Over the past twenty-four years, we have been honored to be a part of building a strong, vocal, and engaged environmental community in Connecticut. Each year, we look back and honor a few community leaders from around the state who had shown leadership in their commitment to sustainability and conservation.
Past Awardees:
Lifetime Achievement Award
David Bingham, 2023 David Bingham,is a retired physician (OB-GYN) who first joined the national League of Conservation Voters during the first Earth Week in 1970. He comes from a political family with elected members representing both sides of the aisle. He joined the CT LCV Board in its first year after its organization. He was a candidate for Congress in the 2nd Congressional District in 1994, on Governor Weicker's independant A Connecticut Party ticket, and has been a life-long activist on CT policy issues and electoral politics, advocating and testifying on behalf of the Sierra Club, NARAL Pro-Choice America, Planned Parenthood, Population Connection, Rivers Alliance, CT Land Conservation Council and Audubon CT.
He currently serves on the boards of the Salem Land Trust and the Eightmile River Wild and Scenic Coordinating Committee. David was an elected member of the Salem CT Planning and Zoning Commission for 36 years. He also chairs CTLCV's Political Action Committee, participating in hundreds of endorsement interviews with political candidates for the CT legislature over the years.
Denise Merrill, 2022 Denise came into politics on an environmental issue – fighting to stop the placement of a polluting facility in Eastern Connecticut. As soon as she was elected to the CT General Assembly, she helped lead the fight to shut down our state’s most polluting power plants known as the “Filthy Five” (and later the “Sooty Six”). As House Majority Leader from 2008 to 2010, Denise was the first to introduce legislation calling for a ban on plastic bags and supported many progressive environmental policies. She went on to serve as CT Secretary of State for 12 years where she helped to remove unnecessary obstacles to voting and most recently established a program to combat misinformation about the elections on the internet. Her unstoppable work to expand access to absentee ballots and early voting has been instrumental in ensuring every citizen can safely and conveniently exercise their right to vote. Denise will be greatly missed in public office and her commitment to voting rights, democracy, and the environment is to be commended.
Norm Bloom, 2021 Born and raised in Norwalk, Connecticut, Norm Bloom has been around marinas and oysters his entire life. Norm has always been a proponent of hard work and began working at the boat yards at the age of 10. By the time he was 15, Norm was oystering full-time at Tallmadge Brothers for his father and uncle. While atTalmadge Brothers, he continued to build on his experience and expertise as both an oysterman and boating enthusiast. In the late 1970s he was appointed captain of the The Grace. Nearly twenty-five years after leaving Talmadge Brothers, Norm has grown Copps Island Oysters into one of the largest oyster farms on the east coast with a strong focus on sustainability. Although he is no longer out on the water harvesting, he continues to work tireless hours managing the shop and overseeing approximately 75 employees. When Norm isn’t working (which is a rare sight), he enjoys boating, swimming, watching movies and spending time with his family.
Legislator of the Year or Civil Service Award
Christine Palm, 2023 Representative Christine Palm serves Connecticut's 36th General Assembly District which represents Chester, Deep River, Essex and Haddam. Elected in 2018, she currently serves as vice-chair of the Environment Committee. She has been a champion of numerous environmental initiatives, including environmental justice reform, climate change curriculum, invasive species legislation, green burial, and more. She was a 2023 winner of the prestigious National Walter Cronkite Award for Climate Education.
Before being elected, she served as women’s policy analyst for the General Assembly’s Commission on Women, Children, and Seniors (CWCS), a group that advocates for policies that enhance the safety and economic security of these three under-represented populations. Before that, she was the communications director of the Permanent Commission on the Status of Women (PCSW). She also served as media director for the Office of the State Treasurer.
