After checking in with us on the 16th floor for your nametag and program, join us for breakfast, networking, and a gallery walk through local orgs and small businesses tabling with their climate engagement opportunities.

We will start the day by learning about innovative, community-based local initiatives that are making our communities safer, cleaner, healthier, and more sustainable, all while equipping us and empowering us to lead.

Francois Alexander
CEO, Ti Ayiti Preparedness And Relief Institution (TAPARI)

François Alexandre is a community advocate, construction consultant, and CEO of Konscious Kontraktors, a firm dedicated to equitable development, design, and affordable housing solutions in underserved communities. He also serves as the Executive Director of Ti Ayiti Preparedness and Relief Institution, where he leads initiatives focused on disaster preparedness, community resilience, and access to resources for vulnerable populations. Born in Okay, Ayiti, and raised in South Florida, François has built a strong track record of service in Ti Ayiti, Miami, and across South Florida, advancing efforts in cultural preservation, grassroots organizing, and neighborhood empowerment. Through his leadership and collaborative approach, he continues to bridge the gap between community needs and strategic development, with a commitment to creating sustainable, community-driven impact.

Angeline Alvarez
Lead Organizer, GenCLEO at Miami Dade College

Angeline Alvarez is a sophomore at The Honors College in Miami Dade College, currently pursuing an Associate’s of Science degree in Environmental Science. She is a proud recipient of the prestigious Florida Bright Futures Scholarship and served as a Smithsonian intern at the Frost Museum of Science in Miami. As a climate activist at a non-profit organization, she has adapted academic topics on marine and environmental issues into digestible events and presentations, deliver in English and Spanish, to students and residents of Miami-Dade so they can understand how these problems affect them and how the implementations and conservation of certain laws are needed to stop the detrimental effects of those issues. After finishing her undergraduate studies, she plans to work for the government as an Environmental Specialist, where she will continue teaching young generations about the environment and the need for climate action.

Dr. Armen Henderson
President, Dade County Street Response (DCSR)

Armen Henderson is the founder and executive director of Dade County Street Response (DCSR), which integrates medical education and training with service delivery and social justice. Upon graduating medical school at Meharry Medical College, Armen realized the direct correlation between low life expectancy of poor working-class people and their lack of access to the social determinants of health (irrespective of access to healthcare). In between caring for patients during his medical residency, Armen was also an organizer with the Miami Chapter of Dream Defenders. As an organizer, he not only worked on campaigns that would lift the living standards of his patients, but he also developed an approach to medicine that prioritized marginalized people, offered services for free, and minimized harm. DCSR was birthed out of this novel approach to healthcare. Armen currently serves as the director of health programs with Dream Defenders and is also an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine.

Zelalem Adefris
Chief Executive Officer, Catalyst Miami

Before being named CEO in April 2023, Zelalem was Catalyst Miami’s deputy CEO where she oversaw the implementation of the organization’s critical programs, policy agenda, and strategic plan. Zelalem joined Catalyst Miami in 2016, and has a deep passion for achieving climate, social, and racial justice.

In addition to her role at Catalyst Miami, Zelalem serves as a co-chair of the Miami Climate Alliance and as a philanthropic trustee of the Solutions Project. She has been recognized as a 2023 Rockwood Leadership Institute Fellow, 2020 Grist 50 Fixer, 2020 Florida International University Emerging Leader Finalist, and 2017 Miami Times New Generation of Dreamers awardee.

Zelalem holds an MPH in Global Environmental Health from Emory University and a Bachelor of Arts in Community Health from Brown University.

A discussion on how we can prepare our homes for climate change through community-driven policy and initiatives that create solutions while addressing our affordable housing crisis.

Prem Rajgopal
Coalition Coordinator, PA Climate Equity Table

Prem Rajgopal (he/ they) is the Coalition Coordinator for the PA Climate Equity Table (PACET). PACET seeks to unite urban, rural, and suburban voices for racial, economic, and climate justice by building: community; electoral power; shared racial and environmental justice analysis; and policy change. PACET includes 9 basebuilding organizations from across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and seeks a just and equitable transition from our extractive economy to an economy that is regenerative, renewable, and just.

