Eric is the Founder of MEVO one of the most awesome youth lead environmental organizations in New Jersey. He launched the organization in 2008 and for 12 years worked with a small army of volunteers, interns, staff, and community members to create the core programs and systems of the organization. He is proud to have had the privilege to lead MEVO from a grassroots organization comprised of student volunteers to a highly impactful not-for-profit organization. While leading MEVO Eric & his team executed a wide array of ecological direct-action programs to accomplish MEVO’s mission and grow a robust environmental movement in the region. Some of these programs are: designed, built, and farmed MEVO’s Fresh Roots & Lovewell Farm providing healthy nourishing food to consumers, markets, and restaurants in the area. Mobilized over 7000 volunteers to carry out 60,000 hours of community service at over 350 community volunteer events. This includes over 100 trash clean-ups on Stag Hill removing over 275 tons of waste from the forest eco-system. On January 1st, 2020 he retired from the Executive Director role and welcomed in Violet Reed to lead MEVO into the future. He graduated from the New York University Gallatin School of Individualized Study and majored in Ecological Sustainability and Social Change with a minor in Environmental Studies. Among the many honors Eric has received for his work thus far, in 2014 he was declared a “New Jersey Hero,” by New Jersey First Lady Mary Pat Christie; he is the 29th New Jersey Hero. That same year he was also awarded the National Jefferson Award for Public Service, “The Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Award for Outstanding Public Service Benefiting Local Communities.” The Jefferson Award is positioned as the “Nobel Prize for Public Service,” and is considered the nation’s highest honor for community service; at the time Eric was one of only two hundred people in the world to receive this award. Eric has also received the 2016 Excellence in Environmental Education Award from the Alliance for New Jersey Environmental Education the youngest recipient of the award ever. Today, Eric continues to be a member of the Board of Directors of MEVO.