Calendar

Oct
3
Wed
2018
Join the October Pachamama Alliance Global Call @ Your computer/your phone
Oct 3 @ 10:30 am – 11:45 am

Get Inspired and Engaged by the Global Community

 

Reconnect with the Source of Pachamama Alliance

A 75-Minute Conference Call for Our Global Community

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These calls are designed to

bring together Pachamama Alliance

participants, leaders, and supporters who are actively engaged

in creating a shift in humanity to a worldview

that honors and sustains life

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By coming together and grounding in this vision, you will:

*Feel supported in your work.
**Be inspired and energized in your unique role in a worldwide
   network committed to a new future for all.
***Strengthen your connection to like-hearted people and to the spirit
     that has inspired Pachamama Alliance since its inception.

 

*********************************

GO TO: https://www.pachamama.org/events

to reserve your space for the conversation.

Fill out the online form and submit.

You will receive a confirmation email.

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NOTE time is for Pacific Time -this is a global event so check for your time zone

1009 General Kennedy Ave
San Francisco, California
Call (415) 561-4522
Jun
1
Sat
2019
SUSTAINABILITYNOW Teleconference @ Online
Jun 1 – Jun 7 all-day

The Moment We’ve All Been Waiting For…

WE’RE LIVE!!!
Today is DAY 1 of the Sustainability Now Telesummit and boy, are you in for a treat!
Each speaker will be available on-demand for 48 hours.
Here’s today’s schedule:
DAY 1: SATURDAY, JUNE 1 
Alosha Lynov – Off-Grid Water Systems
Marina Qutab – Waste Not Want Not: Zero Waste Solutions for Daily Living
Ryan Eliason – How to Change the World Without Going Broke
Sean Steed – Plant-Based Epoxy: a Case Study for Circular Economy
Zach Bush, MD – Chemical Farming, Ecology & Human Health
ENJOY!
Warm regards,
Mira & Scott
Together we rise!
Click the image below to download a PDF calendar with descriptions
SCHEDULE
 
DAY 1: SATURDAY, JUNE 1 
Alosha Lynov  Bio Veda: Off-Grid Water Systems
Marina Qutab – Eco Goddess: Waste Not Want Not: Zero Waste Solutions for Daily Living
Ryan Eliason – Visionary Business School: How to Change the World Without Going Broke
Sean Steed – Change Climate: Plant-Based Epoxy: a Case Study for Circular Economy
Zach Bush, MD – Farmer’s Footprint: The Crossroads of Chemical Farming, Ecology & Human Health — A Path to Regeneration
DAY 2: SUNDAY, JUNE 2
Alexander Verbeek – Planetary Security Initiative: Climate Change and Planetary Security
Brother Phil Lane Jr. – Four Worlds International Institute: The International Treaty to Protect & Restore Mother Earth
Heshie Segal – Kids Better World: Clean Water on the Go: Reducing Plastics and Protecting Our Health
Mike Strizki – Hydrogen House Project: Hydrogen Micro-Grids: Clean Power for the Future, Now
Summer Bock – Guts & Glory: How Fermented Foods Can Repair Our Health
DAY 3: MONDAY, JUNE 3
Hazel Henderson – Ethical Markets: Hungry for Change: How Halophyte Plants Can Help Solve the Global Food Crisis
Jay Potter – ECOR: From Waste Stream Fiber to Circular Economy
Jorgen Hempel – Hemp Ecosystems: Seeing Green: Hemp and Hydrated Lime Construction
Ronit Herzfeld – Leap Forward: Beyond Bias: Moving From “Me” to “We”
William Padilla-Brown – MycoSymbiotics: Cultivating Culinary and Medicinal Mushrooms for Fun and Profit
DAY 4: TUESDAY, JUNE 4
Brian D. Ridgway –Level 5 Liberation: Finding Freedom
Judy Wicks – Circle of Aunts and Uncles: Nurturing Local Economies
Kristen Comella – U.S. Stem Cell: Heal Thyself: The Regenerative Power of Your Own Stem Cells
Reggie Nayar – Innovative Waste Solutions: The Dirty Truth About Waste and Recycling
DAY 5: WEDNESDAY, JUNE 5
Jon Ramer – Compassion Games: Deep Social Networking as a Vehicle for Global Change
Judah Becker – Mercy House Ministry: Aquaponics: a Path to Self-Sufficiency
Michael Rice and Zana Zu – ZeMArc Design: Holistic Design
Dr. Richard Satava – University of Washington Medical Center: Frontiers of Medicine and the Ethical Implications of Medical Breakthoughs
DAY 6: THURSDAY, JUNE 6
Amy Oskins & Amzi Smith – EastCoast EarthHomes: New Paradigms for Housing: Earthship 2.0
Hajjar Gibran – DomeGaia: Go Dome or Go Home: Earthy meets Elegant with AirCrete Construction
Larry Stearns – Nature’s Head: From Waste to Resource: Composting Toilets and Waterless Waste Solutions
Paul Rodney Turner – The Food Yogi: Food Yoga: Sharing Food, Sharing Compassion
Vinit Allen – Sustainable World Coalition: We ARE the Planet: Redefining the Human Family
DAY 7: FRIDAY, JUNE 7
Jessica Cooper – International WELL Building Institute: Health and WELL-building: Work Environments Designed to Help People Thrive
John Todd – John Todd Ecological Design: Restoring Water and Land with Biologically-Based Eco-Machines
Michael Gosney – Synergetic Press: Vehicles of Social Change
Michael Pawlyn – Exploration Architecture: Solving Design Challenges Through the Wisdom of Nature
 
