Phil Petrie is an artist and long-time environmental activist.  Phil has always had a deep love for nature and an unease with our technocratic civilization both of which led to his work in the anti-nuclear power movement in the late 70s.  Since moving to San Diego in 2007, he has been especially active in fighting climate change as a founding member of SanDiego350 and of ICEJ.  He sees this crisis as a key opportunity to put our civilization on a truly sustainable footing–to place it not on top of but within nature.

His environmental beliefs are also deeply grounded in his Christianity.  At St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral where he worships, he co-founded Simpler Living, a creation care ministry dedicated to “seeking a Christian response to the environmental crisis and our excessive consumerism by living more simply and sustainably in home, church, community, and the world.”  At the root of our hyperconsumerism is the attempt to fill a God-sized hole with status and goods, and to create these goods we in the developed world are radically degrading the biosphere.  This crisis is both environmental and spiritual.  Phil is excited about what ICEJ has done and will do to empower people of faith to move us to a more spiritual and sustainable world!

Phil lives in Normal Heights with his wife Mary and daughter Sarah.  He enjoys hiking in Mission Trails, obscure (or not-so-obscure) indie bands, and reading novels and history.

Yusef Miller was born into a Muslim Family in Chester, Pennsylvania; he joined the US Navy after High School and retired after 24 years of Active Duty service as a Chief Hospital Corpsman at Camp Pendleton California, spending those years as an EMT(I.V. insertion, Medication Dispenser), Laboratory Technician (Phlebotomy, Immunizations), Clinic Manager (Administration, Discipline, Education, and Medical Research). Yusef Miller is currently a member of the Board of Islamic Society North County (Escodido Musullah). Upon retirement from the Armed Service, Yusef filled his time with Social Justice activities, first through Interfaith teams, fighting disparities on all fronts: Race, Religion, Gender, Immigration Status to name a few.

Yusef’s volunteer work as a Social Justice Advocate includes:

Police Reform – As Member of the Racial Justice Coalition of San Diego (RJCSD), I was involved in the “l Have Can’t Breathe Campaign” to ban all Neck Restraints in San Diego since 2017, finally being accepted after the loss of George Floyd.  Subsequently, I have been meeting with several cities’ Chief of Police and Sheriff Departments to discuss de-escalation policy and other critical reforms. I have also been an active Mental Health Reform advocate.

Founder of “Pink Crescent”, a breast health awareness organization, in cooperation with the Komen Foundation and the Quarterly Regional Breast Health forum which aims to increase the survival rate of women of color and increase inclusion in clinical trials, by visiting and educating women’s groups on the seriousness of testing and prevention.

Founder of Mosques Against Trafficking (M.A,T.) in Oct 2016; Fighting human trafficking in San Diego County is a must for us all as San Diego is in the top 13 of worst cities in the US in term of human trafficking. We are increasing information and taking active steps to end human exploitation.

Environmental equity promoter – educating the community on clean air, clean water, and clean soil in a manner and does not neglect environmental injustices particular to communities of concern.  Advocating from such platforms that include: Chair of the Environmental Climate Justice Committee of NSDC NAACP, Equity Advisor for Clean Earth For Kids, Clergy for the Coastline, and as Co-Chair of Interfaith for Climate and Earth Justice.

Rick Van Schoik was most recently at Arizona State University where he served as both director of North American Center for Transborder Studies (NACTS) and as a biology graduate student teacher. He also taught undergrads at San Diego State University where he served as director of the Southwest Center for Environmental Research and Planning (SCERP) and taught in the Transborder Studies Institute. In the 1900’s he was also a biology teacher and researcher. He graduated from SDSU and the U.S. Naval Academy. He practices with the Quakers on First Day but also spends time with the Buddhists at Encinitas Mindfulness Group.

Susan was born and raised in Chicago and happily moved to San Diego with her husband Stuart in late 2023. They have three young adult children. She is a Contemplative Catholic and has an active ministry as a Jungian Spiritual Director and a deep reverence for the Earth. Although raised in a large city, she always sought Communion with nature and would spent hours exploring the woods and fields near her childhood home. She readily found God in the natural world as well as the Church.

Susan has been active in various ministries throughout the years – teaching yoga in homeless shelters, preparing meals in soup kitchens, and working with victims of human trafficking. Since moving to San Diego, she completed the activator training through Pope Francis’ initiative, Laudato Si, and is thrilled to work with leaders from many faith backgrounds for earth justice.

Father Emmet has been ordained for over 50 years for a diocese in Iowa. He served 16 years as a missionary in Peru. Upon returning, He served mostly Hispanic communities in Houston, Texas, Maryknoll, New York, Chicago, Illinois, and for the past 20 years in the Diocese of San Diego in 3 bilingual parishes.

Fr. Emmet has always had a strong interest in Social Justice and serving the poor. In his writings Pope Francis emphasizes the poor and global inequality, perhaps even more than global warming in his encyclical “Laudato Si”. He sees both issues as interconnected, at crisis level and eminently moral and spiritual issues.

So, when the USCCB and the Catholic Climate Covenant sent a team to San Diego to train them on how to establish Creation Care Teams in parishes, Fr. Emmet picked up that challenge. He has developed a library of materials had have undertaken the task of giving free workshops in English and Spanish in all of our parishes.

Bob Gilleskie has over 35 years experience in energy management, including 20 years at San Diego Gas & Electric, where he held various managerial positions in energy management, as well as the Director of Engineering at the California Center for Sustainable Energy, the Energy Manager at Naval Base Point Loma, and Regional Energy Manager for Marine Corps Installations West, from which position he retired in 2016.

