Category: Uncategorized

Jerome Foster II is a 17-year-old African-American author, Harvard graduate law school dual-enrollment student, MIT climate science dual-enrollment student, climate change activist, high school senior, and virtual reality/augmented reality business owner. Jerome strikes in front of the White House and coordinated and led the climate march from the White House to the Supreme Court as apart of the Climate Strikes Movement, he is the Founder and Executive Director of OneMillionOfUs which is mobilizing a new generation to young people to register and turnout to vote in the 2020 Presidential Election.

Jerome is also a Smithsonian Ambassador, a World Bank SustainUS Delegate, a National Geographic Icelandic Explorer, a Certified Climate Reality Leader, and interned for Congressman John Lewis at the House of Representatives. He is also the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of The Climate Reporter which is a youth-led climate change journalism organization which has writers out of 8 countries. Jerome has won the World Series of Entrepreneurship and has been featured in TIME Magazine, ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, Teen Vogue, Telemundo, ELLE, Axios, VICELAND, and many others. Also, he has written op-eds on Yes! Magazine, E & E News, and UNICEF and has spoken on a panel at the United Nations High Commission on Human Rights facilitated by CIVICUS.

Akiima Price is an award-winning creative thinker and doer who links people, places, and programs with stressed, underserved communities. A Washington, DC native, Akiima is a nationally-respected thought leader at the intersection of social and environmental issues and the relationship between nature and community well-being.

Her innovative programming strategies feature nature as a powerful medium to connect
stressed youth, adults, and families in meaningful, positive experiences that affect the way they feel about themselves, their communities, and their parks. From her early career experiences as a National Park Service Interpretation Ranger at Lake Mead National Recreation Area in Boulder City, Nevada to work her national work with environmental and social service organizations, Akiima has cultivated over 20 years of experience into cutting-edge best practices in trauma-informed environmentalism.

Currently, Akiima is working with the National Park Foundation and the National Park Service to build a friends group for Anacostia Park which includes River Terrace Park, Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens, and the Frederick Douglass Historic Home. This group will ultimately use Anacostia Park to engage Ward 7 and 8 families in activities that support mental health, physical health, and social well-being while using community assets to help support park challenges.

In her almost 27 years of work, she has consistently, unapologetically devoted herself to supporting stressed African American youth and families.

Dennis Chestnut is a native Washingtonian, and is a lifetime resident of
Ward 7. Dennis is a master carpenter and vocational educator by profession,
but his dedication to youth development, community improvement and civic
duty has led to his involvement with many civic and conservation projects,
and enriching experiences. He is also a lover of the outdoors, has a passion
for conservation and the environment, and has advised many community,
business and government leaders on civic ecology and civic engagement
issues.

Growing up in the far-northeast section of Washington, DC, Dennis became
connected to the many green spaces, parks, streams, and the Anacostia
River, where he learned to swim as a child. Dennis is the carpentry
internship instructor at the Academy of Construction and Design at IDEA
Public Charter High School, and retired founding executive director of
Groundwork Anacostia River DC. Among the many programs and projects
developed by Groundwork, managing the bandalong litter traps and
removing tons of trash and debris from the Anacostia River became one of
Groundwork’s signature programs. Dennis is a board member of the East of
the River Steel Band, the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, and is a Senior
Fellow of the Chesapeake Region Environmental Leadership Program.
Dennis is an appointee to Mayor Muriel Bowser’s Leadership Council for a
Cleaner Anacostia River and the Urban Forestry Advisory Council. Dennis
is a member of the United for a Healthy Anacostia River Coalition, the

National Capitol Region Anacostia Watershed Stewards Academy, and the
Anacostia Watershed Community Advisory Committee. Dennis has
received numerous awards including the Greater Washington Interfaith
Partnership Vision Award, the Lankford/Giles/Vaughn Minority Architect
Award for Community Activism, the DC Appleseed Sustainable Living and
Leading Award, and most recently the 2019 River Network River Hero.
Dennis has also appeared in numerous publications and video documentaries
that highlight his work on restoring the health of the Anacostia River,
improving the East of the River communities, and developing high quality
youth programs.

