The New Frontier Awards

Description

Associated Program:
John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum
Speakers:
Jack Schlossberg
May Boeve
Carlos Curbelo
Co-Sponsors:
The John F. Kennedy Library Foundation

The John F. Kennedy Library Foundation and the Institute of Politics at the Harvard Kennedy School invite you to join

Jack Schlossberg
Grandson of President John F. Kennedy

in honoring the 2017 recipients of the John F. Kennedy New Frontier Awards:

May Boeve
Executive director, 350.org

Carlos Curbelo
U.S. Congressman (FL-26, R)

6:00PM Award Ceremony
6:30PM Discussion with honorees on environmental policy and action, moderated by Steve Curwood, host of PRI's Living on Earth

The JFK Jr. Forum aims to educate, inspire debate, and foster conversation at the Institute of Politics. Unless otherwise specified, members of the Harvard community and general public are encouraged to attend Forum events.

To learn more about events like this one, sign up for the JFK Jr. Forum newsletter HERE.


Speaker Bios

May Boeve, 33, is the Executive Director of 350.org, a landmark grassroots campaign to engage and mobilize communities around the world in political action aimed at holding governments, corporations, and institutions accountable for addressing climate change. Boeve and several college friends co-founded 350.org in 2008 with climate activist Bill McKibben. In the spirit of that collaboration, 350.org has continued to foster partnerships across communities, cultures, and sectors to accomplish the scale of change required to tackle the climate crisis.

Boeve and her team at 350.org were part of the coalition that organized the historic 2014 People’s Climate March, which drew more than 300,000 people to New York City to advocate global action on climate change. The march was the largest of its kind, and brought together more than 1,100 disparate groups that previously had not prioritized climate change as a policy issue, including labor unions, religious institutions, health organizations, community activists,and universities.

Boeve has overseen 350.org’s innovative and highly successful campaign to secure commitments from major institutions to divest from fossil fuels. Between 2014 and 2016, the organization’s work resulted in nearly $5 trillion in divestment commitments from hundreds of institutions including foundations, universities, cities, and churches. At 350.org, Boeve also has led an expansive movement to halt new oil, coal, and gas development worldwide.

Boeve has been at the forefront of the climate movement since 2007 when, as a student at Middlebury College, she helped organize a student-led proposal to make the Middlebury campus carbon-neutral by 2016. In December 2016, the college announced it had reached carbon-neutrality.

Carlos Curbelo, 37, represents Florida’s 26th Congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives, where he serves on the influential House Ways and Means Committee. He was elected to the House in 2014. 

In a highly polarized political environment, Curbelo has earned a reputation for moderation and a willingness to work across party lines on difficult policy problems. Curbelo has been consistently ranked one of the most bipartisan Members of Congress. During his first term in Congress, Curbelo introduced 23 pieces of legislation, seven of which passed the House, and all 14 pieces of legislation Curbelo has introduced this year have a Democratic co-sponsor. Curbelo is part of the House Problem Solvers Caucus, a group of lawmakers who have sought to forge bipartisan cooperation on key issues including healthcare, immigration reform, and tax reform.

In February 2016, Curbelo joined forces with fellow Florida Congressman Ted Deutch, a Democrat, to form the bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus with the intent of finding common ground on policies that can address climate change. Now, the caucus has grown to 60 Members, and was instrumental in blocking a proposal that would have suppressed a Defense Department report about the impact of climate change on military installations.

Born to Cuban exiles who fled Fidel Castro’s regime, Curbelo grew up in Miami, and earned Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the University of Miami. Prior to his election to Congress, he was a small business owner and a member of the Miami-Dade County School Board.