Bob has authored numerous articles and papers on energy technologies, and he has spoken at conferences and seminars in Europe and the United States on these subjects. He was instrumental in developing a Sustainability Certificate program at the University of California at San Diego Extension School, and he currently teaches several courses there. Bob is a registered Professional Engineer (Electrical) in the state of California, and LEED Accredited Professional (AP). He is a graduate of the Naval Academy, and has master’s degrees in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University, and Business Administration from San Diego State University.

Rev. Diana Kosei Hartel is an ordained Zen Buddhist priest. She works for social and public health justice, which started with communities of color in the South Bronx, NY in the 1980s and 1990s. She holds a doctorate in epidemiology from Columbia University which she directly applied through research and public health intervention in the HIV/AIDS pandemic. During this time she was active in HIV prevention outreach for women, and she developed a national study of HIV in women while working at the National Institutes of Health. Two nonprofits were founded by her, the first located in the Bronx for food and environmental justice, and later another in southern Oregon for arts and environmental action. She was an exhibiting visual artist and a somatic trauma therapist prior to ordination, and an award-winning book, “Watershed Redemption” on the movement to restore watersheds throughout the U.S. was released in 2018.

Born and raised in South Central Los Angeles, Clovis Honoré grew up amidst the social turbulence of the 1960s and the cultural renaissance of the 1970s on the west side of South Central Los Angeles. He graduated from Los Angeles High School and entered San Diego State University in 1978.  Once at SDSU, he became involved in the social, cultural and political life of San Diego’s African American community. He pledged Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., and was twice President of the Black Student Council/Afrikan Student Union. Honoré graduated from San Diego State University with a degree in Political Science and African American Studies.

After more than 20 years of education, work and family life in San Diego, Honoré sought to rekindle the many dynamic relationships he had developed in his college years. In 1998 he joined the United African American Ministerial Action Council as a volunteer and was brought on staff as a community organizer in 2003. Through his community work Clovis has advocated for social justice and equity serving on boards and organizations including as the Interim Executive Director of United African American Ministerial Action Council (UAAMAC), Executive Director of San Diego Area Congregations for Change, Board Member of the Alliance for African Assistance, Chair of the Alliance Health Clinic, and President of San Diego Black Health Associates. Clovis is currently an Adjunct Minister and Chair of the Social Justice Ministry Board at Christian Fellowship Congregational Church in Emerald Hills, Social Justice Editor of Indian Voices, Immediate Past President of the San Diego Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), sits on the Community Advisory Board of the San Diego Union-Tribune newspaper and continues to support many other community groups in San Diego, including the San Diego Green New Deal Alliance; Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Workingroup (JEDI – Co-Chair), Racial Justice Coalition, and A New PATH (Parents for Addiction Healing and Treatment). 

Clovis currently works as an Outreach Coordinator for GRID Alternatives, an environmental justice non-profit that installs free solar systems on the homes of low to moderate income families.

Diane Lopez Hughes is a member of St Paul’s Cathedral in San Diego and the convener of its Simpler Living ministry and a member of the Sacred Ground in Action (anti-racism) task force.  She is co-leader of the Episcopal Diocese in San Diego Creation Care Task Force and a member of SanDiego350.  

Diane has cared for Creation since forays during graduate school into the Grand Tetons and continues in her love of Joshua Tree National Park, the Mojave Preserve, our beautiful Pacific Ocean, and anywhere we can walk and be present with nature.  Born and raised in Chicago, her husband Pat and she moved to Springfield, IL and raised their two sons, Devin (a symphony conductor living with his wife Molly in Boulder, CO) and Brendan (an attorney, living in Point Loma with his wife Lesley and children Kieran and Nolina).  She moved to Joshua Tree to help with her newborn grandson, then to San Diego with her son’s family as Brendan attended California Western School of Law.  Diane lives happily near her grandchildren in Point Loma.

In intersectional work is our hope for the future, paraphrasing the words of John Muir that “everything is hitched to everything else.” As we listen increasingly to the wisdom of our Indigenous neighbors, we can learn and promote a healthier way to be with Earth.  We do this work for all creation, and somewhat selfishly, for our grandchildren and those who will come after them.

Ever since traveling to Belize as a teenager and sleeping under the stars, Julie has felt a deep connection to something bigger in nature and it is through nature that Julie feels closest to a Divine Creator. She is fascinated by and reminded of this Intelligence in the design of the human body, animals, plants and how it is all perfectly woven together.  Julie has always felt compassion for animals which led her adopt a plant based diet as a teenager. She developed a passion for healthy eating, cooking plant-based foods, nutrition, and mind-body wellness.  Exploring the field of cooking and nutrition has recently inspired her to learn how food grows. She is becoming more aware of and learning about the food system, the environment, and our life-sustaining care for it. 

As the Coordinator for ICEJ, Julie supports the coalition with organizing, promoting and executing events, fundraising and grant opportunities, program support and handling back-end technology for the organization as it grows. What inspires Julie about working with ICEJ is supporting faith-based leaders and volunteers in caring for Mother Nature.  

She received her Bachelors in human development and family studies from the University of Illinois, pursued a Post-Baccalaureate in photography and fine art at the Memphis College of Art and received Certification in marketing from San Diego State University. As a student of Life, Julie spends her time taking classes, and practicing mind-body-spirit wellness. She also enjoys volunteering with the nutrition education department at Olivewood Gardens and Learning Center. Her background in non-profits, the arts, business operations, and working with start-ups in the mind-body-spirit industry provides her with a diverse array of skills and knowledge to support the organization. She looks forward to continuing to learn and support the coalition as they work as devoted caretakers of mother nature and her inhabitants. 

Julie has lived in San Diego for the past 14 years and is a part of Centers for Spiritual Living and Unity. When not working with ICEJ you will most likely find her meditating, walking in nature, taking classes at her spiritual center, or watching inspiring documentaries about athletes.