Theme: Conservation / Restoring Ecosystems / Biodiversity
Thursday, April 6th
Introduction by Carl Safina, Safina Center Founding President, Ecologist and Author
We have been killing whales for centuries, but we do so now out of ignorance rather than intent. As cetacean pods lose mothers and grandmothers, they lose wisdom inherited across generations on how to survive. Whale researcher Shane Gero will share some of what he has learned from the thousands of hours he has spent in the company of sperm whales, including how fundamentally similar their lives are to our own and how their cultures define their identity, just as ours do. Shane will explain why we need new approaches to whale conservation that recognize the biologically important divisions between different communities of whales, so we can respect their identity and cultural diversity; and how this can be extrapolated to the larger struggle to conserve biodiversity.
April 6th | 10:05 am to 10:27 am | Zellerbach Hall
Introduced by
Carl Safina
Founding President | Safina Center
Carl Safina, whose lyrical non-fiction writing about the human relationship with the living world won him a MacArthur “genius” prize, has written ten books, two of which have been named New York Times Notable Books of the Year, including his 2020 book Becoming Wild; How Animal Cultures Raise Families, Create Beauty, and Achieve Peace. Carl lives on Long Island, New York, with his wife, Patricia, and their dogs and feathered friends.
Keynote
Shane Gero
National Geographic Explorer and Founder | The Dominica Sperm Whale Project
Shane Gero, Ph.D., is a Canadian whale biologist, Scientist-in-Residence at Ottawa’s Carleton University, and a National Geographic Explorer. He is the founder of The Dominica Sperm Whale Project, a long-term research program detailing the lives of these enigmatic ocean nomads in the Eastern Caribbean. His research is motivated by a desire to understand animal societies, how and why they form, and sadly, what happens when they fall apart. Shane is also the Biology Lead for Project CETI who are applying machine learning and gentle robotics to decipher sperm whale communication. His science appears in numerous magazines, books, and television; and most recently was the basis for the Emmy Award winning series, Secrets of the Whales.
#LandBack has become a rallying cry in Indigenous circles and beyond from coast to coast, but what does #Landback really mean, and how can we be a part of this movement? In this panel, leaders in the #Landback movement will share different approaches to the return and “rematriation” of ancestral territories. For tribal members, the discussion will include organizational, fundraising, and legal strategies. For non-Natives, panelists will share how to be a good ally for #Landback. Moderated by Cara Romero. With: PennElys Droz; Corrina Gould; Tom Little Bear Nason; Kawenniiosta Jock.
April 6th | 3:00 pm to 4:15 pm | Goldman Theater, Brower Center
Panelists
Corrina Gould
Co-Director | Sogorea Te’ Land Trust
Corrina Gould (Lisjan Ohlone), born and raised in the village of Huichin (aka Oakland, CA), is the chair and spokesperson for the Confederated Villages of Lisjan and co-founder and Lead Organizer for Indian People Organizing for Change, a small Native-run organization that sponsored annual Shellmound Peace Walks from 2005 to 2009. As a tribal leader, she has continued to fight for the protection of the Shellmounds, uphold her nation's right to sovereignty, and stand in solidarity with Indigenous relatives to protect sacred waters, mountains, and lands all over the world. Her life’s work has led to the creation of Sogorea Te’ Land Trust, a women-led organization in the Bay Area that seeks to heal and transform legacies of colonization and genocide.
PennElys Droz
Program Officer | NDN Collective
PennElys Droz, Ph.D., of Anishinaabe and European descent, a mother of five, is a Program Officer with NDN Collective (“an Indigenous-led organization dedicated to building Indigenous power through organizing, activism, philanthropy, grantmaking, capacity-building and narrative change”), and a founding board member of Sustainable Nations, an Indigenous regenerative community development organization. She has worked in Indigenous engineering and regenerative development for over twenty years, with the vision of the re-development of ecologically, culturally and economically thriving, sustainable Indigenous Nations.
