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2020 Taking Nature Black Agenda
6:30 a.m. - 8:00 a.m.
Sunrise Meditation and Walk in the Woods at Woodend Sanctuary
8:30 a.m. - 8:50 a.m.
Welcome - Drummer and Song Opening
8:55 a.m. - 9:55 a.m.
Climate Change: Politics, Policies, and Promising Solutions
African American communities face some of the most damaging and lasting effects of climate change. This panel includes some of the brightest minds in the United States working on climate action. Learn about and get motivated by what African American professionals and activists are doing to promote sustainability locally and nationally and how they are working as, and with, communities of color to promote equity and sustainability locally and nationally. These environmental warriors will share how they are working to overcome long-standing obstacles including racial, environmental and economic injustice. Find out they are building coalitions, challenging policy makers, and developing grassroots strategies to build support and momentum for environmental reform.
PANELISTS/PRESENTERS
Dr. Mustafa Santiago Ali
Vice President of Environmental Justice,
Climate, and Community Revitalization
National Wildlife Federation
Brandi Colander
Principal
The Raben Group
Dr. Charles Glass
Deputy Secretary
Maryland Department of Resources
Dawone Robinson
Eastern Regional Director for Energy Affordability
Natural Resources Defense Council
BeKura Shabazz Branch
Founder & President
First Alliance Consulting Group, LLC
Tamara Toles O'Laughlin
North American Director
350.org
10:00 a.m. - 10:50 a.m.
Green Careers Carving the Path to Environmental Justice and Economic Sustainability
African Americans have been leaders and innovators in the environmental space ever since we stepped on these shores. That legacy continues. This panel will explore what African Americans are doing on the cutting edge of environmental careers – in renewable energy, climate change mitigation, urban forestry, farming and landscape design - and how we are carving pathways to environmental justice and economic sustainability.
PANELISTS/PRESENTERS
Sarah Anderson
Senior Manager of Tree Equity
American Forests
Larry Glover
Senior Partner
Breakthrough Marketing Technology
Symone Johnson
Education Program Manager
National Aquarium
Akiima Price
EDUCATOR/CONSULTANT
Akiima Price Consulting
Ronnie Webb
President & Founder
The Green Scheme
10:50 a.m. - 11:15 a.m.
Break
11:15 a.m. - 11:35 a.m.
Presentation of 2020 Taking Nature Black Environmental Champions Awards
11:40 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Environmental Joy: Playing and Progressing and Pioneering in the Great Outdoors
It has been said that life is an adventure, or nothing. This panel features the adventures of hikers, bikers, gardeners, farmers, and international agriculturalists who will share some of the compelling ways that African Americans are playing, progressing, and pioneering in the great outdoors.
PANELISTS/PRESENTERS
David Girton
Fitness Expert & Coach
LiveNow Fitness
Violet King
Farm Manager, Educator & Herbalist
Dreaming Out Loud, Inc.
Esther Mitchell
Master Gardener Coordinator
University of Maryland Extension
Cedric Nwafor and Mandela Jones
Co-Founders
ROOTS Africa
Falecia Stuckey
Executive Board Member
Velo City Cycle Club
12:30 p.m. - 1:15 p.m.
Lunch
1:15 p.m. - 1:45 p.m.
Word to Our Mother: Music and Poetry by African-Americans about the Love and Legacy of Nature
1:55 p.m. - 2:40 p.m.
Greening Black and Brown Communities Now
Greening cities and local communities can be expensive. Small urban and rural Black communities often face the greatest challenges, including the often lopsided competition for tax revenues, grants, cost shares, and how to maintain robust economies within their boundaries. In the face of sometimes seemingly insurmountable obstacles, these panelists will share the tools, strategies, and innovations they use to turn Black communities green.
PANELISTS/PRESENTERS
Robert Carpenter
Park Steward
Ward 8 Woods Conservancy
James D. Crudup, Sr.
Mayor
Town of Eagle Harbor, MD
David Harrington
President & CEO
Prince George’s County Chamber of Commerce
Jacqueline Goodall
President
Maryland Black Mayors, Inc.
Rocio Treminio-Lopez
Mayor
Town of Brentwood, MD
2:45 p.m. - 3:35 p.m.
Youth in Action: Recreation, Education, and Revolution for a More Sustainable Planet
Young people are on the front lines of environmentalism in ways it appears we haven’t seen since the beginning of Earth Day, 50 years ago this year. In the DC metro area, young people and youth program leaders are fighting, framing, and forging new realities for a sustainable planet. Prepare to be inspired as these panelists share how they're doing it.
PANELISTS/PRESENTERS
Bennetta Adeeb
President & Founder
STEAM ONWARD, INC.
Brodrick Clarke
Youth Development Facilitator
brodrickclarke.com
Kameron Feggins
Student
Morgan State University
Jerome Foster, II
Founder
One Million of Us
3:35 p.m. - 4:05 p.m.
Break
4:10 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Super Natural: Building tenure, wealth, and equity on land owned by African Americans
This panel features the expertise of farmers and landowners who are precious, rare, and enterprising; women who are farming on Harriet Tubman Ancestral lands, an 11th generation family farmer, and a new urban farmer driven by love and dedication to community. Facing situations that constantly challenge their ingenuity, creativity, and financial resources, these landowners will share the strategies, innovations, and collaborations they use to build up tenure, wealth, and equity on land owned by African Americans.
PANELISTS/PRESENTERS
Xavier Brown
Founder
Soilful City
Co-Founder
SouthEats
Michael Carter, Jr.
Farmer
Carter Farms
Donna Dear and Paulette Greene
Farmers
Harriet Tubman Ancestral Lands
Fred Tutman
Riverkeeper & CEO
Patuxent Riverkeeper