Jennifer Posner
Director of Programs, University of Miami Climate Resilience Institute

Jennifer Posner is the Director of Programs at the University of Miami’s Climate Resilience Institute. In this role, she develops strategies and guides collaborations that enhance UM’s interdisciplinary, problem-driven resilience research and education and reinforce Miami as a leader in delivering solutions to environmental challenges in partnership with industry, government, universities, and other stakeholders.

Jen has previous experience as an urban planner shaping physical planning and policy initiatives that enhance neighborhood livability, sustainability, and equitable access. Through her work overseeing affordable housing and resilience initiatives as Senior Manager for Policy and
Programs at the University of Miami's Office of Civic and Community Engagement, Jen managed the creation of accessible data tools and policy initiatives that affirm the harmful impacts of climate change on Miami's vulnerable communities and particularly on the stability of its affordable housing stock. Previously, Jen spent nearly a decade with the New York City Department of City Planning where she led the agency’s policy and planning work for several large-scale initiatives in Brooklyn and helped to execute the agency’s strategic planning vision. Jen received a master's degree in City & Regional Planning from the University of Pennsylvania and a BA from the University of Virginia.

Sonia Brubaker
Chief Resilience Officer & Director, City of Miami

Sonia Brubaker is the Chief Resilience Officer for the City of Miami. Also serving as the Director of the Office of Resilience and Sustainability, she’s responsible for leading resilience expertise across the municipality to effectively address climate change challenges. She has over 20 years of experience in the environmental sector building relationships and successfully leading and implementing change. 

In this role, Sonia implements actions to reach the City’s coastal resilience, energy affordability, and extreme heat goals. Her work centers on 1) Adaptation initiatives to address sea level rise flooding and intense storms by incorporating nature-based features in stormwater infrastructure projects, building living shorelines, identifying flooding vulnerabilities for critical assets, and implementing cooling solutions for extreme heat; 2) Mitigation initiatives to reduce energy affordability by increasing energy efficiency, advancing renewable energy, increasing electric vehicle chargers throughout the community, and advocating for electrifying the City’s fleet; and 3) initiatives to engage with communities to increase participation and prevent climate gentrification.

Prior to this position, Sonia previously served as the Director for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Water Infrastructure and Resiliency Finance Center where she worked with local governments to identify affordable financing opportunities to fund drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater infrastructure investments that are sustainable and resilient.

She earned a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Policy and Planning from Virginia Tech in 2004 and a Master of Environmental Management with an emphasis in Leadership from Duke University in 2014.

Martina Spolini
Executive Director, Rebuilding Together Miami-Dade

Martina is the Executive Director for Rebuilding Together Miami-Dade. For over 25 years, Rebuilding Together Miami-Dade (RTMD) has provided home repair and modification services for Miami-Dade county’s most vulnerable homeowners.

As the only local organization addressing this particular need, county-wide, they have built the expertise and infrastructure to tackle critical home repairs; securing safe and healthy housing for those most in need.

Since inception, Rebuilding Together Miami-Dade has rehabbed over 1,000 homes and donated over 9 million dollars in market value work to the community.

Z Spicer
Climate Justice Community Organizer, Catalyst Miami

A resident of South Florida for most of their life, Z returned after graduating in 2022 with a degree in Geography, which gave them the lens to see spatial injustice and the power of community organizing. During her second year of college, Z learned from student organizers to distribute mutual aid funds, provide popular education, and organize with, and on behalf of, underrepresented students for equitable treatment from the administration and campus community. Z has worked locally to organize with young people seeking civic engagement, community, and avenues for positive, long-lasting changes. In her previous roles, Z helped people parse through the Miami-Dade County budget, led community canvasses, given innumerable public comments, and met with the County's residents and staff to learn what problems and solutions each has. With ties to Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago, Z feels the climate crisis and its urgency on all fronts of their life. Z knows that the goal of global climate justice will not arrive comfortably, and hopes to inspire everyone she meets to not only see their stake but also their power in building towards this vision.

Z has high hopes for the future of the region they call home. She has experience managing a small-scale regenerative agriculture farm, and dreams of a Miami that utilizes its favorable climate and historical ties to the Caribbean and U.S. South to become a capital for community gardens and agricultural cooperatives, healing the land, heart, and mind simultaneously. To restore from the constant work of organizing, you may find Z spending time at the beach, reading, making a new playlist, skateboarding, cooking a new plant-based meal, or simply sleeping.

