Lisa Kivirist (Class of 1985) Named as Glenbrook South High School's 2009 Distinguished Alumnus Award Winner

Congratulations to the 2009 Distinguished Alumnus Award Winner, Lisa Kivirist. Lisa embodies the growing “ecopreneuring” movement: innovative entrepreneurs who successfully blend business with an ecological concern to make the world a better place. Today a national leader in green business and sustainability issues, Ms. Kivirist credits her Glenbrook South and Glenview roots for sparking her passion for living a life filled with diversity, creativity and a dedication to innovative change.

“My Glenbrook South years gifted me with the opportunity to explore and challenge myself on multiple levels, always supported by top notch teachers, staff and resources,” Ms. Kivirist reflected. At GBS, Ms. Kivirist served as Student Council President, received the Parents’ Association Outstanding Senior Award and was in the first graduating class of the Glenbrook Academy of International Studies. “These strong roots gave me the confidence and commitment to follow my heart and values and realize I wasn’t one to fit into cookie-cutter career paths, leading me to the diversified range of entrepreneurial hats I wear today.”

Ms. Kivirist is co-author, with her husband, John Ivanko, of the award-winning business book, ECOpreneuring: Putting Purpose and the Planet Before Profits. It is a compact, dynamic tool kit with a fresh approach to entrepreneurial thinking, blending passion for protecting and preserving the planet with small business pragmatics. The duo also co-authored Rural Renaissance: Renewing the Quest for the Good Life, capturing the American dream of farm living for contemporary times.

A distinguished W. K. Kellogg Foundation Food & Society Policy Fellow, Ms. Kivirist’s fellowship work focuses on capturing and promoting the story and economic vitality of female farmers and rural entrepreneurs. She directs the Rural Women’s Project, a venture of the Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service. It is an innovative new initiative designed to raise the voice of women in agriculture and farm-based businesses by providing networking, training and support, aiming to increase media and public awareness issues of female farmers and rural entrepreneurs.

In addition to feature writing for publications such as Hobby Farm Home, Mother Earth News and Wisconsin Trails, Ms. Kivirist regularly blogs for Green Options and is a lead writer for Renewing the Countryside, a non-profit organization showcasing rural entrepreneurial and agricultural success stories. Ms. Kivirist is also the educational outreach director for Renewing the Countryside – Wisconsin, published in partnership with the Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service.

Ms. Kivirist and her family run the award-winning Inn Serendipity Bed & Breakfast and Farm in southwest Wisconsin, completely powered by renewable energy and recognized as one of the “Top Ten Eco-Destinations in North America.” Her culinary focus on organic, local and seasonal cuisine – with most ingredients traveling less than 100 feet from farm to B&B plates – earned recognition in publications from Vegetarian Times to Country Woman and inspired her cookbook, Edible Earth: Savoring the Good Life with Vegetarian Recipes from Inn Serendipity. Ms. Kivirist shares her farm with her husband, their young son, a ten-kilowatt wind turbine and millions of ladybugs.