Spotlight: Kelly Demarco, OTR/L
Kelly DeMarco (OTR/L) is an occupational therapy practitioner with an impressive list of roles in the climate action community. As an outdoor enthusiast and prior educator, healthcare and green team leader, climate action coach, and member of both the Wisconsin Sustainable Business Council’s ‘Women in Sustainability’ and the Wisconsin Health Professionals for Climate Action, Kelly has a plethora of experience in sustainability and climate action efforts.
Inspiration: Eco-Anxiety Relief
Within her personal and professional communities, Kelly noticed a rising sense of anxiety related to the state of the planet. Haunting reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, devastating effects of climate weirding, and everyday questions from our increasingly concerned young people inspired Kelly’s mission of “normalizing climate solutions and climate resilience talk”. An example of this is empowering action among children. One of her peers has a young son who asked his mom, “What are we doing about climate change?”, to whom his mother responded, “Well, honey, we recycle and compost”. Unsatisfied, he asked again, “But what are we doing?”. Kelly frames these inquiries as an opportunity for children to take on activist roles in their families and communities. Parents can promote action by taking their curious and concerned children to the library so they may explore information on the issue, report what they found, and implement change in their everyday lives. With this in mind, we may reframe a narrative of anxiety and fear to one of action and fun.
Current Work: Green Coaching & Consulting
Drawing upon her passion and skills, Kelly created a program for interested individuals to analyze their activities of daily living and construct a personalized Climate Action Plan. Each plan is tailored to fit each client’s desired degree of change and thus empower all forms of sustainable behavior. Part of crafting these plans is evaluating the unique reasoning for implementing change. Kelly encourages clients to do a personal inquiry on their purpose, passion, lifestyle, spheres of influence, and ideas on creating conditions necessary for humanity to thrive. She is currently beta-testing her program with a group of 5 dedicated therapists (4 occupational therapists and 1 speech therapist). Her paid coaching program will be open for registration in October 2021 for climate-concerned women who are eager to align their own lifestyle, purpose and passion with climate action and unleash their voice to impact change in the world. Kelly also offers private coaching and consulting for those who are well on their way but need a catalyst to accelerate their efforts.
Learning how to align occupational behaviors and choices with a thriving planet will be crucial for human health and wellbeing in the years to come. For human beings to thrive, our planet MUST thrive too. You can learn more about Kelly and her services at www.kellygreencoaching.com
Spotlight written by Madelyn Yoo, OTS