Exploring how climate solutions bring money back into our communities. Learn more about a variety of businesses and initiatives that are creating better paying jobs and growing local economies all while protecting our planet and addressing climate change.

Dr. Lanette Sobel, DPM
Founder and President, Fertile Earth Worm Farm

“Miami’s Compost Queen,” Dr. Sobel is a certified permaculturist and a certified commercial composter. As founder and CEO of Fertile Earth Worm Farm, she has set the standard for compost farms throughout South Florida and trailblazed commercial composting in the private sector alongside multiple forward-thinking clients, including The Miami Heat, Miami Marlins, Pura Vida, Baptist Health, Chipotle, and many others.
Dr. Sobel is currently working on a study with the Miami-Dade Department of Solid Waste Management to help establish composting guidelines and regulations for the county, in addition to being involved in a year-long pilot program with Miami-Dade County Public Schools.

Fertile Earth is also involved in establishing large-scale, central-hub composting collection sites for residents throughout Miami-Dade County, as part of the Everglades Earth Cycle program.
In 2018, Dr. Sobel earned a master’s degree in forest pathology and a doctorate in plant medicine (University of Florida). In 2021, Dr. Sobel joined the faculty at Earth & Life University in Mexico, teaching the world’s first Spanish-language doctoral-level course on circular economies. In 2022, she was appointed to the board of the South Dade Soil & Water Conservation District, a quasi-governmental non-profit.

Terri-Ann Brown
Senior Director, Miami Tech Works

Terri-Ann Brown is the Senior Director of Miami Tech Works, a transformative workforce development initiative designed to bridge the gap between employers and training providers. Funded by a $10 million Good Jobs Challenge Grant from the Economic Development Administration, Miami Tech Works leads efforts to create a sustainable tech talent pipeline in South Florida.

In early 2023, Brown spearheaded the launch of the Tech Talent Coalition, uniting over 250 employers, training providers, and community members in a collaborative effort to address the region’s tech workforce needs. Her strategic vision has been instrumental in fostering partnerships that align industry demand with workforce supply, revolutionizing how South Florida develops talent.

Before her leadership at Miami Tech Works, Brown made significant contributions as the Director of Community Partnerships for the Venture Mentoring Team. In this role, she orchestrated impactful corporate-backed mentoring programs with industry leaders like Office Depot and Target. These initiatives empowered over 200 Black and Hispanic-owned small businesses, underscoring her unwavering commitment to fostering inclusive economic growth.
Brown’s extensive background in Human Resources and Organizational Development has equipped her with the expertise to drive systemic change across sectors. In recognition of her leadership and influence, Brown was named a U.S. Chamber of Commerce Talent Pipeline Management (TPM) Fellow in September 2024, further solidifying her role as a national thought leader in workforce development.

In 2024, Brown took on an additional leadership role as the head of the workforce component for the Risk and Resilience Tech Hub with an additional $6 million in funding. This initiative expands Miami Tech Works' Talent Pipeline Management® framework into the burgeoning field of resilient infrastructure, providing on-the-job training for workers involved in large-scale demonstration projects.

Terri-Ann Brown’s career is a testament to her commitment to community prosperity, bridging the digital divide, and ensuring underrepresented communities have the skills and opportunities to thrive in an increasingly digital and climate-conscious world.

Sonia Succar Ferré
Program Director, Clean Tech and Skilled Trades, Goodwill Industries International

Sonia Succar Ferré is a clean energy and sustainability leader with more than 20 years of experience advancing environmental innovation, resilient infrastructure and workforce development. At Goodwill Industries International, she leads the Goodwill Clean Tech Accelerator, a national skilled-trades training initiative preparing job seekers for careers in the energy transition, now operating in 8 cities and scaling to 30 by 2030 nationwide. A LEED AP, Sonia has worked at the intersection of government, nonprofits and the private sector on policy and projects spanning transit infrastructure, clean water innovation, urban resilience, and disaster recovery. She has been recognized by the Mayor of Miami as a “Woman Inspiring Innovation”. She serves on the advisory board of the Maurice A. Ferré Institute for Civic Leadership in the Green School of International and Public Affairs at Florida International University. Sonia is married to José Javier Rodríguez and is a mother of two.

