Two leaders of Madison Community Cooperative, an engineer at Kohler Company and a class of seventh graders are winners of the 2022 Live Forward Awards, presented by Sustain Dane, the organization announced in a press release Tuesday.
According to the release, winners are MCC membership coordinator DaMontae January and maintenance coordinator Fernando Perez, a group of seventh-grade students at Patrick Marsh Middle School who analyzed food waste and developed a plan to reduce waste, and Kohler Company sustainability engineer Yi “Louis” Liu.
January, MCC’s membership coordinator, and Perez, MCC’s Maintenance Coordinator, lead MCC’s work to create and maintain sustainable, affordable housing in Madison. They now have a Green New Deal which details plans to electrify all eleven buildings in the organization. January and Perez are also starting another nonprofit to serve LGBTQA+ youth.
Patrick Marsh Middle School 7E students participated in a grant program from the World Wildlife Fund to reduce waste food at their school. Students collected wasted food at lunch periods and then analyzed data. Using the data, students developed a plan to reduce waste. This included an awareness campaign, on-site composting, and a food share table. When these actions were implemented, the school reached about a 60% reduction in wasted food heading to landfill. Students also took their learnings to host a composting seminar for the community and activities at the Sun Prairie Farmer’s Market.
Liu serves as a Sustainability Project Engineer for the Power Systems at Kohler Co. He leads Design for Environment workshops for New Product Development and benchmarks Scope 3 Greenhouse Gases Emissions. Prior to Kohler, Louis worked for construction manager CG Schmidt as an MEP Engineer, where he also led the company’s environmental initiatives and wellness committee to create a more sustainable built environment. As a proud gay man and Asian immigrant, Louis strives to foster to a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment both at the workplace and his home community in Madison. In addition, he volunteers with U.S. Green Building Council, growing an Emerging Professionals network in Wisconsin.
The awards will be presented at the Sustain Dane Summit on Friday, November 4 at Monona Terrace in Madison.
