Maria Lewytzkyj-Milligan is a researcher, community activist and supporter of fair trade and environmental conservation efforts and writes petitions to focus on environmentally concerning developments. This year OGC sponsored two of these petitions, one focusing on opposing the Keystone Pipeline and the other on opposing the TPP Fast Track free trade agreement. She is in charge of social media for Our Green Challenge and helps inform the public on environmental issues distributing various open sources reporting and sometimes sharing her analysis or opinion. She is a trained political analyst with government, nonprofit and business experience. She is excited to put her activism back into action on this project. While In DC, Maria participated in fundraisers with Green America. She earned her MA in International Policy Studies at Monterey Institute of International Studies in 2008. She earned a BA in English Literature at San Francisco State after attending community college. She lives with her husband and Maine Coon Mel in the Santa Rosa CA area and enjoys writing, gardening, reading, dancing and practicing Ukrainian and trying new recipes.