MacKenzie Marcelin
Deputy Campaigns Director, Florida Rising

MacKenzie is a Florida native who works as a Deputy Campaigns Director for Florida Rising.

He works to build towards a future grounded in the principles of climate justice and just transition, ensuring our Black, Brown, and working-class communities are leading, not left behind, as we develop solutions to the climate crisis. He believes that by addressing problems through a climate justice lens, we can transition towards a more equitable and stronger future where our environment and local systems contribute to the health and well-being of our communities.

Over the years, he's worked on a number of campaigns centered on people over profits, like stopping rate increases from investor-owned utilities like FPL, Duke, and TECO, and advocating for a zero-waste future in Miami-Dade so no community has to deal with the consequences of trash-burning.

Tom Douglas
Director of Zero Waste, Repurpose Project/Zero Waste Gainesville

Enjoy a gallery walk through local orgs and small businesses tabling with their climate engagement opportunities and more during our lunch hour.

We will hear from speakers who have helped create hurricane and other emergency preparedness and response programs informed directly by frontline communities, including one right here in Miami-Dade.

Valencia Gunder
Executive Director, The Smile Trust

Valencia Gunder or “Vee”, is a self-motivated and driven community leader who has been branded as the “Modern Day Fannie Lou Hamer”. A Miami native, Valencia is the Founder/Co-Director of the Smile Trust Inc., Co-Founder of The Black Collective and National Organizing lead of the RBG New Deal at M4BL Valencia assists many community-based organizations with a variety of strategies around Florida to ensure that the community feels the impact in a positive way. Valencia has led many conversations around climate awareness on topics of sea-level rise, emergency preparedness, climate gentrification, food safety, and housing. She is a part of the Steering Committee for Greater Miami, 100 Resilient Cities and has spoken around the country about her work around Climate Gentrification. She is the founder of the Community Emergency Outreach Center that assisted over 23,000 residents after Hurricane Irma. After Hurricane Dorian, Valencia and the Smile Team expanded their emergency response outreach to the global south with their “One Bahamas” programs, providing over 3 tons of supplies to the islands of Bahamas in less than a week, building a coalition with local Bahamian Orgs and assisting Bahamians that were seeking refuge in South Florida. After experiencing the tragedy of losing her goddaughter Jada Page to gun violence, Valencia worked through her grief and pulled her community together to fight against the status quo, receiving the Soros Justice Fellowship, Valencia created a Rapid Response Toolkit “LIFT” to help decrease Police and inter-community violence in Miami. Valencia, who is a returning citizen, was a leader in passing Amendment 4 in Florida which restored the right to vote to 1.4 million Floridians, and works alongside over 80 Formerly incarcerated Black Women (Dignity Florida) to change legislation to assist with de-carcerating women in the State of Florida.

Mariyah Janagahiri
Co-Leader, Climate Mobilization

Mariyah Jahangiri (she/her) is a first-generation Pakistani farmer and climate justice organizer with eight years of experience leading successful campaigns for Just Transition, food sovereignty, housing justice, immigrant justice, and workers' organizing. She has also been deeply involved in mutual aid projects across more than 15 localities and as a community organizer more than 20 social justice organizations nationwide.

As Co-Leader of the Climate Mobilization Project (CMP) and Co-Founder of the Dogbane Movement Hub, Mariyah focuses on facilitating community education and skill-building programs — both national and local — that build pathways toward disaster resilience and food, land, energy, and water sovereignty. This work centers BIPOC and youth-led mutual aid, food justice, and social justice organizations. Through it, she provides intensive support and educational trainings for climate justice organizations, solidarity economy projects, and regenerative and BIPOC
farmers across the country.

Dr. John-Michael Davis
Assistant Professor, Worcester Polytechnic Institute

John-Michael Davis, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor at Worcester Polytechnic Institute and Co-Director of the Puerto Rico Project Center, trained as a human geographer whose work centers on community-engaged research in partnership with frontline communities. His scholarship and practice focus on community-led disaster preparedness and climate resilience in Puerto Rico, including collaborations with grassroots organizations advancing the rescued schools movement to repurpose abandoned public schools as community resilience hubs. In partnership with local leaders, Davis has supported the development of the Disaster Response Mobilization System (DRMS) — a community-based emergency management approach that centers local assets, mutual aid, and resident leadership before, during, and after disasters. His research and teaching draw on participatory action research and experiential pedagogy to translate community knowledge into practical systems and tools that advance climate justice and collective resilience.

