We were lucky to catch up with Madeleine MacGillivray recently and have shared our conversation below.
Madeleine, so many exciting things to discuss, we can’t wait. Thanks for joining us and we appreciate you sharing your wisdom with our readers. So, maybe we can start by discussing optimism and where your optimism comes from?
Optimism is an emotion that comes up a lot in my climate work, especially in relation to doomism and skepticism. And I think optimism often gets conflated with a rose-colored glasses mentality — that those who remain optimistic are somehow ignorant or under-informed about the reality of the polycrisis. But this is not the case.
I had a very unique upbringing, whereby my mother, who was a single mother, nonprofit, environmental justice lawyer, took me starting at age 8 to meet and work with the communities that she was collaboratively working with. These communities by and large were deeply impacted by fossil fuel extraction, and in these communities there were heroes, leaders, and I had the great privilege of meeting getting to know, and in some cases, being mentored by these real life heroes.
I met Larry Gibson, the son of a coal miner, who died fighting a massive mountain-top removal corporation that wanted his $65 million mountain. I met New Orleanian fishermen who shed heavy tears as I watched them clutch oil-soaked bird carcasses after the historic Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. I met Melina Laboucan-Massimo who solemnly led us through 14 kilometers of barren, bleak tar oil sands in her tribal community in Alberta, Canada. I met Chief Arvol Lookinghorse of the Lakota put out the last fire at Standing Rock.
So I had a very global perspective of crises in very different parts of the world, by age 8, 9 or 10. And I think in many ways that contributed to a general life perspective that revolves around the knowledge of how deeply we connected we all are and how deeply capable we all are. And on a basic level, I think about our evolutionary biology — that we by nature see a future that is an improved version of the present. That this future — and I’m talking days, weeks, months, years, decades, and centuries — allows us to keep persisting forward. That is simply life. That is simply evolution. That is simply symbiotic biodiversity. So I see optimism as both the choice, yes, absolutely, but also an innate necessity for the emergence of a healthy global ecosystem. That is why we must fiercely protect the act of dreaming, dreaming up this world that we must create, and dreaming inherently produces joy and optimism.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I’m so lucky to do multiple things that all fall under the umbrella of Climate Advocate.
I am the Climate Communications and Policy Coordinator at Seeding Sovereignty, where I host Supersede, a climate justice podcast, and organize around climate justice policy in NYC. I’m a speaker, and have delivered keynote talks in Sydney, led workshops at Cornell and FIT, spoken at San Francisco Earth Day, and hosted conversations for UN Fashion x Oceans. I’m a sustainable brand ambassador, and have had the privilege of working with Aveda, Athleta, and others. I’m the Communications Specialist for CiCLO®, an incredible textile technology that reduces synthetic microfiber pollution in the environment. I hold an MS in Sustainability Management at Columbia University’s School of Professional Studies and a BA in Environmental Policy from Barnard.
Newness: I recently re-booted a project that I founded when I was nine. It’s called Superheroes Needed and it’s a ground-zero for climate-anxious and action-hungry folks wanting to do more and get ‘un-stuck.’ I give workshops regularly and it brings me SO MUCH JOY. Please follow along because I’ll be announcing a couple exciting things during April!
https://www.madeleinemacgillivray.com/superheroes-needed
https://www.instagram.com/superheroesneeded/
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
1. Kindness Human connection is paramount. Everything comes back to community, always. Leading from a place of kindness produces a beauty that transcends time and space. Look people in the eyes, meet all of your neighbors, adopt a non-transactional mindset of giving.
2. Humility
I know that I know nothing, and all I can do is my best. Every action that comes after this affirmation comes with more connectedness, less aggression, and in turn more effectiveness than it would have if it came from a mindset of control and domination.
3. Ambition
Ambition and humility for me are the power-duo of life. To me, ambition is to act from a feeling and a knowing that anything is possible. And I mean that! Do the thing.
How can folks who want to work with you connect?
I’m always looking for audiences who are climate-anxious and action-hungry, to facilitate my Finding Your Climate Superpowers workshop. I love working with students, employees, individuals, all of the above. If you represent a school, an institution, a workplace, a brand, a space — and want to bring Superheroes Needed to your folks — don’t hesitate to reach out. In my workshop, I talk about finding our element. And my element is facilitation — I love it so much. I am in the process of expanding our programming and developing an online community platform, so my radar is open for grant opportunities. I also love talking about microplastics, climate justice, fashion, and all of the above at once.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.madeleinemacgillivray.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/madeleinemacgillivray/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/madeleine-macgillivray-2a0533202/
