|
Jon
Dee, Planet Ark Co-Founder and Chairman
Jon
Dee has spent over twenty years working on cause-related
projects.
During
this time, he set up and ran Rock Aid Armenia,
getting the support of bands such as Pink Floyd,
Led Zeppelin, Queen and others to raise funds
for Armenian Earthquake Relief in 33 countries.
In
1988, Jon co-produced the 55-nation global broadcast
'World Against AIDS' that launched World AIDS
Day. In 1990, he was also the initiator and publisher
of Britain's first multi-lingual pan-European
magazine - the 8 language edition 'Rock Power'
magazine.
Jon
Dee founded the Planet Ark organisation in association
with friend and tennis player Pat Cash back in
June 1991.
He
set up Planet Ark as a pro-business organisation,
as he believes that only business has enough power
to save the planet's ability to look after our
future generations.
Since
its inception, Planet Ark has become a major force
for social and environmental change in Australia.
Internationally, Jon launched the Planet Ark Internet
site back in 1994. With over 20,000 pages of news,
it is the largest online environmental news service
in the world.
Jon
won community service awards in his youth from
Lions clubs. For his earthquake relief work, he
was awarded the President's Medal by the President
of Armenia in a ceremony in Yerevan in 1991. In
1994, Jon also won the national 'Banksia Environmental
Award' for his production of Channel 7 and Planet
Ark's 'Save the Planet' education commercials.
Jon
is a regular commentator on radio and TV. Since
1992, he has produced and directed over 300 TV
and radio adverts for Planet Ark, recruiting people
like Sir Richard Branson, Kylie Minogue, Tom Cruise,
Nicole Kidman, Olivia Newton-John, Steve Irwin,
Dustin Hoffman, Jamie Durie and others to present
the ads.
Jon
lives in the Blue Mountains where he is married
to Leanne, his partner of 16 years. Leanne and
Jon have a daughter called Estelle – a wonderful
3 year old child whose birth was the happiest
moment of his life.
Jon
is an inspiring and entertaining speaker, who
has delivered speeches at launches, conferences
and corporate workshops both here in Australia
and overseas.
Websites
Planet
Ark
Jon
Dee official website
Articles
Watching
the weather, by Larry Schwartz - 13th December
2007
(Credit:
The Age)
Larry
Schwartz meets a campaigner showing viewers how
to clean up their act.
ENVIRONMENTAL
campaigner Jon Dee is so upbeat it takes you aback
to see the tears in his eyes. "I'm starting
to get emotional," he says.
The
Planet Ark founder's voice falters as he considers
a question about his father.
"He's
proud of me and that means a lot because my dad's
a very principled man," says Dee discussing
a new 16-part series he is presenting on The Weather
Channel called Tipping Point in which he shows
how to create an environmentally sustainable future.
He
attributes his activism largely to the family
ethos. "My father was a firefighter and we
had very little money," he says.
"But
we were very community-minded. We were brought
up to go and fundraise and doorknock for people
less fortunate."
His
father was once the only officer in Shropshire
county, western central England, to go on strike
for seven weeks in solidarity with fire brigade
workers.
"It
killed his career," Dee says. "He never
got promoted again. We did it really tough. We
were reliant on people bringing stale bread and
yesterday's cakes. We got cash handouts from other
union people."
The
second-eldest of five, he marvels that his 60something
mother regularly flies to remote parts of the
EU to monitor elections.
Also
inspiring was his grandfather, Sam, the only one
in whom he could confide when neglecting school
work in his teens to edit a fanzine for rock band,
Yes.
"When
my parents found out I was flunking grades and
producing this magazine, they were horrified.
They thought I was throwing my life away. But
my granddad kept saying, 'You keep doing what
you believe in', and he sent me this note I still
have, saying, 'You know I'll always back you'."
These
days, home is in the Blue Mountains with Australian-born
wife Leanne and daughters Estelle and Claudia.
He's
been doing the promotional rounds for his show
— Gold FM, Radio National's Breakfast, Channel
Ten's 9am with David and Kim, 3AW's Neil Mitchell
and others.
"How
great to launch a TV series that's been in the
planning for this long in a week that we're going
to Bali," he says of Australia's involvement
in this month's annual UN climate change conference.
Each
episode lasts just a few minutes and is shown
on the hour each hour. Next week, it's about the
environmental implications of the more than 3
million tonnes (worth about $5.3 billion) of food
that Australians throw out each year.
Profiles
Planet
Ark
The
Weather Channel
Environmentalist
and the environment
Media Man Australia is delighted to have met and
conducted and off the record interview with Jon
Dee
|
