Founders

More Information About GEA-China GEA-China Updates Plans and Projects Accomplishments Introduction to China Founding Partners Founders Quotables Committee

In 1996, Laura Utley, a businesswoman and conservationist, met with Madame Deng Nan to explore ways to work together on China's environmental challenges. Together, they created the Global Environmental Alliance - China (GEA - China) in 1997. Madame Deng Nan's goal in co-founding GEA - China is to accelerate the Ministry's national environmental education objectives.

Madame Deng Nan and Laura Utley

In the U.S., GEA - China is managed and staffed by Global Communications for Conservation (GCC), a 501 (c) (3) not-for-profit corporation headquartered in New York City. GCC was founded in 1989 by Laura Utley to initiate, fund, and support important international conservation and environmental programs.

Children's Environmental Fair Credit: Scott M. Gabriel

The Chinese government has chosen to take broad and important initiatives. Madame Deng Nan, Vice Minister, Ministry of Science and Technology, and daughter of China's late paramount leader Deng Xiaoping, has been a leading force in China for balancing development with environmental protection. Madame Deng Nan is building bridges to the international community to join China in meeting this challenge. As she recently noted, "Environmental education across all sectors of society is the foundation for technological initiatives that will allow us to improve the quality of all life."

Group Shot -- School Kids in Tree Planting Activity Credit: Friends of Nature

In China, GEA - China is managed and staffed by the China International Training Center for Sustainable Development (CITCSD), a division of the Ministry of Science and Technology. CITSD was established to bring together various Ministries in an effort to deliver education, training, and publicity on sustainable development.