John Payne, Founder & President

John graduated from the University of Dayton with a B.S. in Accounting.  He has worked for over a decade as a public accountant and as a financial analyst within various industries.  In high school, John encouraged (forced) his parents to recycle and even built them a composter for their food scraps and yard waste - habits they continue to this day.  Unfortunately, his environmental interests were sidetracked while in college, largely due to his self-imposed fear of needing to get a “real” job.  Never quite fulfilled by his “real” job, John finally decided that what he really needed was a meaningful job.  In his search for meaning, he quickly rediscovered his environmental passion and decided to head back down that road.

John spent a lot of time figuring out how he might best be able to make a difference.  He learned as much as he could about the issues, and read up on his environmental heroes such as Bill McDonough, Amory Lovins, and Lester Brown (to name a few).  John says that it quickly became obvious that he might not ever be as talented as his idols, but that he did come away with one rather important realization.  It struck him just how difficult it was to gather all of this information, work through loads of misinformation, wrap his head around all the key issues, and then find ways to get involved.  After all, he was someone who was passionate about the environment, and it took him years! 

John feels that the root of the problem is that people aren’t getting enough environmental education, and the opportunities to help out aren't as accessible as they should be.  Wouldn’t it be great if today's students had access to basic environmental education, an organization that could provide them with a platform from which to operate, and a network of green-minded people that could share ideas and help people find ways to get involved?  Well, John thought so!

In February of 2009, John helped to start an Earth Club at Miamisburg High School in Dayton, Ohio and Ecolution Trail was born.  Ecolution Trail is now quickly growing as more and more schools come on board, giving their students the opportunity to create positive change in the world.