Liana Aguilar
Public Private Partnership Coordinator, Miami Dade County Department of Emergency Management

Liana Aguilar is the Public Private Partnership Coordinator for Miami-Dade County's Department of Emergency Management. Liana is a highly motivated and driven individual with over six years of experience managing complex projects with non-profits and various governmental agencies. She concentrates on disaster preparedness by complying with and following public health emergency management-related directives, policies, laws, standards, and guidance.

This panel explores the intersection of climate and health in Miami-Dade — how extreme weather events could disrupt healthcare access, how the healthcare industry can support sustainability, and campaigns to protect the most vulnerable from the health impacts of climate change.

Jeremiah Headen (he/they)
Associate Director of Place-Based Initiatives, Health Care Without Harm

Jeremiah Headen is the Associate Director of the Place-Based Initiatives for Health Care Without Harm (HCWH). The purpose of the initiative is to build equitable partnerships between health care institutions and community-based organizations to co-design projects that will build community climate resilience for the populations that are most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Prior to taking on his role with HCWH, Jeremiah created a program with a team of consultants at the Rockwood Leadership Institute called the “Heart of Black Leadership” that provides a unique leadership training specifically designed for Black leaders working within the social justice movement in response to the summer of 2020. Since joining HCWH, Jeremiah has enlarged his focus on social justice to include environmental health as there can be no justice on an uninhabitable planet. In addition to his work with health institutions, Jeremiah works with the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments as its Fellowship Director where he supports nurses in building partnerships with community-based organizations to tackle environmental health issues of the community’s choosing. Outside of work, Jeremiah enjoys spending time with loved ones as well as writing and performing songs.

Dr. Daniel Samano
Environmental & Public Health Professor, University of Miami

Dr. Daniel Samano is a Neurology Resident at UM/JHS. Formely, a Research-Scientist for Neurological Surgery at The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, and the Department of Neurology – Division of Neuro Critical Care (NCC), at The Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami (UM). He received his Medical Degree in 2012 from Anahuac University in Mexico City, and a Master of Public Health degree in 2019 from the University of Miami. Dr. Samano oversees local and national clinical trials in Miami site focusing in the fields of Traumatic Brain Injury, Epilepsy, & Recovery of Consciousness. He manages research related activities involving NCC attendings, fellows, residents, medical-graduate-undergraduate students.

Dr. Samano clinical research background includes sleep apnea and quality of life in chronic Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) at The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis. Stroke prevention through Smoking Cessation programs at the Department of Public Health Sciences in UM. Additionally, he has vast research experience in topics like Zika and HIV in collaboration with the Department of Obgyn at UM, and non-communicable diseases at the National Public Health Institute of Mexico.

Dr. Samano research interests also include studying the Climate Change-Extreme Weather Events’ impact on healthcare utilization by vulnerable populations. He is an active member at the American Public Health Association (APHA) where he has presented several abstracts, oral, roundtables and speaker-invited sessions. For the APHA-International Health Section, Dr. Samano serves as a Research Design Advisor for Public Health students.

His clinical experience includes international clerkships in England, Germany, and United States in the fields of Neurosurgery, Surgery, ObGyn and Onco-Plastic Breast Surgery. He was a Neurosurgery pre-residency fellow in the Methodist-American British Cowdray Medical Center in Mexico City. He frequently give lectures and mentors International Medical Graduates who are interested in studying for the USMLE and research.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Samano has given interviews to CNN en espanol, lectures to international communities regarding the epidemiology of COVID-19 and implemented remote Mindfulness practices for SCI participants. He has volunteered with lectures to create awareness of people living with disabilities (SCI), in collaboration with FIU and The New York Times. Finally, he enjoys running marathons and all kind of races pushing people living with SCI with the Nirvana project, a non-profit organization based in Miami.

Oscar Londoño
Co-Executive Director, WeCount! 

