Two months into the new year and things are still moving at warp speed around here!

 

Much of our energies in recent weeks have been focused on our work in Washington. The EPA is starting to move forward on implementing TSCA reform for asbestos and the other nine priority toxins, and ADAO's leadership is meeting regularly to strategize and mobilize our resources and influence in the most effective ways.

 

We're also working fast and furiously on our quickly approaching 13th Annual Asbestos Awareness and Prevention Conference, coming up April 7-9, 2017 in Washington, DC. We've got such a phenomenal line up of nearly 40 speakers from six countries to bring you the latest information on education, advocacy, and community efforts. This month we'll be continuing our Meet the Speaker blog series to introduce you to the powerful voices you'll hear from at ADAO's can't-miss conference. Trust me, you will be amazed, inspired, and intrigued at our conference.

 

With sadness, I must share that in late February, we lost a lion of our ADAO family. Andrew Schneider, two-time Pulitzer-winning investigative journalist and past ADAO conference keynote speaker, died of heart failure at age 74. Andy was a close to many of us and will be dearly missed. We will honor his heroic accomplishments for public health and environmental justice at our conference.

 

Finally, mark your calendars for April 1-7, as  Global Asbestos Awareness Week is coming back! Once again, ADAO is partnering with the McOnie Agency to disseminate lifesaving asbestos prevention information around the world ­- last year, we delivered content to 44 countries in 21 different languages. We're at a moment of global momentum in the anti-asbestos movement, and we can give it a real boost if we all band together to spread this year's GAAW far and wide!

 

Together, we are making change happen!