Julia Levitt sees journalism as her all-access pass to the most exciting people and ideas on the planet. She got her first real sense of how big the sustainability conversation was as a student, when she covered a social controversy over land preservation in a farming community in northeastern Brazil. Since graduating from Northwestern University, she has let her curiosity and attraction to change-makers lead her to jobs at the Medill Innocence Project, Steppenwolf Theater Co., and green start-up A Fresh Squeeze, in addition to traditional editing and writing gigs.

This Ohio native is inspired by the possibilities of merging classic values like local business and safe, walkable streets with cutting-edge goals like living buildings, zero-waste and sustainable transit to create cities that are prosperous and environmentally sound. Julia holds to the hope "that the United States is at a turning point, where an increasingly loud majority from all corners are ready to demand a future that's smarter and more efficiently powered, more fair, more resourceful and more connected." When off the clock, she loves traveling, hiking and skiing with her husband, singing loud, teaching yoga, working with kids and starting new projects on her sewing machine. Contact Julia at julia[at]worldchanging[dot]com.