Oscar Londoño is the Co-Executive Director of WeCount!, a member-led organization of immigrant workers and families in South Florida. WeCount!’s newest campaign, Planting Justice, is organizing to transform labor and human rights standards in the U.S. houseplant industry. In addition to his role at WeCount!, Oscar is currently a Visiting Research Scholar at the University of Miami School of Law’s Human Rights Program and an Advisory Board Member of Powered to Win. He was previously a Staff Attorney at the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON), where he provided legal, policy, and research support to workers' centers across the country, and a Skadden Fellow at Community Justice Project. Born and raised in Miami, Oscar graduated from Cornell University and New York University School of Law.

Dr. Cheryl Holder
Executive Director, Florida Clinicians for Climate Action

Dr. Cheryl L. Holder, a graduate of Princeton University and George Washington University School of Medicine, a National Health Service Corp Scholar, Internist, and HIV Specialist who served as Medical Director of one of Miami’s largest community health centers and on NIH and CDC health advisory and programmatic review panels. She dedicated her career to improving health of underserved populations.

In 2009, she joined Florida International University’s Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine’s founding faculty, where she taught about the social determinants of health, diversity, and the health impact of climate change. She retired 12/31/22, as the Associate Dean of Diversity, Equity, Inclusivity and Community Initiatives.

She co-founded Florida Clinicians for Climate Action in 2018 and now serves as its executive director. Additionally, she is co-chair of Miami Dade Heat Health Task Force and member of National Academy of Medicine’s Climate Collaborative. Her TED Talk “The link between climate change, health and poverty” garnered over 300,000 views.

We will discuss soaring gas and light bills in Florida: Why rates are so high, what communities are most impacted, and what solutions exist.

Susan Glickman
Vice-President, Policy & Partnerships, The CLEO Institute

Named to Florida Trend’s Inaugural 500 Most Influential Business Leaders, Susan is Vice President for Policy & Partnerships for The CLEO Institute – a woman-led non-profit dedicated to climate change education, advocacy and engagement. Susan spent 21 years working with the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. Susan was a consultant to the Local Infrastructure Hub – helping local governments and community-based organizations with federal funding opportunities. She also worked with the Florida Clinicians for Climate Action educating medical professionals on the health harms of climate change. Susan has worked with ReThink Energy Florida on The Upper Limit Project as well as Natural Resources Defense Council, The Climate Group, Our Children’s Trust, the Center for Climate Integrity, Alianza for Progress and the Union of Concerned Scientists. A native of Florida, Susan is Vice-President of the Board of the Solar & Energy Loan Fund (SELF) a community development finance institution and the only green bank in Florida that provides affordable financing for weatherization and solar improvements for low-and-moderate income families.

Rev. Michael Malcom, MDiv MBA
Executive Director, People’s Justice Council

The Reverend Michael Malcom is the founder and Executive Director of the People’s Justice Council, a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization focused on environmental and climate justice. He is the sole proprietor of M Line Media, a media production company serving impacted communities. Rev Malcom is a licensed and ordained United Church of Christ Minister. He serves as the Environmental Justice Minister for the Southeast Conference of the United Church of Christ. Rev Malcom is a board member for the Southeast Climate and Energy Network and Harambee House. He is the co-author of “Climate Justice, Climate Hope.” Rev Malcom is the cinematographer, photographer, and Executive Producer of the award-winning documentary, “Exposing the Unspoken.” He is a sought-after speaker and thought leader of faith and environmental justice.

Rev Malcom holds a BA from Beulah Heights University. He received his Master of Divinity from the Interdenominational Theological Center. Rev Malcom holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business. He has completed five units of Clinical Pastoral Education and a post master’s certificate in human resources from Cornell University. Rev Malcom has a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt from the University of Georgia. He considers himself an impassioned environmental justice advocate who centers his faith in the fight for environmental justice and climate action. Rev Malcom sees ecological justice as the moral obligation to love your neighbor. He says, “There can be no environmentalism without environmental justice. If you help the people, you will heal the planet.”

Victoria (Vicki) Kaplan, she/her
Senior Strategist, Climate Justice Campaigns, People's Action Institute

Victoria (Vicki) Kaplan is a strategist, campaigner, organizer, and leader. She is the Senior Strategist for Climate Justice Campaigns at People’s Action Institute, where she leads the United Ratepayers campaigns and convenes community organizers from 40 power-building economic justice organizations in 27 states.