COMPLETE DESCRIPTIONS
 
DAY 1: SATURDAY, JUNE 1
Off-Grid Water Systems
Alosha Lynov – Bio Veda
Alosha Lynov, inventor and master builder of regenerative living habitats, walks you through the basics of building an off-grid water system to provide water self-sufficiency including collection, purification and reuse.
Waste Not Want Not: Zero Waste Solutions for Daily Living
Marina Qutab – Eco Goddess
From a Zero-Waste Survival Kit to buying in bulk, eco-goddess Marina Qutab makes it cool to jump on the zero-waste bandwagon with simple steps we can all take to become more conscious consumers.
How to Change the World Without Going Broke
Ryan Eliason – Visionary Business School
Rethink business with Ryan Eliason as he empowers social entrepreneurs and changemakers to make money while making a difference and busts limiting beliefs like the notion that service must mean struggle.
Plant-Based Epoxy: a Case Study for Circular Economy 
Sean Steed – Change Climate
Sean Steed of Change Climate shows how one innovative solution to a toxic global problem can create circular economy, impact social justice, restore an ecosystem and transform manufacturing world-wide.
The Crossroads of Chemical Farming, Ecology & Human Health — A Path to Regeneration 
Zach Bush, MD – Farmer’s Footprint
Discover how we can restore our health by restoring our soil. Zach Bush, triple-board-certified MD, makes brilliant big picture connections between current commercial farming practices, gut health, and the meteoric rise of disease since the introduction of glyphosate—a powerful herbicide and antibiotic used in big agriculture.
DAY 2: SUNDAY, JUNE 2
Climate Change and Planetary Security
Alexander Verbeek – Planetary Security Initiative
Climate change is not just about the weather. Alexander Verbeek discusses the threat to global security—like financial damage from increasingly violent storms, disruptions in delivery of food and essential goods and displacement of millions of people. Learn how we can act now to take the future in hand.
The International Treaty to Protect & Restore Mother Earth
Brother Phil Lane Jr. – Four Worlds International Institute
Brother Phil shares the fruit of 50-years’ work with indigenous peoples from around the world—a comprehensive plan to restore Mother Earth and unify the human family by incorporating empowerment of youth and women, renewable energy, organic food production, biodiversity and more.
Clean Water on the Go: Reducing Plastics and Protecting Our Health 
Heshie Segal – Kids Better World
A champion for children and clean water worldwide, Heshie Segal uses her networking expertise to dispel myths, raise awareness and promote the Puritii filtered water bottle, a safe water solution for first and third-world countries alike.
Hydrogen Micro-Grids: Clean Power for the Future, Now
Mike Strizki – Hydrogen House Project
Clean, pure water as a by-product of “burning” hydrogen fuel? Join Mike Strizki, founder of the Hydrogen House Project, for a tour of his Skunk Works where he’s been pioneering hydrogen fuel cell technology for the past 25 years.
How Fermented Foods Can Repair Our Health 
Summer Bock – Guts & Glory
Did you know that good health begins with billions of tiny bacteria in the gut? Certified fermentationist Summer Bock shares how and why fermented foods, like sauerkraut, are the recipe to better health.
DAY 3: MONDAY, JUNE 3
Hungry for Change: How Halophyte Plants Can Help Solve the Global Food Crisis 
Hazel Henderson – Ethical Markets
The global food crisis is inextricably linked to the dwindling fresh-water supply. Futurist Hazel Henderson sees a solution in plants like quinoa, one of the many edible halophyte plants that thrive in a salt water environments.
From Waste Stream Fiber to Circular Economy
Jay Potter – ECOR
Jay Potter, innovator and co-founder of ECOR shares how to build a business by turning problems into profits through circular economy. ECOR takes fiber from the waste stream, and produces materials for furniture and building that can be fully recycled at end of life. Their patented process adds only water, heat and pressure.
Seeing Green: Hemp and Hydrated Lime Construction
Jorgen Hempel – Hemp Ecosystems
Jorgen Hempel has been refining hemp and lime construction practices for over 25 years. Learn how he creates living buildings from easily renewable materials. These buildings breathe, won’t burn, are naturally insulated and grow more stable over time.
Beyond Bias: Moving From “Me” to “We” 
Ronit Herzfeld – Leap Forward
Psychotherapist, Ronit Herzfeld invites us to join in exploring a “new way of being human” and shares an emerging strategy for awakening humanity to appropriate action as we rise to the unprecedented and urgent demands of our times.
Cultivating Culinary and Medicinal Mushrooms for Fun and Profit
William Padilla-Brown – MycoSymbiotics
With an affordable and relatively low-tech lab and grow room, self-schooled mycologist William Padilla-Brown shows how to make a lucrative career of growing and foraging for mushrooms.
DAY 4: TUESDAY, JUNE 4
Finding Freedom
Brian D. Ridgway – Level 5 Liberation
Brian D. Ridgway dissolves the “illusion” of problems to generate an experience of unlimited possibility and the power to intentionally create a world of your choosing.
Nurturing Local Economies 
Judy Wicks – Circle of Aunts and Uncles
Through Micro-Loans and Mentorship Recognizing strong local economies as a foundation of resilience and sustainability, Judy Wicks shares how to establish a micro lending and mentorship network to support the growth of local entrepreneurs.
Heal Thyself: The Regenerative Power of Your Own Stem Cells
Kristen Comella – U.S. Stem Cell
Learn how stem cells from our very own fat have the potential to eliminate the need for many pharmaceuticals and surgical procedures, how the Federal Drug Administration is trying to regulate this revolutionary treatment and what we must do to preserve our rights.
The Dirty Truth About Waste and Recycling
Reggie Nayar – Innovative Waste Solutions
Most of what we “recycle” still winds up in landfills and landfills are filling up. Expert in developing zero-waste strategies for major manufacturers, Reggie Nayar takes you behind the scenes to gain a deeper understanding of the waste stream, current recycling practices and steps you can take to make a positive impact.
DAY 5: WEDNESDAY, JUNE 5
Deep Social Networking as a Vehicle for Global Change 
Jon Ramer – Compassion Games
Jon shows how to turn big dreams into reality and make “waves” as a social innovator by bringing together networks of social changemakers to amplify one another’s voice and collectively make a global impact.
Aquaponics: a Path to Self-Sufficiency
Judah Becker – Mercy House Ministry
A means to both food and financial security, Judah Becker provides an introduction to aquaponics, a circular system where the waste from farmed fish nourishes hydroponically grown plants and the plants purify the water for the fish.
Holistic Design
Michael Rice and Zana Zu – ZeMArc Design
Michael and Zana take you on a journey into the dynamic interplay of beauty, functionality and sustainability that defines holistic design. Learn how they combine Bio Architecture and the sacred to create temples of life.
Frontiers of Medicine and the Ethical Implications of Medical Breakthoughs
Dr. Richard Satava – University of Washington Medical Center
Explore the future of medicine with Dr. Richard Satava. From cloning and 3D body-part printing to suspended animation and directed energy therapies, technology is outpacing our moral maturity, creating the necessity for new ethical guidelines.
DAY 6: THURSDAY, JUNE 6
New Paradigms for Housing: Earthship 2.0 
Amy Oskins & Amzi Smith – EastCoast EarthHomes
Flip the script from high maintenance, high expense housing to the financial freedom of a home that heats and cools itself, collects its own water, generates its own electricity, grows its own food and processes its own waste water.
Go Dome or Go Home: Earthy meets Elegant with AirCrete Construction
Hajjar Gibran – DomeGaia
Hajjar Gibran, founder of DomeGaia, offers tools and techniques for building with AirCrete, a light-weight mixture of foamed dishwashing liquid and cement that is low cost, extremely durable and DIY-friendly.
From Waste to Resource: Composting Toilets and Waterless Waste Solutions
Larry Stearns – Nature’s Head
Learn how Larry Sterns’ special commode turns human waste into valuable compost while conserving water and minimizing pollution.
Food Yoga – Sharing Food, Sharing Compassion
Paul Rodney Turner – The Food Yogi
With over 2 million vegan meals served daily by his global Food For Life organization, food yogi Paul Rodney Turner shares the power of food as a means to spread love and equality by bringing presence and reverence to food preparation, consumption and sharing.
We ARE the Planet – Redefining the Human Family
Vinit Allen – Sustainable World Coalition
Vinit Allen helps us to recognize human beings as cells in the body of Mother Earth and the human family as her consciousness. Through this lens of profound interconnection, we experience care for the planet as direct care for ourselves.
DAY 7: FRIDAY, JUNE 7
Health and WELL-building: Work Environments Designed to Help People Thrive
Jessica Cooper – International WELL Building Institute
Going beyond LEED certification, Jessica Cooper shares how the IWBI WELL Building Standard raises the bar for work environments to include comprehensive metrics in 10 categories: air, light, sound, community, water, movement, materials, nourishment, thermal comfort and mind.
Restoring Water and Land with Biologically-Based Eco-Machines
John Todd – John Todd Ecological Design
John Todd guides us through ways we can harness nature’s genius to clean up toxic waterways, re-green the desert, rehabilitate devastated landscapes and clean up our oceans.
Vehicles of Social Change
Michael Gosney – Synergetic Press
Michael Gosney discusses the connection between festival culture and community as fertile ground for social experimentation, as well as new cultural models and morays related to food, energy, social justice, monetary exchange and more.
Solving Design Challenges Through the Wisdom of Nature 
Michael Pawlyn – Exploration Architecture
Beyond low- or no-impact sustainable design, regenerative design is an innovative approach that contributes to the betterment of the environment. Michael Pawlyn explains how it works, plus the impact it would have if entire cities adopted this model.
ENJOY!!!
Sep
11
Wed
2019
Please join The Square One Project and The Vera Institute of Justice for Reimagining Justice: The Next 25 Years. @ The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem, NY
Sep 11 @ 3:30 pm – 7:00 pm
Please join The Square One Project and The Vera Institute of Justice for Reimagining Justice: The Next 25 Years.

About this Event

Please join The Square One Project and The Vera Institute of Justice for Reimagining Justice: The Next 25 Years, taking place on September 11th at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem, NY. As we approach the 25th anniversary of the federal 1994 Crime Bill, this multi-format event will consider the visionary work, big ideas, and fundamental values that will guide the next 25 years of justice policy.

Program: 3:30pm – 6:00pm ET (details to be announced soon)

Reception: 6:00pm – 7:00pm ET

Details for the livestreaming option for this event will be available shortly.

Update: The full list of researchers, activists, and professionals that will be participating in Reimagining Justice: The Next 25 Years is available here!

