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Jacqueline Patterson is the Director of the NAACP Environmental and Climate Justice Program. Since 2007 Patterson has served as coordinator & co-founder of Women of Color United. Jacqui Patterson has worked as a researcher, program manager, coordinator, advocate and activist working on women‘s rights, violence against women, HIV&AIDS, racial justice, economic justice, and environmental and climate justice. Patterson served as a Senior Women’s Rights Policy Analyst for ActionAid where she integrated a women’s rights lens for the issues of food rights, macroeconomics, and climate change as well as the intersection of violence against women and HIV&AIDS. Previously, she served as Assistant Vice-President of HIV/AIDS Programs for IMA World Health providing management and technical assistance to medical facilities and programs in 23 countries in Africa and the Caribbean. Patterson served as the Outreach Project Associate for the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, and Research Coordinator for Johns Hopkins University. She also served as a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer in Jamaica, West Indies.

We were not able to provide a recording for this event. Dr. Bullard, however, was kind enough to share his slide presentation with us as a PDF.

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Vicki Arroyo is the Executive Director of the Georgetown Climate Center based at Georgetown University Law Center, where she is also a Professor from Practice. Professor Arroyo serves as Special Advisor to the President of Georgetown University.

Professor Arroyo oversees the Georgetown Climate Center’s work at the nexus of climate and energy policy, supervising staff and
student work on climate mitigation and adaptation at the state and
federal level. She teaches “experiential” environmental law courses to both law and public policy students.

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Co-hosted with Goizueta Energy and Environmental Group (GEEG)

Denise Naguib is Vice President of Sustainability and Supplier Diversity at Marriott International

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Seminar: Our Journey to a Clean Energy Economy

James Marlow has extensive technology marketing, business development and policy experience. He has worked with Computerland, Lotus Development, IBM, and Yahoo!. He was the founder of two startups – Internet startup, AnythingSouthern.com, and CEO and Co-Founder of radiance Solar, he was a candidate for United States Congress in the 10th District of Georgia. He was part of 11 new business initiatives at Lotus Development and IBM. He is a graduate of Georgia Southern University and has completed the Georgia Tech Mid-Career Management Program. He has worked directly in the development, engineering, design, construction, and operations and maintenance of over 350 solar PV and energy storage projects at every scale. He served on the Board of Directors for the Georgia Solar Energy Industry Association, Georgia Chamber of Commerce Energy and Environment Committee and has been a founding Board Member and Vice Chairman of the Georgia Solar Energy Association.

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Seminar: Cool Climate Chat

As a Principal Consultant at Southface Institute, Mr. Jeff Foote works on BIT Building, a program designed for facility operators to guide them in the  implementation of performance improvements including energy efficiency; and EarthCraft, which provides training to builders, realtors and property managers that will enable the construction of properties that use 30% less energy. Mr. Foote has many years of experience working on different issues, including circular economy, clean-tech investments and corporate sustainability strategy, refrigeration and water stewardship. In addition to Southface Institute, Mr. Foote has also worked for 20 years at the Coca-Cola Company as well.

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Mr. Shan Arora is the Director of The Kendeda Building for Innovative Sustainable Design at the Georgia Institute of Technology. The Kendeda Building is a multi-disciplinary, non-departmental education building. It is pursuing the Living Building Challenge – the world’s most ambitious building performance standard. As the first regenerative building of its scale in the Southeastern United States, the building sets a new standard for design and construction in a region known for temperature extremes and humidity. The project’s goal is to transform the built environment in the Southeast by advancing innovation, and by showcasing synergies between environmental stewardship, social equity, and economic development. Mr. Arora is currently on the Board of Directors of Georgia Interfaith Power & Light, a nonprofit that engages communities of faith in stewardship of Creation as a religious response to climate change, resource depletion, environmental injustice, pollution, and other disruptions in Creation.

