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Karenna Gore

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Karenna Gore
Gore in 1997
Gore in 1997
BornKarenna Aitcheson Gore
(1973-08-06) August 6, 1973 (age 51)
Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.
Education
Notable worksLighting the Way: Nine Women Who Shaped Modern America
Spouse
Andrew Schiff
​
​
(m. 1997; div. 2011)​
Children3
Parents
RelativesKristin Gore (sister)

Karenna Aitcheson Gore (born August 6, 1973) is an American author, lawyer, and climate activist. She is the eldest daughter of former U.S. vice president Al Gore and Tipper Gore and the sister of Kristin Gore, Sarah Gore Maiani, and Albert Gore III. Gore is the founder and executive director of the Center for Earth Ethics at Union Theological Seminary.[1]

Early life

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Gore was born in Nashville, Tennessee, and grew up there as well as in Washington, D.C.[2]

When she was 11 years old, Karenna's mother, Tipper Gore, overheard her listening to Prince's song "Darling Nikki", which contained explicit lyrics, which inspired her mother to launch the Parents Music Resource Center, which sought to have "parental warning labels affixed to record albums that contained sexually explicit lyrics, portrayed excessive violence, or glorified drugs."[3]

Gore earned her B.A. (magna cum laude) in history and literature in 1995 from Harvard University, a J.D. from Columbia Law School in 2000,[4] and an M.A. in social ethics from Union Theological Seminary in 2013.[1][5][6] During college, she interned as a journalist for WREG-TV and The Times-Picayune. She later wrote for El Pais in Spain and Slate in Seattle.

2000 presidential campaign and book

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Gore was the Youth Outreach Chair on her father's 2000 presidential campaign.[7][8] Together with her father's former Harvard roommate Tommy Lee Jones,[9] she officially nominated her father as the presidential candidate during the 2000 Democratic Convention in Los Angeles.[10] She also introduced her father during the launching of his campaign.[11][12]

In 2006, she published Lighting the Way: Nine Women Who Shaped Modern America,[4] a profile of nine modern and historical American women.[13] Stating that the book was written in reaction to the results of the 2000 campaign, Gore said, "I wanted to turn all that frustration and sadness into something positive."[4]

Professional career

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After law school, Gore worked briefly as an associate with the law firm Simpson Thacher & Bartlett in New York City.[14] She left that job to work in the non-profit sector as director of community affairs for the Association to Benefit Children (ABC), and as a volunteer in the legal center of Sanctuary for Families.[5]

After graduating from Union Theological Seminary in 2013, Gore was asked to lead the Union Forum, a platform for theological scholarship to engage with civic discourse and social change. In 2014, she organized "Religions for the Earth," a conference held in conjunction with the 2014 United Nations Climate Summit. Religions for the Earth brought together more than 200 religious and spiritual leaders to redefine the climate crisis "as an urgent moral imperative."[15]

Based on the success of this conference, Gore founded the Center for Earth Ethics (CEE) at Union Theological Seminary the following year. CEE "bridges the worlds of religion, academia, politics, and culture to discern and pursue the necessary changes to stop ecological destruction and create a society that values life."[16] She is CEE's executive director and is an ex officio faculty member of The Earth Institute at Columbia University.

She serves on the boards of the Association to Benefit Children,[17] Pando Populus,[18] the Sweetwater Cultural Center,[19] and Riverkeeper.[20] She is also an expert in the United Nations’ Harmony with Nature Knowledge Network.[21][22]

Activism

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Gore has been heavily involved in climate activism, both in writing and direct action, including opposition to the construction of new pipelines and other infrastructure to support the fossil fuel industry.

In 2016, Gore was part of the successful campaign against a fracked gas pipeline (the Constitution pipeline) through New York state, publishing an op-ed in the New York Times on the issue.[23]

In June 2016, Gore was among 23 protesters who were arrested for demonstrating at the site of construction of a pipeline in Boston that would carry fracked gas for the Houston-based Spectra company.[24] She subsequently published an opinion piece, "Why I was arrested in West Roxbury," in The Boston Globe.[25]

In 2021, on the 49th anniversary of the Clean Water Act, she published a guest essay in the Virginia Mercury in opposition to the Mountain Valley Pipeline.[26]

