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STAFF - ICJB coordinators/board
Email-
ID385135
Date 2010-12-23 19:49:45
From [email protected]
To [email protected], [email protected],
[email protected], [email protected]
Shana Ortman and Claire Rosenfeld are the US coordinators for
ICJB.
http://www.studentsforbhopal.org/node/57
Advisory Board
The Students for Bhopal Advisory Board is the national
leadership body for
SfB, representing the North American grassroots supporters of
the
International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal. Composed of
approximately 7
volunteer members as well as the US staff member of ICJB, the
Advisory
Board coordinates the actions, projects, and initiatives
undertaken by
ICJB/SfB in North America.
Who is on the Advisory Board?
Shana Blustein Ortman
U.S. Coordinator, International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal;
SfB
Advisory Board Member
Shana has worked on social and environmental justice for the
past 10
years, and she is extremely moved and inspired by the struggle
for Justice
in Bhopal. Before becoming the U.S. Coordinator for ICJB in
April 2008,
she spent nearly four years at ForestEthics, where she was the
Lead
Organizer on the Paper Campaign. Her work focused on
leadership
development and creating grassroots organizing for a campaign
that is
transforming the catalog industry and protecting Endangered
Forests. Most
notably, in 2006, they won the Victoria's Dirty Secret campaign,
a three
year campaign that included over 750 grassroots actions across
NorthAmerica. Shana got her B.A. in Humanities, with a focus on
Children's
Literature and Social Change from New College of California in
2005. She
also spent two years studying Anthropology at Grinnell College,
where she
was very involved with student activism for environmental
justice and
human rights.
Claire Rosenfeld
U.S. Coordinator, International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal;
SfB
Advisory Board Member
Claire got involved with ICJB when she spent a week in July/2008
at the
Sambhavna Trust Clinic in Bhopal. She interned over summer with
Shana at
ICJB in San Francisco and organized the hugely successful curry
cook-offfundraiser. Claire earned her B.A. in Cultural Studies and
Foreign
Languages (Spanish, Hindi) at the Evergreen State College in
Olympia, WA.
As part of the advisory board, she hopes to collaborate with
groups
committed to resolving the ongoing tragedy and provide her own
insight
about the direction of the campaign in North America. She brings
her
strong belief that corporate profit should never come at the
price of
human lives.
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Tony Millard
SfB Advisory Board Member
Tony graduated from the Northwestern University Medill School
of
Journalism in 2006, and he is currently working as a producer,
writer and
editor for an XM satellite medical radio station called ReachMD.
In his
first year on the AB, he helped to coordinate our extensive
media campaign
throughout the entire 2008 Padyatra, which included frequent
pressreleases and outreach to news and information outlets across a
variety of
mediums throughout the United States.
Having volunteered at the Sambhavna Clinic in Bhopal for most of
a year
spanning parts of 2006 and 2007, he hasa firm, first-hand
perspective of
the situation on the ground in Bhopal. From Sambhavna to the
dilapidated
factory, to Oriya Basti and Hamidia Hospital, to the
oft-protested home of
the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh in Shamla Hills, his
knowledge of
Bhopal is a benefit to our strategizing and planning actions
here in the
United States. This applies particularly from the standpoint
of
communicating to others the extent of the devastation across
Bhopal, but
more importantly, the spirit of the Bhopalis who continue to
fight for
Justice.
Diana Katgara
SfB Advisory Board Member
Diana had the chance to spend some time in Bhopal and get to
know a number
of people there. These people who are strong, brillliant,
loving,
creative, inspirational, funny, musical, articulate, insightful,
caring,
full of hope and who will never ever give up fighting for
justice for
themselves and fighting to ensure that what has happened to
Bhopalis
doesn't happen to others have become an important part of her
life.
The grave injustices that have happened and continue to
happen in Bhopal are unacceptable. From December 3rd, 1984
onwardsBhopalies have witnessed the horrors of losing their loved
ones and
continue to be lied to and cheated out of effective health care,
clean
water, safety against deadly poisons, the ability to earn, the
right not
to have to feed babies contaminated breast milk, just to name a
few
things. And yet, they continue to have hope and love and show
care to
eachother and those of us who ask if we can stand alongside
them. They
continue to have hope and trust that the world will not let this
injustice
continue.
Over the last year and a half she hasseen the
creative and meaningful ways that the SfB has supported the
Bhopal
Campaign in the US and she thinks it would be great to bring
some of that
over to Canada.
Yogesh Simmhan
SfB Advisory Board Member
Yogesh brings his passion for justice to the Advisory Board--he
hopes to
improve the lives of Bhopalis, and fight corporate greed and
government
apathy. Co-founder of AID at the Indiana University,
Bloomington, Yogesh
organized all Bhopal-related events at his university from
2003-2007
including vigils, protests, panel discussions with Ryan Bodyani
and Rajan
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Sharma, and a Bhopal photo exhibit. Additionally, he has worked
with
Amnesty International in picketing a talk by Dow CEO Andrew
Liveris in
Indianapolis. In 2006 he helped host the Students for Bhopal
conference
in Bloomington. Yogesh has experience in letter writing, media
management,
and event organizing. He sees the approaching 25th anniversary
of the gas
tragedy as an important opportunity: "The looming 25th
anniversary is a
crucial juncture for our campaign and SfB needs all the support
possibleto mobilize across the US. This is the time for everyone
associated with
the campaign to stand up and be counted, and I'm answering this
call."
Ellen Shifrin
SFB Advisory Board Member
A former professor and administer, Ellen has strong
communication and
organizational skills. Her involvement with the campaign for
justice in
Bhopal began in 2008, but she was involved with Amnesty
International for
many years. She has been invited to table at the UN Association
of
Canada, Toronto event on Water and the AI Business&Human
Rights
conference, The Case for Water as a Human Right. Having traveled
to the
subcontinent eight times, Ellen is looking forward to combining
her
deep-rooted passions for human rights and India.Why do you
believe in justice for Bhopal?
"Bhopal serves not only as a situation in itself, but also as a
model for
people in other places fighting the same type of violations.
There are so
many levels on which to work for justice in Bhopal - human
and
environmental rights, politics, economics, and the human spirit.
So
because Bhopal will always be with us in one way or another,
because the
fight of the gas and water-affected people is wholly
non-violent, because
the spirit of the survivors is so strong--all these are reasons
why I want
to be part of the Advisory Board, why I want to be more
involved, and why
I feel it's such an important cause to be whole-heartedly
committed to."
Leonid Chindelevitch
SFB Advisory Board Member
After being involved with the Bhopal campaign for 3 years at the
local
level and gained experience in activities ranging from making
banners and
folding my body in the shape of various letters to preparing
budget
requests and coordinating the chapter's activities, Leonid has
taken the
next step of joining the campaign's Advisory Board. He expects
to make
significant contribution to SfB by organizing fundraising
events,recruiting new members to the campaign and contacting the
media. In
addition, he hopes to bring new insights into campaign
strategies on the
25th anniversary of the Bhopal disaster.
Interested in joining the Advisory Board?
In the fall there are Advisory Board nominations for positions
that last
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for one year. Occasionally there are openings during other parts
of the
year. Email [email protected] to learn more.
Past Members of the Advisory Board
Pragya Bhagat (2007-09)
Association for India's Development, Austin
Aqueue Freechild (2004-2009)
US Strategy Coordinator, ICJB
Daniel Yeow (2007-08)
Amnesty International, Columbia University
Raghav Kaushik (2006-2007)
Ryan Bodyani (2004-2007)
Student Coordinator, ICJB