Ward 7 and areas east of the Anacostia River have been described as the
“Greenest” Ward and section of Washington, D.C. outside of the National
Mall, but also is where some of the most environmentally challenging
conditions in the city exist. This is the reason why Dennis has committed
himself to restoring the health of the Anacostia River, improving the natural
resources located in this community and throughout Washington, D.C., and
connecting the residents, schools, businesses, civic and community
organizations to the many outdoor resources and natural environment
through tangible on-the-ground projects that Change Places and Change Lives.

Ms. Jacqueline Goodall is the President of Maryland Black Mayors, Inc. and a Trustee member of the  African  American  Mayors Association. She was previously the Mayor of Forest Heights, MD which has achieved the status of “Green Municipality”, and she has been at the forefront of advocacy and implementation of numerous sustainable practices. Ms. Goodall was the  2011 recipient of the Chesapeake Bay Trust’s Ellen Fraites Wagner Steward of the Year Award. She is currently a Board Member for the Forest Heights/Oxon Hill Community Development Corp.

Mayor Rocio Treminio-Lopez is the first Latina mayor ever elected in the state of Maryland. Originally from El Salvador, she came to the United States when she was fourteen.

She currently resides in the Town of Brentwood, Maryland with her husband and four children.

Charles C. Glass, Ph.D., P.E. was appointed Deputy Secretary at the Maryland Department of Natural Resources in December, 2019 after serving as Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy Analysis and Planning and Director of Bicycle and Pedestrian Access at the Maryland Department of Transportation.

Dr. Glass’ credentials include serving as a research and engineering professional for more than 20 years in academia and the consulting engineering industries. Throughout his distinguished career, Dr. Glass has held important positions as a teacher, researcher, and consulting professional in Civil and Environmental Engineering. He has sustained two successful long-term funding relationships involving the District Department of Transportation in Washington D.C. and the National Science Foundation. He has published numerous peer-reviewed journal articles, participated in a variety of widely-attended conference proceedings, and is recognized nationally as an expert in stormwater management, green infrastructure and wastewater treatment.

Dr. Glass came to the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) from Howard University, where he served on the faculty for seventeen years. For eight months in 2010, he spent time as an Environmental Engineer at the United States Environmental Protection Agency as the lead on a potential new regulation for the mitigation of sanitary sewer overflows.

He graduated from Montgomery Blair High School in 1989 and completed his undergraduate degree requirements in Civil Engineering in 1992 at The Johns Hopkins University. He completed his Master of Science and Ph.D. degrees at the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1994 and 1997, respectively.

In 2017, Dr. Glass became a member of the 25 th class of Leadership Maryland, a professional
development program dedicated to building a better Maryland by harnessing the strength of its local business and community leaders.

Dr. Glass is an avid golfer, mystery reader, and soccer coach. He is happily married to attorney Heather Morris-Glass and enjoys his time with their two boys, Caden and Michael.

Xavier Brown is a native of Washington, DC and a graduate of North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. He operates at the boundaries of urban agriculture, environmental sustainability, and African Diasporic culture. His work intertwines  sustainability with the issues that impact stressed communities from gun violence to mass incarceration.

Xavier is a Robert Wood Johnson Culture of Health Leader, funder of Soilful, co-founder of SouthEats Cooperative, and member of Black Dirt Farm Collective.

By studying the practices of indigenous people and going back to ancestral knowledge, Xavier is creating a new  sustainability movement that  is  healing the people and the land by reconnecting our sacred relationship to the earth.

A renowned thought leader, international speaker, policy maker, community liaison, trainer, and facilitator, Dr. Mustafa Santiago Ali serves as the Vice President of Environmental Justice, Climate, and Community Revitalization for the National Wildlife Federation. He is also the founder of Revitalization Strategies, a business focused on moving our most vulnerable communities from “surviving to thriving.”

