11/2 us climate action center Panel:

Meet the Moment!

Speaker Bios

isatis cintrón rodríguez

@isa_bori

Bio coming soon

Haley Crim

@haley_crim

Haley is a climate justice advocate and passionate proponent of ACE. She has worked on both federal and civil society climate empowerment and capacity-building efforts in the U.S. As a member of the Coordinating Team of the U.S. ACE Coalition, a group of U.S. based organizations and individuals working towards just, efficient, all-of-society action, she coordinates national conversations around ACE. Haley facilitated the U.S. ACE Dialogues in 2020, bringing together over 200 ACE and climate justice-focused organizations and individuals to inform the creation of a community-driven strategic framework for ACE in the U.S., and has published several articles around ACE and participatory policy design for just climate action.

Felicia Davis

@FeliciaMDavis

Felicia M. Davis directs Sustainability for Clark Atlanta University and is a member of the CAU Sustainability Council. She supports the CAU team approach to sustainability with a focus on campus-wide engagement. A staunch advocate for measurable reductions in greenhouse gas emissions through energy efficiency retrofits, green building, and an array of sustainable practices, in 2016 she founded the HBCU Green Fund to help finance green projects at Historically Black Colleges and Universities. A co-lead for the HBCU Geosciences Working Group, she also serves on the boards of the Green 2.0-an initiative dedicated to increasing racial diversity in environmental leadership, the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation & Convener of the Clayton County Black Women’s Roundtable, and the Chattahoochee Riverkeeper dedicated to protecting and restoring the Chattahoochee River Basin. She serves as the co-chair for the National Technical Association 92nd Annual Conference. Felicia began her environmental career working on air quality and climate justice as the Georgia Air Keeper director and subsequently served as the first director of Mothers & Others for Clean Air when it was housed within the Georgia Conservancy. She is an Environmental Leadership Program Senior Fellow, IGEL Fellow and Intentional Endowments Network Steering Committee Member. An author of the Air of Injustice Report, she also produced the MSI Green Report, Sustainable Campuses-Building Green at Minority Serving Institutions, and the 2014 HBCU Green Report. Her favorite question is – if we get it right what will it look like?

SHerri Mitchell Weh'na Ha'mu Kwasset J.D.

@sacred411

Sherri was born and raised on the Penobscot Indian reservation (Penawahpskek). She speaks and teaches around the world on issues of Indigenous rights, environmental justice, and spiritual change. Her broad base of knowledge allows her to synthesize many subjects into a cohesive whole, weaving together a multitude of complex issues and articulating them in a way that both satisfies the mind and heals the heart.

Sherri is the Founding Director of the Land Peace Foundation, an organization dedicated to the global protection of Indigenous land and water rights and the preservation of the Indigenous way of life. Prior to forming the Land Peace Foundation, Sherri served as a law clerk to the Solicitor of the United States Department of Interior; as an Associate with Fredericks, Peebles and Morgan Law Firm; as a civil rights educator for the Maine Attorney General’s Office, and; as the Staff Attorney for the Native American Unit of Pine Tree Legal.

Sherri received her Juris Doctorate and a certificate in Indigenous People’s Law and Policy from the University of Arizona’s James E. Rogers College of Law. She is an alumna of the American Indian Ambassador program, and the Udall Native American Congressional Internship program.

Dr. Deb L. Morrison

@educatordeb

Deb is a climate and anti-oppression activist, scientist, learning scientist, educator, mother, locally elected official, and many other things besides. I share this narrative knowing that all of us are products of our past and the world in which we are situated. We all have histories, connections, and culture that influence our actions, beliefs and assumptions about the world. I too am a result of where I have been, what I have experienced, and the people who have been central to my life and inspired me in the work I do in the world. It is through the transparency of these lived experiences that we come to know each other better, to trust, and to build towards a better future. I work towards this future with a grounding in respect, compassion, and cooperation of all who contribute to our rich community cultural wealth.

Frank Niepold

@FrankNiepold

Frank Niepold is an Action for Climate Empowerment National Focal Point for the United States, Climate Education Coordinator at NOAA's Climate Program Office in Silver Spring Maryland, Climate.gov Education section lead, the U.S. Climate Action Report Education, Training, and Outreach chapter lead for the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Education and Youth delegate for the United States at the 2015 Conference of Parties (COP21), and founding member of the CLEAN Network and co-chair of the CLEAN Network Leadership Board. At NOAA, he develops and implements NOAA's Climate goal education and outreach efforts that specifically relate to NOAA's Climate goal and literacy objective.

Kristen Poppleton

@kpoppleton

Kristen Iverson Poppleton is the Senior Director of Programs for Climate Generation: A Will Steger Legacy. Climate Generation empowers individuals and communities to engage in solutions to climate change. Kristen develops a vision for and provides strategic coordination, oversight and support for all Climate Generation programs focusing on youth, educator and community engagement. She served on the Federal Advisory Committee for the Sustained National Climate Assessment and the City of St. Paul’s Climate Action Planning Committee, and Minnesota’s Science Standards Revision Committee. She currently serves as co-chair of the CLEAN (Climate Literacy) Network’s Leadership Board, the Action for Climate Empowerment Leadership Team, and St. Paul’s Climate Justice Advisory Board. Kristen has worked at the Science Museum of Minnesota, the International Wolf Center, and taught environmental education in Argentina. Kristen holds a BA in Biology and Hispanic Studies from St. Olaf College, a MEd in Environmental Education from University of Minnesota, Duluth and a MS in Conservation Biology from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. She is a fourth generation St. Paulite, and in her spare time loves to be in the boreal forest with her husband, two children and Lab, canoeing, hiking, nordic skiing, or with her nose in a new novel.

Additional Information

Empowering climate action in the united states

Tom Bowman and Deb Morrison, Eds. 2020.

Empowering Climate Action in the United States includes An ACE National Strategic Planning Framework for the United States as well as additional context and a collection of essays from ACE experts including Bill McKibben from 350.org, Edward Maibach M.P.H. Ph.D. from the George Mason Center for Climate Change Communication, Sherri Mitchell - Weh'na Ha'mu Kwasset J.D. from the Land Peace Foundation, and Taylor Morton from WE ACT for Environmental Justice. The book is available as a physical book or an e-book.

Policy Brief from the BIPOC Climate Justice Dialogue

Isatis M. Cintron-Rodriguez, Felicia Davis, Sherri Mitchell - Weh'na Ha'mu Kwasset, and Henry Lancaster.

2021.

Equitable and empowering participatory policy design strategies to accelerate just climate action

Isatis M. Cintron-Rodriguez, Haley Crim, Deb L. Morrison, Frank Niepold, Jen Kretser, William Spitzer, Tom Bowman.

Journal of Science Policy and Governance 18, no. 2. 2021.

Building capacity, momentum and a culture of climate action in the United States

Tom Bowman, Isatis M. Cintron-Rodriguez, Haley Crim, Timothy Damon, Cyane Dandridge, Jen Kretser, Deb L. Morrison, Frank Niepold, Kristen Poppleton, William Spitzer.

Environmental Research Letters 16, no. 4. 2021.