Speakers and presenters include [list in formation]:

  • Bruce Western, Co-Director, Columbia University Justice Lab; Co-Founder, Square One Project
  • Daryl Atkinson, Co-Director, Forward Justice
  • Deanna Van Buren, Co-Founder and Design Director, Designing Justice + Designing Spaces
  • Emily Wang, Associate Professor of Medicine, Yale School of Medicine; Director, Health Justice Lab; Co-Founder, Transitions Clinic Network
  • Eric Cumberbatch, Executive Director, Mayor’s Office to Prevent Gun Violence, New York City
  • Eric Gonzalez, Brooklyn District Attorney
  • Insha Rahman, Director of Strategy and New Initiatives, Vera Institute of Justice
  • Jeremy Travis, Executive Vice President of Criminal Justice, Arnold Ventures
  • John Pineda, Leadership and Learning Coordinator, MILPA
  • Mahogany L. Browne, Writer/Organizer/Educator
  • Michael Lawlor, Associate Professor, University of New Haven; former Undersecretary for Criminal Justice Policy and Planning, Connecticut’s Office of Policy and Management
  • Nicholas Turner, President, Vera Institute of Justice
  • Pastor Michael McBride, National Director, Urban Strategies/LIVE FREE Campaign
  • Ray Kelly, Lead Community Liaison, Baltimore Consent Decree Monitoring Team
  • Reverend Vivian Nixon, Executive Director, College and Community Fellowship
  • Tyrone Walker, Associate, Justice Policy Institute

 

Sep
25
Wed
2019
How to Invest, Shop, Give to Empower Women @ Susan Crown Exchange
Sep 25 @ 5:30 pm

On September 25th we’re hosting a live event in Chicago!  At AWE Partners we LOVE the idea of blending profit and purpose to change the world.  So we have created an event for business women who want to learn how they can support women’s empowerment.  The event is called How to Invest, Shop, Give to Empower Women and will feature a panel of extraordinary women whose lives are a testament to doing good.  At the event you will learn about…

The struggles our sisters are facing

Who is implementing solutions to change lives

How you can support these solutions in the way you invest, shop, and give

There will be plenty of time for Q&A, networking with other amazing women, and yummy food & drink.  The event will be held at Susan Crown Exchange (4 East Ohio) and the price is only $30 – but space is limited so register early.  Here’s the EventBrite link…

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/how-to-invest-shop-give-to-empower-women-tickets-67067166701

 

 

SEPTEMBER 25, 2019

How to Invest, Shop, Give to Empower Women

by AWE Partners, LLC

$15 – $30

Event Information

Are you passionate about creating impact with your actions? Do you want to learn how to empower other women through investing, shopping, and giving?

Join a diverse community of heart-centeredmission-driven, and socially conscious women for a night of networking and learning. Our panelists and fellow impact-oriented women will help us discover how we can best incorporate the principles of Conscious Capitalism into our life and business for more passion, purpose, and profit!

We are embracing a paradigm shift to a more feminine approach to solving our social challenges that says “yes” to a new way forward and “no” to what’s not working.

Our guest panelists are:

Invest – Peg Quinn is a financial advisor and Certified Financial Planner for Paradigm Wealth Management. She works with individuals and families to simplify and organize their financial matters by providing comprehensive financial planning and investment management services. Her studies include a BS and MBA concentrating in finance. In addition, her 35 years of experience within the investment industry provide her a unique perspective into impact investing’s evolution. She is a friend of Gilda’s Club Associates Board and a member of the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO).

Shop – Daniela Ancira is a human rights lawyer, an Ashoka Fellow, and founder of La Cana, a social enterprise working with incarcerated women in Mexico and creating social reintegration programs in prison. Daniela has promoted public policies on issues regarding prison labor, and is currently working closely with legislators to create a framework that guarantees basic working and social standards to inmates to incentivize companies to formally employ convicts, in order to help reduce recidivism and delinquency rates in Mexico. She has worked as a Human Rights lawyer defending victims of torture and enforced disappearance at a national and international level, and has collaborated with several organizations in litigating human rights violation cases before the UN and the Inter-American Human Rights Commission. She is a member of the Technical Working Group of the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime to create the United Nations Advanced Standards for the Mexican Penitentiary System; and in private practice has worked in prestigious firms in Civil and Commercial litigation, Corporate Law and Intellectual Property matters. Daniela is an Ashoka Fellow and was named Citizen of the Year in 2018.

Give – Izabel Olson is the Founder and CEO of Salt and Light Coalition here in Chicago, a non-profit organization which works with victims of human trafficking. She is dedicated to the empowerment of women, especially survivors of human trafficking, as they reframe their trauma experience and find success in the workplace. The unique combination of an academic background in cognitive science and a passion for holistic self-care gives her a unique ability to have a positive impact on women’s lives. Olson holds a Ph.D. in Learning Sciences from Northwestern University and is the founder and CEO of Salt & Light Coalition, a grassroots organization focused on job training and mind/body restoration for survivors of human trafficking in Chicago and beyond. In 2017, Olson was awarded the Illinois Secretary of State’s Latina Humanitarian Achievement Award.

Light appetizers and drinks will be served. The event starts at 5:30 and our panel will begin at 6. Hope to see you all there

WHY WOMEN

Women are the future
of Social Impact.

If you’re here, we’re willing to bet you believe this, too. Here’s some AWEsome news: no matter if you’re a solopreneur just starting out or a seasoned exec, you absolutely can make a social impact (and inspire others to do the same)!

AWE Partners is a social enterprise created for women who are eager to give, invest, and shop for maximum impact on the causes they care about most.

In business…in life…in every area of our world, women aren’t just rewriting the “rules”. They’re redefining them, shattering the status quo, and leading the way on social issues that demand our attention.

Are you determined to create social impact…

Are you a female entrepreneur or executive determined to create meaningful social impact… but not quite sure where to start?

If you…
  • feel confused and overwhelmed by the giving process
  • don’t know where to begin
  • aren’t sure where to find the information you need
  • want to save time and money

Welcome home! Prepare for a whole lot more passion, purpose, AND profit in your life and business!

7 in 10 Americans think companies have the obligation to take actions to improve issues that may not be directly relevant or related to their everyday business. They are expected to help solve social problems.
That’s according to a 2017 study by Cone Communications

Working with AWE Partners

You desire to:
  • Discover Your Purpose
  • Ignite Your Passion
  • Grow Your Impact
  • Make a Positive Difference in the World
  • Create a Meaningful Legacy

We understand this desire.
We can help.

Together we will:
  1. Identify the social issues that matter most to you
  2. Define your unique goals
  3. Maximize your social impact
  4. Connect you with a supportive community of like-minded women

There has never been a better time to unleash your AWE-thentic Impact! 

 

Learn more about our on-line course Impact from the Inside Out

 

ABOUT US

AWE Partners is a boutique advisory firm for women who desire to give, invest, and shop for maximum impact on the causes they care about most.

Encourage, Inspire, Empower.

10 minute guide to sustainable social enterprise | social impact guide

Subscribe to our e-mail list and receive this FREE Guide, Give & Grow: Business with Purpose delivered directly to your inbox!

Nov
15
Fri
2019
Join us: RootSkills Workshop @ WaterFire Arts Center // Providence, RI
Nov 15 @ 8:30 am – 5:00 pm

Join us: RootSkills Workshop

November 15th // WaterFire Arts Center // Providence, RI

For full event details, visit the event website – linked hereIncluding: agenda, workshop offerings, speakers, cost of registration, scholarships & stipends, carpooling & travel.

View event website              View workshops & agenda                Register to attend                     Apply for a scholarship


The Grassroots Fund’s RootSkills workshops are day-long gatherings where grassroots organizers, colleagues and supporters convene to network, share stories and dig into both issue- and process-based skills-building sessions. We work with a planning committee ahead of each event to ensure a broad range of lived experiences and perspectives weigh in as we set agendas, select workshop topics and invite speakers.

The Grassroots Fund is committed to participatory, democratic decision making processes across our grantmaking and skillsbuilding programs. We work to bring together a broad range of lived experiences as we plan and design the RootSkills Training Series. We invite community organizers, students, non profit colleagues, funder partners and sustainable business people to apply to be on the planning committee for each of our RootSkills in-person trainings.


Contact program manager Tess Beem with questions about this event: tess@grassrootsfund.org or 603-905-9915×2. 

______________________________________________________________________

In an effort to make the RootSkills Conference as accessible as possible, registration is on a self-identified, sliding scale from $35 – $150.