Tom Little Bear Nason
Tribal Chairman | Esselen Tribe of Monterey County
Tom Little Bear Nason, born on his aboriginal homelands in Big Sur, CA, has been the Tribal Chairman of the Esselen Tribe since 1993, helping preserve 1,200 acres of Esselen sacred land, one the first “Land-Back” achievements for a non-federally recognized tribe in California. He has been involved in the preservation of traditional landscapes for 30+years and worked with agencies to remove one the largest dams in California history, effectively preserving salmon and steelhead populations. He continues to work with tribes, state agencies, land trusts and conservation groups to expand tribal land stewardship, and is also a Culture Bearer, Fire Ecologist, and Bear Dance Leader.
Kawenniiosta Jock
President | Waterfall Unity Alliance
Kawenniiosta Jock (Kanien’kehá:ka, Wolf Clan from Akwesasne, Mohawk Nation Territory), President of the Waterfall Unity Alliance, board member of Onkwe Inc., and an alumna of the Akwesasne Freedom School, is an activist, land protector, master seamstress, traditional full-spectrum doula, mushroom hunter and artist. She works on preserving and restoring her people’s language, cultural teachings and ancient knowledge.
Cara Romero
Program Director of the Indigeneity Program | Bioneers
Cara Romero (Chemehuevi), Program Director of the Bioneers Indigeneity Program, previously served her Mojave-based tribe in several capacities, including as: first Executive Director at the Chemehuevi Cultural Center, a member of the tribal council, and Chair of the Chemehuevi Education Board and Chemeuevi Headstart Policy Council. Cara is also a highly accomplished photographer/artist.
According to a recent World Wildlife Fund report, since 1970 we have lost, on average, roughly 70% of the global populations of mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles and fish. Scientist activists working tirelessly to reverse this catastrophic trend share their strategies. With: Dave Phillips, co-founder of the Earth Island Institute and Director of its International Marine Mammal Project; Brock Dolman, Co-Director of the WATER Institute and Permaculture Design and Wildlands programs at the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center, and a leader in CA beaver reintroduction; Michelle Lute, Carnivore Conservation Director for Project Coyote. Moderated by Maureen Nandini Mitra, Editor of Earth Island Journal.
April 6th | 3:00 pm to 4:15 pm | Berkeley Ballroom, Residence Inn
Panelists
Brock Dolman
OAEC's WATER Institute | Co-Director
Brock Dolman co-founded (in 1994) the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center where he co-directs the WATER Institute. A wildlife biologist and watershed ecologist, he has been actively promoting “Bringing Back Beaver in California” since the early 2000s. He was given the Salmonid Restoration Federation’s coveted Golden Pipe Award in 2012: “…for his leading role as a proponent of "working with beavers" to restore native habitat.
Michelle Lute
Carnivore Conservation Director | Project Coyote
Michelle Lute, Ph.D., a conservation scientist and advocate with 15 years’ experience in biodiversity conservation on public and private lands around the globe, is the Carnivore Conservation Director for Project Coyote overseeing the organization’s programs and campaigns across the country, helping promote human-wildlife coexistence through effective public engagement, equitable participatory processes and evidence-based decision-making. She began her career in the National Park Service, then worked for non-profits and held research positions at universities across the US, and most recently served as Wildlife Conservationist at the New Mexico State Land Office. Michelle has authored more than 30 publications in ecology and social science disciplines.
David Phillips
Director of the International Marine Mammal Project | Earth Island Institute
David Phillips, a biologist specialized in marine wildlife conservation and Director of Earth Island Institute’s International Marine Mammal Project, has also served as the Institute's Executive Director since its founding in 1982 and has played a leading role in building its network of activist projects. David has represented marine mammal conservation issues at international conventions, including the International Whaling Commission, and has testified before Congress. The U.N.’s Environment Programme granted him its Leadership Award in honor of his efforts to protect dolphins from indiscriminate fishing techniques. In 2009, he helped open the David Brower Center, a LEED Platinum-rated green building that serves as a hub for the environmental movement.
Maureen Nandini Mitra
Editor | Earth Island Journal
Maureen Nandini Mitra is the Editor of Earth Island Journal, an award-winning, environmental magazine. In addition to her work at the Journal, she occasionally writes for other international publications and co-hosts Terra Verde, an environmental issues-themed talk show on KPFA public radio in Berkeley. Her work has appeared in the San Francisco Public Press, Grist, Truthout, The Guardian, The New Internationalist, Sueddeutsche Zeitung, among others.
