Carl Griffin

How did you hear about Headwaters?

I heard about Headwaters through a close friend of mine, Ann DeGroot, who was on the Headwaters Board. In conversation, she’d often mention one thing or another that Headwaters was doing and it always sounded very interesting. I then became connected with Penelope Haru Snipper through informational networking. We had coffee and talked, and a few months later she approached me and asked if I wanted to be on the board.

What issues are most important to you and why?

Economic and social justice are definitely at the top of my list. To me they are really core because they are so interrelated with other issues. They are part of a common thread that connects many other issues that need to be addressed. The importance of economic and social justice really has to do with people needing to have more power in their lives. They need to be able to address their grievances and get something done about them. If your house is being foreclosed or you don’t have a job, what are you supposed to do? Giving people a chance to be heard and change the things that are not being done is essential. We must do all that we can to empower each other to achieve justice.

What is your personal vision of “change?” What does it mean to you? How do you know it’s happening?

Healthcare Reform is a really good example. I see more and more people at the grassroots level organizing themselves and attempting to cut through all of the lies that are keeping us from making real change. Right now banks and insurance companies are spreading lies and trying to defeat us from achieving significant change, and they’ve got the power of the media on their side. When I envision change, I see people educating themselves and organizing, despite all the odds, to do what is needed. For instance, when consumers found out that Whole Foods was doing everything it could to stop Healthcare Reform and was preventing employees from speaking freely about the issue, they took notice and spoke out. Then Whole Foods had to respond to those consumers that didn’t like what they were doing. I want to see that kind of organizing expanded and multiplied.