In this Convo of Flanigan’s Eco-Logic, Ted speaks with Andy Lipkis, Founder of TreePeople, who served as President for five decades. He is currently a Project Executive at Accelerate Resilience LA (ARLA). Andy is a pioneer of urban and community forestry, urban watershed management, and urban climate resilience, dedicating his life to healing the environment while improving the lives of individuals and communities.
Andy grew up in southwest LA and began planting trees to rehabilitate smog and fire damaged Los Angeles–area forests when he was 15 years old. At 18, he founded TreePeople, bringing together people, trees, and forest-inspired ‘green infrastructure’ to protect cities against droughts and floods, prevent water and air pollution, and mitigate and adapt to climate change.
Andy served as a consultant to the City of Los Angeles as a program planner and public engagement and education facilitator. TreePeople’s work in LA provided a model for environmental, economic, and social sustainability in cities everywhere. He created a greener future for Los Angeles by inspiring people, along with their local governments, to plant and care for trees and harvest and conserve the rain. Since its founding, TreePeople volunteers have been responsible for the planting of more than 2 million trees and counting. Its environmental education program reaches more than 200,000 students per year, with millions of children touched over the decades.
With climate change impacts already creating a chronic emergency for cities around the world, Andy's work has demonstrated promising new ways for individuals, communities and government agencies to collaboratively reshape urban tree canopy and water infrastructure to save lives and grow a more livable future. After retiring from TreePeople in 2019, Andy launched Accelerate Resilience LA, a fiscally sponsored project of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors to inspire and enable people and local governments to equitably accelerate climate resilience in Los Angeles.
He shares with Ted that his personal mission is to inform, inspire, engage, and support people and communities to participate in restoring the healthy functioning of an ecosystem so it can abundantly provide life support services. He highlights the power of individuals and communities to make a positive impact, and the great need that exists to heal our environment. He and Ted discuss the numerous programs that increased citizen involvement in urban tree planting and care, which led him to being recognized by Johnny Carson.
What is Flanigan's Eco-Logic?
Flanigan's Eco-Logic, hosted by Ted Flanigan, provides cutting-edge information and insights in sustainability and the clean energy space. Episodes address alternative energy -- featuring solar, storage, microgrids, vehicle grid integration, and energy access. In addition, the podcast covers resources issues -- like water and food issues, and even slow fashion. Flanigan’s enthusiasm, vast experience, and deep network in the energy and environmental arena are palpable as he brings exciting and encouraging green developments to the fore, interviewing and engaging leading policy makers and practitioners throughout the United States and in many countries around the world.