She was the first Organizing Director at Dayenu: A Jewish Call to Climate Action, and helped secure then-Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s leadership of the Inflation Reduction Act through the backing of his faith community. As Organizing Director and campaigner at MoveOn from 2012-2020, she oversaw organizing programs, mobilizations, and election campaigns that developed the leadership of tens of thousands of activists and winning elections, and on issues including fracking, Net Neutrality, Medicaid expansion, and immigrant justice. Early in her career, Victoria helped communities shut down dirty coal plants with the Climate Movement Organizing Project, was the Midwest Regional Organizer with the workers’ rights organization SweatFree Communities, and fought to protect water as a public resource with Food & Water Watch and Public Citizen.

Victoria got her start as an organizer with United Students Against Sweatshops at Duke University, where she studied Cultural Anthropology. She has a graduate degree in Trade & Economic Policy from the Latin American School of Social Sciences in Quito, Ecuador, and is currently pursuing a Masters of Legal Studies in Environmental Law at the UCLA School of Law. She has lived in Durham, North Carolina; Washington, DC; Quito, Ecuador; Goshen, Indiana; Northampton, Massachusetts, and lives now in her hometown of Los Angeles, California with her spouse and first grader.

Kwesi Low
Deputy Director, Columbus Stand Up!

Kwesi Low is a community organizer and civic engagement leader whose work centers on empowering people and strengthening a unified collective voice. His journey in organizing began in 2010 with the League of Young Voters Education Fund, where he built a foundation in grassroots mobilization and youth engagement. That early experience shaped his long-term commitment to expanding access to civic participation for underrepresented communities. Over time, Kwesi has broadened his impact through initiatives that elevate community voices, support cultural expression, and develop local leadership. In recent years, his work has focused on strengthening community networks and creating spaces for dialogue and storytelling. He has also advanced new approaches to engagement through organizing community engagement opportunities and developing creative programming.

Kwesi’s leadership is grounded in relationships and a deep understanding of the communities he serves. He remains committed to building sustainable movements that respond to immediate needs while creating lasting change, ensuring communities have the tools and power to shape their own futures.

Maria Claudia Schubert-Fontes
Climate Justice Program Manager, Catalyst Miami

Maria Claudia currently serves as the Climate Justice Policy Manager at Catalyst Miami. Within this role she is able to connect with community members throughout Miami-Dade County, engaging them in equitable climate policy at the local, state, and federal levels. Maria Claudia began her career as a place-based climate educator designing experiential courses for high school students. She later worked with educators and youth supporting the implementation of climate education in classrooms throughout the East Coast of the United States. Outside of work, Maria Claudia engages in activities that foster joy and nurture community.

Real talk about how we can get funding and resources to scale our climate justice solutions during this challenging era.

Shaheen Hasan
Managing Director of Grantmaking and Programs, The Solutions Project

Shaheen Hasan serves as the Managing Director of Grantmaking and Programs at The Solutions Project, where she leads all grantmaking, working closely with philanthropic partners, external stakeholders, and grantees.

With a deep commitment to economic and racial justice, Shaheen recognizes that low-wealth and BIPOC communities disproportionately impacted by climate change and other inequities hold powerful solutions to address multiple and intersecting political, economic and climate crises. She has spent over 13 years leading and supporting efforts to transform our economy and financial systems to enable shared prosperity, self-determination, and well-being by investing resources in and strengthening the capacities and power of workers and communities of color. She is guided by a vision for philanthropy which plays an active role in building a thriving, regenerative and just world by redistributing wealth, democratizing power and shifting economic control to communities.

More recently, she was a Senior Program Officer at the Target Foundation, where she launched a national portfolio focused on closing the racial wealth gap, exploring the intersection between climate and economic justice, and advancing equitable community development by reinvesting resources into community-led efforts, including cooperative, community and worker-owned projects. Her portfolio also invested in racial justice and movement infrastructure and capacity building.

