U.S. Green Building Council President, CEO & Founding Chair Rick Fedrizzi today declared that the neighborhood being built by Make It Right New Orleans, the post-Katrina housing initiative launched by actor Brad Pitt, is the “largest and greenest community of single-family homes in the world” at the annual Clinton Global Initiative meeting in New York.

Make It Right, which was announced as a “commitment” at the 2007 CGI meeting, has already LEED Platinum certified 13 homes and is building at least 150 sustainable, storm-resistant LEED Platinum homes in a Lower 9th Ward neighborhood of New Orleans wiped out by the Hurricane Katrina and that
was nearest to the disastrous breech of the Industrial Canal levee.

“Through Make It Right we are reminded that our work is not about buildings, but rather about the people within them,” said Rick Fedrizzi, President, CEO & Founding Chair, U.S. Green Building Council. “In facing our nation’s unprecedented economic and environmental crises, we must change the way the
places in which we live, work, learn and play are built and operated. What we’re seeing with green building goes beyond energy-efficiency to a transformation of entire communities – and the lives of the people who live there. Make It Right has proved that green building can be both affordable and high performing.”

After the presentation of the award, President Clinton, Brad Pitt, Rick Fedrizzi, Make It Right Executive Director Tom Darden, Architect William McDonough and Dr. Nawal Al-Hosany, Director of Sustainability, Masdar City, UAE International, addressed the progress Make It Right has made, as well as how green building should play a role in revitalizing the nation’s economy and tackling environmental challenges, in a session moderated by White House Domestic Policy Adviser Melody Barnes.

Tags: Brad Pitt, CGI, Chad Griffin, Clinton Global Initiative, LEED, Make it Right, Melody Barnes, Rick Fedrizzi, U.S. Green Building Council, William McDonough, Yusef Robb

Kristina Schake was recently interviewed by LA Times’ Tina Daunt for her piece on celebrity activism.

The column featured Griffin|Schake client Steve Bing, who has partnered with Brad Pitt on his innovative Make it Right housing project in New Orleans.

Schake was quoted in the piece:

“I’ve had at least 10 calls from Hollywood people who have an idea they want to get off the ground now that they feel there is a president in Washington who wants to partner,” said Kristina Schake, a longtime industry politics and policy consultant. (She’s also an advisor to California’s first lady, Maria Shriver.) “Celebrities are longing to be involved, whether it’s on issues like diabetes or domestic violence or healthcare for children. The Obama administration would be incredibly smart to tap into that.”

Read the full article here.

Tags: Brad Pitt, Celebrity Causes, Hollywood, Kristina Schake, Make it Right, Maria Shriver, President Obama

With just three weeks to go before the 2008 election, Griffin|Schake was called in by the No on Proposition 8 campaign to develop new messaging and produce a series of ads to challenge the Yes campaigns most effective messages and sharply narrow the polling gap.

Griffin|Schake secured the participation of Senator Dianne Feinstein and State Superintendent Jack O’Connell for these ads below.

In addition to producing these ads, Griffin|Schake raised more than $5 million for the No campaign through fundraisers in New York and Los Angeles that drew support from Brad Pitt, Rob Reiner, Steve Bing, Ron Burkle, Mary J. Blige, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and New York Governor David Patterson.

Tags: Ad Production, Brad Pitt, Dianne Feinstein, Griffin|Schake, Issue Campaign Strategy, Jack O'Connell, Mary J. Blige, Mayor Villaraigosa, No on Proposition 8, Rob Burkle, Rob Reiner, Strategic Communications