Jan
15
Wed
2020
The 32nd Annual Creating Change Conference – by the National LGBTQ Task Force @ Sheraton Dallas
Jan 15 – Jan 19 all-day

THOUSANDS OF LGBTQ ACTIVISTS TO CONVENE IN DALLAS, TX JANUARY 2020 FOR 32ND ANNUAL CREATING CHANGE CONFERENCE, WITH THEME OF LOVE, LEARNING & LIBERATION!

REVEREND ANGEL KYODO WILLIAMS TO KEYNOTE

– Thousands of LGBTQ advocates, activists, leaders, and allies will gather in Dallas, TX for the 32nd Creating Change Conference from Wednesday, January 15 through Sunday, January 19, 2020 at the Sheraton Dallas.

The Creating Change Conference, run by the National LGBTQ Task Force, is the foremost political, leadership, and skills-building conference for the LGBTQ social justice movement. Since 1988, Creating Change has created opportunities for tens of thousands of committed people to develop and hone their activist skills, build community, and inspire. This year, in addition to the political focus of the work, the Conference will be focusing on the 2020 Census and building capacity to ensure everyone is counted.

The primary goal of the Creating Change Conference is to build the LGBTQ movement’s political power from the ground up to secure our overarching goal of full freedom, justice, and equality for LGBTQ people and their families in the United States.

This will be the second Creating Change Conference managed by Andy Garcia, who is bringing some new changes to the longtime activist gathering as attendance grows and diversifies. Garcia said, “It is clear that 2020 will be a critical year for all of us, including LGBTQ communities. We face a historic election year, some of the most significant Supreme Court cases in our lifetime, on-going attacks from the current administration, and an epidemic of violence, among other challenges. Creating Change is where LGBTQ advocates, activists, leaders, and allies come together to learn and connect with each other, with a focus on creating a welcoming space for queer and trans people of color. We need that now more than ever.”

The keynote speaker for Creating Change 2020 will be Reverend angel Kyodo williams, who will kick off this year’s conference at the opening plenary on Thursday, January 16, 2020 at 7 PM. With the alarming murders of trans women of color across the country, the Creating Change Conference community will also be rallying to spotlight and build capacity to address this epidemic as well as featuring the resilience, determination, and leadership of the trans community.

PLENARIES

Opening Plenary Session: Love, Learning, and Liberation
From the Census to the election, 2020 is going to be historic. We have a lot of work ahead of us against a backdrop of an epidemic of trans women of color being murdered and a rollback of hard-fought gains by the current administration. This plenary aims to set a new tone for the conference and for our movement: one of love, learning, and liberation. As we create change together, how can we be mindful to center our hearts and our minds?

Opening Keynote Speaker: Rev. angel Kyodo williams: Love and Justice are One
Called “the most intriguing African-American Buddhist” by Library Journal, angel Kyodo williams is an author, activist, master trainer, and founder of Transformative Change. Her newest work, Radical Dharma: Talking Race, Love & Liberation, is igniting communities to have the long overdue conversations necessary to become more awake and aware of what hinders liberation of self and society. angel notes, “Love and Justice are not two. Without inner change, there can be no outer change. Without collective change, no change matters.” She was made for these times.

Plenary Session: The Annual State of the Movement Address
Following our Creating Change 2020 theme, “Love, Learning, and Liberation,” Task Force executive director, Rea Carey, and deputy executive director, Kierra Johnson will host the annual State of the Movement plenary. Even as LGBTQ people and their families are under attack by the current administration, we know our community is strong, resilient, creative, and determined. This year, with special guests, we will focus on the issues facing trans women of color, the work being done to address anti-trans violence and systemic discrimination, and moving us forward in our work for freedom, justice, and liberation. Come be inspired to fight on, and defeat those who intend to make our lives invisible!

Closing Plenary Session: Queering Immigration: Owning Our Power, Building the Defense Line
Immigration will once again be a top issue this election year. This panel will focus on how we can collectively build power by centering the needs and experiences of those most impacted: queer and trans people of color. Our expert panelists will talk about deportation defense, rapid response at the neighborhood, city, and state level, the criminalization of Black and Brown bodies, legislative victories, and so much more. Our call to action will be the work that still needs to get done: closing the camps, stopping the arrests and deportations, and imagining a world without borders.

The immigration-focused panel will be made up of Sharita Gruberg (She/Her/Hers), policy director for the LGBT Research and Communications Project at the Center for American Progress; Oluchi Omeoga (They/Them/Theirs), a co-creator and Core Team member of Black Visions Collective, a black-led local organization working in Minnesota; Monserrat Padilla (She/Her/Hers) the Coordinator for the Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network; Nancy Haque (She/Her/Hers), executive director of Basic Rights Oregon, an LGBTQ political advocacy organization with a focus on transgender justice and racial justice; and Dani Marrero Hi of the Texas Civil Rights Project.

New for this year, the traditional closing plenary brunch will be replaced by a dynamic indoor street fair on Sunday, January 19th with an 11:30 am – 1:00 pm “Send Off Celebration!” including accessible HIV testing and mammogram screening.

DAY-LONG INSTITUTES

This year’s Racial Justice Institute encompasses queerness and racial diversity within an expression and experience that centers on resisting with all our brilliance, our joy, and our truth. Keynote speaker and Queer Black Feminist Love Evangelist Alexis Pauline Gumbs will offer a loving reflection and an accessible practice designed to impact how to work together through and across difference and depth. In addition, our second keynote Timothy DuWhite is a Black, queer, poz-writer/artist based out of Brooklyn, NY. A majority of his work circles around the intersections of state & body, state & love, and state & mind. Following our keynotes is a series of afternoon breakout sessions on topics that range in topics from Talking to Kids about Race, Respectfully United – Allyship Without Tokenization, Beyond D&I: Organizing for Racial Equity, The Metamorphosis of White Men: Ending our Legacy and Creating a New Story.

Also this year, the Conference team is excited to add six new Day Long Institutes, bringing the total number of these intensive eight hour sessions to 23. New topics like Disability Justice and Leading in Complex Situations will be held alongside returning favorites like the Trans Institute, Latinx Institute, and LGBTQ+ Campus Resource Professionals Institute.

For more information about the day long institutes see here: https://www.creatingchange.org/day-long-institutes-2/

WORKSHOPS AND CAUCUSES

The conference features over 250 workshop and caucus sessions. Workshops range from 90 minutes to three hours, addressing the vast scope of issues relevant to LGBTQ activism and organizing. There are nearly a dozen sessions on campus organizing, several intergenerational dialogues, many workshops focused on healing and well-being, art and theater activism, racial and economic justice, trans issues, and a robust track for political advocacy. Caucuses cover a broad range of identities and interests, including caucuses for deaf queer people, lesbians, Queer Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) people, LGBTQ people in STEM, LGBTQ Jews, and parents.

AWARDS

SAGE Award for Excellence in Leadership on Aging Issues: Carmen Vasquez
Carmen Vasquez was born in Puerto Rico and grew up in Harlem, New York. Among her many accomplishments, Vasquez was the Founding Director of the Women’s Building in San Francisco, helped found the Lavender Youth Recreation and Information Center in San Francisco, and the LGBT Health & Human Services Network. She was a founder and principal author of Causes in Common (a national coalition of Reproductive Justice and LGBT Liberation activists). Her essays have been published in several anthologies and she has made scores of keynote presentations at conferences and college campuses across the United States. Vasquez is the Co-Chair of the Woodhull Freedom Foundation Board of Directors and the former Director of LGBT Health and Human Services.

Haas, Jr. Award for Outstanding LGBTQ Leadership for Immigrant Rights: Stephanie Cho
Stephanie Cho is the Executive Director for Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Atlanta. She brings 20 years of experience in labor and community organizing, strategy planning, and fundraising at the local and national level. Under her leadership over the last three years, AAAJ-Atlanta has worked to protect DACA and end local law enforcement cooperation with ICE. Originally born in South Korea, Cho grew up in Oregon. In 2015, she co-authored “Beyond the Binary: A Tool Kit for Gender Identity Activism in Schools.” Last year, she was a Grand Marshal for Atlanta Pride.

