Image © Amy Graves

Dr. Jane brought her message of hope to California for the third annual Jane Goodall Institute Global Leadership Awards Celebration. The star-studded event took place on Friday, October 30, 2009, at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills. The Jane Goodall Global Leadership Awards honor the work and achievements of individuals and corporations that embody the Institute's mission by taking informed and compassionate action on behalf of all living things.

We're pleased to announce the winners of the 2009 Jane Goodall Global Leadership Awards for Roots & Shoots Youth Leadership: Shadrach Meshach and Erica Fernandez.

Shadrach and Erica travelled to Los Angeles to accept their awards from Dr. Jane at the celebration. The Roots & Shoots Youth Leadership Award recognizes individuals (aged 13 to 25) who exhibit leadership and excellence through their work to help preserve our natural world, protect animals or benefit our human community.

Shadrach Meshach, nominated by fellow Roots & Shoots member Julia Colburn, has been involved in Roots & Shoots-Tanzania since 1999 and was chairperson of his group at Mwandiga Secondary School.

At the Lugufu Refugee Camp, Shadrach formed a Roots & Shoots program to help promote wildlife conservation education while encouraging acceptance and cooperation between Congolese refugees and local Tanzanians. He often reports on the program's progress to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, World Vision, CARE , the International Red Cross and the Relief Development Society. He also partners with the Jane Goodall Institute in Switzerland to evaluate Roots & Shoots' impact on the lives of refugee children.

In 2008, Shadrach was one of 100 youth from around the world selected to attend the Jane Goodall Global Youth Summit. After the summit, Shadrach and Julia cofounded the ACACIA Female Leadership Initiative to foster leadership skills and opportunities for youth, particularly young women.

Erica Fernandez, a native of Mexico, moved to the United States at the age of 10. She is currently an environmental studies major at Stanford University where she is also involved in the Strategies for Ecology Education, Diversity and Sustainability (SEEDS) chapter of the Ecological Society of America.

While in high school in Oxnard, California, she organized youth and Latino communities to protest BHP Billiton's proposal to build a liquefied natural gas terminal off the Ventura and Malibu coastlines. The proposal later failed.

Erica's numerous honors include Earth Island Institute's Brower Youth Award; a U.S. House of Representatives-Speaker of the House Award; the San Francisco's Mayor Award; a U.S. President's Award; and the Julia Brownley-California Legislature Award. In 2008, she was also one of 100 youth from around the world selected to attend the Jane Goodall Global Youth Summit.

Following the awards celebration, Erica and Shadrach attended a Roots & Shoots luncheon hosted at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles. While there they made a  presentation to a group of 100 Roots & Shoots members from the Los Angeles Unified School District and members of the California Youth Leadership Council. At the luncheon both Shadrach and Erica were also presented with a $500 grant from the Pearson Foundation to continue their outstanding community efforts.


The complete list of 2009 Jane Goodall Global Leadership Award winners include:

• The Honorable Antonio R. Villaraigosa, Mayor of Los Angeles, for Excellence in Public Policy;
• Theo Chocolate for Excellence in Corporate Social Responsibility;
• Ed Begley, Jr. for Responsible Activism in Media and Entertainment;
• John Zavalney for Excellence in Education;
• Erica Fernandez of California and Shadrach Meshach of Tanzania for Roots & Shoots Youth Leadership;
• Dr. Virginia Landau for Lifetime Dedication to the Conservation and Care of Chimpanzees; and
• Betty White for Lifetime Achievement.

Read more about the awards celebration.