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American Botanical Council Welcomes New Board of Trustees President Tom Newmark
(AUSTIN,
Texas, Jan. 28, 2015) The American Botanical Council (ABC) announces that
Thomas Newmark has been elected president of the ABC Board of Trustees. He
succeeds author, photographer, and botanist Steven Foster, who has served in
the position since 2008. The decision was made at a meeting of the Board in
December 2014.
Newmark
joined the ABC Board of Trustees in 2012, bringing with him a deep devotion to
environmentalism, conservation, and organic herb production, along with more
than a decade of experience within the regulatory environments of the natural
products industry.
“We are
pleased that Tom has agreed to serve ABC as its new Board president,” said ABC
Founder and Executive Director Mark Blumenthal. “The ABC staff and I are
looking forward to working with him and his dynamic energy to help ABC continue
to expand its unique nonprofit educational mission.”
“Having
had the honor to serve as president of the Board of Trustees since 2008, it is
my delight to hand over the official ABC gavel to Tom Newmark,” said Foster,
adding: “Tom brings a rich blend of nonprofit and for-profit board experience
to ABC along with wide-ranging leadership in international environmental policy
advocacy and development.”
Newmark
holds a degree in law from Washington University and was an attorney earlier in
his career. He is perhaps best known for his past role at New Chapter, Inc.,
where he helped the dietary supplement company become the first to have its
entire line of vitamins certified as made with organic ingredients, and all
products verified by the Non-GMO Project.
After
serving as a legal consultant to his college friend and New Chapter Founder
Paul Schulick, Newmark joined New Chapter as its president in 1999. In the 13
years that followed, his roles at the company included co-CEO, CEO, and
chairman. With Schulick, Newmark co-authored Beyond Aspirin (Holm Press,
2000) and The Life Bridge (Herbal Free Press, 2002).
“In my
three plus decades of connection with the herbal supplement field, I can confidently
say that Tom (Tommy) Newmark is a rare force of nature,” said Schulick. “He is
a key factor that helped catapult New Chapter to its leadership position in the
field,” Schulick continued, “and [he] will, I am certain, bring energy and
wisdom to the leadership of the American Botanical Council. The herbal field
and the planet’s health have the greatest of allies in Tom Newmark.”
Newmark
co-owns the biodynamic organic herb farm Finca Luna Nueva in Costa Rica. He
also co-founded and chaired the nonprofit Semillas Sagradas (now Sacred Seeds),
an international network of 16 botanical sanctuaries that preserve traditional
and medicinal plants and the knowledge surrounding their important uses. Sacred
Seeds is now administered by United Plant Savers. ABC is part of the Sacred
Seeds network with a foundational garden at its Austin, Texas headquarters
comprising plants used by Native American, Mexican American, and European
settlers throughout the Central Texas region. [See photo below.]
Newmark
is also chairman of Greenpeace Fund USA, a tax-exempt funding organ for the
environmental activist group Greenpeace, and is the co-founder and chair of The
Carbon Underground, a nonprofit that teaches farmers, ranchers, and
corporations how to use regenerative agricultural practices to sequester carbon
dioxide and possibly reverse climate change.
“We are
delighted that Tom Newmark has been appointed president of the Board of
Trustees of the American Botanical Council,” said Michael Balick, PhD, ABC
Board of Trustees member and New York Botanical Garden vice-president of
botanical science. “ABC will benefit from the critical thinking, kindness,
and wealth of experience Tom brings to this position,” Dr. Balick continued,
“including [as a] businessperson and entrepreneur, herbalist, organic farmer,
nonprofit manager, author, and devoted activist for planetary health and
healing. We are also deeply grateful to Steven Foster, the outgoing
president, for his many contributions to this important and impactful
organization.”
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Newmark,
Blumenthal, and Foster at ABC's Sacred Seed Garden ©2012 ABC
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