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Seminar: “In Pursuit of Equity, Efficiency, & Environmental Progress”

Ms. Mandy Mahoney serves as the president of the Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance. Prior to joining SEEA in 2011, Ms. Mahoney served as Director of Sustainability for the City of Atlanta under Mayors Reed and Franklin. Ms. Mahoney serves on the Advisory Board of the Turner Environmental Law Clinic at Emory University School of Law and on the Piedmont Park Conservancy Board of Directors.

She holds a master’s degree in environmental management from Duke University and earned a law degree and a bachelor’s degree in biology and environmental studies from Emory University. Selected to Georgia Trend’s 2016 “40 under 40” list and the Atlanta Business Chronicle’s 2014 “40 under 40” list, Ms. Mahoney is also a graduate of LEAD Atlanta 2010; the Institute for Georgia Environmental Leadership 2010; and the 2011 American Council of Germany’s Young Leaders Program. She and her husband Sean are the proud parents of Paul.

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Seminar: “Renewable Energy Access in Haiti”

Ms. Sandra Kwak is CEO and Founder of 10Power, a certified Benefit Corporation providing commercial-grade renewable energy internationally to communities that lack access to electricity. In Haiti, 10Power has developed and financed solar projects on water purification centers, health organizations and major international organizations. She is also a board member at the Foundation for Climate Restoration, working on solutions to bring the concentration of carbon in the atmosphere back down to 300 parts per million by 2050. Previously, Sandra worked with AutoGrid using big data from smart meters to save energy, scaling the company from prototype, through raising $14M, to a global brand. At Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) Utility Sandra helped implement the ClimateSmart program. She has a Sustainable MBA from Presidio Graduate School, has taught “Race, Activism and Climate Justice” at SFSU and guest lectures at CCA and Stanford. Ms. Kwak sees renewable energy as the key to providing clean water, gender empowerment and access to regenerative technology – a concept explored in her TEDx talk “Fourth World Nation Building”

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Seminar: “Documenting the multi-generational saga of the climate crisis”

From Mr. Sutter’s website: John D. Sutter is a National Geographic Explorer and CNN climate analyst. His writing, journalism and documentary work have won the prestigious Livingston Award, the IRE Award, the Edward R. Murrow Award, the Peabody Award and have received two EMMY nominations — one for new approaches to documentary film and the other for environmental reporting. At CNN, where Sutter was a senior investigative reporter, producer and columnist for a decade, he created and directed several award-winning projects, including “Two Degrees,” “Vanishing” and “Change the List.” He is a former Knight Visiting Nieman Fellow at Harvard University, a former summer fellow at UNIONDOCS and is a visiting instructor at The Poynter Institute for media studies. With support from the National Geographic Society and UNIONDOCS, he is directing “BASELINE,” a pioneering documentary series that aims to tell the story of the climate crisis beyond a lifetime.

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Seminar: “Urban Agriculture, Sustainable Development and Social Equity”

The Nuri Group continues Rashid Nuri’s 50-year career, rooted in building communities on the foundation of agriculture. Rashid’s experience in agriculture and organizational development has prepared him to share those skills with others who promote the vision of strong communities, with equitable access to the tools for prosperity. He is a pioneer in the U.S. New Food Movement, helping to build communities that have become more self-sufficient through natural urban agriculture.

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Seminar: “The built environment of the future will incorporate renewable power on every structure that can support it. Here’s to the builders.”

Michael Chanin is the founder and CEO of Cherry Street Energy, the largest non-utility renewable energy provider in Georgia. Michael founded the business informed by his background in structured financial products and growth oriented businesses. He started his career in Goldman Sachs’ Special Situations Group, ran finance and operations for a San Francisco-based technology company, and has invested in renewable energy markets since 2013. He is a graduate of the University of Cambridge, where he received a MPhil in development studies, and Northwestern University, where he received a BA in American studies and history.

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Seminar: “Exploring Soil-Climate-Health-Policy Nexus through Sustainability Lens”

Debjani Sihi is a Post-Doctoral Research Associate at the Environmental Sciences Division and the Climate Change Science Institute. She is interested in evaluating the dynamics of soil organic matter decomposition and greenhouse gas emission along aerobic to anaerobic gradients in systems ranging from the tropics and subtropics (El Yunque National Forest in Puerto Rico, Florida Everglades) to temperate and boreal transition forests (Howland Forest and Harvard Forest in NE USA). 

