Agenda

Local Environmental Action is an opportunity to join community leaders, environmental advocates and activists from across the region for an exciting day of skills training, networking, and inspiration.

Whether you have been to every conference or are attending for the first time, be sure not to miss this amazing opportunity to connect and grow our grassroots movement.

The agenda below is from Local Environmental Action 2020, which took place on March 7.

Agenda

9:00am REGISTRATION

Morning Movement and Meditation

Start your conference day off right with movement, breathing, and grounding exercises led by Noëlle Janka, Erin Kintzing, and Ishita Sharma. Yoga mats and props provided by Artemis Yoga in Watertown, MA.
Facilitators: Noëlle Janka, Noëlle Janka Coaching & Healing; Erin Kintzing, Erin Kintzing Coaching; and Ishita Sharma, Come to Center

10:00am WELCOME & KEYNOTE

keynote speaker: Lydia Edwards

Councilor Lydia Edwards is a career advocate, activist, and voice on behalf of society's most vulnerable. She is currently the Chair of the Committee on Government Operations and the Committee on Housing and Community Development in the Boston City Council. As a City Councilor, she has led efforts to protect Boston's affordable housing stock through innovative and bold policy proposals. In year one, she introduced and passed a city ordinance assisting seniors who are house-rich but cash-poor pay their back taxes to stay in their homes. She has spearheaded reforms to Inclusionary Development and Linkage and passed through the council a transfer fee measure through the Council enabling a fee for properties sold over $2 million dollars. Representing three waterfront communities and multiple environmental justice populations, Councilor Edwards has pushed to reduce airport pollution, expand water transportation, address traffic congestion, ensure community voice in major energy projects, rebuild public housing and stop proposed highway expansion. She has solidified her role in the community as a bridge-builder, convening and organizing community meetings to take on larger conversations like Suffolk Downs in East Boston and the Bunker Hill Redevelopment project in Charlestown.

Prior to entering the City Council, Councilor Edwards worked extensively in the legal field serving as a judicial law clerk with the Massachusetts Superior Court and the Massachusetts Appeals Court and as a public interest attorney with Greater Boston Legal Services focusing on labor issues. She served as the statewide campaign coordinator for the Massachusetts Coalition for Domestic Workers, which advocated for the passage of the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights. In 2015, she was an honorable mention for the Boston Globe’s Bostonian of the Year.

Her mother is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force and retired union worker with the Veterans Administration. Councilor Edwards received her J.D. from American University Washington College of Law and received a LLM in taxation from Boston University School of Law. Councilor Edwards is convinced that she has the best district because of the food, culture, and diversity that is offered in each of the three neighborhoods that she represents – Charlestown, East Boston, and the North End. In her spare time she continues her love of learning new languages; Councilor Edwards speaks German, Portuguese, and Spanish.

11:00am WORKSHOPS

Getting off gas: Local Conversations to build relationships

Because buildings are a big part of the climate problem, making sure that our buildings are fossil-fuel free is a crucial piece of the climate solution. Are you interested in doing a gas ban? Come to this workshop to get tools and guidance on how to have conversations that will identify and address community concerns, make your warrant article more just and equitable, and set you up for long term success.
Speakers: Rebecca Winterich-Knox, Massachusetts Climate Action Network; Quinton Zondervan, Cambridge City Councilor; Darlene Lombos, Greater Boston Labor Council; Shelly Goehring

Envisioning a Renewable Future

In order to meet our climate goals of getting to zero carbon pollution by 2050, we need to commit to transformational local action. Come to this workshop to join other climate activists across Massachusetts in envisioning what you want YOUR community to look like, and to hear from experts on how we can make a completely renewable future a reality.
Speakers: Henrietta Davis, Massachusetts Climate Action Network; André Leroux, Massachusetts Smart Growth Alliance; Stacy Thompson, Liveable Streets

