The Imperative of Climate Action Now! Understanding Climate Impacts and Taking Personal Responsibility
2 HSW Available
The annual AIAO COTE Green Champion Summit brings to you sustainability leaders from around the region and country. This year we gather to discuss the imperative for action now because it is increasingly clear that we are all impacted by climate change, though the impacts vary across communities. We know that those who are most vulnerable are people of color and low income people.
Our keynote speaker, Hop Hopkins, of the Sierra Club, will discuss the realities of disposable land within our culture and how this results in the idea of disposable people – a timely topic given we will gather on Indigenous Peoples Day. Vivek Shandas will share research on how Oregon's recent heat wave disproportionately impacted BIPOC communities.
We will then shift the conversation to consider our collective responsibility as professionals in the design and building community to take action. Naomi Cole will share her family's journey in climate responsibility and decarbonization, and Karina Hershberg will explain how these actions have a cumulative and measurable impact. We will brainstorm additional opportunities to address climate change and commit to individual actions to minimize our personal impacts and help prevent undue burden on vulnerable communities.
Agenda: 5-7pm
5 - 5:10/15 Welcome, Introductions
5:10 - Keynote Speaker – Hop Hopkins, Climate Justice Fellow - Sierra Club
Topic: How the idea of disposable land leads to the idea of disposable people
5:25 - Professor Vivek Shandas – Portland State University
Topic: The effect of the recent heat wave on Portland’s populations of color
5:50 – Naomi Cole, Sustainability Consultant and Karina Hershberg, Electrical Engineer at PAE
Topic: Our collective responsibility as professionals and individuals to take action
6:20 – Hop Hopkins wrap up
6:35 – 6:45 activity – Participants will be asked what each will do, as an individual, within the next year, to take part in mitigating and reversing climate change and/or adapting to it, to help all communities and the effects of climate change. Questions to be asked:
How this effects you personally
How this effects others
What I am going to do about it
6.45 – 7.00 Questions and Answers for our speakers
Keynote Speaker:
Hop Hopkins, Climate Justice Fellow - Sierra Club
Professionally, Hop Hopkins serves as the Director of Organizational Transformation at the Sierra Club, where he supports all organizational strategic priority areas to design, advance and support development and change efforts. This includes theoretical interventions related to developing an organizational vision, theory of change and intersectional equity, justice and inclusion. He has been a Grassroots Environmental Justice Community Organizer in Seattle, WA, Portland, OR and Los Angeles, CA.
Born in Dallas, Texas, he received his BA from New College of California as a graduate in the Culture Ecology & Sustainable Communities program with a focus on natural building. In May of 2016, he was awarded a certificate of completion for the Leadership, Organizing and Action Program in Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Executive Education.
He is currently earning his Master’s Degree in Urban Sustainability at Antioch University, Los Angeles, where is a Climate Justice Fellow.
Hop presently sits on the Los Angeles Food Policy Council’s Leadership Board. In the past, he has served on the boards of the Community Coalition for Environmental Justice, Western States Center and People’s College of Law. Hop was also a certified Arborist, a Master Gardener and has earned a Permaculture Design Certificate. Alongside his wife of eighteen years, he co-founded Panther Ridge Farm located just outside of Los Angeles. Collectively they homeschool their daughters and steward a quarter of an acre of land inhabited by their pet Australian shepherds, chickens, honey bees, fruit trees and multiple compost piles.
Vivek Shandas, Professor of Climate Adaptation and Director of the Sustaining Urban Places Research Lab (SUPR Lab) at Portland State University
Trained as an interdisciplinary scholar, Professor Shandas examines the assumptions that guide decisions about the built environment and uses spatial analytical tools and policy evaluations as a means for identifying socially inequitable outcomes in the era of climate destabilization. He has published over 100 publications, three books, and serves as a consultant and technical advisor to public, private, and non-profit organizations. His research and projects has been featured in the NYTimes, National Geographic, Scientific American, Times of India, Le Monde, Volkskrant, CNN and other international and national media. During his spare time Professor Shandas serves as Chair of the City of Portland's Urban Forestry Commission, and revels in the mountains and waters of the Pacific Northwest.
Karina Hershberg, Electrical Engineer, PAE
Passionate about sustainable development, Karina has nearly 15 years of experience in electrical engineering. She brings a unique perspective to her dual roles in analysis and engineering at PAE. Through data-driven analytics and innovative electrical design, Karina helps projects implement regenerative and resilient solutions. She leads the development of microgrid design, emissions analysis, and campus-scale solutions for the firm. Karina was a key contributor on many major sustainability-focused projects such as the Rocky Mountain Institute Innovation Center, Georgia Tech Kendeda Living Building, CalSTRS Headquarters Expansion, Beaverton Public Safety Center, and PAE Portland Living Building.
Naomi Cole, Sustainability Consultant, Konstrukt
Naomi is passionate about finding climate-focused, community-based solutions for the built environment. Through her firm, Konstrukt, she provides consulting services for mission driven organizations working on climate change and urban development. Previously, she launched a neighborhood-based sustainability initiative with global reach at EcoDistricts; delivered commercial energy efficiency programs at PECI/CLEAResult; and helped lead sustainable design at ZGF Architects. Naomi’s family lives in an all electric, net zero energy home, drives an electric car, and relentlessly seeks to decarbonize their lives.
Thank you to our Generous Sponsors:
