For those who joined us at the February, June, and/or October milestone of the Climate Action Pursuit, you can find links to our DEIJ and climate justice-focused sessions below by clicking on “Video from Sched” under each session title.* For more information on how to register for the final milestone in December, click here.
*You must be registered for the Climate Action Pursuit in order to view videos from Sched
The Climate Action Pursuit is co-hosted by Second Nature & the Intentional Endowments Network (IEN):
February 2021 Milestone
Pursue Racial Justice – Higher Education and Racial Equity
Description: Throughout American history, higher education has played a role in creating and reinforcing structural racism. Climate change disproportionately impacts communities of color, and is the result of the same unsustainable, extractive system that marginalizes and disempowers these communities. As institutions seek to shift their role to become actively anti-racist, how can we align climate action and all other institutional priorities with efforts to dismantle structural racism and lift up BIPOC communities? How can we ensure that climate solutions are led by and benefit these communities, and do not reinforce patterns of exploitation? What is the role of endowments in this work — and what are the risks they face by not investing in racial equity? Leading thinker, author and entrepreneur, Nathalie Molina Niño explores these questions with Valerie Red-Horse Mohl, CFO of the East Bay Community Foundation and Chair of Stanford’s Center for Comparative Studies on Race and Ethnicity.
Speakers: Nathalie Molina Niño and Valerie Red-Horse Mohl
Racial Equity Investing 101 – No Justice, No Peace Without Prison Free Portfolios
Description: Because of the racist history of incarceration in the U.S., racial justice, and racial equity investing, are impossible without dismantling the prison industrial complex, one that systematically targets thousands of primarily poor Black and Indigenous communities for disenfranchisement while making billions for corporations and shareholders every year. Doing so will require going beyond private prisons, which hold less than 8% of all incarcerated people in the country. This session will offer an opportunity to learn some of that history and what it means for environmental justice and investors. You will hear directly from a lawyer and activist formerly with the Mecklenburg County Public Defenders’ office, with first-hand experience inside the penal system due to the protests last summer, and learn how to begin taking action from pioneers in racial equity and prison free investing.
Speakers: Jochebed Bogunjoko, Renee Morgan, Habekah Cannon, Ivy Jack, and Patience Marime Ball
Equity in Practice – Integrating DEI&I from Firm to Portfolio
Description: In this workshop, we discussed how to integrate diversity, equity, and inclusion practices throughout your organization – from organizational policies/procedures/culture straight through to business practices. Leaders from Global Endowment Management talked about the evolution of DE&I at their firm, and we brainstormed as a group how to advance DE&I in our work.
Speakers: Pedro da Silva, Torrey Feimster, and Caroline Dallas
Pursuing Climate Justice Through Climate Action – Perspectives across North American Universities
Description: This session was an opportunity for board members, executives, faculty, staff and students to learn how climate justice is being incorporated into teaching, research and strategic planning at three North American universities. This was an introductory session for participants working to transform a commitment to climate justice into action and set the stage for a series where participants will develop a community of learning and be supported in implementing initiatives at their institutions.
Speakers: YeVonne Allen, Tracey Osborne, Grace Wang, and Walter Mérida
Keynote Conversation – NAACP & Climate Justice
Description: Climate change has a disproportionate impact on communities of color and low income communities in the United States and around the world. The NAACP Environmental and Climate Justice Program supports community leadership in addressing this human and civil rights issue. This session provided an overview of the NAACP’s climate justice work and how it intersects with issues of health, food, and community resilience. Speakers explored ways the higher education community can enhance its climate justice leadership in terms of campus culture, community engagement, education, and endowment investing.
Speakers: Marvin Owens and Jacqueline Patterson
Racial Equity Investing – Creating Your Own Best Practices
Description: For investors looking to truly address the economic effects brought on by social inequities, progress towards racial equity must be a key consideration in the investment approach. In this session, we heard from an asset allocator, investment consultant, and asset manager who have made considerable strides in racial equity investing, spanning from enhancing diversity within their own institutions, investing with diverse founders, allocating to funds or businesses that focus on improving socio-economic outcomes for people of color, or engaging with companies on issues that relate to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
The panelists walked participants through their own journeys providing concrete examples of what racial equity investing looks like, best practices that they have learned in their journey, and hurdles they had to overcome. Break out groups discussed pain points and workshop your own racial diversity and equity plans.
Speakers: Justin Wilson, Rachel Robasciotti, Gerry Watson, and Tamara Larsen
June 2021 Milestone
Browning the Green Space – Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) in Practice
Description: This featured workshop provided participants with an overview of the primary role that justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion play in advancing climate action within higher education. In this session, we explored systems-based approaches to promoting JEDI objectives in pursuing energy efficiency, renewable energy, sustainable resource management, and more by examining how these approaches intersect with several key pillars – careers & companies, capital & contracts, and communities.
Speakers: Kerry Bowie, Amanda Downey, Julianne Zimmerman, Jacquie Ashmore, Dan Goldman, Spencer Irvine, Jeremy McDiarmid, and Madeline Wang
Just and Equitable Climate Action Planning
Description: This workshop focused on the ways that college/universities can develop more just and equitable climate action plans, drawing on the experiences of several higher education institutions and other cross-sector partners.
Speakers: Stephania Fregosi, Aurora Winslade, Janika McFeely, Lee Ball, YeVonne Allen, and Marybelle Tobias
October 2021 Milestone
Climate, Health, and Justice – Intersectionality in the Built Environment
Description: Keynote session.
Speakers: Mark Chambers and Rachel Hodgdon
Developing the City of Oakland’s Equitable Climate Action Plan (ECAP)
Description: This workshop will walk participants through key steps and strategies used in the development of the City of Oakland’s 2030 Equitable Climate Action Plan (ECAP).
Speakers: Marybelle Tobias and Colin Miller
Moving Our Money for Climate Justice
Description: This session featured lightning round presentations on what you can do to move personal and institutional assets for climate justice. The speakers shared ways in which we can engage companies to direct them towards more sustainable practices and why these actions are essential for university stakeholders to consider in their climate action plan.
Speakers: Andrew Behar, Ben Linthicum, Kwan-Yin Graw, and Michael Rhim
The Truth About the Roots of the Climate Crisis and the Path Forward
Description: This keynote panel conversation was led by Gopal Dayaneni brought key climate justice leaders together to reflect on how higher education has responded to the climate crisis and why these responses, and the crafting of solutions, need to be done in partnership with grassroots and frontline communities. The panelists illustrated that the problem and the solution lie beyond our focus on carbon emissions and are intertwined with our legacies of colonialism and environmental racism. The panel offered a people and justice centered framework to ground and inform solutions used to address climate change.
Speakers: Gopal Dayaneni, Angela Mooney D’Arcy, Hop Hopkins, and Kandi White
December 2021 Milestone
Lessons Learned in Justice, Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Centered Climate Resilience Planning
Description: An update on the University of California’s Justice, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion-Centered Campus Climate Resilience Planning project that launched in 2021. The Panel reflected on UC’s work over the past year, shared lessons learned, best practices, and answer questions.
Speakers: Janika McFeely, Nurit Katz, Marybelle Tobias, and Ryan Bell
The Climate Action Pursuit is co-hosted by Second Nature & the Intentional Endowments Network (IEN):
Return to Climate Justice Main Page
Header Photo Credit: Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash