Leverage Masters

Today's guest, Shel Horowitz, began his campaign for social responsibility as a toddler, and by age 15 he was involved in a community group that opposed a nuclear power plant proposed for two miles north of New York City (a proposal that the utility company quickly withdrew). His first book, written when he was only 22, was about why nuclear power makes no sense. He has been involved in numerous successful community actions. His Down to Business webzine was one of the first business publications to have a regular section on sustainability. On the marketing side, Shel was still a teenager when he started doing publicity and marketing for grass-roots community organizations with zero promotional budget. There wasn’t even money available for stamps, so he used to hand-deliver press releases on a three-speed bicycle. Trained as a journalist, he first became aware of the power of the news media when a local paper refused to print meeting notices he wrote for a controversial group—but gave extensive news coverag