Building Community Resilience Using Clean Energy

RUN-GJC (Resilient Urban Neighborhoods - Green Justice Coalition) is a collaboration between nine organizations that have been working together for over four years to increase access to renewable power and build community-scale resilience via clean energy microgrids in Chelsea, MA and Boston’s Chinatown. The team's microgrid design is unique for a number of reasons. First and foremost, the community has decision-making power over design choices. The group's aim is to create an end product that maximizes community benefit and is integrated into solving other economic pressures our communities face, such as gentrification. The microgrids go beyond energy reliability and consider resilience from a holistic point-of-view. As such, there are provisions for water, communications and shared transportation, all of which enable a community not simply to shelter in place, but prosper in place should the need arise.
Speakers: Alex Papali, Clean Water Fund and Jen Stevenson Zepeda, Climable.org

LOCAL SOLUTIONS TO THE INTERNATIONAL RECYCLING CRISIS

Worried by the soaring costs of the recycling program in your town? Feel totally disempowered but want to change systems at the local level? Never fear, this workshop is here! Come learn how recycling systems tied up by big companies brought us to today’s crisis and come away with tangible solutions you can implement in your community right now to move towards zero waste.
Speaker: Kirstie Pecci, Zero Waste Project, Conservation Law Foundation

Concrete Tools for Transforming Society and Building a Unified Climate Justice Movement - Part One

The world we hope for demands that we halt the rapidly escalating climate crisis. To do so requires building a massive interconnected movement of people from every background. Relationship building, overcoming divisions imposed by oppression in society, and developing alliances are essential elements in building such a movement and advancing environmental, racial and economic justice. To rapidly advance our unified effort toward an equitable, sustainable future, this interactive, hands on workshop will provide concrete skills for ending the damaging effects of oppression and exploitation on our lives, communities and local action groups. We will share tools and perspectives that strengthen our connections, leadership and advance equity by healing from the emotional effects of oppression that get in our way.
Speakers: Jenene Cook, Carlos Rojas, Bonny Carroll, and Mike Walker all with Sustaining All Life/United to End Racism

Eyes on the Prize- Running Smart, Focused Campaigns

New climate issues are regularly creating the need to confront those locally. Be prepared with a community based campaign that is set up for success from the start. This workshop will hone your political savvy to run strong, strategic campaigns.
Speakers: Sylvia Broude, Toxics Action Center, and Kimberly French, Sustainable Middleborough

LIVING TOGETHER: BUILDING A CLIMATE-FRIENDLY WORLD THAT WORKS FOR PLANTS, ANIMALS, AND PEOPLE

Climate change is already changing our communities and our ecosystems, and a climate-friendly future is one that makes space for nature as well as people. Careful planning and restoration ensure that our communities can work for plants, animals, and people. Come to learn from activists across Massachusetts on the work they have done to rehabilitate and recover damaged ecosystems and restore species. Join us to find resources, partners, and first steps towards restoring ecosystems in your community.
Speakers: Alexandra Vecchio, Mass Audubon; Emily Norton, Charles River Watershed Association; Jane Winn, Berkshire Environmental Action Team; Scott Jackson, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Reclaiming Justice: Bringing Together Disability Justice and Environmental Justice and Beyond

Research unequivocally shows that low-income communities--and particularly low-income communities of color--tend to be ground zero for Superfund sites, landfill and incinerator operations, and industrial factories--all of which have been implicated in adversely impacting public health. And yet, disability justice movements rarely encompass issues of environmental health, while environmental organizations do not often prioritize disability justice. How do we close down plastic factories and landfills in environmental justice communities while still offering straws for folks in the disability community? How do we move our communities away from personal cars for transportation while still supporting people who rely on them to get around? How do we hold actions in the streets in a way that is truly accessible? Join us for a session about the foundation of justice and how to ensure our work does not leave anyone behind, with a specific focus on disability and its link to the environment.
Speakers: Ahmad Abojaradeh, Life in My Days

