Leilani Münter

Leilani Münter is biology graduate turned professional race car driver and environmental activist. Discovery's Planet Green named Leilani the #1 Eco Athlete in the world. She is a recipient of ELLE Magazine's 2012 Genius Award and Sports Illustrated named her one of the top ten female race car drivers in the world. Leilani holds a bachelor's degree in Biology specializing in Ecology, Behavior and Evolution from the University of California San Diego. Since 2007, Leilani has been adopting an acre of rainforest for every race she runs. She is politically active and has made several trips to Capitol Hill to speak with members of Congress on behalf of clean energy legislation. Leilani is an almost lifelong vegetarian and was one of the first activists to arrive at the 2010 Gulf oil disaster. She's been to Taiji, Japan three times to document the dolphin slaughter depicted in the Academy Award winning documentary "The Cove." Leilani races in ARCA, a development league of NASCAR. She is the fourth woman in history to race in the Indy Pro Series, the development league of IndyCar. She set the record for the highest finish for a female driver in the history of the Texas Motor Speedway when she finished fourth in 2006. Her accomplishments have landed her on the pages of USA Today, Italian Vogue, Glamour, The New York Times, Washington Post, Reader's Digest, Esquire and a national ad campaign for Lucky Brand Jeans. Her tagline read "Leilani Münter, Saving Rainforests One Race at a Time." With family ties in the music community - her brother-in-law is Grateful Dead guitarist and singer Bob Weir - Leilani's motto is "Never underestimate a vegetarian hippie chick with a race car." She documents her efforts to go green on her eco site and on the green section of The Huffington Post.