Green Feet Profile: Meet Mike Kahn



by Kathy Switky

He's becoming known throughout the Peninsula both for his wonderful photographs and for being the creative and technical force behind several interesting media projects. He is photographer, webmaster, and environmentalist Michael Kahn, and Committee for Green Foothills is lucky to benefit from his hard work on our website and photo collection.

Mike came to us after a long journey that wound up changing the direction of his career. After working two years with Environmental Volunteers (just downstairs from the CGF office), Mike got the itch to travel.

An enthusiastic bicyclist, Mike spent last summer on a 105-day bike ride that took him the 5,135 miles from his hometown of Palo Alto to Bar Harbor, Maine. Mike equipped his bike with camping gear, a digital camera, and a solar-powered laptop, and used the trip to reach out to environmental organizations across the nation. People across the nation followed his "Coast to Coast Discovery Ride" via his ride website, www.EVols.org/discover.htm.

After taking more than 2,000 photos on his journey, Mike became an even more enthusiastic and skilled photographer. On his return, he was committed to sharing his web and photography skills with the environmental community.

This led to a number of consulting projects, including one to design and manage an interim website for Committee for Green Foothills. Mike's site has helped us get the word out about our advocacy projects while we await the launch of our new site. In addition, his photographs of the foothills, Coyote Valley, and other threatened open space have become integral parts of CGF's publications and education work. Michael's "portfolio career" includes a number of interesting community-building projects. He coordinates NeighborSpace, a website that builds local community through online conversation. He's the volunteer Executive Producer for the Peninsula's environmental talk show, Common Ground (in which CGF also participates). And he shoots and edits digital video for Community Journal, a news project of local cable channel MPAC.

"I'm so glad to be doing work that feeds my heart. It's a pleasure to help bring attention to local environmental and community issues via the media. Ads aren't the only things people should be seeing on TV and online," Mike says with a ready grin. Appreciative? Inspired? We sure are. Committee for Green Foothills is proud to have Mike on our team, and thanks him for all his good work on behalf of the environmental community.