ALTON - At the 19th annual Mississippi Earthtones Festival on Saturday, September 120, Sierra Club Illinois’ Three Rivers Project, Alton Main Street, and the Jacoby Arts Center will award three local activists with the 2025 Confluence Conservation Leadership Award. The festival organizers have recognized community members who have made significant contributions to environmental conservation in the Riverbend region since 2007. This year’s Confluence Conservation Leadership awardees include: Amy Cloud and the Three Rivers Community Farm, Jo Anna Pollock of Simmons Hanly Conroy Law Firm, and Elise Ratcliff with the National Great Rivers Museum in Alton, IL.
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“All three award recipients have made significant contributions to sustainable and regenerative agriculture, healthy rivers, and environmental justice and conservation in the Riverbend and are unsung heroes in our region,” said Christine Favilla, Coordinator of the Three Rivers Project of Sierra Club Illinois. “Join us at 2:45 p.m. on September 20 at the Mississippi Earthtones Festival’s main stage as we honor the work of these three leaders, who work tirelessly to advocate, educate, and inspire action in the area of holding polluters accountable and protecting environmental and community health.”
Amy Cloud, Jose Lara and their two children, Diego and Lydia, own and operate Three Rivers Community Farm--an eight acre vegetable farm located in Elsah, IL. Amy and Jose’s nephews, Carlos Lara and Daniel Nunez from Aguascalientes Mexico, through the H2A visa program, have worked on the farm for the last three seasons rounding out the "family" in their family farm. The family has been growing vegetables and plant seedlings using organic growing methods for the Riverbend and St. Louis communities since 2007. The Three Rivers Community Farm has grown a community-centered gathering space around good food, friendship and support, and a connection with the land that feeds us.
Attorney Jo Anna Pollock is a partner at Simmons Hanly Conroy, specializing in environmental litigation. She has represented communities and individuals harmed by industrial negligence, securing significant settlements against industries like steel mills, refineries, and railroads. Notable cases include the East Palestine train derailment, resulting in a $600 million settlement to address environmental contamination, and lawsuits against refineries and steel plants for groundwater and air pollution, leading to multi-million dollar recoveries. Jo Anna's work focuses on holding polluters accountable and protecting environmental and community health.
Elise Ratcliff began her career as a Corps of Engineers intern at Rend Lake in southern Illinois in 2019, sparking her passion for environmental education. Since then, she has worked as a field technician with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in South Dakota and provided environmental education opportunities through her 2-year role as Site Superintendent of Big Oak Tree State Park in southeast Missouri. Elise now works for the Corps once again as an educator and volunteer program coordinator at the National Great Rivers Museum in Alton, IL, where she pursues her passion of connecting people to the outdoors.
The Mississippi Earthtones Festival organizers encourage the public to celebrate these amazing local residents and incredible stewards of this Earth at 2:45pm at the Main Stage on Saturday, September 20, 2025 when they will receive their awards on the Amphitheater Stage. The Festival is free and runs from 12pm-10pm.
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About Sierra Club Illinois
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3.8 million members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information about Sierra Club’s work in Illinois, visit www.sierraclub.org/illinois.
About Alton Main Street
Alton Main Street is a community based, not-for-profit, volunteer-led organization dedicated to securing the economic vitality and aesthetic quality of the historic downtown district. Since 1994, Alton Main Street has led volunteer efforts to transform Alton’s Downtown district into a thriving commercial and residential center through education, historic preservation, and coordination of social, economic, and beautification activities. To learn more, visit www.DowntownAlton.com.
About Jacoby Arts Center
The mission of Jacoby Arts Center is to nurture and promote the practice and appreciation of the arts through education, exhibits, cultural programs, and community outreach initiatives. For details on upcoming classes, events and programming, please visit www.JacobyArtsCenter.org.