Personal life

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On July 12, 1997, she married Andrew Newman Schiff,[27] a primary care physician in Washington, D.C., and great-great grandson of Jacob Schiff, at the Washington National Cathedral.[28][29] Andrew Schiff now works as a biotechnology fund manager.[30] They have three children together: Wyatt Gore Schiff (born July 4, 1999, in New York City),[31] Anna Hunger Schiff (born August 23, 2001, in New York City),[32] and Oscar Aitcheson Schiff (born in 2006).[33][34] She and husband Andrew separated in 2010 and later divorced.[35]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Karenna Gore on the Presidential Election: 'I Really Don't Like the Way It's Covered'". People. April 25, 2015. Retrieved April 26, 2015.
  2. ^ Tapper, Jake (September 14, 2000). "Daddy's girl". Salon. Archived from the original on March 7, 2008. Retrieved June 26, 2008.
  3. ^ Purdy, Elizabeth R. "Tipper Gore". www.mtsu.edu. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
  4. ^ a b c Tapper, Jake (February 6, 2006). "Dad's defeat helped light the way for Gore Schiff". USA Today. Retrieved June 26, 2008.
  5. ^ a b "Union Theological Seminary bio". Archived from the original on March 7, 2014. Retrieved March 7, 2014.
  6. ^ "The End of the Line". The New York Times. August 25, 2012. Retrieved April 26, 2015.
  7. ^ Edwards, Tamala M. (August 14, 2000). "The Daughter Also Rises – August 14, 2000". Cnn.com. Retrieved April 28, 2009.
  8. ^ Henneberger, Melinda (November 20, 1999). "A Gore Daughter Emerges as a Leading Adviser". New York Times. Retrieved April 28, 2009.
  9. ^ "Joe Lieberman, Karenna Gore Schiff Speak to the Democratic National Convention". Transcripts.cnn.com. August 16, 2000. Retrieved April 28, 2009.
  10. ^ "CNN/AllPolitics.com – Election 2000 – The Democratic National Convention". Archives.cnn.com. August 17, 2000. Retrieved April 28, 2009.
  11. ^ "Gore launches presidential campaign – June 16, 1999". Cnn.com. June 16, 1999. Retrieved April 28, 2009.
  12. ^ "Karenna Gore Schiff Discusses Her Father's Campaign". Transcripts.cnn.com. August 17, 2000. Retrieved April 28, 2009.
  13. ^ "Nine women who made a difference". Usatoday.com. February 7, 2006. Retrieved April 28, 2009.
  14. ^ "New York State Writer's Institute". Albany.edu. Retrieved April 28, 2009.
  15. ^ "Religions for the Earth: Redefining the Climate Crisis". Time. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
  16. ^ "My Spiritual Practice and the Climate Crisis | Rubin Museum of Art". rubinmuseum.org. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
  17. ^ "Board of Directors". Association to Benefit Children. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
  18. ^ "Team". Pando Populus. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
  19. ^ "Ceremony". Sweetwater Cultural Center. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
  20. ^ "Five new directors elected to Riverkeeper Board - Riverkeeper". www.riverkeeper.org. October 25, 2017. Retrieved October 25, 2017.
  21. ^ "Harmony With Nature - Welcome". www.harmonywithnatureun.org. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
  22. ^ "Harmony With Nature - Expert Profile". www.harmonywithnatureun.org. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
  23. ^ Gore, Karenna (April 16, 2016). "Opinion | Stop a Pipeline for Fracked Gas". The New York Times.
  24. ^ "Al Gore's Daughter Among 23 Arrested In West Roxbury Pipeline Protest « CBS Boston". Boston.cbslocal.com. June 30, 2016. Retrieved August 21, 2016.
  25. ^ Gore, Karenna (July 24, 2016). "Why I was arrested in West Roxbury". BostonGlobe.com. Retrieved January 6, 2022.
  26. ^ "The common wealth of water". Virginia Mercury. October 18, 2021. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
  27. ^ Marcano, Tony (March 21, 1997). "CHRONICLE". New York Times. Retrieved January 6, 2009.
  28. ^ "Andrew Schiff, Karenna Gore". New York Times. July 13, 1997. Retrieved January 8, 2009.
  29. ^ "Gore's Eldest Daughter Weds New York Doctor in Washington". CNN. July 12, 1997. Retrieved January 8, 2009.
  30. ^ "Aisling Capital, Schiff Bio". Retrieved November 8, 2012.
  31. ^ "Milestones – Printout – TIME". Time. July 19, 1999. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved January 8, 2009.
  32. ^ Barron, James (August 24, 2001). "BOLDFACE NAMES". New York Times. Retrieved January 8, 2009.
  33. ^ Schmertz, Lexy. "Cookie Sheet: Karenna Gore Schiff". Cookie. Retrieved January 8, 2009.
  34. ^ "Al's Bio". AlGore.com. Retrieved January 8, 2009.
  35. ^ Fournier, Ron (June 9, 2010). "A week after Al and Tipper Gore announce separation, daughter Karenna's marriage on the outs". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved June 9, 2010.[permanent dead link]
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