Her current research at ORNL aims to develop a genome-informed geochemical model framework for predicting greenhouse emission from tropical soils and wetlands.

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Brionté believes in a healthier, more vibrant future for all people and the planet. She has dedicated her career to teaching people how to self organize and building strategic partnerships that protect the environment, advance racial equity, and grow civic engagement. Brionté earned a B.S. in Public Policy from Georgia State University and minored in Spanish. In 2014, she led the Georgia Sierra Club’s involvement in the successful effort to expand MARTA to Clayton County. Brionté now serves as the Director of the Georgia Conservation Voters where she works to elect pro-environment candidates and hold elected officials accountable for their actions and votes. She also serves as Co-Chair of the Atlanta Beltline Tax Allocation District Advisory Committee and is on the board of Citizens for Progressive Transit. She is an advisor and consultant to governmental and nonprofit organizations who are looking to develop internal and external equity practices and advance public engagement campaigns. She is always looking for opportunities to shape public policy for a more sustainable and equitable future. 

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Earth Day Celebration “A Glimmer of Hope”

” What will the future reveal about our choices and attitudes toward the natural world? In his cinematic oil paintings, Alexis Rockman portrays a fermenting world shaped by human excess and environmental corruption. He depicts the future as a saturated dystopia, in which creatures struggle to survive toxic conditions and the onslaught of invasive species. In the depths of this latter-day, primordial soup, Rockman finds the survivors — feral beasts that emerge from the human era transformed and triumphant. In Rockman’s paintings, we do not see human beings. We see memories and vestiges of them in polluted canals, cascading piles of trash, crumbling monuments and mutated animals. We see their absence, and the altered landscapes they have left behind. We search for signs of hope in the post-human world and find them in Rockman’s resilient creatures, who adapt and endure, as natural order returns to traumatized environments. Rockman draws us into this vision of the future with vibrant colors and densely-packed compositions. He commands our attention with crisp details set against loose, gestural washes and hazy horizons. He blends fact and fiction, filling his dream-like landscapes with creatures, landmarks and conflicts, both real and imagined. He invites us to experience this headrush of possibility and urges us to care for our planet before it is too late. ” – Art Works For Change

Emory alumna, Yeou-Rong Jih (C’04), currently serves as the Director of Urban Initiatives at Greenlink Analytics, an environmental NGO that helps cities design clean and equitable energy plans and policies based on Greenlink’s award-winning climate analysis models.

Yeou received her undergraduate degree from Emory University in Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology and a Master of Science in Research Psychology from the University of Oxford. Post graduate school, she worked at the Sierra Club Georgia Chapter as a Volunteer Coordinator and the City of Atlanta as a Senior Manager of Resilience Policy and Programs. Her project portfolio at the City included helping create and implement the Atlanta Resilience Strategy, building the Proctor Creek Greenway Trail, managing initiatives related to the City’s alternative fueled vehicle fleet, and aiding in the creation of the City’s 100% Clean Energy Plan. Aside from work, Yeou serves on the executive board of the Georgia Conservancy’s Generation Green Young Professionals Board and is a member of the LEAD Atlanta 2020 Class.

ZOOM Recording of Webinar

Euler Bropleh (C’04), Founder and Managing Director, VestedWorld

“Market-Driven Approach to Sustainable Development in Africa”

Mr. Bropleh is the Founder and Managing Director at VestedWorld. He holds a JD from University of Chicago Law School, where he was a Donald E. Egan Scholar and the recipient of the Ann Watson Barber Outstanding Service Award. He was also a Robert T. Jones Scholar at the University of St. Andrews (Scotland), where he earned a Graduate Diploma in International Strategy and Economics. He earned his BA in International Studies from Emory University, where he was a Sonny Carter Scholar.