With a physical education degree from Illinois State University and a dream, Redbird Lynn Adams ’81 headed west to embark on an adventure that would lead her to making a #RedbirdImpact on California’s beaches, the Pacific Ocean, and the planet.
Originally from Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, Adams came to Illinois State on a volleyball scholarship and to pursue her passion for physical education. During her time as a student, Adams earned an additional scholarship as a pentathlete on the Redbird women’s track and field team who she competed at nationals with in 1978 and 1979.
After graduating, Adams returned to her hometown to find a job in physical education, but at the time, there weren’t any teaching jobs available. Instead, Adams found a job at a local health club, but she soon realized her dreams may lie elsewhere.
“I realized I could do what I’m doing here anywhere, and I wanted to see another part of the country,” said Adams. “So, I had a friend at the time and the two of us decided to move west. We had a big open slate and a date to leave, but no set destination. Finally, we opened up a map and one of us wanted to go to San Diego and the other to Seattle, and we decided to meet in the middle and head to San Francisco.”
Luckily, Adams happened to have a distant cousin that lived in San Francisco who helped her find housing, and within two weeks, she had a job as the activity’s director at a local health club where she organized all the sports leagues. Then in 1990, Adams got a call for her dream job teaching physical education to K-8 for a private company that believed in 100% participation 100% of the time. In this role, she was able to put to use the teaching skills she learned at Illinois State.
Although Adams loved teaching, she eventually made the transition to a job in sales to help fund the purchase of her home, but she soon found that while she was making a lot of money, she wasn’t as happy as she was when she was teaching. At the same time, she started hiking in Pacifica, California, but little did she know these hikes would lead to a lifelong commitment to and career in saving the planet and educating others on the importance of doing so.
“Pacifica is full of beautiful beaches and beautiful hiking, but one of the beaches I frequented was filthy, and the streets to get there were strewn with litter. I heard of the Pacific Beach Coalition, reached out to them, and started leading cleanups there with friends and people walking by that I enlisted,” said Adams. “I built up a volunteer list and witnessed the impact we had together. In 2005, my sister passed away and I realized life was short, and I should make it matter. I made a commitment then to do whatever I could to help save the planet and connect people to each other and the earth. Everything since then has been about how we can get people involved, educate them, and help the planet.”
The Pacific Beach Coalition (PBC) is an organization dedicated to preserving the ocean, coastal habitat, and wildlife, and ending litter through advocacy, education, community building, and citizen action. When she first began volunteering with PBC, Adams had the idea to create an Earth Day event to encourage people to come together on this day to clean our streets and city spaces to get the litter before it washed into the ocean.
For the initial event, Adams put a small advertisement in a local newspaper searching for people to adopt needy areas. Three groups signed on, and after it was over, their impact made it clear this was a great way to make a difference, connect people, and instill pride in the community. Through the years, Adams continue to grow and expand her involvement with PBC, and, in 2007, she took her mission to a whole new level when she became the president of PBC.
“I’ve committed my life since then to connecting people and inspiring them to get up and take action to help the planet and reduce climate change. I know that when we come together, people have power,” said Adams. “Our focus at PBC has always been to figure out what we can do to help engage, educate and inspire people to help the planet.”
The Earth Day city-wide action events have only continued to grow since their inception. In addition to volunteer cleanup, restoration, and gardening actions that reach 20 miles of coastline and five different communities, school assemblies are taught for the month and a big celebration fest is organized with speakers, awards, EcoBooths, and fun educational activities for youth and all ages.
Since 2013, a species has been chosen for the year and launched each Earth Day, and the chosen species for 2024 was the whale. PBC members and volunteers are asked to learn about and teach others about this species with the goal to get people to connect and appreciate the bird, fish, plant, or animal. School assemblies are provided to teach thousands of students about the honoree in April. Then, thousands of volunteers pick up litter and restore habitats or gardens in the morning before an afternoon festival. This year’s Earth Day celebration consisted of 41 cleanup and habitat restoration sites that cleaned most of Pacifica and sites in four other communities in the morning, followed by a Whale Fest at the beach.
“For Whale Fest, we wanted to bring people together again after the pandemic and give them a safe space to talk with each other. A safe place to learn and be inspired. We organized 25 different eco booths and coordinated dozens of activities and learning opportunities about whales. Everyone could touch and feel and see aspects of whales. Volunteers got to see each other and celebrate the amazing work completed in one morning. Speakers, especially the youth who talked of the need to act and the power they feel when taking action, inspired everyone and gave us hope. It was so impactful”
Whale Fest resulted in a large success, with over 3,000 people in attendance, and while the event was swimming with activity, it wasn’t the only way PBC was making a difference on Earth Day. There where hundreds of volunteers working to clean up local beaches at their 41 chosen locations across the area. To showcase the impact organizations like PBC can make, Adams hosted a VIP tour with California politicians.
“I wanted them to see what our program is and how we do this, and the best way to do so, was for them to see our volunteers in action,” said Adams. “When you see what we’re doing, it’s entirely different. That’s how we get our funding because they see the value of it. Witnessing the volunteers in action makes it very clear that programs like this can save cities money, but they also build community, pride, and systemic changes.”
After the VIP tour, Adams came to Whale Fest and was ecstatic to see it filled with community members. The event culminated with a series of speakers and presentations. One of the planned speakers, California Congresswoman Anna Eshoo, couldn’t make it in from Washington, D.C., but she still managed to honor Adams and the work she is doing with the PBC by presenting Adams with a U.S. flag that flew over the U.S. capitol in her honor.
“I was speechless. I was really touched,” said Adams. “We do the work we do because everyone deserves to be an Earth Hero, and every place deserves to have a group of people to care for it. To be honored like this is very special. It is an award for all.”
Since 2005, the Pacific Beach Coalition has collected more than 375,000 pounds of trash, nearly 60,000 pounds of recycling, and over 1.9 million cigarette butts with the help of over 170,000 volunteers. To do this, PBC organizes 10 cleanups a month, restores habitat along the coastal trail, and engages with volunteers from school and corporate teams to hold an additional 50 to 100 cleanups each year. In June 2024, the Pacific Beach Coalition was recognized by the state when they received the 2024 California Nonprofit Award of the Year. Their efforts, led by Adams, continue to make a difference in keeping the Bay Area’s beaches and the Pacific Ocean clean.
Today, Adams continues to pursue her love for education, but perhaps in a different way than she may have imagined when she was an Illinois State student. Rather than being in a classroom, Adams takes the classroom with her from schools to beaches to teach students and community members the importance of caring for the Earth and each other.
As a key value of the University, civic engagement is a lifelong responsibility that allows Redbirds, like Adams, to become engaged global citizens working toward the betterment of society. Those interested in becoming civically engaged and making a #RedbirdImpact can visit the Center for Civic Engagement’s website or look for ways to be a part of #RedbirdImpact Month.