The Leather Leadership Award:  Judy Tallwing McCarthy
Judy Tallwing McCarthy has been involved in the leather/BDSM world since 1969; and, in 1987, became first International Ms. Leather. That same year, she was the leather community’s keynote speaker at the 1987 March on Washington. She has also served as Co-Chair of the National Leather Association from 1988-1992. She is widely credited for helping change the focus of leather to community activism. Judy Tallwing McCarthy continues to judge, teach, and speak at various leather events and has been honored with numerous awards from the leather community. Of Apache, Tewa, and African descent, Judy Tallwing McCarthy has raised raising six biological children (with 25 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren) and nurtured and protected numerous “leatherkids.” Judy Tallwing McCarthy will be the first woman of color to receive the Leather Leadership Award.

The Susan J. Hyde Award for Longevity in the Movement, sponsored by Wild Geese Foundation: Monica Roberts
Monica Roberts is the founding editor of the award winning TransGriot blog, and a longtime award-winning human rights advocate.  She has been advocating for the human rights of transgender people for over 20 years, with a focus on the issues affecting Black trans people. Her writing has appeared at Ebony.com, the Advocate, Black Girl Dangerous, and in the ‘Unapologetically Trans’ monthly column in Houston’s OutSmart magazine. Some of the honors that Roberts has received are the 2018 GLAAD Media Award, the Robert Coles Call of Service Award from Harvard University’s Phillips Brooks House Assn, the Virginia Prince Transgender Pioneer Award, the Barbara Jordan Breaking Barriers Award from the Harris County Democratic Party, the IFGE Trinity Award, and being named to the 2019 OUT100.

ACCESSIBILITY

The Creating Change Conference is committed to radical accessibility. Everyone benefits when everyone participates fully and equitably in every aspect of the conference. When you register online for Creating Change, you can request:

  • ASL interpretation
  • Spanish translation
  • Programs in large print
  • Electric scooters and wheelchairs
  • Assisted Listening Devices
  • Magnifiers, readers, and step stools

There will be a staffed Accessibility Table set up near registration, where attendees can ask questions, meet up with an interpreter, and pick up the items listed above.
There will also be an ASL “Hub” where our team of ASL interpreters meet and plan their day. Last year we had over 40 ASL interpreters.
There will also be a People with Disabilities Hospitality Suite where those who need and want to have an opportunity to  regroup and relax.

PRESS CREDENTIALS

Press are invited to the conference, and press credentials are given out as space provides. To request credentials email Sarah Massey and Cathy Renna below. Confirmation of credentials will be considered on a rolling basis and as space allows.

MISSION STATEMENT

The National LGBTQ Task Force advances full freedom, justice and equality for LGBTQ people. We are building a future where everyone can be free to be their entire selves in every aspect of their lives. Today, despite all the progress we’ve made to end discrimination, millions of LGBTQ people face barriers in every aspect of their lives: in housing, employment, healthcare, retirement, and basic human rights. These barriers must go. That’s why the Task Force is training and mobilizing millions of activists across our nation to deliver a world where you can be you. For more general information go to https://www.thetaskforce.org

Contact: Sarah Massey, Communications Director, National LGBTQ Task Force, 202-639-6308, smassey@thetaskforce.org
Cathy Renna, TargetCue, 917-767-5123, cathy@targetcue.com

Feb
2
Sun
2020
Spiritual Wildfire Summit @ Online
Feb 2 – Feb 7 all-day

pictured above:  Brooke Medicine Eagle

I’m thrilled to invite you to a FREE global online Summit that starts Feb. 2-7 called:

 

Igniting the Worldwide Spiritual Wildfire We Need Now: A Call to Action

 

LINK TO: https://www.spiritual-wildfire-summit.com

 

I’ll be participating with 23 other featured speakers including Sandra Ingerman, Andrew Harvey, Nina Simons, Cynthia Jurs, Steve Farrell and Lyla June Johnston and I’d love for you to join us! Each of us will be offering inspiration, healing, and empowering practical tools to anyone who is ready to courageously use their own light to help ignite a worldwide spiritual wildfire.

The Spiritual Wildfire Summit is organized to address the fact that we live in epic times. In fact, we are experiencing nothing less than the reinvention of civilization. Yet as we dive into uncharted waters and move closer to a critical tipping, we see a worldwide awakening beginning to catch fire. The Spiritual Wildfire Summit offers inspiration, healing, and empowering practical tools to anyone who is ready to courageously use their own light to help ignite a worldwide spiritual wildfire.

To register for this free event click here. Link to: https://www.spiritual-wildfire-summit.com

Together we can create a new world based on compassion, wisdom, justice, and joy!

During this FREE 6-day global online summit, together we will experience & integrate profound ways to restore the Story of Our Awakened Hearts.

This transformational event is FREE to all registered attendees! You do need to RSVP in order to receive all of the info you need to participate in this unique and never before seen gathering of visionaries!

 

Would you like to have permanent downloadable lifetime access to all 25 interviews, in both audio & video format, so you can watch or listen to them at your convenience even after the Summit has ended? If so, the Lifetime Access Upgrade Package is available for a very special Early Bird Price through Feb. 4 only. CLICK HERE to learn more about this upgrade package. 50% of all Lifetime Access purchases go to the Changing Woman Initiative.

 

Finally, here’s a link to a 2-minute video that beautifully sums up the Spiritual Wildfire Summit theme. Take a look and please share this video and info about this Summit to anyone you think would like to join the Spiritual Wildfire Revolution!

 

If you know someone that would like to participate in the Summit, please send them here so they can receive all of the benefits of the Spiritual Wildfire Summit.

 

We begin on 2-2-2020! Here’s to igniting the worldwide spiritual wildfire we need now! See you on the inside!

 

With gratitude and bright blessings,

 

Your host,

Joan D’Argo

www.Spiritual-Wildfire-Summit.com

www.joandargo.com

 

P.S. Be sure to return to the Event Schedule Page often while the Spiritual Wildfire Summit is airing so you get the most out of this event!

 

Mar
10
Tue
2020
Determined to Rise – a series of lectures presented by the National Women’s History Museum—Topic: Topic: Tainted: Anti-Suffragism and Race Politics in the Crusade for Women’s Votes @ Hallock Auditorium, Lewis Environmental Studies Building, Oberlin College
Mar 10 @ 4:30 pm – 6:00 pm

Tuesday, March 10, 2020

Hallock Auditorium, Lewis Environmental Studies Building, Oberlin College
122 Elm Street, Oberlin, OH, 44074
4:30pm – 6:00pm EST; doors open at 4pm

Topic: Tainted: Anti-Suffragism and Race Politics in the Crusade for Women’s Votes

“Determined to Rise”: Women’s Historic Activism for Equal Rights

Panelists:

