Jerry Stifelman
Man on a Mission, Founder and Creative Director
Between 1993 and 2004, Jerry worked as a brand strategist, creative director and writer for leading brands, including MTV, Banana Republic, DKNY, Mountain Dew, Sprite, Chrysler, Jeep, Sun Microsystems, Puma and Reebok. After a decade in this traditional advertising and branding world, Jerry, convinced that the truth is your best tool, took his talents and skills to the more sustainable and greener side of marketing where he could work with good-for-the-world brands as well as justice-seeking, environmental and world-changing organizations. When he's not writing, he spends his time practicing yoga, biking around town, and speaking at Green festivals and conferences. He also has a past life as a director of TV commercials as one half of the duo, "nomad short subjects."
Sami Grover
Creative Director, Writer, Director of Sustainability
The whirlwind known as Sami Grover arrived in the United States from the UK on a Thursday, joined The Change by Sunday and got married by Friday. A sustainability journalist and environmental activist, Sami has 11 years of experience with environmental organizations. He has also worked in academic publishing, specializing in issues related to sustainability and is a regular contributor to Treehugger.com, the largest and most frequented green lifestyle website on the internet. He has been published in Permaculture Magazine and is currently learning the cool permacultural art of beekeeping. Sami works with our clients to develop sustainability programs and interfaces with the media on their behalf.
Chelsea Bay Dennis
Design Director, Photographer
Chelsea designs Change projects across all media platforms and is especially adept in developing overall graphic schemes that make brands actually look and feel like brands. She also has a lot to say about strategy. Born and raised in Northern Michigan, her love of the environment to playing in and around the beautiful outdoors there. Chelsea has been dedicated to creating designs specifically for mission-driven companies for over 10 years. She believes design has the power to raise consciousness, educate, and make changes in our society. And she became a designer to do just that. She sits on the board of On The Ground, a non-profit bringing water, education, and healthcare to fair trade communities around the world. Chelsea has also met with farmers and activists on Fair Trade delegations to East Timor, Palestine, Ethiopia and Mexico. She frequently offers her creative services to support small businesses in the thriving local and sustainable economy in her current and home town of Traverse City, Michigan and beyond. She is astonishingly fast.
Tracy Kondraki
Managing Partner
Tracy Kondraki wanted to use her business acumen and knowledge of numbers to make a difference instead of just money. She stepped over from the world of printing to applying her financial acumen as a force for good. Her commitment to changing the world along with her deep knowledge of print production and design makes her a perfect fit for The Change.
Besides numbers, her other passion are to rescue animals. She shares 10 acres with her husband and a multitude of rescued dogs, cats, goats, pigs (and even four fish tanks). Tracy's dream is to one day open a full-fledged sanctuary where even more special creatures can go to live out their lives with loving companionship in safety and comfort. She lives just outside of Pittsboro, NC which has an enviably energetic grassroots movement focused on sustainability. Tracy is proud to be a part of it.
Tracey "Tao" Oliveto
Director of Blogging and Copy Editor
Seemingly born with an intuitive understanding of service to others and the planet, Tracey is technically the one who started this whole shebang by osmotically nudging Jerry into free market activism. After years as a nutrition specialist in the Nutrition department at Whole Foods, she became a yoga teacher and yoga therapist and opened Yoga Bliss Studio in Raleigh, NC. Tracey ran her studio as one giant living blog—continuously inviting students to use their yoga awareness in productive ways, sharing a Manifest Wall of world-changing news and events like Fair Trade Nights and Animal Rights Parties. In addition to running our own blog, taoofchange.com, Tracey communicates in the blogosphere on behalf of clients, does copyediting and consults on specific projects.