Our founding director, Rev. Canon Diana Johnson, retired in the spring of 2011 after a busy two years launching Utah Interfaith Power & Light as a fully independent organization.
We are delighted to welcome Susan Soleil as the new director of Utah Interfaith Power & Light. Susan comes to us after a distinguished career in Utah’s non-profits, and we are excited to entrust her with our future at this time of immense opportunity.
UIPL: Tell us a little about how you came to care about the mission of Utah IPL.
I have been a tree-hugging, nature loving, environmentalist for most of my life. I am the oldest of six children, and we grew up on three acres in Sandy, Utah. Over the years, we had horses, cows, pigs, geese and goats on that acreage. Long before Lucille, the mother of a dozen piglets, ended up on my siblings’ breakfast and dinner plates, I had already chosen to be a vegetarian. We roamed the fields around our house, climbed trees, and marveled at the nightly display of stars when we slept outside with cousins (back then, light pollution had not yet made its way to Sandy). I remember family camping and hiking trips that strengthened my love of and bond with the natural places and open spaces.
By following an odd and lovely path, I have worked in the not-for-profit sector for over 20 years. Being the Executive Director of Utah Interfaith Power & Light will allow me to combine my non-profit leadership skills with my deep and abiding love of the Earth and my desire to reduce the human impact on climate change.
I believe we humans are at a crossroads in our time here on Earth. What we do and the choices we make over the next 10 to 20 years will determine what we leave for our kids and grandkids. Will it be a land as beautiful, rich and diverse as the Earth we enjoy today or will we choose to do nothing and leave a colossal (and probably irreparable) mess for the coming generations? This question motivated me to take the challenging job of directing the work of Utah IPL.
UIPL: What are the most important skills and experiences you bring to UIPL?
First and foremost, I bring passion for and commitment to the mission. Professionally, I bring lots of skills in directing nonprofits: program development and evaluation; fundraising and grant writing; staff and volunteer coordination; grassroots organizing; board and committee expertise; business and fiscal management, and strategic planning. I have learned important skills in every nonprofit at which I have had the pleasure to work. At Utahns Against Hunger I learned the power of a cohesive team. “The two Steves” and I accomplished more in seven years than any of us could have thought possible (including passing a school breakfast bill in the Utah Legislature). As the Executive Director of the Utah Hemophilia Foundation, I learned the value of community and the strength of committees. I witnessed the impact that a small group of people can have on the legislative process and saw lives change for the better. I learned a ton about board development and program evaluation while at the Utah Association of Public Charter Schools. And I honed my fundraising skills at the Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company. I now bring all of these skills and insights to further the mission and broaden the impact of Utah IPL.
Utah Interfaith Power & Light is a fledgling nonprofit. It has a terrific and committed board of directors and a membership of nearly 30 faith communities that have signed on as partners. I guess I see it as a new garden with amazing potential. The outgoing Executive Director built the garden boxes and made great headway with improving the soil, installing the drip system, and planting seeds. I see myself as the next gardener. With the help of the board, our partners, loads of volunteers, and the national organization (The Regeneration Project), I will plant, water, weed, tend, and direct the growth of the UIPL garden. I hope it flourishes, grows and runs wild in ways that we can barely imagine right now.
UIPL: What are your goals as director of Utah IPL?
Currently, I have four main goals:
1) Establish a solid funding base for the organization
2) Help the board identify some measurable objectives and outcomes for the next 12 months
3) Increase the number of faith communities that want to partner with UIPL
4) Develop solid action plans for our partners to follow that have will have a meaningful impact on climate change
UIPL: How does your own faith tradition inform your concern for the future of the earth and its web of life?
I was raised in the LDS faith. I appreciate the LDS lessons I learned regarding the sacredness of all life and an enduring respect and reverence for Earth. As an adult, I moved onto to explore other faith traditions and appreciate the consistent messages they all espouse for the careful stewardship of this planet and the responsibility we share for the life it contains.
While I am deeply concerned about the future of Earth, I am not paralyzed. My greatest faith is in the human spirit and our ability to create, innovate, and progress. This is what makes it possible for me to get up every morning and work for change—change in thought, change in behavior, change in legislation, and ultimately change for our planet. I believe that faith communities in Utah, and around the country, are uniquely poised to have a substantial impact at all of these levels if they will engage in this life-threatening (literally) issue.
I am eager to work with those congregations that have already pledged a partnership with UIPL and I hope to deepen that relationship as we work together to heal this most marvelous creation and gift called Earth. Also, I want to extend an invitation to anyone else (regardless of religious affiliation) who is ready to join with us. Please become a member of Utah IPL by clicking HERE or contact me at director@utahipl.org.
