People - Kristi Vance

Kristi Chester Vance, the deputy director of ForestEthics, has spent over a decade protecting wild places, transforming the environmental practices of companies like Staples, Home Depot, and Victoria’s Secret, and generally being a thorn in the side of the government of Canada, the occasionally-reluctant caretaker to some of most raw, expansive nature in the world. Using her background in advertising and design, Kristi holds environmentally irresponsible companies accountable by creating cheeky, hard-hitting and highly effective public relations campaigns.

Kristi is a also co-founder of MOMS, an organization dedicated to stopping the chemical contamination of our children, and Half-Full Communications, an award-winning design studio devoted to creating a louder, more powerful voice for environmental and social justice advocates.

My favorite memory of a tree... 

is swinging into the humid, sticky night on the tree swing that my dad made for my brother and me.

When it comes to the environment, big corporations are... 

powerful change agents for good or for bad; I like to help push them in the right direction.

The biggest reason we have for making Montana our home is... 

the trout: where there are trout, there are thriving streams and mountains and a rich, healthy network of life.  

If I could change something about myself it would be... 

Nothing. Childbirth and motherhood have brought me to my knees in terms of appreciating my health and my capacities.

My father was right when he said... 

do what you love and the rest will follow. 

The last time I surprised myself... 

I fell in love with a cat.

Everyone knows that I am a staunch environmentalist.  No one knows that I love to... 

listen to classic rock really loud, preferably while dancing in my kitchen.

When I was ten I wanted to... 

grow up to be detective’s secretary.

The most influential book of my life... 

a blank journal – the best gift ever for a creative child. 

When I find time to relax... 

I drink a cup of tea and get out into the woods, either alone or in the company of two or four-legged friends.  

The best advertisement I’ve ever done... 

was one congratulating Staples, who, after being the target of a hard-hitting campaign by ForestEthics, announced a new, game-changing environmental policy; the ad still hangs in Staples’ headquarters—and our office—more than a decade later.

“Impossible?”  When I hear that word I... 

get really excited.

More than anything I want...

my kids to grow up feeling loved and accepted for exactly who they are.

When I am really angry I...

go for a really long walk — and mutter.

If someone described me in three words...

she would probably say: creative, spunky, passionate.

Change is... 

always coming; the challenge, as Gandhi said, is how to be the change we wish to see in the world.

Thanks, Kristi!