Ms. Walsh earned a Masters of Public Policy in International Relations and was awarded the prestigious Presidential Management Fellowship in 2004. Pauletta's primary area of research was the status of women and the development of Middle Eastern and Silk Road societies. In 2000, Pauletta was the inaugural Director of the Ojai Film Festival, a successful film festival now in its eleventh year. Pauletta has written numerous articles, and has written and produced for television and for documentaries.

While living in Connecticut, Ms. Walsh ran for State Representative and served on the Connecticut State Film Commission. Pauletta appeared in a one-woman show about Zelda Fitzgerald at the Long Wharf Theater in 1999, capping a two-decade career in the performing arts. Pauletta acted in films, television, and theater, and sang with groups and in musicals, releasing a record of original music in 1986. She taught dance at Monterey Peninsula College, for the Santa Cruz Cultural Council, as well as founding the California Academy for the Performing Arts. Pauletta earned a Bachelor's Degree from Pennsylvania State University, where she was a Renaissance Scholar. She is married to sports writer Michael Arkush.

In 2008, Marcus rafted across the Pacific Ocean from California to Hawaii on JUNK, a raft floating on 15,000 plastic bottles, 30 sailboat masts lashed to form a deck, and a Cessna airplane fuselage as a cabin (junkraft.com). The 2,600 mile journey brought attention to the issue of plastic marine pollution. In 2009, Marcus and his wife Anna Cummins co-founded the “5 Gyres Institute”, to research plastic pollution in the world's oceans. Marcus was elected a National Fellow of the Explorers Club in 2010.

Anna Cummins - "Waste water treatment & re-use in Highland Park"
Anna Cummins has over 10 years of experience in environmental non-profit work, education, writing, and campaign development. She has worked in marine conservation, coastal watershed management, sustainability education, and high school ecology instruction. Anna received her undergraduate in History from Stanford University, and her Masters in International Environmental Policy from the Monterey Institute for International Studies.

In 2007 Anna joined the Algalita Marine Research Foundation as education adviser, conducting school outreach and giving public presentations on plastic marine pollution. With Algalita, Anna completed a month long, 4,000-mile research expedition studying plastic debris in the North Pacific Gyre, and a 2,000 mile cycling/speaking tour from Vancouver to Mexico, giving talks about plastic pollution. Anna and her husband Marcus Eriksen recently co-founded 5 Gyres, in collaboration with Algalita and Pangaea Explorations, to research and communicate plastic pollution in the worlds oceans. Anna was elected a National Fellow of the Explorers Club in 2010, and an oceans fellow of the Wings World Quest.

Ms. Snortland has her J.D. from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles and her B.A. in theater and film from UCI. She is a human rights activist, author, broadcast journalist, actor and writing/media coach for writers and authors.

A regular columnist for the Pasadena Weekly, she blogs for Ms. and Huffington Post. Ellen has been a journalist and NGO delegate to two major United Nations World Conferences: the 4th World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995 and the World Conference Against Racism in Durban, South Africa, in 2001.

She's currently on the boards of IMPACT Personal Safety of Los Angeles, 50-50 Leadership, and Consumer Watchdog.

Snortland is the author of “Beauty Bites Beast,” featured on Dateline NBC, and the up-coming book, “The Safety Godmother,” co-authored with Lisa Gaeta. Snortland wrote and performs a solo show “Now That She’s Gone” nominated for a Pulitzer for Drama..