BETSY TAYLOR is the founder and President of the Center for a New American Dream, a non-profit group that helps Americans resist excessive commercialism and consume wisely to protect the environment, improve quality of life, and enhance social justice. She has a masters degree in public administration from Harvard University and graduated summa cum laude with a BA from Duke University. Since the mid-70s, Ms. Taylor has directed several non-profit environmental and peace organizations and has worked in leadership roles at the local, federal and international level. She spent twelve years in the philanthropic sector directing the Ottinger Foundation, Stern Fund, and more recently, the Merck Family Fund. In this capacity, she helped the foundations direct grants to numerous charities working to protect the environment, promote world peace, advance campaign finance reform, and increase political and economic democracy in the United States.
She was a member of the Population and Consumption taskforce of the President's Council for Sustainable Development and has testified before the United Nations, Congressional committees, and municipal governments. She has been a public speaker before national conventions of industry, government, and environmental groups and has published articles in The Washington Post, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and Boston Globe. Her other book, Sustainable Planet: Solutions for the 21st Century, was published in November, 2002 by Beacon Press.
The Interesting Stuff: Betsy got her start in rural Rising Sun, Maryland as the daughter of a country physician and nurse team. The view from her front porch was of a large dairy farm and rolling hills and forests. This immediate and constant connection to nature and the ever-present life and death events in the home-based medical practice helped Betsy get an early "ah hah" about what really matters in life. She enjoyed the occasional shopping spree with friends and did get suckered into buying a pet rock during that nationwide fad, but in general, material things were never too important in the overall scheme of her daily life. Her father, a country doc, insisted on driving an old beat-up Ford and wore his ragged gym pants while visiting patients in the hospital. Pretense just wasn't in the family culture, though more than a few people thought the Taylor household was a bit odd for not using their money in more fashionable ways.
Betsy's parents placed a premium on family and fun. Some of her childhood memories include a party that required people to put on dramatic skits and to incorporate live farm animals into their productions. She has vivid memories of a live piglet and chicken running through her home in hopes of avoiding being put on stage. As a child, she played magic tricks with her father, organized many neighborhood "capture the flag" games, and sang endless Broadway tunes with her mother. She developed an early love for watching stars, planting flowers, playing sports, making chocolate chip cookies, and jamming on the piano.
As a college student, she informed her great uncle that she hoped to write a book one day. He replied sternly that she should not write one unless she really had something important and unique to say. This counsel stayed with her for years and continues to haunt her a bit…has she said enough? Does her book matter? Will it help the world in some small way? She hopes so.
Betsy recommends the film Baraka - an unusual film of visual footage and music that portrays the extraordinary capacity of people to love and to hate, to experience and transcend pain, and to remember our small place in the larger universe. Other favorites include: Standing in the Shadows of Mo'Town, My Left Foot, Schindler's List, French Lieutenant's Woman, Fantasia, and It's A Wonderful Life. Some Favorite fiction: The English Patient, Corelli's Mandolin, Animal Dreams, Shipping News, The Magus, Empire Falls, I Know this Much Is True, The Bone People, Poisonwood Bible, The French Lieutenant's Woman Some favorite non-fiction: The Art of Loving, Global Citizen, The Overworked American, The Shelter of Each Other Rebuilding Our Families, A Path With Heart, How Much is Enough, Galileo's Daughter, Light on Aging and Dying Passions: jazz piano, dancing, singing with others, doing weird things to surprise friends, working with others to make the world a better place, family, outstanding chocolate. Weaknesses: doing too much, failing to meditate every day, outstanding chocolate. Must do with kids: star-gazing nights. Must do with friends: make the time. Most important mentors: Anne Taylor, Ronald Heifitz, Gordon Cosby, Donella Meadows. Most important question to ask: Is the universe essentially a friendly place?
Other tidbits: Quaker, political activist, yoga lover, former Duke University field hockey captain, loves her four-day work week, uses a clothes line and finds it soothing, composts and has come to feel awe at the work of worms, wrestles with her 12 and 14 year old kids, misses her mother and brother a great deal, believes that people together can create positive, systemic change, knows she doesn't know the contours of reality, surrenders to not knowing and, stealing from Wendell Berry, "goes amazed into the maze."