The rapid increase of extreme heat events in cities is one of the stark indicators of global warming, and the effects of these events vividly expose the grotesque injustice caused by dramatic differences in neighborhood environments. In most major cities, historically “redlined” low-income communities and communities of color typically have less than half the amount of urban forest cover that wealthier communities possess. Lack of urban canopy contributes to an array of inequities including radically disparate outcomes in public health, economic opportunity, education and life expectancy. Today a coalition of NGOs, cities, scientists and community-centered initiatives has converged to create a moment of historic change, leading to massive public investment in urban forestry at 10X the scale ever before seen. Designed as equity-centered community development focusing on jobs and local enterprise creation, this new vision of urban forests will build climatic AND community resilience. Hear from four leaders in this dynamic emergent field: Julia Hillengas, co-founder and Executive Director of Philadelphia’s PowerCorpsPHL; Samira Malone, 27, first-ever Director of the Cleveland Tree Coalition; Amos White, founder and Chief Planting Officer of 100K Trees for Humanity; and moderator Brett KenCairn, Boulder, CO’s Senior Climate and Sustainability Coordinator.
April 6th | 4:45 pm to 6:00 pm | Campanile Room, Hotel Shattuck Plaza
Panelists
Samira Malone
Director | The Cleveland Tree Coalition
Samira Malone is the Director of The Cleveland Tree Coalition, a collaborative of public, private and community stakeholders partnered with the City of Cleveland to create a healthy, vibrant, sustainable and equitable urban forest. Samira works to raise awareness of the critical need for a robust tree canopy in Cleveland and to generate financial support for the work of the Coalition. Her practice as an urban planner and environmental leader is rooted in racial and environmental restorative justice and holistic community development.
Julia Hillengas
Executive Director | PowerCorpsPHL
Julia Hillengas, co-founded (in 2013) and is Executive Director of PowerCorpsPHL, initially a City of Philadelphia workforce development initiative designed to help address youth disconnection and violence and promote urban environmental sustainability. Julia, who has extensive experience as an educator, coach, community organizer and public sector leader, currently leads PowerCorps’ strategy, partnerships, and expansion, seeking to work as a bridge-builder between young people and economic opportunities nationally.
Amos White
Founder and Chief Planting Officer | 100K Trees for Humanity
Amos White, founder and Chief Planting Officer of 100K Trees for Humanity, created 100K Trees in 2019 as a political and community action response to America's withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement. Since its founding, 100K Trees has formed partnerships with a number of organizations, including the Sierra Club and American Forests, and Amos was appointed to CALFIRE's Urban Forestry Advisory Committee in 2021 and to the Alameda County Agricultural Advisory Committee in 2022. He also authored the CA Urban Greenbelt Initiative to plant trees at scale for climate, for equity and for health in 433 CA communities by 2030.
Brett KenCairn
Senior Policy Advisor for Climate and Resilience | City of Boulder
Brett KenCairn, Boulder Colorado’s Senior Policy Advisor for Climate Action and leader of that town’s Natural Climate Solutions team, is the Director of the Center for Regenerative Solutions (CRS)—an initiative to expand natural climate solutions nationally that is co-sponsored by the Urban Sustainability Directors Network. He also is the founder or co-founder of four organizations including: the Rogue River Institute for Ecology and Economy, Veterans Green Jobs, and Community Energy Systems.
Until fairly recently the dominant view among scientists was that non-human animals didn’t manifest real intelligence and certainly didn’t live in dynamic cultures, but, mercifully, those misguided ideas have been entirely demolished in recent years. More and more examples of sophisticated decision making, tool usage, emotional richness and complex social organization in more and more species have come to light (something Indigenous traditions have long held to be self-evident). In this session we will join two major figures in this burgeoning scientific and societal renaissance, one a longtime, world-renowned advocate for animal intelligence; the other a daring, visionary young scientist on the frontlines of research on animal societies, in a discussion about what we know and what we might be able to learn from some extraordinary animals, if we can get beyond our species chauvinism. With: Carl Safina, beloved author of such classics as Beyond Words and Becoming Wild; and groundbreaking whale biologist Shane Gero. Moderated by Kate Golden, science journalist and artist.