Before joining the National Wildlife Federation, Mustafa was the senior vice president for the Hip Hop Caucus, a national non-profit and non-partisan organization that connects the hip-hop community to the civic process to build power and create positive change. In his role, he led the strategic direction, expansion, and operation of the Hip Hop Caucus’ portfolio on climate, environmental justice, and community revitalization.

Prior to joining the Hip Hop Caucus, Mustafa worked for 24 years at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). He began working on social justice issues at the age of 16 and joined the EPA as a student, becoming a founding member of the EPA’s Office of Environmental Justice (OEJ). He most recently served as senior advisor for environmental justice and community revitalization and assistant associate administrator, working to elevate environmental justice issues and strengthening environmental justice policies, programs, and initiatives. Mustafa worked for EPA administrators beginning with William Riley and ending with Scott Pruitt.

Mustafa uses a holistic approach to revitalizing vulnerable communities, and has worked with more than 500 domestic and international communities to secure environmental, health, and economic justice. Throughout his career, Mustafa has conducted more than 1,000 presentations across the country, including speeches, training, and guest lectures at over 100 colleges and universities. He is a former instructor at West Virginia University and Stanford University.

Mustafa currently serves as a board member for Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Union of Concerned Scientists, Rodenberry Foundation, TREE, and Climate Hawks Vote. He is frequently seen on television, including appearances on MSNBC, CNN, VICE, BET, Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, and Democracy NOW! Mustafa is also a regular guest on WURD radio, Roland Martin Unfiltered, The Dean Obeidallah Show, and many others, and is the former co-host of the live radio show and podcast Think 100%: The Coolest Show on Climate Change with Grammy-nominated singer and actress Antonique Smith and civil rights icon Rev Lennox Yearwood.

Tamara Toles O'Laughlin is an environmentalist focused on equity, access and community. She develops capacity building programs and creates multimedia campaigns to dismantle privilege and increase opportunities for vulnerable populations to access healthy air, clean energy, and a toxic free economy at the local, regional, and national level.

Tamara is the North America Director at 350.org where she supports and is accountable to organizers and campaigners on the United States and Canada teams. As the leader of 350’s programming in North America she drives mission critical work and organizational investments to build a multiracial, multi-generational climate movement that is capable of holding our leaders accountable to science and justice.

Prior to joining 350.org, Tamara was the leader of the Maryland Environmental Health Network (MdEHN), based in Baltimore, Maryland. As its executive director she promoted the elimination of environmental threats to human health, and facilitated the development of coalitions led by impacted community members, and supported by health practitioners and environmental advocates.

Paulette Greene is an educator,  agri-herbalist, and community activist.  She and her partner, Donna, own and manage Mt. Pleasant Acres Farms, (MPAF) located in the Poplar Neck region of Caroline County.   MPAF is a key component of the historic Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad where Harriet led her parents,  brothers, and others out of slavery.

Paulette and her partner have created Mt. Pleasant Heritage Preservation, Inc., a non-profit “heritage foundation”  to preserve, promote, and support the farm and surrounding land as a leading site of  pre-Civil War life in Maryland --  to educate youth and local citizens in the historical and social context of “free Black”  life in the area.   In addition, they grow organic produce and grain crops.

Ms. Greene is also a board member/member of Stories of the Chesapeake Heritage Area, Eastern Shore Land Conservancy, Envision The Choptank,,  Jonestown Community Development Corp., Mt. Pleasant Heritage Preservation, Inc., The American Legion, Blake-Blackston Auxiliary Unit #77, Easton, MD, and former Board President of People for Better Housing, Inc. in Federalsburg, MD , and Board Member of the Maryland  Environmental Trust.

Paulette was a key leader and visionary in the expansion of Mt. Calvary UMC in Preston, MD where she served as a Trustee and Building Committee, Chair.

She lived and taught in N.Y. City,   Alabama, Maryland, and Japan where her partner was stationed with the U.S. Army.