In honor of International Women’s Day 2020, this week’s Progressive Pioneers will be a quadfecta of amazing young women who are trying to change the world for the better. All too often the news is dominated by negative stories, and one would think that the world is a sad place. However, that is not the case! For optimistic, creative, inventive, and resourceful entrepreneurs Greta Thunberg, Alaina Gassler, and Anna Stork & Andrea Sreshta the world couldn’t be more full of promise and hope. Here are their stories: Greta Tintin Eleonora Ernman Thunberg is a Swedish environmental activist on climate change whose campaigning has gained international recognition. Thunberg is known for her straightforward speaking manner, both in public and to political leaders and assemblies, in which she urges immediate action to address what she describes as the climate crisis. Thunberg first became known for youth activism in August 2018 when, at age 15, she began spending her school days outside the Swedish parliament to call for stronger action on global warming by holding up a sign saying (in Swedish) “School strike for the climate”. Soon, other students engaged in similar protests in their own communities. Together, they organized a school climate strike movement under the name Fridays for Future. After Thunberg addressed the 2018 United Nations Climate Change Conference, student strikes took place every week somewhere in the world. In 2019, there were at least two coordinated multi-city protests involving over 1,000,000 students each. At home, Thunberg convinced her parents to adopt several lifestyle choices to reduce their own carbon footprint, including giving up air travel and not eating meat. Her sudden rise to world fame has made her a leader and a target. In May 2019, Thunberg was featured on the cover of Time magazine, which named her a “next generation leader” and noted that many see her as a role model. Thunberg and the school strike movement were also featured in a 30-minute Vice documentary titled Make...
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April 20, 2016Not too long ago on a rainy night early in October 2015, I found myself attending my 30th high school reunion for the RHS Class of 1985. Attending Revere High School was, like for a lot of young people, both a harrowing and amazing experience. However, over the years, I seemed to only focus on the former, and had all but forgotten the latter. Why? It probably had to do with a less than pleasant personal life. My parents were split up, my family struggled to make ends meet, my social life was all over the place, my young romantic life was non-existent (not for lack of trying though), and I had no idea who and what I was or to become. In fact, as it turns out, I had many, many friends in high school who reminded me of just how much they liked me, and still liked me 30 years later. 30 years… Quite a long time to lose touch with so many good people. I basically avoided all the reunions until the last one like they were the plague. That couldn’t have been further from the truth. What turned me around? Believe it or not Facebook did. Say what you will about this social media network being a huge waste of time and a banal wasteland of inane babble, Facebook allowed me to reconnect with my old classmates reminding me of just how great they really were. A few people in particular, like Christine Ruberto (Berensten, her married name), really got me off my duff to come back to the fold and see everyone once again. And I’m sure glad she did! It was held at the Kowloon Restaurant in Saugus Mass. on Sunday October 4, 2015. Though the weather outside was rainy, the atmosphere inside was...