9.14.2007 - 10:45am ET

(CSRwire) WASHINGTON, DC - Septemebr 14, 2007 - The Aspen Institute Catto Fellowship Program today announced its inaugural 2007 Class of Catto Fellows.

The Catto Fellowship Program, modeled after the renowned Henry Crown Fellowship Program and other leadership initiatives of the Aspen Institute, is designed to engage the next generation of environmental leaders from all sectors to connect their specialized work and talent to larger energy, environmental and social concerns. The Aspen Institute leadership initiatives seek to grasp and resolve the indispensable values underlying leadership and, in the case of the Catto Fellowship, the common values critical for a healthy and sustainable environment. The Catto Fellowship Program brings together young professionals that are diverse in viewpoint, political affiliation, industry, ethnicity and gender. All possess the capacity for leading their institutions and society with a positive and more effective vision of environmental stewardship. The Fellows will attend four five-day seminars over a period of 24 months. The Fellows also commit to collectively organizing the most innovative and far-reaching examples of climate stabilization, carbon and energy efficiency, and environmental sustainability for the Aspen Environment Forum in 2009. The Catto Fellowship Program is funded by Henry and Jessica Catto.

"With the Catto Fellowship, we hope to create a band and a bond of young leaders and give them the knowledge and the networks to create "green" commitments in the future. We need a better alignment of sustainable thinking, public policies and market directions to achieve workable combinations for the strength and health of the world," said Jessica Catto.

David Monsma, executive director of the Catto Fellowship Program, said that "environmental leadership today requires more than a smart blend of business acumen, political understanding and community action. For sustainability to have significance, leaders from all sectors must collaborate far more effectively and candidly than they have done in the past." He added: "Such leaders will need to exercise a firm grasp of the critical links among energy demand, economic well-being and protecting the environment. The Catto Fellowship meets this challenge head-on."
The Catto Fellows for 2007 are:

Amal Aldabbabseh, 29, United Nations Development Programme, Amman, Jordan
Raj Atluru, 38, Draper Fisher Juvertson, Menlo Park, CA
Suzanne Biegel, 44, Catalyst at Large, Marina Del Rey, CA
Shelley Billick, 44, Warner Bros., Los Angeles, CA
Rajsekhar Budhavarapu, 38, Accion Wind Energy Ltd., Mumbai, India
Erin Carlson, 32, Yahoo! for Good, San Francisco, CA
Helen Gichohi, 45, African Wildlife Foundation, Nairobi, Kenya
Mark Gold, 44, Heal the Bay, Santa Monica, CA
Lindsey Holmes, 33, Alaska State Legislature, House of Representatives, Juneau, AK
Ian Kim, Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, Oakland, CA
Heather J. Lauver, 39, Pfizer, Inc., New York, NY
John E. Morton, 36, The Pew Charitable Trusts, Washington, DC
Rebecca Nadel, 31, Shell Oil, Houston, TX
Ebenezer Emmanuel Kofi Nketsia-Tabiri, 32, E+Co Africa, Centurion, South Africa
Trip Pollard, 45, Southern Environmental Law Center, Sewanee, TN
Heather Quinley, 33, Duke Energy, Cincinnati, OH
Eben Schwartz, 34, California Coastal Commission, San Francisco, CA
Susan Short, 39, Deep Green Living, New York, NY
Plato Yip, 37, CK Life Sciences, Hong Kong
Jil Zilligen, 38, Nau Clothing Company, Portland, OR

The Aspen Institute's Energy and Environment Program has significant experience convening leaders to engage in civil discourse about energy and environmental issues. The goal of the program is to provide the leadership and a neutral forum for improving policy making through intentional value-based dialogue. The Catto Fellowship and the Aspen Environment Forum are organized by the Energy and Environment Program under the direction of David Monsma.

The Aspen Institute, founded in 1950, is an international nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering enlightened leadership and open-minded dialogue. Through seminars, policy programs, conferences and leadership development initiatives, the Institute and its international partners seek to promote nonpartisan inquiry and an appreciation for timeless values. The Institute is headquartered in Washington, DC, and has campuses in Aspen, Colorado, and on the Wye River on Maryland's Eastern Shore. Its international network includes partner Aspen Institutes in Berlin, Rome, Lyon, Tokyo, New Delhi, and Bucharest, and leadership programs in Africa, Central America and India.

For more information please contact:

Commitment to Transparency: This organization is committed to transparency and stakeholder dialogue and encourages your comments and feedback.

Independent Research Reports To search for independent research reports from Innovest Startegic Value Advisors about the social, environmental and governance performance of this company and its industry, click here Post a comment below: *Your Comment: *Name: *E-mail (will not be displayed):   Notify me when others add comments to this discussion. Verification String (Six characters shown at left)