April 6th | 4:45 pm to 6:00 pm | Freight & Salvage
Panelists
Carl Safina
Founding President | Safina Center
Carl Safina, whose lyrical non-fiction writing about the human relationship with the living world won him a MacArthur “genius” prize, has written ten books, two of which have been named New York Times Notable Books of the Year, including his 2020 book Becoming Wild; How Animal Cultures Raise Families, Create Beauty, and Achieve Peace. Carl lives on Long Island, New York, with his wife, Patricia, and their dogs and feathered friends.
Shane Gero
National Geographic Explorer and Founder | The Dominica Sperm Whale Project
Shane Gero, Ph.D., is a Canadian whale biologist, Scientist-in-Residence at Ottawa’s Carleton University, and a National Geographic Explorer. He is the founder of The Dominica Sperm Whale Project, a long-term research program detailing the lives of these enigmatic ocean nomads in the Eastern Caribbean. His research is motivated by a desire to understand animal societies, how and why they form, and sadly, what happens when they fall apart. Shane is also the Biology Lead for Project CETI who are applying machine learning and gentle robotics to decipher sperm whale communication. His science appears in numerous magazines, books, and television; and most recently was the basis for the Emmy Award winning series, Secrets of the Whales.
Kate Golden
Science Journalist and Artist
Kate Golden, science journalist and artist, is an editor at Bay Nature and a contributing writer at Sierra who often writes about climate, the ocean and its inhabitants. She spent two years living on a small boat in the South Pacific, and currently lives ashore in Sacramento.
Indigenous peoples across the Pacific have a deep knowledge of the ocean and its ecosystems acquired from hundreds of generations of observation. Today, commercial farming, overfishing, resource extraction and global warming are destroying the ocean systems and exacerbating the climate crisis. In this panel, three leaders with intimate knowledge of the relationships between land and ocean will discuss how to restore balance to the Pacific and to the planet. Moderated by Alexis Bunten. With: Loa Niumeitolu; Kiana Frank; Andrea Kealoha.
April 6th | 4:45 pm to 6:00 pm | Goldman Theater, Brower Center
Panelists
Kiana Frank
Assistant Professor in the Pacific Biosciences Research Center | University of Hawaii, Mānoa
Kiana Frank, Assistant Professor in the Pacific Biosciences Research Center at the University of Hawaii, Mānoa, weaves contemporary Western techniques with traditional Native Hawaiian science to study how microorganisms shape the land for productivity and health. Her work evaluates overall ecosystem health and informs current monitoring, restoration, cultivation, and management practices in Hawaii. She works to inspire the younger Hawaiian generations to cultivate a connection to science through their culture.
Loa Niumeitolu
Co-Facilitator | Spirit Root Medicine People
Loa Niumeitolu, a Tongan poet, community organizer and educator with degrees in English and International Development, is a farming teacher and lead farmer at Tennyson High School Farm in Hayward, California. She trained in planting taro and other foods of Moana Nui under Tura Koronui in Atiu, Cook Islands; and worked as a land steward at both Sogorea Te Land Trust and at Gill Tract Farm on Ohlone Territory (the East Bay). Loa also co-founded the LGBTQ+ Indigenous support groups One Love Oceania (OLO) and the Oyate Tupu'anga Project, and currently co-facilitates Spirit Root Medicine People (SRMP).
Andrea Kealoha
Oceanographer | University of Hawaii Mānoa
Andrea Kealoha, Ph.D., from Pāʻia, Maui, is an oceanographer at the University of Hawaii Mānoa who specializes in climate change and human impacts to coral reef health. She is the Director of UH Maui College's water quality lab and will be starting a faculty position at UH Mānoa in Fall 2023. In addition to conducting coral reef research to support marine resource management, Andrea also works with students and the community on water quality monitoring and education to increase diversity in STEM.
Alexis Bunten
Co-Director, Indigeneity Program | Bioneers
Alexis Bunten, Ph.D., (Aleut/Yup’ik), Co-Director of Bioneers’ Indigeneity Program, has been a researcher, media-maker, manager, consultant, and curriculum developer for organizations including the Sealaska Heritage Institute, Alaska Native Heritage Center, and the FrameWorks Institute. She has published widely about Indigenous and environmental issues, and is the author of So, how long have you been Native?: Life as an Alaska Native Tour Guide.