One-to-One Conversations: Practicing Deep Connection to Build Your Group and Your Power

Having meaningful one-to-one conversations with people is a key part of building the strong group you need to make the change you want to see. A one-to-one is not an ordinary conversation—it’s an intentional relationship-building meeting between two people who are interested in building power together. The best organizers set up one-to-ones to get to know why members of your group are invested in this work, see where your goals align, recruit people to deeper leadership, and learn from community members how the work can better support the needs of the community. In this workshop, you’ll explore the key components of one-to-ones. Community organizers, Gabi and Leilani of GreenRoots, will talk you through different one-to-one methods used to mobilize people against the East Boston Eversource Substation project and to build membership base for a community project. Participants will then practice one-to-ones with each other and leave ready to have deeper, more meaningful connections with current and future members of your group.
Speakers: Leilani Mroczkowski and Gabriela Cartagena from GreenRoots

12:40pm LUNCH

Lunch Time Reset

Enjoy some art therapy with expressive arts therapist Ellis Weaver, or come stretch, sit, wrap up in a blanket, or roll around on the floor in our comfy pop up yoga & meditation space. Yoga mats, blankets, and cushions will be available for you to use as you like, and a trauma-informed yoga teacher will be on site to offer suggestions if desired. Yoga mats and props provided by Artemis Yoga in Watertown, MA.
Facilitator: Ellis Weaver, ekcounseling/LMHC

The People's Artifactory!

From T-shirts, flags, banners, posters, patches, books, and stickers, prints can offer inspiration, tell stories, temp rebellion, touch hearts, speak truth and incite action! Come by the People's Artifactory during lunch and create beautiful imagery to reproduce and rebel! Together We'll be exploring techniques, materials and applications of DIY printmaking and the role of art in social change. We'll dabble in stencil, and block printing to create posters and flags!
Facilitator: erok, Fresh Prints

MCAN LUNCH

This lunch serves as a space for chapter leaders to connect with other leaders working on similar climate issues, and to learn about local coalition building. We will also take this opportunity to introduce the MCAN board and staff, and share MCAN’s statewide campaigns and strategy.

2:00pm WORKSHOPS

Getting off gas

Envisioning a renewable future

EYES ON THE PRIZE- RUNNING SMART, FOCUSED CAMPAIGNS

Take pollution research into your own hands

Rather than waiting for researchers to study community problems, do it yourself! We're developing tools for communities to do their own research including community mapping and data analysis. We'll demonstrate and practice one data analysis tool that can be used in your local group for anything including assessing damage after a disaster, assessing algae blooms in local waterways, and more. Come ready to dive in and share feedback on how to improve this tool to make it more useful for your community research and advocacy work.
Speaker: Borna Fatehi, Northeastern University, Sara Wylie, Northeastern University

A Deeper Dive into tools, insights, and Practices to Transform Society and Halt Climate Destruction

This participatory workshop offers a more in-depth chance to share and build on our own experiences, successes and difficulties as activists and leaders engaged in the environmental and climate movements. It will provide a fuller exploration of concrete tools for building and sustaining close relationships across divisions, and stopping targeting populations to divert attention away from needed structural change. We will work to heal from the effects of racism, classism, sexism and the damage of economic exploitation on us and our relationships to free up our fresh thinking about creating a new society. This workshop will focus on creating closer connections with each other, building alliances and following and backing the leadership of frontline communities to advance the climate justice movement.
Speakers: Jeanine Cook, Jean Charles, Duey Kol, and Jess Liborio all from Sustaining All Life

Building and Sustaining Strategic Relationships

The climate solutions of the 21st century are coming from local community advocates and being blocked by 20th century political systems. Participating in this workshop you will learn skills on building a successful, sustaining relationship with the people that have the power to deliver change and how to influence them.
Speakers: Sylvia Broude, Toxics Action Center, and Lise Olney, Wellesley Select Board

