About Us

Founder and Executive Director: Harriet Shugarman

Like most of our climate Mama’s and Papa’s, Harriet has worn many hats over the course of her life. She has been a ski instructor in Western Canada, an orchard worker in Israel, and a member of her college sky diving club!

Professionally Harriet has spent most of her career working as a policy analyst and economist; early on with the Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario governments in Canada and later with the International Monetary Fund, as the Special Assistant to the Director of the United Nations Office in New York. Harriet was fortunate to travel the world and to meet many exciting, talented and committed individuals. Harriet worked on most of the big United Nations international conferences, including the first UN Earth Summit. Harriet followed many United Nations environmental and sustainable development committees for the IMF, at United Nations headquarters in New York and around the world, working on issues such as women in development and the UN millennium development goals. Harriet has a BA in Economics and International Relations from the University of British Columbia and an MBA from the Thunderbird School of Global Management.

Harriet will tell you however that the most important ‘hat” she wears is one she put on in 1998 and continues to wears to this day, and that is Mom, to her two children, Elliot and Alana. Becoming a mom heightened Harriet’s desire to find a way to “make the world a better place”, not only for her children, but for all the children around us, even the grown up ones. Through her work on Climate Change, Harriet feels she has found her passion, her opportunity and the ability to help raise awareness on the most important and challenging issue any of us will face in our lives. With support from her incredible husband Andrew, Harriet is tackling this her own way, as she tackles all the challenges she takes on in her life!

In the spring of 2007 Harriet was selected from thousands of individuals across the country to participate in a training program conducted by Former Vice President Al Gore and sponsored by The Climate Project. Harriet is one of the first 1000 individuals from around the world who have been personally trained by Mr. Gore to educate the public on climate change. Harriet will tell you this has been a transformational time in her life. Climate Mama grew out of Harriet’s work with The Climate Project, an organization she will be forever grateful to!

Harriet has put together a team of exciting and talented individuals, who will be contributing to Climate Mama through advice, comment and best practices.

Thank you for checking us out. We look forward to having you join us on our journey to make the world a better place!

What We Do

Climate Mama is about the facts, about getting the straight scoop, about understanding Climate Change and Global Warming. We want to help you make the connections - to understand how you, your family, your friends and your community are impacting and changing our climate. Then, we want to show you what you can do to make your hectic, harried life more sustainable, for you, for your children AND for the world we live in. We will offer you simple, straight forward, and easy to understand ways to combat climate change as well as easy to implement options to reduce your carbon footprint! We want to make it simple for you, as a Mama and Papa, to understand that climate change is a part of your life. We at Climate Mama, like you, have enough day to day issues in our lives just managing the craziness of our families, our careers, our busy 21^st century lives…so we aren’t surprised or disappointed if you ask why climate change should matter to you and if you question what you, as an individual can really do that will make a difference to affect this global challenge.

Ask away!

Climate Mama is about Education, its about advocacy and its about choosing the most sustainable path to live your life without great disruptions....But with the right changes to help you feel that you can be part of the solution, as we work together to fix the mess our planet now finds itself in. Let us make it easier for you to pick the right products and services, to get the right information, to read the facts and get the most up to date information. Find out how to "figure out" what the politicians you believe in, believe on climate change. If they don't have a position on it find out why. Let us help you explain why you care, to your neighbors, your friends and your family, and help them understand why they should care too. We want to help you make the right choices, as we all buckle down for the “greatest challenge” of our lives.

Climate Mama is about incredible people, it’s about finding out what other Mama’s and Papa’s are doing to help make the world a better place.

Climate Mama is about finding and recommending the best products and services. You will know when you see the Climate Mama Seal of Approval that you can feel confident about that product or service. That the items we showcase have all been Climate Mama “tested and approved” to help us all reduce our carbon footprint. Help us ensure that Climate Change and Global warming stop sounding like big scary words, and events, and instead start to become challenges that we can get our arms around, and feel that we too can make a difference.

Climate Mama is about you, and for you.

Climate Mama Workshops, Lectures, Featured Speaker

Interested in presentations, lectures, workshops or guest speakers on climate change or global warming? Contact us to explore opportunities, options and pricing. We would be happy to work with you to design a unique event for your group, organization, municipality, school, house of worship or business to learn more about global warming and climate change and to learn simple steps and actions you can do to make a difference.

E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or call 201 906 2675

Design, Expert Advice and Administration

Climate Mama is designed and supported by Cody McBurnett Marketing and Design.

Green Product Guru: Lisa Pozin of Giving Gifts provides expert advice and ideas for choosing unique and fun products that are good for our environment and for "giving back" to our world! Check out our product and services seal of approval for some of Lisa's recommendations.

Climate Mama: In the News

Press Room

August 2010: Reinvention Story - Yahoo! Shine

July 2010: Meet Our Presenters - The Climate Project

March 2010: EDY40, Earth Day New York City - Speakers Bureau

January 2010: Becoming Climate Mama - More Magazine

January 2010: Climate Mama Helps Busy Parents - Natural Awakenings

May 2009: Greening Your Synagogue - Jewish National Fund

Press Releases

February 2010: Follow Climate Mama at the First Ever Carbon Neutral Olympic Games

December 2009: Launched Just in Time for the Copenhagen Climate Conference

Podcasts/Radio

April 2010: Harriet Shugarman - Climate Mama: Newlygreens.com

January 2010: Climate Mama: Connections with Deborah Turner, Rockland Radio

Climate Mama Newsletter Archives

Climate Mama is powered by Super Green Hosting, one of the first web hosting companies with a mission to become carbon neutral!

Welcome to Climate Mama

You are a mother, a father, a grandparent, an uncle, an aunt, a teacher or a child at heart. When you hear the Native American saying, “We don’t inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children”, it makes you stop for a moment and think. You love nature, travel, adventure and believing in a world that is special and unique. Climate change and global warming are words that alarm you, that often seem too big to get your arms around. You care about what’s happening to the world and notice small changes in your own life that seem to point in the direction of a threatened environment. But you wonder if these changes are real, and if they are you can’t imagine what you can do to help change what is happening.

Climate Change so often seems too big to get our hands around. We wonder where we can start and how we can actually make a difference. Each one of us has a different path that we will follow. Some of us cut a wider swath than others, but each of us has a role to play. We would like to introduce you to some amazing individuals, Climate Mamas and Papas who are making a difference, who are, through their daily lives, affecting the lives of all of us. They inspire us, empower us, and challenge us to reach for the stars, to strive to do the best we can to help change the crash course we are currently on with our environment. Lets meet some of these amazing people and find out what inspires them.

Featured Partner & Campaigns

Many of us are taking steps to improve the energy performance of our homes and offices and to educate our families and ourselves about ways to save energy and to protect the environment. For those of you seeking a fresh way to get involved in 2010, consider joining our newest partner, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Change the World ENERGY STAR campaign, and take the ENERGY STAR Pledge today! By taking the pledge, you can join Climate Mama and other individuals, businesses and organizations around the country that are taking part in an important movement to help our planet. You can find new ways to measure and promote your own energy and environmental savings, as well as help your family save money and do their part for the environment.