Global Environmental Justice Conference 2023

Sessions

Conference Tracks

Welcome and Opening Statements

Presenters

Co-Chair, Poor People’s Campaign, Founding Director, Center for Public Theology and Public Policy
Yale Divinity School
Carl W. Knobloch, Jr. Dean
Yale School of the Environment
Professor of Economics and Mathematical Statistics, Columbia University
Co-Founder, Global Thermostat
Agency Youth Coordinator
USAID

Plenary Panel: What is Environmental Joy? A Multi-disciplinary Perspective

Moderated by  Gerald Torres
Professor of Environmental Justice, Yale School of the Environment

Panelists

Associate Research Scientist, Yale School of the Environment
Assistant Professor of Environmental Planning and Policy
University of California, Irvine
Director of Brand Strategy, For La Diáspora Studio
For La Diáspora
Singer, Composer, Musician, Curator, Producer

The “Happiness Lab” Live Podcast with Dr. Laurie Santos and Musical Guest Toshi Reagon and BIGLovely with with Matt Graff, Mishti, Ann Klein, and Carla Duren in Concert!

Moderated by Laurie Santos
Chandrika and Ranjan Tandon Professor of Psychology, Yale University

Panelists

Co-Director, Asian Pacific Environmental Network (APEN)
Asian Pacific Environmental Network
Professor of Psychology
University of British Columbia
Senior Water Advisor- Team Lead
USAID

Musical Guest Toshi Reagon and BIGLovely with with Matt Graff, Mishti, Ann Klein, and Carla Duren in Concert!

Singer, Composer, Musician, Curator, Producer

Saturday Opening Plenary Session

Presenters

White House/US Dept. of Transportation, Incorporating Indigenous Knowledge in Federal Regulations
US Department of Transportation
Indigenous Musician, Scholar, Community Organizer

Saturday Closing Plenary Session - Joint Report Back from Track Leads

Presenters

Activist, Organizer, Speaker, Author
Assistant Professor of Environmental Policy and Urban Planning
University of California, Irvine

Policy Track: The Joy in Just Policy- Making: Fossil Fuel Organizing in California, the Southeast US and the Caribbean

Track Leads Michael Méndez
Assistant Professor of Environmental Planning and Policy, University of California, Irvine

and Nailli Cobo
Environmental Justice Activist and Storyteller

Panelists

Tom and Andi Bernstein Fellow
Yale Law School Goldman Prize Winner - 2019 Africa
Co-Director, Asian Pacific Environmental Network (APEN)
Asian Pacific Environmental Network
Founder and CEO
Globus Energy Group

Economics Track: When the Well Runs Dry: Economics, Finance, and Joy in Water and Mutual Aid

Track Lead Nidhi Menon
Accelerator Program Manager, Imagine H2O

Panelists

Founder and Executive Director
The People’s Justice Council and Alabama Interfaith Power and Light
Associate Professor/Director of the DSU Water Quality Lab
Delaware State University
Senior Project Management Specialist
USAID

Governance Track: Grounded Joy: Sovereignty, Land Tenure, Carbon, and the Sacred

Track Lead Aja DeCoteau
Executive Director, Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission

Panelists

Executive Director
Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission
Distinguished Practitioner in Residence
Yale Center for Environmental Justice
Policy Advisor
Natural Resources Women Platform
Deputy Director, Programs, Namati Sierra Leone

Evaluation Track: Migration, Displacement and Joy: Evaluation for What Really Matters

Track Lead Tabitha Sookdeo
Director of Community Engagement, Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services

Panelists

Assistant Professor of Law
Pace University
Director of the Land Tenure and Property Rights Sector
Tetra Tech
Director of Brand Strategy and Partner
For La Diáspora

Geography Track: Climate, Culture, Place, and Joy in the Caribbean

Track Lead Clinton White
Counselor, USAID

Panelists

Principal
Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology
Executive Director
Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency

Careers in Environmental Justice

Moderated by Kevin Doyle Executive
Executive Director, Office of Career and Professional Development, Yale School of the Environment

Presenters

Environment Division Chief
USAID Jamaica
Director of the Land Tenure and Property Rights Sector
Tetra Tech
Deputy Director, Programmes
Namati Sierra Leone

People and Partners

Yale Center for Environmental Justice
Yale School of the Environment
Kroon Hall
195 Prospect Street
New Haven, CT 06511

Email: ycej@yale.edu