Gender Male
Andy Lipkis is a practical visionary who has dedicated his life to healing the environment while improving the lives of individuals and communities as well as the ecosystem. He founded TreePeople in Los Angeles in 1973 at age 18 and continues to serve as its Founder. Andy has spearheaded an approach of building collaborations amongst infrastructure
agencies and communities to employing trees, forest-inspired technologies and people power to make cities sustainable and resilient while mitigating floods, drought, pollution, extreme heat, and climate change. This approach is being demonstrated in L.A. as a model for cities everywhere.
Andy believes in Los Angeles' power to influence due to its global impact of its media, trend and style setting and the the remarkable and historic ethnic diversity of the city's communities. "As we change it here, we change it everywhere."
Andy's vision for a more sustainable world is inspired by the miracles of nature and the people he meets and works with every day. He is also an avid admirer of the lives, legacy and work of Buckminster Fuller, Paul Hawken, Jeanine Benyus, Jared Diamond, George Orwell, Chauncey Gardner, and Luther Burbank.
When he is not busy traveling the globe speaking, or working here in LA, Andy loves to cook and dig in his garden. He says, "I love growing what I eat and going to as many farmers' markets as I can. It is one of my favorite ways to connect to the earth and community.”
