For over 20 years, Dick and Jeanne Roy had what many might consider a good balance between idealism and practicality.  Dick carried the financial weight for their family as a successful corporate attorney; Jeanne was a volunteer activist, working on environmental issues in their home-state, Oregon.  But both the Roys cared so deeply about those issues that, in 1993, they decided to combine their skills and knowledge to bring environmental action programs into mainstream workplaces—fulltime, without the safety net of Dick's lucrative job. 

His peers were astonished by his "dropping out" but some volunteered to help out in the Roys' newly formed Northwest Earth Institute.  And the NWEI did move into the mainstream, not only in workplaces but also into houses of worship, schools, private homes, government agencies, and community groups all across the Northwest.  The "discussion programs" the Roys have devised foster sustainability in attitudes and in action, and are so effective they're being used now in 650 communities in all 50 states.

NWEI has created study courses on globalization, voluntary simplicity, a sense of place, deep ecology, sustainability and healthy children.  They helped establish a sister group, the Great Plains Earth Institute in Wichita, Kansas, the first of 20 autonomous groups now in action across the country.

"After leaving my corner office on the 26th floor, I never looked back," says Dick Roy.  Neither of them express regrets for their years of living a "diminished" lifestyle.  Says Jeanne Roy, "Living your passion is so rewarding, we see only gains—no losses at all."