While Ken grew up on his parent’s camp in Michigan surrounded by nature, it wasn’t until he was 16 years old working with the Student Conservation Association that he developed a critical awareness of his own commitment to nature. He went on to become a science teacher, opening an environmental education center in Virginia and eventually landing here.
Dennis’s commitment formed as a convergence of circumstances. Returning home from law school, he found the meadows, streams and woodlands of his childhood stomping grounds destroyed and replaced by a subdivision, shopping mall and roadway. During the summer he visited a friend who “dragged him along” on a backpacking trip to Sun Valley. These two experiences shaped a life long love of nature and a commitment to environmental preservation. They also helped him choose environmental law for his practice. As he said, “Representing workers whose minds and bodies had been terribly damaged by exposure to pesticides in their work connected me to one aspect of environmental law. My commitment to environmental protection and environmental justice has simply grown over time.”
While these were different paths to the UEC, their lives became intertwined in friendship and hard work. And Milwaukee has changed.
Board Director, Dennis Grzezinski (left) and Executive Director, Ken Leinbach (right)
“Outdoor recreation has increased visibly” said Ken, “the bike path is busy and overall there are more people outside. ‘Sustainability’ is now much better understood, and ‘green’ describes more than a color.”
Dennis added, “Milwaukee now takes for granted clean air and clean water. We don’t have air quality alerts anymore.”
The progress is encouraging. Yet there is still so much more work to do. In describing their aspirations for the Center over the next 20 years, both Ken and Dennis share a sense of urgency in scaling up our impacts.
“When I step outside of our [local] bubble, I just don’t see the kind of shift we need happening fast enough. There is a lot more to be done,” said Ken.
In facing these big challenges, what keeps them going? Ken notes, “the abundance of talent, skills and creativity in the city — I love seeing creative projects emerging from unexpected places.” And Dennis enjoys “the level of fun [and] playfulness that is present at each of the Centers and throughout the programs and activities — it is hard to find a person who isn’t smiling at the UEC.”
Happy 20 year anniversary, Ken and Dennis!