Friday, April 7th
Yurok and Karuk peoples have been fighting for decades to remove dams on the Klamath River that destroyed riparian ecosystems and decimated salmon populations that underscore traditional lifeways. In 2022, the US government finally agreed to remove four dams and engage in the largest river restoration project in US history. Join us to learn the story of this incredible achievement in tribal activism, groundbreaking tribal partnerships with state and federal governments, and culture-based methods for river restoration. Moderated by Cara Romero. With: Samuel Gensaw, Isaac Kinney and Craig Tucker.
April 7th | 3:00 pm to 4:15 pm | Goldman Theater, Brower Center
Panelists
Samuel Gensaw
Founding Director | Ancestral Guard
Sammy Gensaw, III, (Yurok) is the Founding Director of the Ancestral Guard, Artist, Yurok Language Speaker, Singer, Writer, Cultural/Political/Environmental Activist, Regalia Maker, Mediator, Youth Leader & Fisherman.
Isaac Kinney
Yurok Tribal Citizen
Isaac Kinney (Yurok/Chicano) is a Yurok tribal citizen from the village of Weych-pues at the confluence of the Klamath and Trinity Rivers in what is now known as Northwest California. His extensive experience working with Indigenous communities and tribal governments have helped him become effective in his advocacy efforts in working with national and local governments, philanthropists and grass-roots organizations.
Craig Tucker
Founder and Principal | Suits and Signs Consulting
S. Craig Tucker, who has 20+ years of advocacy and activism experience, especially working with tribal members, fishermen and farmers in the Klamath Basin on dam removal, traditional fire management, gold mining, and water policy, is the founder and Principal of Suits and Signs Consulting, which provides professional advocacy and campaign planning services to tribes, local governments and non-profits working to protect watersheds and advance social justice.
Cara Romero
Program Director of the Indigeneity Program | Bioneers
Cara Romero (Chemehuevi), Program Director of the Bioneers Indigeneity Program, previously served her Mojave-based tribe in several capacities, including as: first Executive Director at the Chemehuevi Cultural Center, a member of the tribal council, and Chair of the Chemehuevi Education Board and Chemeuevi Headstart Policy Council. Cara is also a highly accomplished photographer/artist.
4:45 pm: “Brazil is Back, but…”—The Lula Administration’s First 100 Days: What Is the Situation Regarding Human Rights and Amazon Protections?
Presented in collaboration with Amazon Watch
After narrowly defeating the rightwing extremist Jair Bolsonaro last year, Lula da Silva began his third presidential term by reaffirming Brazilian democracy, the rule of law, and reinstating critical socio-environmental protections to reverse the Amazonian catastrophe unleashed by his predecessor. Despite these very positive steps, Lula’s administration faces a myriad of challenges as entrenched interests work to undermine its agenda. What does this scenario portend for the future of the world’s largest rainforest? Moderated by Leila Salazar-López, Executive Director, Amazon Watch. With: Christian Poirier, Program Director, Amazon Watch; Indigenous youth activist and media maker Eric Terena (aka DJ Eric Marky); Priscila Tapajowara (Tapajó I Brazil) an Amazon-born Indigenous rights and climate activist, photographer and documentary filmmaker; Ana Paula Vargas, Brazil Program Director at Amazon Watch.
April 7th | 4:45 pm to 6:00 pm | Magnes Museum
Panelists
Leila Salazar-López
Executive Director | Amazon Watch
Leila Salazar-López, Executive Director of Amazon Watch since 2015, leads the organization in its work to protect and defend the bio-cultural and climate integrity of the Amazon rainforest in solidarity with Indigenous and forest peoples. For 25+ years Leila has worked to defend the world’s rainforests, human rights, and climate through grassroots organizing and international advocacy campaigns at Amazon Watch, Rainforest Action Network and Global Exchange. She is also a Global Fund for Women Advisor for Latin America, a Greenpeace Voting Member and serves on the Advisory Circle of Daughters of the Earth. (amazonwatch.org)
Christian Poirier
Program Director | Amazon Watch
Christian Poirier, who has 20+ years’ experience in international development focused on environmental, agrarian and social justice issues, is a senior member of Amazon Watch’s team who has coordinated its Brazil Program since 2009, helping lead international solidarity campaigns to halt the construction of large dams in the Amazon and to pressure the global private sector to cease its complicity in environmental destruction and human rights abuses in the region. While managing Amazon Watch’s Paris office, Christian partnered with European NGOs on Corporate Social Responsibility campaigns, and prior to joining Amazon Watch, he assisted Brazil’s Landless Workers Movement and managed rural development and micro enterprise projects in West Africa.
