The second annual Baltiimore Bioneers Conference is packing in some green luminaries, that's for sure - but few of them check off as many credentials as keynote Judy Wicks, founder of White Dog Café in Philadelphia and Co-Founder of the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE).

If you've ever visited the White Dog Cafe, you know it's nothing short of extraordinary. With a four-part mission of serving customers, employees,
community and nature, and Known
nationally for its community involvement, environmental stewardship, and leadership in the local food movement, White Dog sets the standard for responsible business practices.

Just for starters...

• White
  Dog has purchased sustainably grown produce from local family farmers for over
  20 years
• They are committed to purchasing only humanely and naturally raised
  animal products and sustainably harvested fish.
• Many imported ingredients, such
  as coffee, tea, chocolate, vanilla, cinnamon, and table sugar are certified
  fair trade.
• White Dog practices include recycling and composting,
  solar hot water, eco-friendly soaps and office supplies, and purchasing 100% of
  electricity from renewable sources, the first business in Pennsylvania to do
  so.
• The Café and adjacent Black Cat retail store, which offers local, fair
  trade and green products, currently employ over 100 people in living wage jobs
• The White Dog and Black Cat have operated a mentoring program for inner city high school students for
  15 years.

But Ms. Wicks didn't stop with her local responsible business. In 2001, she co-founded the nationwide Business Alliance
for Local Living Economies (BALLE), now with 60 local networks in the US and
Canada.

Since then she has also founded the Fair Food Project and the Sustainable Business Network
of Greater Philadelphia, a BALLE network with approximately 500 members. She is also founder/president of White Dog Community Enterprises, a nonprofit dedicated to
building a local living economy in the Philadelphia region.

Of course this level of national and community service could not go unnoticed. The James Beard Foundation awarded Ms. Wicks the Humanitarian of the
Year in 2005, and received the Philadelphia Sustainability Awards Life Time Achievement
in 2007. Oprah Magazine named her among its “5 Amazingly Gifted and
Giving Food Professionals,” and she is listed among Inc. Magazine's 25 favorite entrepreneurs.

Ms. Wicks will be telling her story in the Saturday afternoon keynote speech of the Baltimore Bioneers Conference, coming up on November 7-9 at the Maryland Institute College of Art Brown Center.

For information and to register, see http://www.cultivatingchange.org.

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