Ringo, Jerome
Jerome Ringo
Jerome Ringo is an internationally recognized thought leader on climate change issues. He has led two of the largest environmental organizations in the world, the 5-million-member National Wildlife Federation and the Apollo Alliance. This 19-million-member organization was the largest coalition on green jobs in history. Ringo works to protect the Earth’s natural resources and improve life quality for future generations. In November 2020, Ringo founded Zoetic Global, a tech company leading energy, water, healthcare, and food security solutions. He is also the Chairman of Zoetic Global. The organization is the culmination of his dedication to using clean technology solutions to promote sustainable development.
Ringo, Jerome. 2007. Combating Climate Change: Why All Should be Involved. In Endarle, Emily, ed., Diversity and the Future of the US Environmental Movement (115-124). Forestry & Environmental Studies Publications Series 1. https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/fed-pubs/1.
Ringo, Jerome 2007. Environmental Justice and a New American Dream. In Brown, Frank, ed., God’s Green Earth, Spring – Reflections. Yale Divinity School. https://reflections.yale.edu/article/gods-green-earth/environmental-just…
Jerome Ringo was born on March 2, 1955, to Earl and Nellie Ringo, a retired postal worker and nurse, respectively. The third of six children, Ringo grew up in Lake Charles, Louisiana, during the Civil Rights era. His father worked to integrate public schools in Louisiana racially. As the first minority student at his middle school, Ringo learned the importance of diversity at an early age. Ringo attended college, intending to major in education at both Louisiana Technical University and McNeese State University. However, before completing his degree, he was lured into the petrochemical industry by its high salary in 1975. The petrochemical industry produces gasoline, rocket fuel, and plastics – many of which contain cancer-causing chemicals.
As he began observing the negative impacts of the petrochemical industry’s pollution on local communities – primarily poor, minority communities – Ringo began organizing community environmental groups. His work with community groups did not please the chemical industry. Consequently, he officially retired from the petrochemical industry in 1997 to begin a career in environmental advocacy. While much of Ringo’s early environmental work was as a volunteer, he was able to have a positive impact on local communities as well as open doors to future employment. Ringo began volunteering with the Calcasieu League for Environmental Action Now (CLEAN), an affiliate of the Louisiana Wildlife Federation, in 1991. As the first black member of the organization, he assisted black communities by finding individuals to represent their interests at hearings. He also assisted with lobbying efforts as he worked to influence the government to change the laws that allowed companies to pollute near residential neighborhoods.
Ringo’s involvement with CLEAN provided the experience necessary to be elected Vice President of the Louisiana Wildlife Federation. During this time, Ringo realized the lack of minority involvement in the environmental movement despite pollution’s high impacts on their communities. When Ringo began working with the Louisiana Wildlife Federation in 1991, he was the only black person in the 20,000-member-strong organization. In 1996, Ringo served as the Chair of the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) board, the country’s largest environmental organization. NWF has 4.5 million members and 700 employees. He was not only the first black Chair of the board of the National Wildlife Federation in its 70-year history but also the first black person to head the board of a major conservation organization.
Ringo’s position gave him many opportunities to participate in conservation efforts worldwide. In 1998, he was a delegate to the Global Warming Treaty Negotiations in Kyoto, Japan. He was the only black person selected to speak at the negotiations. In 1999, he was the National Wildlife Federation’s delegate for a United Nations conference on sustainable development in New York. Further, he was honored to speak at the Central American conference on sustainable development held in Belize City, Belize. He lists these accomplishments among his most significant achievements.
Ringo was a 2006 McCloskey Fellow and Associate Research Scholar at Yale University’s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. In 2008, he was a visiting lecturer at the University of California Santa Barbara’s Bren School of the Environment.
Ringo has given many important speeches. In 2006, he spoke at the Montreal Climate Summit in 2006 and The United Nations African Climate Conference in Nairobi, Kenya. Ringo spoke at the Kyoto Plus Conference in Berlin, Germany in 2007 and at the 2008 Democratic National Convention Center in Denver, Colorado. Ringo appeared in Vice President Al Gore’s Academy Award-winning documentary, An Inconvenient Truth.
Ringo is the Co-Founder and Chairman of Zoetic Global, a U.S.-based Green-tech company that is accelerating climate-safe refrigerants to the global market. Zoetic Global represents Ringo’s shift from climate-change advocacy to action.
Ringo has been inspired and led by many mentors throughout his life and environmental career. Ringo spoke of the important role that his parents played in shaping his career path. They always instilled passion in him: passion for equality, justice, and people. He also considers Martin Luther King a mentor. Ringo has spent hours listening to and absorbing the messages of Martin Luther King’s speeches. Furthermore, the perseverance demonstrated by Martin Luther King makes him an ideal role model for Ringo. Finally, Ringo clings to the guiding principle that when one believes in self and God, the sky is the limit, and all goals are achievable.
Not only has Ringo been inspired and led by others, but he has proven himself to be a great leader, role model, and mentor for others. Ringo aspires to give students opportunities to develop themselves while bringing change and benefits to their communities. Thus, for the last ten years, Ringo has traveled extensively to speak about the importance of a minority presence in conservation. He has addressed a host of historically-Black colleges and audiences at other universities, including the University of Michigan School of Natural Resources and Environment. There, he spoke on diversity in the conservation field with his colleague Mark Van Putten as part of the Martin Luther King Day celebration.
Ringo has engaged in other efforts to increase diversity in the environmental movement. These include work with environmental justice groups. He also speaks at hearings of the Congressional Black Caucus in Washington. Finally, he works with 100 Black Men of America when their interns visit the National Wildlife Federation to make them aware of the environmental opportunities and careers that await them.
While Ringo has achieved great success within the environmental field, he faced many barriers. The most significant of which was his battle with drugs. While he has been drug-free for the last 33 years, the experience gave him a good perspective on life and a renewed appreciation for it. Ringo always carries his drug experience with him to provide him with an appreciation for where he is because he knows where he came from. He can reflect upon what he has learned and move forward. It is an experience that strengthens his power as a mentor as it has helped him to realize that anyone can pick themselves up and move forward if they possess desire, passion, will, and faith. Despite the difficulties along the way, Ringo has persevered and greatly impacted the environmental movement. Ringo is motivated by the environmental work that still needs to be done. He recognizes that the environmental movement needs all people involved as much work still needs to be done. Ringo has a strong desire to be a part of that work.
Ringo would like to see more minorities consider careers in conservation. The environmental field benefits future generations and allows individuals to have a significant impact. It is a field with tremendous benefits and results for your city, state, country, and the world. Engaging in environmental work allows one to leave their footprint in the sand. While the most significant highlight of his career is yet to come, he anticipates that it will be when people of color take on more leadership roles within the conservation movement, making it inclusive of everyone.
AAE Speakers. 2023. Jerome Ringo. Retrieved June 22, 2023 from https://www.allamericanspeakers.com/celebritytalentbios/Jerome+Ringo/448589.
Gig Capital. 2021. Jerome Ringo. Retrieved June 22, 2023 from https://www.gigcapitalglobal.com/bio/jerome-ringo/.
Taylor, Dorceta (Ed.). 2005. The Paths We Thread: Profiles of the Careers of Minority Environmental Professionals. Minority Environmental Leadership Development Initiative, University of Michigan School of Natural Resources and Environment.
Zoetic Global. 2022. Climate Advocate & Zoetic Global Chairman Jerome Ringo Convenes Members of Congress, International Dignitaries & Green Entrepreneurs for Climate Change Discussion. Retrieved June 22, 2023 from https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/climate-advocate–zoetic-global….