Environmental Leader Award
Louise Washer, 2023 Louise Washer is president of the Norwalk River Watershed Association (NRWA) and has served on the board since 2010. She is a co-founder of the Pollinator Pathway and a member of its Executive Board. She also serves on the Norwalk Mayor’s Water Quality Committee, the steering committee for the Hudson to Housatonic Regional Conservation Partnership (H2H), and the board of the Delaware Highlands Conservancy. Louise graduated from Smith College in 1985 and her background is as a magazine editor. NRWA works to protect and restore water quality and fish and wildlife habitats in the Norwalk River Watershed. It is a nonprofit organization that engages community volunteers to help restore native trees, shrubs, wildflowers and grasses to the riverbanks, meadows, parks, urban streets, and forests of the watershed; it works to expand community access to the river, the surrounding open space, and its trails; supports research and legislative policy that protects biodiversity, clean air, and water; and promotes education, cooperation, and action on the part of the stakeholders in the seven watershed towns in CT (Ridgefield, Redding, Wilton, New Canaan, Weston, and Norwalk) and NY (Lewisboro).
The Pollinator Pathway, founded in Wilton in 2017, is a grassroots network of over 350 communities across 20 states working to inspire, educate and support diverse communities working together to restore and connect habitat for native pollinators.
Organization of the Year Award
Interreligious Eco-Justice Network, 2023 Interreligious Eco-Justice Network's mission is to inspire and equip Connecticut’s religious communities and their spiritual allies to protect our planet through education, engagement, and advocacy.Since its founding in 2001, IREJN has advocated for issues related to environmental justice, including fossil fuel power plant and transportation emissions, energy efficiency, plastic pollution, and toxic chemicals. IREJN has assisted hundreds of congregations across Connecticut with energy efficiency measures, helping them reduce energy costs and usage, while also reducing their greenhouse gas emissions. IREJN has assisted with the implementation and expansion of community and pollinator gardens with several houses of worship, both supporting efforts to provide access to fresh produce and create healthy ecosystems for wildlife. In addition, IREJN offers numerous educational opportunities for people of faith to learn about and take action on climate change, toxic pollution, and biodiversity loss.
Committed to justice and grounded in hope, IREJN is a unifying voice for all people of faith dedicated to positive action on behalf of the planet.
Community Achievement Award
RiseUp for Arts CT, 2022 RiseUP For Arts is a non-profit aimed at creating public art that is inclusive and accessible for anyone. RiseUP for Arts has completed over 100 mural and place-making projects throughout Connecticut. RiseUP works with 50+ local, professional artists, collaborates with 100's of partners, and hosts 1,000+ volunteers per year to help beautify our communities. RiseUP For Arts creates public art through public art consulting and curating, donations, grants, and community goodwill. RiseUP supports artists, cities, other nonprofits, companies, and local community members in making their public art projects come to life. The organization helps create the vision and manages the entire process to beautify communities. CTLCV is proud to honor RiseUP For Arts for their commitment towards racial justice, community organizing and environmental stewardship. Matt Conway, the Executive Director, will be accepting the award on the organization's behalf.
Adrienne Farrar Houël, 2021 President and CEO of the Greater Bridgeport Community Enterprises, Inc. (GBCE). Ms. Farrar Houël is a Bridgeport area native with 25 years of international executive experience in France, Russia and Ireland in real estate development and marketing.
In 2002 she returned to the US and pursued a career in economic development where she designed, funded and operated workforce training programs. In 2006, under the umbrella of ABCD, Inc., she created GBCE and The Green Team with its three areas of green contracting: environmental and Brownfields remediation; weatherization and energy conservation, and deconstruction, reuse and recycling.
Sustainability Innovation Award
Jessica Bailey, 2021 Prior to co-founding Greenworks Lending in 2015, Jessica led the design, management, and implementation of the nation’s first successful C-PACE program at the CT Green Bank. In its first two years, the program financed $75 million in clean energy projects and executed the first securitization of commercial efficiency assets – more than doubling the volume of C-PACE transactions between 2013 and 2014. From 2004-2012, Bailey worked at the Rockefeller Brothers Fund (RBF), an $800 million foundation based in New York. As the Fund’s program officer for sustainable development, she co-managed a $7 million portfolio of grants focused on mitigating climate change and promoting clean energy.
Jessica received her graduate degree from Yale University and undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame. She is a member of YPO and sits on the board of PACENation, the League of Conservation Voters, CT and CTNext.
