May 22, 2018
From the time she was five, Kelsey Wirth traveled with her dad Tim Wirth as he was up for reelection in Congress- every two years in a swing district. Kelsey says she grew up in the spirit of both unpredictability and standing up for what you believe in. She is comfortable with uncertainty, something she credits with her success as an entrepreneur (she co-founded Invisalign at 27) and her work behind the non profit Mothers Out Front, which uses grassroots organizing to tackle the dirty energy powering climate change. Mothers Out Front creates practical solutions against a threat that can feel hopeless. Recently, members mapped gas leak spots in their community, setting in motion a plan that could reduce methane from gas leaks Massachusetts by 50%.
"We take an enormous threat and we break it down into pieces that enable mothers to take action and make meaningful change." The grief Kelsey felt while watching a documentary about polar bears in the Arctic with her daughters led to the birth of Mothers Out Front, but the work of Mothers About Front is local and not political in focus. Local moms and grandmothers take on often giant, entrenched utilities and corporate interests. Kelsey is hopeful and inspiring in her belief behind the power of the "snowflake" organizing model, made popular by President Obama in his Presidential runs and created by Marshall Ganz at Harvard. If you're an organizing nerd you'll love listening to how Mothers Out Front has grown!