Changing the Endgame

Changing the Endgame is brought to you by Ultimate Civics. Our Goal is to ensure the outcome of the BP Gulf Disaster is not a return to the “old oil business as usual,” where corporate profits eclipse public health, worker safety, and environmental responsibility––and leave citizens feeling helpless and disenfranchised. We are seeking holistic solutions to a systemic problem to Change the Endgame.

The Ultimate Civics Mission

Our mission is to build a grass roots movement to pass state constitutional and U.S. constitutional amendments reinstating the primacy of human rights over corporate rights. We work to inform people of the need to abolish corporate persons, encourage and assist citizen-driven efforts to pass ordinances and laws to abolish corporate personhood, and coalesce these efforts into a movement for constitutional reform.

Riki Ott

At age thirteen, Riki Ott read Silent Spring to understand why robins were dying in Wisconsin (DDT). Inspired, she decided to become a marine biologist like author Rachael Carson. In 1989 as a commercial salmon fisher in Alaska, Riki witnessed the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Prince William Sound and realized she knew enough––and cared enough––to make a difference. She committed to work towards transitioning communities off fossil fuels. This led her to become a community activist, working with people to imagine and create self-reliant communities.

Riki has written two books on oil spill impacts to ecosystems, people, and communities and starred in Black Wave, an award-winning feature film about the Exxon Valdez. In 2010, she brought her expertise to the Gulf, volunteering one full year to help people tell the real Gulf story and to share her knowledge to empower people to organize to defend their lives, livelihoods, and environment. She is a director of Ultimate Civics and a member of Move to Amend, a grassroots coalition advocating to end corporate constitutional rights.

Gershon Cohen

Gershon Cohen, assistant director, founded and directs Earth Island Institute's Campaign to Safeguard America's Waters (CSAW). He was a member of the N.W. Regional Team of President Clinton's Council on Sustainable Development and has successfully campaigned to pass statewide initiatives and laws in western states.

Lisa Marie Jacobs

Lisa Marie Jacobs, public information strategist, has 23 years of supervisory experience organizing, implementing, and promoting events and campaigns. She spent 13 years as a non-partisan employee of the Alaska State Legislature, helping citizens understand and participate in the legislative process. She was a resident of Cordova, Alaska during the Exxon Valdez oil spill and subsequent clean-up activities.