the non-profit, Orange Giraffe Project, in guiding a multitude of people living with cancer to transform and celebrate their bodies through personalized jewelry making. Maggie has been honored by the School Arts League with a Mentorship Award, and she recently received an AmeriCorps Leadership Award from Comcast NBCUniversal.

Maggie is currently working on projects that cultivate empathy and empowerment and that bring important stories to life through art, including her own children's books and organizations like Rising Earth. For Rising Earth, she guides the writing and art team in creating its graphic novels, from manuscript to sketches to final art, and oversees the curriculum writing team. She also supervises the youth programs and is an all around collaborator, having played an integral part in establishing the organization as a non-profit. Maggie is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University's Teachers College.

Eris earned his BA in Creative Writing and African American Studies from Hampshire College and his Master's degree in the John W. Draper program in Humanities and Social Thought at NYU. As the Director of Education Programs, Eris leads the design and facilitation of the education programs including the Teen Production Council and Alumni Teen Production Council Internship. He also is part of the curricula writing team for Rising Earth.

For nearly 20 years, Eris has developed and facilitated programs focused on social justice youth leadership and empowerment. He currently is a Senior Director of Coaching and Teacher Support at OneGoal, NY, a college access non-profit. Throughout his professional career, a major focus of his curriculum and facilitation efforts have sought to empower young people to address the causes and impact of climate change in their communities through sustainable and equitable practices. Eris has also co-led student trips to Costa Rica and New Orleans that focused on youth action and leadership in response to climate change and environmental racism.

Joseph Baiz-Elm is a citizen of the Comanche Nation and a descendant of the Onondaga, Oneida, and Otoe-Missouria nations. In 2014, he received a BA in Linguistics and a Certificate in Iroquois Linguistics from Syracuse University. Having a lifelong interest in storytelling and creative writing, he is excited about the possibility of art and story to communicate an indigenous view of the relationship between humans and the natural world.

Joseph is part of the writing team for Rising Earth's graphic novels. He spearheads story, curriculum, and back matter material pertaining to indigenous topics, and assists in all areas involving writing, including letters and grants.

Nguyen is an illustrator whose wide range of happy clients include The New York Times, Amazon Education, and Elle Magazine. His works have been recognized by American Illustration, Society of Illustrators LA, Applied Arts Magazine, and more. He also has experience with non-profits doing creative work for the Chicago Children's Theatre.

Originally from Vietnam, Nguyen is a kind human being who lives and works in Chicago, IL. When he is not drawing and illustrating, you can find him playing and coaching table tennis professionally.

See more of his work at www.leftstudio.com.

Dubois is a rising senior at the University of Pennsylvania, majoring in Science, Technology, and Society, or STSC. He is currently working for his A+ Certification in the ITWorks Program. He worked with Rising Earth as a college intern for the virtual summer session in 2020, organizing and researching stories for Rising Earth's first graphic short stories series. He loved it, which is why he decided to come back as a youth board member.

Kendra is a recent graduate of UCLA where she studied Communications and Entrepreneurship. In her senior year at UCLA she completed a thesis on the role of social media in modern feminism wherein she investigated user’s acceptance and interaction with feminist content. Throughout the last few years she has gained experience in the startup world working for a wide variety of companies, each coincidentally female run. Outside of her studies and work, she is a serious foodie with a knack for cooking.

Having been raised in a family of outdoor enthusiasts, she finds the mission of Rising Earth to be all the more important in today’s world. After her first internship with Rising Earth as a marketing and public relations intern she stayed on as part of the Youth Advisory Board in order to continue helping make a positive impact.

Cierra is a recent graduate of UCLA where she earned a degree in Communications and minored in Entrepreneurship. Her studies taught her that being successful is about serving your own aspirations, the Earth, and all the people around you. She has dabbled in many startup businesses including a magazine, a public relations firm, and an event planning company, but really enjoys education and the environment. Cierra has always been in love with the written word and believes stories have a way of teaching people like nothing else can.

At Rising Earth, Cierra served as the coordinator of our Teen Production Council for high school students. She also helped coordinate the creation of our new curriculum in human impact education. Cierra now sits as a member of the Youth Advisory Board because she loves Rising Earth and its mission and hopes to support Rising Earth’s growth into the future.

Faizah is a senior at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where she is majoring in Electrical Engineering and Science, Technology and Society (STS). At RPI, she is heavily involved in student government, and the President of the RPI Chapter of the Alpha Delta Phi Society, a gender-inclusive arts and literary society. Although initially, she joined RPI as an engineering major, through STS, Faizah is also learning about environmentally conscious engineering efforts and how to become more involved within her community.

Faizah's goal is to work with like-minded people to create a more sustainable world, one that is conscious of the limited nature of human solutions and its impact on the environment. She is currently transitioning into the role of the summer program coordinator and is learning to keep the Rising Earth team organized throughout the summer!

Dr. Zahm received her Doctorate in Anthropology from the Graduate Faculty of the New School in New York in 1980. After teaching in the City University of New York, CUNY, system from 1980-1982, she became a full time documentary film and video Producer/Director for public television and educational distribution. She has received multiple awards as a film and video Producer/Director. Her awards include: the Ester Award, the Earth Watch/National Geographic Society Award, the Silver Cindy Award, the American Film Festival-Blue Ribbon Award, and several Cine Golden Eagle Awards, among others. In addition, she was field producer for the Emmy Award winning television series, Big Blue Marble and 3-2-1 Contact.

In 1998, Dr. Zahm joined It’s About Time (IAT) as the Director of Product Development and Grants. At this global leader in research-based Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) curricula for K-12 and college students, she supervised the publication of all IAT print, video, and multimedia products since that time including: Active Physics (3 Editions), MathConnections (3 Editions), EarthComm (2 Editions), Investigating Earth Systems, Active Biology, Active Chemistry (2 Editions), Investigating Environmental Science, InterActions in Physical Science (2 Editions), BioComm, and Project Based Inquiry Science (PBIS) a 3 year middle-school science curriculum.

In addition, Dr. Zahm served as the Principal Investigator for the National Science Foundation (NSF) funded project Overcoming Obstacles to Scaling-Up with a Cyberlearning Professional Development Model (PBIS CyberPD Project) (NSF Award # 1119202). She also served as the Principal Investigator on the Active Chemistry (NSF Award # 0137872) and Active Physics Revision (NSF Award # 0352516) curricula development projects.

Lavina is a development professional with significant experience writing and managing all aspects of foundation, corporate and government grants. She currently works as a freelance fundraising and grant writing consultant, as well as part-time with the Office for College Advancement at Kingsborough Community College.

She is an active board member of City Growers – a young non-for-profit that provides hands-on environmental education to children of all ages on two working rooftop farms in New York City. Lavina holds an MA and BA in Environmental Studies and has worked with a range of organizations, from environmental justice and social justice to advocacy, education, and more.

Gabriel is originally from Lima, Peru. He holds a Masters in Zootechnical Engineering from Agraria La Molina. In 2003 Gabriel spent a year working with Savehre River Wildlife Rescue center in Costa Rica that sparked his interest in conservation work and had began studies for a second masters in Wildlife Conservation, until the blessing of fatherhood shifted his plans. For more than a decade now, Gabriel has worked as a movement educator with a private practice. He has also worked with youth in NYC public schools, housing shelters and various summer programs, helping young people connect with themselves and others through a variety of movement practices from drumming, Capoeira, team building and self-awareness practices.

He was drawn to Rising Earth because it combines his two joys, helping youth connect with themselves and their own patterns and helping them pave the way toward a new ecological paradigm.