Eric Terena
Co-Founder | Midia India
Eric Terena (aka DJ Eric Marky), an Indigenous youth activist and media maker, co-founder of Midia India (an Indigenous communication collective), is a member of Youth4Climate and was responsible for the audiovisual coverage of the participation of Indigenous leaders from Brazil at the United Nations Climate Change conferences COP25 and COP26. Eric is also a specialist in ethno-media and works with Indigenous singers.
Priscila Tapajowara
Indigenous Rights and Climate Activist
Priscila Tapajowara (Tapajó I Brazil), born in Santarém in the Amazon, is an Indigenous rights and climate activist, photographer, film director and producer who has been using audiovisual tools for 9 years to fight in defense of the Amazon. She has been the cinematographic director of a number of documentaries in Brazil; a producer of the Latin American Film Festival CineAlter; a coordinator and communicator at Mídia India; and Vice-President of the Instituto Território das Artes.
Ana Paula Vargas
Brazil Program Director | Amazon Watch
Ana Paula Vargas, Brazil Program Director at Amazon Watch, has been working for 20+ years on communications and culture, human rights, and social justice issues in Brazil. She has collaborated with the press, local NGOs, the Brazilian government and international institutions to support and promote projects from popular associations, social movements and grassroots organizations. In the United States, as a member of the US Network to Defend Democracy in Brazil, she has organized advocacy and resistance to threats to human rights, to the Amazon rainforest and to Indigenous people, organizing rallies in alliance with other organizations and activists fighting for climate justice.
Saturday, April 8th
California’s $48 billion Climate Commitment in 2022 plus the Federal IRA represent a once in a lifetime opportunity to onshore the supply chains and build the infrastructure needed to transform our economy to carbon neutrality, while creating jobs and justice for the 100%. How can California and tribal nations such as the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians partner for an equitable clean energy future rooted in a circular regenerative economy? What would it look like to have the original landowners at the helm of a place-based industrial strategy to onshore an advanced battery and EV manufacturing supply chain to Inland Southern California? With: Jesus Arguelles, Economic Development Director of the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians; Rebecca Lee, New Energy Nexus; Bryan Vega, New Energy Nexus. Hosted by: Danny Kennedy, CEO, New Energy Nexus.
April 8th | 3:00 pm to 4:15 pm | Freight & Salvage
Panelists
Danny Kennedy
CEO | New Energy Nexus
Danny Kennedy, with a long background in eco activism, has become one of the nation’s leading figures in clean-technology entrepreneurship and the capitalization of the transition to a “green” economy. Co-founder of the solar energy company, Sungevity, and the clean energy incubator Powerhouse, Kennedy supports the clean technology and energy fields in myriad ways. In addition to leading roles with Third Derivative (a joint venture with the Rocky Mountain Institute) and the California Clean Energy Fund, Kennedy is currently CEO of New Energy Nexus, a global nonprofit providing funds, accelerators, and networks to drive clean energy innovation and adoption.
Rebecca Lee
Managing Director of California | New Energy Nexus
Rebecca Lee is the Managing Director of California at New Energy Nexus, a global non-profit organization working to accelerate a just and equitable clean energy future by supporting diverse clean energy entrepreneurs with funds, accelerators, and networks. Previously, she led the regulatory team at Sungevity, a residential solar developer and more recently, was a Senior Fellow at Gridworks where she facilitated workshops with diverse stakeholders to develop collaborative frameworks to advance equity and accelerate decarbonization. Rebecca was also lead author and researcher for "Advancing High Road Labor Standards in Transportation Electrification."
