Climate Bridges: Recent Episodes
The Alliance Center
Climate Bridges will will pair youth climate leaders with veteran climate activists to discuss their passions and challenges and to envision a sustainable future. The goal of these interviews is to use the climate crisis as an intergenerational bridge – to encourage conversations between leaders and to learn how civic action can translate to climate action.
While much has changed since this time last year, our need for connecting with one another and nature has not. Our conversation in this episode features Bianca Acosta, Community Outreach Manager at the GrowHaus and Nicole Jackson, Next Generation Advisory Council Member for the National Parks Conservation Association. They discuss how rebuilding and rediscovering our connection with nature can be cathartic and restorative to both the planet and ourselves. Nicole and Bianca both share personal stories emphasizing the healing properties of the natural world especially for disenfranchised communities.
This conversation features Marcel McClinton, a youth activist who ran for Houston City Council at the age of 17 and now serves as the civic engagement liaison for PeaceJam here in Colorado, and Sonrisa Lucero, sustainability strategist for the City and County of Denver, Alliance Center Board member and life-long activist and organizer. These two leaders spoke during the Back to Paris event, inspiring the attendees to take action and push even beyond the Paris Agreement, building the positive momentum in the days immediately following the historic inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
What does it mean to create intergenerational solutions? How does awe, that feeling of wonder, play a role in modern day activism? These are a couple of the questions that our guests tackle in this episode of the Climate Bridges podcast.
This episode unpacks how different generations of activists can work together to achieve climate justice. This conversation features Maggie Fox, the principal at Maggie Fox Strategies and co-founder of the Global Biodiversity Narrative Project and Nicole Hensel, the executive director of New Era Colorado, whose mission is to mobilize and empower young people to shape our democracy and advance progressive change. These two powerhouses spoke over zoom in mid-October, during heightening momentum leading into the November election. Both women have worked in politics, voter mobilization and policy for many years and they had a lot to say about our current moment.
This conversation features Brionté McCorkle, the executive director of Georgia Conservation Voters, and Esperanza Chairez Uriarte an emerging climate leader who is currently interning at The Alliance Center while also working as a programs assistant at Su Teatro Cultural and Performing Arts Center.
2020 has brought issues like racism and social justice to the forefront of Americans’ minds. Like the rest of the country, many of those working in sustainability are just now waking up to the realities of the incredible inequities that are exacerbated by climate change. For Esperanza and Brionté, this conversation is long overdue. In this episode, they dive into the ways in which their identities and lived experiences have shaped their views of environmentalism. They also explore the opportunities and obstacles for building an effective and inclusive climate justice movement.
Racism, COVID-19 and climate change all reveal striking patterns of inequality. As we grapple with how to handle the health, economic and societal consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and the broken systems we are living in, in this episode we explore the role of the business community in overcoming the challenges we are facing. Our guests will discuss how resilient business leaders shift organizational mindsets, navigate uncertainties, and build trust to develop resilience for the post-2020 future.
This conversation was recorded as part of our 2020 Best for Colorado Awards Celebration that recognized inspiring business leaders leading social and environmental efforts to strengthen our communities.
This panel is led by The Alliance Center’s Executive Director, Brenna Simmons-St. Onge, and features major industries and communities leaders in Colorado :
- From the tech industry, Annette Quintana, CEO of Istonish
- From the outdoor industry, Eric Raymond, Director of Social Impact and Advocacy at The North Face
- From renewable energy with Jason Sharpe, CEO of Namaste Solar
- Community leader Jice Johnson, CEO of the Black Business Initiative
This episode features Hunter Lovins, a giant in the renewable energy field and founder of Natural Capitalism Solutions, and Jesse Gerstin, Director of Sustainable Business at SimpliPhi Power, and former director of the Clinton Climate Initiative. Jesse has his MBA in sustainability from Bard College, where Hunter was his instructor and mentor. The two have maintained their relationship over the years and took the time to chat over zoom for this conversation.
Jesse and Hunter explore how renewable energy makes economic sense, what a regenerative recovery from COVID-19 might look like and how we can make sure that this recovery is equitable, inclusive and just.
This episode about sustainable agriculture features Fatima Emmad, founder of Front Line Farming, and John Piotti, CEO of American Farmland Trust. They are both leaders in the sustainable agriculture movement, but they deal with very different challenges in our food system. In this episode they will explore how regenerative farming techniques are combatting the climate crisis, and they will unpack the layers of injustice that are baked into our current food system from farm to fork.
This is the first In a series of conversations between emerging climate leaders and veteran climate activists. In this conversation Denis Hayes, the organizer of the first Earth Day, speaks with Liliana Flanigan, a youth climate activist and high school senior from Grand Junction, Colorado. This interview was recorded on April 6, 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. This episode was produced by The Alliance Center and edited by ProgressNow Colorado. Special thanks to Molly Ross who helped us bring Lily and Denis together. You can find more information on our website, www.thealliancecenter.org.
Now, more than ever, we need to talk. The Alliance Center and Earth Day Network are launching the Climate Bridges podcast to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, on April 22.
In this series we will feature conversations between emerging climate leaders and veteran climate activists to discuss what drives them, the challenges they face and how they think we can best solve our most pressing problems.
Our goal is to use the climate crisis as an intergenerational bridge to encourage conversations between leaders of all ages and to learn how civic and climate action can translate to real results.
Our hope is that this podcast will provide meaningful ways for people to build bridges with one another, during social distancing and beyond. The conversations will range from food security to the circular economy, from what we each can do in our own backyards, to our global impact as citizens of spaceship Earth. Each podcast will feature a call to action - next steps for you to take after you listen, to celebrate Earth Day every day.
Our first interview will feature Denis Hayes, the organizer of the original Earth Day, and Liliana Flanigan, a high school senior and youth climate activist from Grand Junction, Colorado.
Please join us each month, as we bring together activists, scientists, artists, students, farmers and more to explore how we are all connected in the fight for the future of our planet.
Subscribe now to automatically get the first episode on April, 22.