ABOUT OCEAN ROBBINS

"Sometimes older folks tell me: 'I was idealistic and thought I could change the world once, too, but then I grew up.' I'm trying to help us change our definition of growing up, so that it ceases to mean giving up on our ideals, and comes to mean learning how to live our dreams, every day, on the Earth. I want to awaken the passion and creativity of youth, combine it with the wisdom, experience and insight of elders, and transform our world."

Ocean was born in 1973. When he was seven he organized a peace rally in his elementary school. He ran his first marathon shortly after moving to California at the age of 10. His entrepreneurial talents began to emerge at the same time, when he was the baker, salesman and accountant for "Ocean's Natural Bakery." When his door-to-door sales of natural baked goods began reaching hundreds of customers around the neighborhood, Ocean's work and life became the feature story on the front page of the Santa Cruz Sentinel. The headline read: "Boy Isn't Very Rich But He's Got Dough."

At ages 14 and 15, Ocean facilitated the environmental portion of two international youth summits in Moscow and another in Washington, DC. He met with Mrs. Gorbachev and numerous Ambassadors and US Senators to discuss environmental concerns. His articles began to be published in national magazines.

At 15, Ocean was co-founder of the Creating Our Future environmental speaking tour, on which he and three other participants spoke in person to more than 30,000 students, presented for 2,000 people at the United Nations, and opened for the Jerry Garcia band in San Francisco. At 16, Ocean was founder of Youth for Environmental Sanity (YES!), which he has directed for the better part of the years since. YES! has reached more than 620,000 people in more than 1,200 school assembly and conference presentations. YES! has also organized and facilitated 73 week-long summer camps in seven countries, published seven youth action guides, and led 150 day-long youth training workshops. Ocean has spent more than a decade as the primary fundraiser and administrator for this non-profit organization, which now has an annual budget of over $400,000. He has personally facilitated summer camps and workshops in Singapore, Costa Rica, Russia, Finland, Canada, the Netherlands, and across the USA.

Ocean is co-author of Choices For Our Future: A Generation Rising For Life On Earth (published by the Book Publishing Company, September, 1994), and speaks widely, spreading a message of hope and inspiration to conferences, companies and organizations. His speaking engagements have included plenary presentations for Windstar Foundation, Aveda Congress, Cell Tech Distributor's Celebration (four years in a row), Bioneers, Social Venture Network, Ecological Farming Conference, Peacemaking: The Power of Nonviolence (with HH The Dalai Llama and other Nobel laureates), Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS), and more than 400 school assemblies and college programs. Ocean has been interviewed on more than 70 local and national radio and TV programs and in another 50 newspapers and magazines including feature stories in Time, The Washington Post, Audubon, and The New York Times Magazine. He has served on the Board of Directors for Friends Of the Earth, Creating Our Future, EarthSave International, and is a founding member of The Tide Turning Coalition. He is a graduate of Joanna Macy's facilitation intensive, and a certified facilitator of Essential Peacemaking: Women and Men. Ocean's on-going efforts on behalf of a better world have been honored by many organizations, including the Giraffe Project (for people who stick their necks out for what they believe), the National Alliance for Animals (The Compassionate Youth Award), E Magazine (The Kid Heroes Hall of Fame), and EarthSave (Volunteer of the Year Award).

Ocean lives happily in the mountains of Santa Cruz, California, with his parents, Deo and John Robbins (author of the international bestseller Diet for a New America and founder of EarthSave), his wife Michele, and their recently born identical twin boys, River and Bodhi. Ocean currently serves as Co-President of Youth for Environmental Sanity.

To learn more about Ocean's presentations for colleges, conferences and events, click here. To explore bringing him in as a speaker or facilitator at a conference or event, contact:

Ocean Robbins, YES!, 420 Bronco Rd., Soquel, CA 95073 o ocean@yesworld.org o www.yesworld.org