Nancy Albert Wolf
Nancy Wolf grew up here in Virginia, close to Hollins. Nancy was sure she wanted to come here and at the time, it was not the norm for girls to attend college at all. An all women's college was what she wanted and she was very happy with her decision. While here she majored in music. After graduating, Nancy said that Hollins had really prepared her for life and given her a confidence that she thinks all women should have.
After school Nancy attended William and Mary to get her teaching degree. For about a year after this she and a friend moved to New York but the soon moved to Richmond where she taught high school History and Geography. After meeting her husband they both decided to move to New York. Nancy met her husband in Baltimore where she taught for another yeah and then continued her education at Johns Hopkins. Once married her husband got a job in New York so again she moved there. She says that she was one of the people that New York just really hit. Once she was there, she didn't want to leave. By this time she had two girls, around 1970. In 1970 Earth Day happened and was what she refers to as a "blockbuster" event.
Earth Day had a huge influence on Nancy and how her life took shape. She was one of the many volunteers for Earth Day. This event really inspired her to make a difference so she began working for non-profit organizations. Along with other people she helped to for the Environmental Action Coalition. While still volunteering for this she began teaching again in schools. This time she and other teachers worked together to form curriculum that was environmentally based to begin to teach kids about this new thing called the environment. She eventually became the executive director of the Environmental Action Coalition. While holding this for fourteen years she was involved in three main guides: solid waste and recycling, energy conservation and urban forestry.
Throughout working for the Environmental Coalition, as a teacher and volunteering Nancy also found time to work on other projects that improve the way of life and the environment/ Improving the environment is still a very big part of Nancy's life. Although she is no longer the executive director of the Environmental Action Coalition she continues to work on urban forestry in New York and educating people about the importance of caring for our Earth.
| I think if you really believe that you are part of something so important and you know like saving the world, you know if you want to be a little bit grandsiose, uh, that in itself is its own reward, you know you feel like your life is not been wasted, its, that you know you’ve done something. You’re going to be leaving behind something that, that is gonna matter. It matters now and its gonna continue to matter. So that was part of the excitement that, that you were working a field that was important or you felt it was and I think most people think it is. And so whatever part you play and you know in the middle of all these huge things, whatever part you play was significant in your world and you could feel that your life and career somewhat was meaningful. And that, and if you still feel that way and you feel that what you’re doing is still contributing then of course you want to keep on doing it and that’s where I’m at right now. ~Nancy A. Wolf |
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