We Can Be Podcast - The Heinz Endowments

Heinz Endowments President and “We Can Be” host Chris DeCardy welcomes Gillian Graber, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Protect PT. The grassroots community-based nonprofit works to protect southwestern Pennsylvania residents from the harmful health and environmental impacts of fossil fuel activity.   Gillian and her family settled in Penn-Trafford, an idyllic borough located along the border of Westmoreland and Allegheny counties near Pittsburgh, in part because of its promise of clean air and water.   Shortly after moving into their home, the oil and gas industry encroached on their neighborhood. Legal roadblocks and frustration with the ineffectiveness of government agencies spurred Gillian and her husband to found Protect PT in 2014.   Protect PT’s early grassroots fundraising included selling candy bars and popcorn to cover attorney fees. “I literally ran behind the school bus, handing out flyers to moms after they got their kids on the bus,” Gillian tells Chris. “I became an accidental activist.”