Money for the Movement: Getting Started with Grassroots Fundraising

There is an abundance of ways to fundraise to make your grassroots organization’s dream project a reality. If you are working on setting up an educational or advocacy event, or are trying to implement a local climate solution and need funding, there are grants to be applied for, house parties to be thrown, letters to be written, and more! Come learn about fundraising midsets, how to make your project idea into a sought after story from donors, and how to make the most out of a grant application.
Speakers: Megan Stokes, Toxics Action Center, Puja Vohra, MCAN Board Member, and Leigh Munier, Climate Coalition of Somerville

Turning Science into Fake News: How Corporations use the "Disinformation Playbook" to counterfeit science, harass scientists, manufacture uncertainty, buy credibility, and manipulate the process

Science helps keep us safe and healthy. The public safeguards that keep our drinking water clean and our children's toys safe rely on independent science and a transparent policymaking process. And we all rely on scientific information to make informed choices about everything from what we eat to what consumer products we buy for our families. But the results of independent science don’t always shine a favorable light on corporate products and practices. In response, some corporations manipulate science and scientists to distort the truth about the dangers of their products, using a set of tactics made famous decades ago by the tobacco industry. Learn about how the chemical manufacturing industry, the oil and gas lobby, the waste industry and more are using these common corporate plays in your town and how you can employ an even stronger science-backed playbook to fight back.
Speaker: Genna Reed, Union of Concerned Scientists
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CLIMATE RESILIENCY AND IMMIGRATION JUSTICE

Join us to envision how to build resilient communities in the face of climate change, and to explore the intersections of immigration and climate chaos. We will combat the urgency to act as fast as possible, and explore what it means to make a just transition toward resilience founded in deep connection and community that leaves no one behind.
Speakers: Maria Elena Letona, Neighbor to Neighbor Massachusetts, and Jose A Palma, Comite TPS (Temporary Protected Status) Massachusetts

3:30pm KEYNOTE & AWARDS

Darlene Lombos

Darlene Lombos is Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the Greater Boston Labor Council (GBLC) and the first woman and person of color to be elected in this top leadership position. The GBLC represents over 100,000 union members and their families within 24 cities and towns in the region, and has as its primary mission to build power for workers and progressive allies to advance our movement for social, economic and racial justice.

Darlene is the former Executive Director of Community Labor United (CLU), a partnership of unions and community organizations that has successfully moved strategic campaigns to protect and promote the interests of working class families and communities of color in Greater Boston. In 2008, CLU formed the Green Justice Coalition (GJC) in order to build a broader base of support for a sustainable, equitable, and clean energy economy in Massachusetts.

Darlene has been organizing around various community issues since 1996, including police accountability and home daycare justice at Direct Action for Rights and Equality in Providence, RI as well as transportation equity, gentrification and displacement, and education reform at Sisters in Action for Power in Portland, OR. She brings nearly 20 years' experience in community and youth organizing, leadership development and coalition-building to this work.

Elena Letona

Elena was born in El Salvador. She attended Oberlin College-Conservatory where she earned a Bachelor’s degree in piano performance and music history, and the University of Massachusetts Boston where she earned a Ph.D. in public policy.

Elena has 30 years of experience working and serving the nonprofit sector as volunteer, organizer, activist, teacher, director, and consultant.

Between 1999 and 2008, Elena directed Centro Presente, an immigrant rights organization in the Greater Boston area. During her tenure, she led a change process that transformed Centro Presente into a member driven organization. In 2005, Elena’s work was recognized when she was selected to be part of the Barr Foundation’s inaugural class of Fellows.

Currently, Elena directs Neighbor to Neighbor Massachusetts, a membership organization of working-class, low-income, people of color and immigrants dedicated to building power to achieve racial, economic and environmental justice.

4:30pm CELEBRATION

Stay tuned for registration

Agenda

We Can't wait to see you there!