Bryan Vega
Program Associate | New Energy Nexus
Bryan Vega, a Program Associate with New Energy Nexus (a groundbreaking clean energy nonprofit seeking to "create an abundant world with a 100% clean energy economy for 100% of the population in the shortest time possible time"), is working on the ground on the “Lithium Valley” project in the Salton Sea area. Raised in both the Valle of Mexicali in Mexico and California's Imperial Valley, Bryan, who has an academic background in political science and ethnic studies, is an experienced community organizer and civil rights activist.
Jesus Arguelles
Economic Development Director | Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians
Jesus Arguelles, the Director of Economic Development for the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians (TMDCI), is dedicated to accelerating the transition of TMDCI's sovereign tribal economy into an inclusive and equitable regional engine of strategic economic development. He works on: tribal-focused community planning and infrastructure development; environmental sustainability; cultural and natural assets preservation and enhancement; sovereign and circular entrepreneurship; social equity and justice practices; business portfolio diversification in “green," added value industries; financial literacy and fitness; and wealth-building and intergenerational transference.
4:45 pm: Solving the Climate Crisis in One Generation
Presented in collaboration with One Earth
According to the groundbreaking, highly influential organization, One Earth, the solutions to the climate crisis already exist, and there are three pillars of collective action we need to embrace to implement them: a just transition to 100% renewable energy; protection and restoration of half the world’s lands and oceans; and a shift to regenerative food and fiber systems. These goals are daunting, but the good news is that millions of people and organizations around the world are already driving this transformation. How are all these movements connected? How does work in each area grow and thrive with a coherent understanding of the larger systems of change? Join leaders in the three key fields outlined above in a vibrant conversation to explore how both big-picture thinking and slews of on-the-ground practical projects can play a role in solving the climate crisis in time. Hosted by: Justin Winters, co-founder and Executive Director of One Earth. With: Samuel Gensaw III (Yurok) Director of the Ancestral Guard; Cynthia Daley, Ph.D., founder/Director of the Center for Regenerative Agriculture and Resilient Systems at Cal State Chico; and Danny Kennedy, entrepreneur and founder of New Energy Nexus.
April 8th | 4:45 pm to 6:00 pm | Freight & Salvage
Panelists
Samuel Gensaw
Founding Director | Ancestral Guard
Sammy Gensaw, III, (Yurok) is the Founding Director of the Ancestral Guard, Artist, Yurok Language Speaker, Singer, Writer, Cultural/Political/Environmental Activist, Regalia Maker, Mediator, Youth Leader & Fisherman.
Cynthia Daley
Founder and Director | Center for Regenerative Agriculture and Resilient Systems at California State University Chico
Cynthia Daley, Ph.D., born into a four-generation Midwestern farming family, is a professor within the College of Agriculture at Cal State Chico and currently serves there as both the Rawlins Endowed Professor for Environmental Literacy and the Director for the Center for Regenerative Agriculture & Resilient Systems (a consortium of interdisciplinary faculty and farmers who recognize the ecological benefits of regenerative farming practices including water conservation, soil fertility, and carbon sequestration).
Danny Kennedy
CEO | New Energy Nexus
Danny Kennedy, with a long background in eco activism, has become one of the nation’s leading figures in clean-technology entrepreneurship and the capitalization of the transition to a “green” economy. Co-founder of the solar energy company, Sungevity, and the clean energy incubator Powerhouse, Kennedy supports the clean technology and energy fields in myriad ways. In addition to leading roles with Third Derivative (a joint venture with the Rocky Mountain Institute) and the California Clean Energy Fund, Kennedy is currently CEO of New Energy Nexus, a global nonprofit providing funds, accelerators, and networks to drive clean energy innovation and adoption.
Justin Winters
One Earth | Co-Founder and Executive Director
Justin Winters, the co-founder and Executive Director of One Earth, a philanthropic organization working to galvanize science, advocacy and philanthropy to drive collective action on climate change, is focused on creating a vision for the world in which humanity and nature coexist and thrive together, based on three pillars: 100% renewable energy; protection and restoration of 50% of the world’s lands and oceans; and a transition to regenerative, carbon-negative agriculture. Prior to One Earth, Justin served as Executive Director of the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation for 13 years, where she awarded over $100 million in grants across 60 countries.
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