Dr. Christine Runnels is a surgical specialist, an American College of Veterinary Surgeons member, and a social and environmental justice activist.
How does Corporate Accountability’s mission align with your values?
I am against cruelty and environmental destruction in the name of profit. Nobody has the right to destroy or take away our human rights, like clean water, healthy food, and medical care, in the name of making even more money.
Corporate Accountability’s values and campaigns coincide with those beliefs, and it really pleases me that you’re doing something about it.
How do you support this work outside your giving?
I spend a lot of time educating and recruiting people: I speak to them on an individual basis, I sign petitions, I go to the occasional march, and I forward emails from Corporate Accountability to others in my network. But right now, speaking to individuals is the bulk of the work I do—because I believe that raising awareness is important. Large groups of people throughout the world are aware of these causes, working together, and achieving victories. When we’re aware, we can work together; when we work together, we have a chance.
Every time I see an article in the paper, or hear a story on the radio—about Exxon Mobil having a say in climate policy, for example—I know that other people are reading or hearing it too, and they’re becoming aware. And each story has the potential to get through to whoever’s hearing it. That gives me hope.