  • Angela P. Dodson, Author, Remember the Ladies: Celebrating Those Who Fought for Freedom at the Ballot Box  (Center Street Press, 2017): Angela P. Dodson is author of “Remember the Ladies: Celebrating Those Who Fought for Freedom at the Ballot Box” about the woman suffrage movement in the United States and women’s political gains up to the present. Dodson is also an independent editor, writer and consultant. She founded an editorial services company, Editorsoncall LLC, in 2012, to link freelancers to clients in need of writing, editing, graphic and photographic services. She earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism at Marshall University and a master’s degree in journalism and public affairs from the American University. Angela is a former senior editor and former Style editor for the New York Times. She has most recently been an online editor and book reviewer for DIVERSE: Issues In Higher Education, diverseeducation.com, and diversebooks.net. She is the former executive editor of Black Issues Book Review.
  • Dr. Carol Lasser, Emerita Professor of History, Oberlin College: Carol Lasser is Emerita Professor of History at Oberlin College and former president of the Society for the History of the Early American Republic (SHEAR).  At Oberlin she taught about women, gender and race in American history, and chaired the History Department and the Gender, Sexuality and Feminist Studies Program.  Her books include Antebellum American Women (with Stacey Robertson, 2010); Friends and Sisters:  Letters Between Lucy Stone and Antoinette Brown Blackwell, 1846-1893, (with Marlene Merrill, 1987), Educating Men and Women Together: Coeducation in a Changing World  (1987), and, most recently, with Gary Kornblith, Elusive Utopia: The Struggle for Racial Equality in Oberlin, Ohio (Louisiana State University Press 2018).  Her articles address topics ranging from Civil War courtship to utopianism to the scholarship of teaching and learning. With students, she created Digitizing American Feminisms: Projects from the Oberlin College Archives (http://americanfeminisms.org/), featuring materials that bring feminist history alive. Her current projects include ongoing research on the life Lethia Cousins Fleming (1876-1963), a Cleveland woman of color who pursued a pioneering political career in the first half of the twentieth century.  Professor Lasser is also rethinking the racial implications of the Nineteenth Amendment in her work-in-progress, “Bending to the Color Line: The Fight for Woman Suffrage in Ohio,” and she continues her work exploring Oberlin history, focusing on racial inequality in employment, public schools, housing and recreation from the 1930s to the 1980s.  She earned her B.A. at the University of Pennsylvania and her Ph.D. at Harvard University.
  • Dr. Ben Railton, Professor of English Studies and Coordinator of American Studies, Fitchburg State UniversityBen Railton is Professor of English Studies and Coordinator of American Studies at Fitchburg State University in Massachusetts. He is the author of five books, most recently We the People: The 500-Year Battle over Who is American (Rowman and Littlefield’s American Ways series). He also writes the daily American Studies blog, contributes the bimonthly Considering History column to the Saturday Evening Post, and is the Boston Chapter Leader for the Scholars Strategy Network.
  • Moderator: Tamika Nunley, Assistant Professor of History, Oberlin College: Tamika Nunley is an assistant professor of American history. Her research and teaching interests include slavery, gender, 19th-century legal history, digital history, and the American Civil War. At Oberlin, she created the History Design Lab that allows students to develop scholarly projects that involve methodological approaches that range from digital humanities, exhibit design, oral history, podcasts, historical fiction, and public history. Her book manuscript, ‘‘At the Threshold of Liberty: Women, Slavery, and the Boundaries of Freedom in Washington, D.C.,’’ examines how black women strategically used the laws, geography, and community networks of the nation’s capital to make claims to liberty during the Civil War era. Her work has been supported by the Andrew W. Mellon and Woodrow Wilson foundations as well as the American Association of University Women.

To register, go to https://www.eventbrite.com/e/determined-to-rise-womens-historic-activism-for-equal-rights-tickets-93388356087

Mar
22
Sun
2020
HEALTH PROFESSIONALS for CLIMATE JUSTICE presented by Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility
Mar 22 @ 10:30 am – 2:00 pm

The climate crisis is the greatest challenge we face – already excacerbating injustices and environmental health disparities.

The good news? Leading medical journals and experts confirm that climate change poses the greatest health opportunity of the 21st century.” Taking action to reduce fossil fuel pollution and address the crisis can save lives, improve our air quality, and address inequality.

Health professionals are essential messengers to inspire action. 

Will you join us in Vancouver, WA on March 22nd for this

free education and advocacy training event

focusing on the latest on climate change and health,

and how to effectively promote solutions?

The climate crisis is big, but we know we can achieve meaningful solutions through dedicated advocacy. To do so, we need to build upon our movement and engage more health professionals to drive action.  Join us in Vancouver to learn more and get plugged in!

Featured speakers include Dianne Glover, MD, a WPSR Climate & Health Task Force pediatrician, Don and Alona Steinke, RN, of Southwest Washington Climate Action, and Lluvia Merello, Energy Justice Organizer for Oregon PSR.

Vancouver Public Library, 901 C Street, Vancouver WA

RSVP: Vancouver Climate Change & Health Event

Learn more and RSVP!

This is a FREE event, and lunch will be provided.

See you there!
Sarah Cornett
WPSR Climate Program & Advocacy Manager
sarah@wpsr.org
206-547-2630

 

 

 

 

Apr
23
Thu
2020
Strike, Divest, and Vote for our future…with EARTH DAY LIVE @ Online and Social Media
Apr 23 – Apr 25 all-day


Earth Day Live will feature a three-day livestream where millions of people can join activists, celebrities, musicians, and more in an epic moment of community and hope for the future.


STRIKE, DIVEST, AND VOTE

FOR OUR FUTURE!

From April 22 – the 50th anniversary of Earth Day –  to April 24…

The fights against the coronavirus and the climate crisis go hand-in-hand, and as we work to flatten the curve of this pandemic, we must strive toward the longer term goal of building a society rooted in sustainability and justice.


FIND A LOCAL LIVESTREAM

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https://www.earthdaylive2020.org/

The Earth Day Live stream will be viewable on this website and will be the full user experience. In addition, it will be simulcast across major streaming platforms such as Facebook Live, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter and Twitch to engage with broader audiences. Partner organizations and an extensive network of major websites will be embedding the live stream as well.


PARTICIPANTS

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Featuring Al Gore • Amanda Palmer • Amber Valletta • Angela Rye • Angelique Kidjo • Bill McKibben • Chef Alexandra Shrader • Chef Dominique Crenn • Daniel Fernandez • David Wallace Wells • DJ Spooky • Dr Michael Greger • Dr. Sweta Chakraborty • Ed Begley Jr. • Emily Wells • Ilyasah Shabazz • Jack Johnson • Jameela Jamil • Jason Mraz • Joaquin Phoenix • John Kerry • Kathryn Budig • Lil Dicky • Lisa Edelstein • Local Natives • Louie Schwartzberg • Luke Baines • Madame Gandhi • Margaret Klein Salamon • Mark Ruffalo • Mary Heglar • Matt McGorry • Megan Boone • Michael Franti • Moby • Monica Dogra • Mustafa Santiago Ali • Nahko the Bear • Ndaba Mandela • Patricia Arquette • Patrisse Cullors • Questlove • Rep. Lauren Underwood • Rep. Ted Lieu • Reverend Dr. William Barber II • Robby Romero • Rosanna Arquette • Secretary John Kerry • Sharon Carpenter • Shepard Fairey • Soul Clap • Stacey Abrams • Talib Kweli • The Both -w- Aimee Mann and Ted Leo • Tim Heidecker • Tony Revolori

And many more to be announced soon!

STRIKE – Earth Day and Youth Climate Strikes – April 22

On the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, we will demonstrate our collective power and unity through community building and storytelling. This first day will focus on amplifying the voice of indigenous leaders and youth climate activists who are leading the movement to halt the climate crisis


DIVEST – Divestment and Climate Financing – April 23

Led by Stop the Money Pipeline Coalition, during this day of action we are calling for a global reset. We want to reprogram the economy so that it works for people and the planet, not polluters and politicians.


VOTE – Voter Registration and Political Engagement – April 24

We need leaders who will address this existential threat. It’s critical for all of us to show up at the polls this year and vote for our future. So the final day will focus on the importance of voting through a nationwide youth voter registration day.


The US Climate Strike Coalition and Stop The Money Pipeline Coalition, who together are made up of over 500 organizations, have come together to organize Earth Day Live.

The US Climate Strike Coalition is a coalition of over 400 organizations that formed ahead of the September 20, 2019 climate strikes. Led by the leading youth-led climate organizations in the US, the coalition works intergenerationally and collaboratively to coordinate the Climate Strikes in the US.

Stop the Money Pipeline is a coalition of over 100 climate, environmental and Indigneous rights groups that is demanding that the financial sector stops funding the fossil fuel industry and deforestation, and starts respecting Indigenous sovereignty and human rights.

Apr
26
Sun
2020
Intergenerational Climate Collaborative Project Hosted by: Sue Blythe and Chitra Golestani @ Online - Zoom
Apr 26 @ 1:00 pm

May
19
Tue
2020
RSVP for the WEBINAR for THE INTERSECTION of the CLIMATE CRISIS and SOCIAL JUSTICE hosted by THE POOR PEOPLE’S CAMPAIGN @ Online
May 19 @ 3:00 pm
Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival's photo.

MAY 19, 2020  3:00 pm EST

The Intersection of the Climate Crisis and Social Justice

Join the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival and The Climate Reality Project for our upcoming webinar highlighting the intersection of climate and environmental justice, the history of the #PoorPeoplesCampaign, and the upcoming digital mass march and assembly.

The webinar will feature Campaign Co-Chairs Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II and Dr. Liz Theoharis, as well as Dr. Robert Bullard, Climate Reality board member, Texas Southern University distinguished professor of environmental policy, and to many, the “father of environmental justice.”

The only way to solve the climate crisis is by working together. And to build a winning coalition, we need to understand how this crisis intersects with social inequities like racial discrimination, poverty, and environmental injustice.