Prior to grantmaking, she held programmatic and research roles at organizations focused on community development and expanding equitable access to finance in the U.S. and globally, including at the Financial Health Network, Accion International, the Clinton Global Initiative and the NYC Mayor’s Office of Long-term Planning and Sustainability. She started her social justice journey interning at organizations, such as South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT) and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) NY advocating for the civic engagement and power-building of South Asian, Muslim and immigrant communities in New York in the wake of 9/11 and the “war on terror.”

Shaheen is a lifelong learner, spiritual wayfarer, avid wander luster, voracious reader/podcast junkie and foodie. She is the daughter of Muslim-Indian American immigrants and was raised in Brooklyn, NY.

She holds a Masters in International Affairs from the School of International and Public Affairs, focusing on Economic and Political development at Columbia University and a Bachelor of Science in Marketing with a minor in Economics from the University of Maryland, College Park.

Geryel Osorio Godoy (She/They)
Senior Manager of Collective Impact, The Miami Foundation

At The Miami Foundation, Geryel leads cross-sector initiatives focused on climate and disaster resilience, local news and information, arts education, and community well-being.

Trained in both public health and urban planning at Columbia University, she brings a systems-level approach to addressing social determinants of health and specializes in building partnerships across government, healthcare, nonprofits, and philanthropy to align resources and drive measurable impact. She is particularly interested in advancing community health strategies that are equity-driven, prevention-focused, and rooted in collaboration.

Randy Scheid
Strategic Advisor, Allegany Franciscan Ministries

Randy Scheid brings more than 25 years of experience in the philanthropic and charitable sectors to his role as the founder and CEO of RGS Partners Consulting. RGS Partners Consulting works with leaders in both the non-profit and philanthropic sectors to tackle their most important challenges and prepare them for success in our ever-changing environment. To provide the most relevant and actionable insight and advice to our clients, we focus our work
exclusively in Florida. Well known for creating and promoting unique solutions in the fields of mental and behavioral health, technology, access to primary care and health professions, our work is recognized by the non-profit and philanthropic community at the state and national level.

He is a published author with work appearing in the Journal of Computer Science and most recently with a published book titled “Giving Reimagined: Leveraging Technology to Transform the Way We Give.” He lives in Jupiter, Florida and holds degrees from Ohio State University and Florida Atlantic University.

Corrine Van Hook-Turner (she/her/ella)
Chief Executive Officer (CEO), People's Climate Innovation Center

Corrine Van Hook-Turner (she/her/ella), as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of People’s Climate Innovation Center, leads the overall vision and strategy for the organization and its programs, bringing a lens of racial equity and transformative movement building. Corrine convenes and cultivates creative leadership within climate justice and deep democracy ecosystems toward a shared vision for a Just Transition to a world of interdependence, resilience, and regeneration. Corrine’s 20+ years of experience are deeply immersed in movements advancing social, economic, environmental and racial justice. As a former IDEAL Scholar (Initiative for Diversity in Education and Leadership), she witnessed and continues to nurture the compelling impact of investing in youth and disenfranchised communities of color so that leadership reflects the diversity it seeks to serve. Corrine was Co-Director of the now sunsetted Rooted in Resilience (formerly Bay Localize), a grassroots organization working to catalyze a movement for more equitable, resilient communities. Over the last 6 years, she’s led and grown what was a former program into the organization now known as People’s Climate Innovation Center. Corrine’s leadership and expertise has contributed to the co-development, growth, adaptation and dissemination of well known utilized tools such the Community Driven Climate Resilience Planning Framework, the Spectrum of Community Engagement to Ownership and Coliberate. She along with the organization have co-led and/or co-designed several efforts such as Community Climate Shift, the Justice40 Accelerator, facilitated the design and grantmaking process for the Fund for Frontline Power, and are now set to launch the National Association of Climate Resilience Planners (NACRP) Training for Community-Driven Facilitators to support multi-stakeholder partnerships among community, government and philanthropy. She currently serves on the steering committee of the California Trade Justice Coalition, leadership team of the Reclaim Our Power Utility Justice Campaign and the board for Earthseed Farm. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley. Family is what drives Corrine’s commitment to justice and thriving communities.

Make sure to stick around for our close-out with Catalyst Miami CEO, Zelalem Adefris! All attendees are entered into our raffle giveaway and must be present at the end of the day to claim their prize.