Get Involved!

Join our network of supporters in advocating for change by participating in various activities.

Attend Virtual Events with guest speakers and our Global Partners to stay informed and connected with our work. Express your thoughts on population-related issues by writing LTEs or Op-Ed pieces, amplifying your voice on critical topics. Become a local advocate by raising awareness in your community—share resources, foster conversations, and be a catalyst for change. Take direct action by contacting your representatives, urging them to prioritize investments in family planning programs. Stand up for reproductive rights by working with our sister organization, Population Connection Action Fund.

Together, we can create a powerful force for positive transformation! Learn more about how to get involved with our efforts below.

Webinar with Population Education

PopEd Trainers: The Volunteers at the Core of our Program

Join our Population Education (PopEd) team for a special webinar showcasing the volunteer trainers who bring PopEd resources to classrooms across the country! PopEd equips K-12 teachers with innovative, hands-on lesson plans and professional development to explore human population growth and its connections to the environment and human well-being.

This event will spotlight PopEd’s incredible network of volunteer trainers and the invaluable role they play in expanding the program’s reach. In 2025 alone, trainers led 355 professional development workshops, providing PopEd lessons and materials for nearly 6,000 teachers to use in their classrooms! We’ll also hear from a long-time PopEd trainer about her personal experiences with the program and facilitate one of PopEd’s most popular interactive activities.

Tune in for this interactive webinar to learn more about the passionate educators whose time, expertise, and dedication help make Population Education a powerful resource for teachers and students.

Date: Thursday, September 17th
Time: 2:00 pm ET/11:00 am PT

Register Here!

Book Club Discussion

Progress: How One Idea Built Civilization and Now Threatens to Destroy It by Samuel Miller McDonald

Progress has built cities, flattened mountains, charted the globe, delved into the oceans and space, created wealth, opportunity, and remarkable innovation, and ushered in a new epoch unique in our planet’s 4.5-billion-year history.

But the modern story of progress is also a very dangerous fiction. It shapes our sense of what progress means, and justifies what we will do to achieve it—no matter the cost. The book calls attention to how we continue to subscribe to a set of ideas about dominion, growth, extraction, and expansion. Yet these same ideas that have fueled our success now threaten the existence of all species on a planet in crisis.

Geographer Samuel Miller McDonald offers a new perspective on the myths upon which the modern world is built, highlighting its destructive lineage and proposing an urgent alternative.

*We don’t record book club meetings, so tune in live, if you can, to catch the discussions!

Date: Thursday, November 19th
Time: 4:00 pm ET/1:00 pm PT

Register for the November Meeting!

Find the book on bookshop.org

John Milliken

Member Since 2008

Population Connection member John Milliken’s life has been shaped by a rich tapestry of experiences, starting with his upbringing in a military family.

John was around ten-years-old when he visited his grandparents in New York City. The sheer number of people there struck him. “When I saw how crowded New York City was, I’d lie awake at night thinking, ‘How do they have enough clean water for all these people? There must be 10,000 flushes going on all the time in that city!” This curiosity grew as he moved from Elmira, a small farm community,  to a larger city, Sacramento, California, where he became more involved in thinking about the world’s growing population.

Shortly after graduating from Sacramento State College, John joined the Air Force in 1967, serving two tours in Vietnam and spending 14 years, including reserve time, in the military. His career took a different flight path when he became a pilot for Delta, a role he filled for 28 years. His wife, a flight attendant, joined him in exploring the world, often with their son in tow.

Now retired from his flying career, John stays busy with his love for antique cars and traveling. He combines his hobbies and travels to judge car shows, including serving as Chief Judge at the International Auto Expo in New Delhi and the San Marino Car Show in California.

John was aware of the Zero Population Growth (ZPG) movement and became a supporting donor of Population Connection in 2008. He views rapid population growth as the root cause of many global issues. He expresses concern about the environmental changes he has witnessed over the years, saying, “I’ve traveled to other places, too, that I knew when I was much, much younger, and now they’re changed, and not nearly as pretty as they were before.”

John’s frustration with the lack of attention to population issues motivates him to stay involved. He actively responds to misleading headlines about population growth, particularly those from economists, by writing letters to the editor. “I would like people to become more aware of their carbon footprints,” John says, emphasizing his desire to break stigmas and shift negative perceptions about how population impacts our environment and social issues. His activism extends to women’s rights, a cause he passionately supports.

As a member of Population Connection, John is part of the Leadership Circle and stays engaged through virtual programs and reading our quarterly magazine. He also enjoys the interactive #MyPopulationNumber activity, reflecting on how the global population has grown during his lifetime: “When I was born in December of 44′, there were 2.4 billion people. My wife was born in August of ’58, and it was up to 2.9 billion people. When my son was born in 1995, the population was 5.7 billion. It has gone from 2.4 billion people to 8.2 billion people in my 80 years.”

Through his activism, John hopes to inspire others to become more aware of their impact on the planet and to advocate for meaningful change in addressing population growth and its role in global issues. We greatly appreciate having such a passionate member dedicated to protecting our planet. If you’re as committed to achieving global population stabilization as John, we encourage you to contact us at engage@popconnect.org or to tune in for an upcoming virtual event!

Membership Relations Staff