Register here: bit.ly/ClimateRealityPPC-webinar

Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival
May
21
Thu
2020
People’s Hub Workshops: Getting Through Economic Downturns Together @ Online
May 21 @ 1:00 pm – Jun 11 @ 1:00 pm

TODAY.

Where have we been?

Where are we going?

What might be possible together? 

https://peopleshub.org/project/getting-through-economic-downturns-together-workshops-and-circle/

https://www.facebook.com/PeoplesHub-1695905997109684/

The Circle may be over but the workshops are coming up! 

It’s time to sign up!!

This has been a time of organizing. We are moving from our deep roots in community to challenge the status quo. We are building systems that work for our people. We are imagining a different way. 
 

It has been a time of reckoning. 

Covid-19 has magnified the disparities and injustices of our world. Specifically, the ways that Black, Indigenous, People of Color, chronically ill and disabled people experience higher levels of violence, housing insecurity, and job discrimination. We continue to lose people to white supremacy: 

Nina Pop

Breonna Taylor

Ahmaud Arbey

There is a missing and murdered indigenous women’s epidemic. 

Capitalism and white supremacy will attempt to make us forget this time and return to a disconnection from each other and the earth. 

We cannot and will not return to a normal that devalues people and planet. 

“We can impose beauty on our future.”
–Lorraine Hansberry 

Instead, let’s make a promise, a commitment to honor community. For those of us with privileges it’s a time to risk comfort,  #share your check.

Together, we can be a part of community-based solutions, be a part of the radical imagination. As Lorraine Hansberry stated, we can impose beauty on our future.

Join us for a deepened understanding of economic downturns and solidarity economy. What we do now matters. 

May
28
Thu
2020
WECAN presents their upcoming webinar, “Structuring an Economy for People and Planet in the Time of Climate Crisis and COVID-19” @ Online - Zoom
May 28 @ 2:00 pm

Please be invited to join the Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN) on Thursday, May 28 for our upcoming webinar, “Structuring an Economy for People and Planet in the Time of Climate Crisis and COVID-19”. During this dynamic dialogue women and feminists from different regions of the world will unite to discuss alternative economies that counteract extractive economic systems, colonization, racism, and patriarchy— and instead visibilize women’s labor, center Indigenous knowledge, and prioritize people and planet. There could not be a more important time to ensure we do not go back to business as usual.
As unemployment severely rises, food and housing are under further threat, oil prices plummet, and some governments insist on bailing out the fossil fuel sector and other destructive industries instead of people and nature— the COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare the already existing severe cracks in our global economic system. What is needed now is investment in economies founded on principles of justice, reciprocity, and regeneration. Learn more about this vital interactive discussion and how to participate down below!

Structuring an Economy for People and Planet

In the Time of Climate Crisis and COVID-19

Thursday, May 28, 2020

11:00 am PST/ 2:00 pm EST USA time

Please check your own time zone to coordinate!

Registration is required – register at this link


Rooted in neo-liberal capitalism, the current economic system is set to continue to rapaciously extract resources from the Earth and drive the dual crises of climate chaos and pandemics, while exploiting the labor of people worldwide to line the pockets of wealthy CEOs, fossil fuel companies and other large corporations. As we see disaster capitalism play out in real time, we must dismantle the current system and call for a regenerative, rights-based economy that prioritizes communities and nature.
An integral part of the fight for climate justice is rejecting false market-driven “solutions.” This includes the effort to expose and dismantle the roots of the extractivist economy that is inextricably intertwined with the patriarchal system that has been exploiting women and the environment for centuries. Women are on the frontlines of the climate crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic, making up 70% of healthcare workers worldwide and the majority of unpaid care workers who bear the brunt of a broken economic system.
We are calling for a transition from a colonial paradigm of “exploit and extract” to a regenerative, globally-conscious one of “respect and restore.” What is needed now is an investment in alternative economic models predicated on community-led solutions, Indigenous knowledge, and ancient concepts of reciprocity with the Earth and all living beings. Already there are Indigenous economies to learn from and an emergence of socially just, place-based, caring economic models that are structuring a path forward.
Speakers include: Melina Laboucan-Massimo (Lubicon Cree First Nation), Programs Director, Indigenous Climate Action; Ruth Nyambura, Kenyan Activist with African Ecofeminist Collective; Cindy Wiesner, Executive Director, Grassroots Global Justice Alliance; Ellen Brown, Attorney and Founder of the Public Banking Institute; Rauna Kuokkanen (Sápmi) Research Professor of Arctic Indigenous Studies at the University of Lapland, Finland; and comments and moderation by Osprey Orielle Lake, Executive Director Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN).

This webinar is part of WECAN’s Advocacy and Solutions Series: A Just and Healthy World is Possible, an ongoing dialogue series lifting up women’s leadership as we continue to collectively build a powerful movement founded on principles of justice, love, and a fierce dedication to our planet and each other.


REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED, please register here:
To ensure the security of our participants and speakers we ask that you register for the webinar via Zoom, which we encourage so that you may participate in the conversation and ask questions and make comments. If you do not want to register, you are welcome to join us on Facebook, where we will be streaming the event live.
If you need support registering or have any questions, be welcome to reach out to katherine@wecaninternational.org.
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Melina Laboucan-Massimo, Lubicon Cree First Nation
Programs Director, Indigenous Climate Action
Canada, Turtle Island

Melina Laboucan-Massimo is Lubicon Cree from Northern Alberta, Canada. She is the founder of Sacred Earth Solar and the Campaign Director at Indigenous Climate Action. She has worked on social, environmental and climate justice issues for over 15 years. Melina has worked, studied and campaigned in Brazil, Australia, Mexico, Canada and across Europe focusing on resource extraction, climate change impacts, media literacy, energy literacy and Indigenous rights & responsibilities.

Melina is the host of a new TV series called Power to the People which documents renewable energy, food security and eco-housing in Indigenous communities across North America. She is also a Fellow at the David Suzuki Foundation with a focus on Climate Change, Indigenous Knowledge and Renewable Energy. Facing the firsthand impacts of the Alberta tar sands in her home community, Melina has been a vocal advocate for Indigenous rights and environmental justice. For over a decade, Melina worked as a Climate and Energy Campaigner with Greenpeace Canada and the Indigenous Environmental Network. She has written for a variety of publications and produced short documentaries on the tar sands, climate change, water issues and Indigenous cultural revitalization.

Ruth Nyambura
Kenyan Activist with African Ecofeminist Collective, Kenya
Ruth Nyambura is a Kenyan eco-feminist and researcher working on the intersections of ecological justice in Africa. Her work and activism uses a feminist political ecology lens to critically engage with the continent’s and global food systems; challenging neoliberal models of agrarian transformation and amplifying the revolutionary work of small-holder farmers of Africa (most of them women), as well as rural agrarian movements offering concrete anti-capitalist alternatives to the ecological, economic and democratic crisis facing the continent.

Cindy Wiesner
Executive Director, Grassroots Global Justice Alliance, USA
Cindy Wiesner, a 25-year veteran of the social justice movement in the U.S. and internationally, is the executive director of the Grassroots Global Justice Alliance. She’s been active in many movement building initiatives, including Climate Justice Alliance, World March of Women, Social Movement Assemblies, International Council of the World Social Forum, Fight Against the FTAA, UNITY, Building Equity and Alignment Initiative and, currently, It Takes Roots and the Rising Majority, Green New Deal National Network and People’s Bailout. Her main passions are training organizers in a transformative radical organizing model and building counter-hegemonic campaigns that not only fight what participants are against, but put into practice what they want to see manifested. She identifies as a lesbian and is of Salvadoran, Colombian and German descent. She is a grassroots feminist, internationalist, and movement strategist.

