Policy Paper: Fairly Trading the World's Timber .jpg)
Reducing timber loss through responsible management of the world’s forest stock has the power to reduce poverty, conflict, and greenhouse gases. This policy paper details efforts to date and provides comprehensive proposals for much needed action.
Age of Greed
WPI Senior Fellow Jeff Madrick describes the history of how greed has bred America’s economic ills over the last forty years, and of the men most responsible for them. He recounts the single-minded pursuit of huge personal wealth that has been on the rise in the United States since the 1970s, led by a few individuals who have argued that self-interest guides society more effectively than community concerns.
Todd Lester
Project Leader, Africa
Expertise: Africa; Conflict Prevention; Human Rights; Immigration and Asylum; Media; Natural Disaster Response; Southern Caucasus; Middle East; Art & Culture; Refugee Services; Humanitarian Response
Todd Lester is founder and currently serves as Executive Director of freeDimensional (fD). While leading the organization's Middle East regional office, he recently held fellowships in Forced Migration & Refugee Studies and the Gerhart Center for Philanthropy and Civic Engagement both at the American University of Cairo. His last day job before launching freeDimensional was as Information & Advocacy Manager for the International Rescue Committee in Sudan. Todd routinely consults for big and small organizations, which have included Reporters Without Borders, FilmAid International, Academy of Screen Arts (Accra), Population Services International (Bangui), Rwanda Cinema Center, Center for Global Peace, Gadalla's Studio (Khartoum), Dutch Refugee Council (Cairo), IRIN News, etc.
He holds a Masters of Public Administration from Rutgers University and is a graduate of the Refugee Studies Centre's Summer School in Forced Migration at Oxford University. Todd is a candidate for Doctorate of Public & Urban Policy at the New School for Social Research from which he received a Film Production Diploma and where he is an adjunct instructor in the Department of Media Studies.
Todd really likes going to the movies. He has served on juries for the Media That Matters Film Festival, Maisha Scriptwriting Laboratory and Paul Robeson Award Initiative at FESPACO. He is active in several networks, think tanks and boards, most notably, the World Policy Institute, 21st Century Trust, Res Artis, and Sangam House. In 2006, Todd received the Peace Corps Fund Award for his work starting freeDimensional and was named 'Architect of the Future' by the Waldzell Institute in 2008.
freeDimensional (fD) is a network that supports art spaces hosting activism and strengthening community engagement. fD is made up of art spaces in over 60 countries with regional hubs in New York City, Cairo, Sao Paulo, Berlin and Pondicherry. fD members provide safe haven for oppressed culture workers in their residency apartments; offer meeting rooms to community members who bring important local issues to light; and introduce new ideas to the public through bold exhibitions and inclusive educational programs.
Honors & Affiliations
Member, 21st Century Trust and Think Tank 30 of the Club of Rome
Waldzell Institute 'Architect for the Future'
Fellowship with the John D. Gerhart Center for Philanthropy and Civic Engagement at the American University of Cairo.
Education
Film Production Diploma, The New School for Social Research
Masters of Public Administration, Rutgers University
PhD in Public and Urban Policy, candidate, The New School for Social Research
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