Tejopala Rawls is one of two paid part-time Community Organisers for the Australian Religious Response to Climate Change. This involves organising people of faith on the transition away from coal and towards renewable energy. Most of his work is on the Stop Adani campaign.

Tejopala’s previous campaign experience includes a grassroots campaign to stop a motorway extension through the centre of Wellingon (Campaign for a Better City), as an organisers and media spokespeople for a campaign against French nuclear tests in the Pacific in 1995. I went on to work as a media officer for the New Zealand Green Party.

He has also worked in the performing arts on climate change. In 2015 Tejopala organised five short comedy videos about climate change made for the lead-up to the Paris summit. He was involved in the acting, writing, storyboarding and shot-listing.

For some years Tejopala has been involved in organising on climate change within a worldwide Buddhist community called the Triratna Buddhist Community.

He has a background in science, conservation, politics and environmental campaigning. His professional life has focused on advocating for the natural environment, which has led me into the community organising space. He has been involved in community organising in Tasmania for over 25 years – both inside and outside parliament. Tejopala has been involved in many community campaigns, which have included community organising, such as the Tasmanian forests campaign, the Gunns Pulp mill, the Ralphs Bay Quay development by Walker Corporation Pty Ltd, significant tourism and urban developments at Freycinet on Tasmania’s east coast and more recently on the Planning Matters campaign.