Rauna Kuokkanen, Sápmi
Research Professor of Arctic Indigenous Studies,
the University of Lapland, Finland
Rauna Kuokkanen is Research Professor of Arctic Indigenous Studies at the University of Lapland, Finland. Prior to that, she was Associate Professor at the Department of Political Science and Indigenous Studies Program at the University of Toronto (2008-2018). Her main areas of research include comparative Indigenous politics, Indigenous feminist theory, Indigenous women’s rights and Arctic Indigenous governance and legal and political traditions.
Professor Kuokkanen’s new book Restructuring Relations: Indigenous Self-Determination, Governance and Gender, forthcoming by Oxford University Press in 2018, is an Indigenous feminist investigation of the theory and practice of Indigenous self-determination, governance and gender regimes in Indigenous political institutions. She was the founding chair of the Sámi Youth Organization in Finland and has served as the Vice-President of the Sámi Council. She has also long worked and advocated for the protection of Sámi sacred sites, particularly Suttesája, a sacred Sámi spring in Northern Finland. Professor Kuokkanen was recently appointed as the Chair of the Arctic Program Committee of NordForsk. She is from Ohcejohka/Utsjoki, Sápmi (Finland).

Ellen Brown
Attorney and Founder of the Public Banking Institute, USA
Ellen Brown is the founder of the Public Banking Institute and the author of a dozen books and hundreds of articles. She developed her research skills as an attorney practicing civil litigation in Los Angeles. In the best-selling Web of Debt (2007, 2012), she turned those skills to an analysis of the Federal Reserve and “the money trust,” showing how this private cartel has usurped the power to create money from the people themselves and how we the people can get it back.
Ellen ran for California State Treasurer in 2014 with the endorsement of the Green Party garnering a record number of votes for a Green Party candidate. Learn more about Ellen Brown at http://EllenBrown.com.

Osprey Orielle Lake
Executive Director of the Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN), USA
Osprey Orielle Lake is the Founder and Executive Director of the Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN) International dedicated to accelerating a global women’s climate justice movement. She works nationally and internationally with grassroots and Indigenous leaders, policy-makers and scientists to promote climate justice, resilient communities, and a just transition to a decentralized, democratized energy future.
Osprey serves on the Executive Committee for the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature and Osprey is the Co-Director of the Indigenous Women’s Divestment Delegations, and actively leads WECAN’s advocacy, policy and campaign work in areas such as Women for Forests, Divestment and New Economy, Indigenous Rights, a Feminist Agenda for a Green New Deal, and UN Forums. Osprey is the author of the award-winning book,”Uprisings for the Earth: Reconnecting Culture with Nature.”
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For the Earth and All Generations,
Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network
(WECAN) International Team

20,000 Masks Have Been Delivered to Indigenous Communities in the U.S.

WECAN is honored to announce that the first round of 20,000 face masks have been delivered to Indigenous communities throughout the United States through the Protect the Peoples Emergency (PPE) partnership fund with Movement Rights, Indigenous Environmental Network, T.E.J.A.S, Eaton, and other organizations.
As reported by one of our partners, Sebi Medina-Tayak of Eaton, “We have shipped most of the masks out to Navajo, Ponca, Apache, Oglala, Hopi, Piscataway and Houma clinics and organizations in this first round.”
Please learn more about the fund here: https://protectthepeoples.org/
WECAN International | 20 Sunnyside Avenue, #A-438, Mill Valley, CA 94941

May
31
Sun
2020
An Online Gathering at the End of Hope featuring Grandmother Flordemayo @ online
May 31 – Jun 4 all-day

The Wilds Beyond Climate Justice is a global online event for us to engage each other in activities, actions, and conversations that lie outside the dominant climate change framework and sing new possibilities into being.

One part ceremony, one part workshop, and one part creative arts project, The Wilds Beyond Climate Justice will bring together a worldwide community to mourn, create, envision, and open up places of transformation and power in a unique five-day virtual gathering.

The Wilds Beyond Climate Justice: An online gathering at the end of hope

Grandmother Flordemayo will be leading a session at The Wilds Beyond Climate Justice: An online gathering at the end of hope

May 31st to June 4th, 2020

JOIN US!

Register

Jun
16
Tue
2020
The PEACE CENTER presents: America Exposed: Pouring Salt on the Wounds @ Online - Zoom
Jun 16 @ 8:47 pm – 9:47 pm

 

Longstanding racial tensions have once again exploded, following the recent horrific deaths of Black Americans, causing grief, anger and outrage in towns and cities across the country.

Peaceful protests and violent confrontations have spilled into the streets and jolted our fragile communities.

Please join The Peace Center (on a Zoom call) for an authentic conversation on race and injustice, as we witness the stark reality of a nation whose wounds have not been dressed or healed.


When: Wednesday, June 17  6:30 PM – 8:00 PM


Facilitated by: Gayle Evans, Barbara Simmons, and Tayna Longino


Register Here for Democracy Circle


(Zoom link will be emailed upon registration.)


Our mailing address is:
The Peace Center
102 W Maple Ave
Langhorne, PA 19047-2820
215-750-7220

The Peace Center educates and empowers schools and families and enriches communities with proven conflict resolution and social justice programs.
The Peace Center is registered as a 501(c)(3), and incorporated as a non-profit educational organization.

Jun
18
Thu
2020
#UnDistanced Festival @ online
Jun 18 @ 12:00 pm – Jul 10 @ 3:00 pm
All Out presents:

Prides in over 500 cities around the world have been canceled

due to the coronavirus.

For millions of LGBT+ people, Pride events represent a precious moment of visibility, community, and solidarity. Pride boosts our movement and our community, powering our batteries for the coming year. Without it, our sense of belonging, our visibility, our advocacy, and our ability to support each other are all weakened.

But we don’t need to give up on Pride 2020 around the world. The power of digital gives us the chance to come together for Pride in spirit, if not with our bodies. It allows us to respect physical distancing, but embrace social and community cohesion. It allows us to celebrate who we are and who we love across borders and cultures.

This is #UnDistanced.



June 18 - Book reading with Dan Glass - 12pm EST / 5pm BST
June 20 - Panel: LGBT+ Refugees: Voices from the frontline - 11am EST / 4pm BST
June 23 - Panel: On the ground with Polish activists living in "LGBT-free zones" - 12pm EST / 5pm BST
June 24 - Watch party: Are you proud? - 3pm EST / 8pm BST
June 25 - Panel: Organising Pride where it is illegal to be gay - 1pm EST / 6pm BST
June 28 - Campaign Action: Stand with Pride in St. Petersburg - All day
June 28 - Panel: The fight for Love and Equality in Russia - 12pm EST / 5pm BST
June 30 - Panel: What does Pride means to you? - 1pm EST / 6pm BST
July 01 - Panel: Do corporations pinkwash Pride? - 12pm EST / 5pm BST
July 2 - 7pm Berlin / 8pm BST: Solidarität und Intersektionalität in der deutschen LGBT*-Bewegung
July 10 - 3pm EST / 8pm BST: The #UnDistanced Dance Party




We’re adding more exciting new events so check back later!
Aug
7
Fri
2020
The Interfaith Leadership Institute – for Students and Educators – 2020
Aug 7 – Aug 9 all-day

Interested in joining us in 2020? Fill out our early interest form and be the first to know when registration opens and save $50 off your registration.  We’ll make sure you’re the first to know when registration opens for our August 7-9, 2020 ILI in Chicago. Bonus: you’ll receive $50 off when you register!

See the ILI in action

The Interfaith Leadership Institute (ILI) is the largest gathering of students and educators with a commitment to American religious pluralism. Each year, hundreds of people who care about the future of our religiously diverse society converge in Chicago to learn, train, share, and get inspired to bring the movement for interfaith cooperation back to their campuses and communities.  Over the course of three days, participants learn to bridge divides and forge friendships across lines of religious and worldview differences. Come to the ILI with the passion to bring people together and leave equipped with the knowledge and skills to make it happen.

Interested in joining us in 2020? Fill out our early interest form and be the first to know when registration opens and save $50 off your registration.

 

Training Tracks

Introductory and advanced training tracks are designed to support those new to this work by laying the foundation for interfaith leadership, and providing advanced skills in topics ranging from strategic planning to navigating tricky challenges and more.

Plenary Sessions

Plenary sessions will feature conversation with experienced leaders and their stories of engaging religious difference and disagreement in American life. During the Unconference, attendees will have the power to guide these conversations by choosing discussion topics and important questions at the beginning of the gathering.

Discounts & Scholarships

As we do not want cost to be a hindrance to engaging with interfaith leadership, we have a number of discounts, as well as registration scholarships available.

Interfaith Youth Core
141 W. Jackson Blvd, Suite 3200, Chicago, IL 60604
Phone: (312) 573-8825
Email: info@ifyc.org

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