Team
Contact the YERT Team at team@yert.com
Mark Dixon
After surviving childhood at a young age, Mark attended Stanford University and somehow graduated in 1997. He followed his dreams into the Internet bubble and worked for two start-up companies in Silicon Valley, including Akimbo Systems, where he managed the deployment of nearly 10,000 programs for its Internet video service. A citizen of the world, he has visited 26 countries and lived on three giant continents, including a year in Tokyo, Japan. Mark has also dedicated his life to the performing arts, entertaining audiences onstage through choral and solo vocal and acting performances in a variety of genres, including jazz, comedy, gospel, opera, improv and musical theater, and classical religious music. As evidence for global warming and resource depletion moved into prominent view on an international scale, Mark decided to refocus his life on helping America work with the world community to address these issues, by launching YERT in Summer 2007. Mark is also one of 1000 climate messengers chosen and trained by Al Gore to give presentations about the climate crisis that we face today.
Ben Evans
Raised in Kansas and New Jersey (by wolverines), Ben graduated from Stanford University in 1994 . . . at least that’s what he tells his family . . . of wolverines. After working for a Bay Area graphics software company for two years, he moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in the performing arts. In the fall of 2001, Ben’s acting career brought him to New York City where he now lives and works. Over the last decade, he has performed in film, television, and theater in LA, New York, Europe, and across the U.S. In addition, he has worked for over a decade as an academic tutor and teacher both privately and for various educational companies, including The Princeton Review and Ivy West. Having always harbored an abiding passion for the environment, Ben jumped at the opportunity to team up with Mark in launching the cross-country, environmental whirlwind that is YERT. He believes that the U.S., if it tries really hard . . . can melt everything. This would be bad. In his free time Ben enjoys mincing salt, juicing bananas, and petting feral cats.
Julie Dingman Evans
Julie is unparalleled in her ability to grind jokes down to a halt with the most absolutely literal interpretation. Despite this, and with a blind eye to his bio, Julie is (quite happily) married to Ben! Born in Florida, and raised in Kentucky, Julie believes her need to hug trees can be traced to countless camping and fishing trips, long bike rides, several failed attempts to save baby birds, and tending Mom’s flowers and the family vegetable garden. Having two dancer parents probably tilted the scales a bit - Julie inevitably wound up pursuing a life onstage. Since earning a BFA in Dance from Western KY and an MFA in Acting from the U. of Louisville, Julie has toured shows professionally across the United States and Europe and most recently starred Off-Broadway in Shout! The Mod Musical. Always attempting to rescue creatures in need, she now realizes it is time to officially add planet Earth to the list, and is more than excited to join Mark and Ben on this incredibly worthwhile endeavor . . . even if she did take a little convincing.
