Global warming, the energy crisis, and economic instability are already reaping devastating impacts on low-income people and communities of color. In the face of these challenges, a growing network of racial justice, environmental, and community resilience leaders are coming together to build a truly inclusive and equitable movement for regional self-reliance.

As a key part of this year's San Francisco Green Festival, "Resilience for All" will showcase the work of a broad cross-section of Bay Area organizers who are working across race and class to forge collaborative campaigns that are preparing our communities for a post-carbon world. Together, we are building a world where everyone's vital needs are met through local clean energy, healthy organic foods, accessible transit, and quality green jobs.

   WHAT: Resilience for All: Building an Inclusive Movement for Local Self-Reliance

   WHEN: Saturday, November 14 @ 1 pm

   WHERE: Mezzanine, Concourse Exhibition Center, 635 8th St. (at Brannan), SF

RSVP Today! Let us know you'll be joining us for "Resilience for All!"

SPEAKERS (see bios below):

• INTRO/MODERATOR: Aaron Lehmer, Network Development Director, Bay Localize
• KEYNOTE: Jakada Imani, Executive Director, Ella Baker Center for Human Rights
• Carolyne Stayton, Executive Director, Transition US
• AshEL Eldridge, Educator, Alliance for Climate Justice and Co-Founder, CommuniTree
• Kirsten Schwind, Program Director, Bay Localize
• Carla Pérez, Program Coordinator, Movement Generation

SPEAKER BIOS:

Aaron Lehmer, Network Development Director, Bay Localize

Aaron co-founded Bay Localize, a nonprofit organization that works to catalyze the emergence of a regional, self-reliant economy that strengthens all Bay Area communities. He develops Bay Localize’s emerging Local Resilience Network, publishes Bay Localize News, and helps coordinate the organization’s outreach, communications, and fundraising efforts. He also serves on the Steering Committee. Aaron holds an M.A. in Globalization and the Environment from Humboldt State University and a triple B.A. in Anthropology, Philosophy, and Environmental Studies from Iowa State University. He also worked for the Ella Baker Center's Green-Collar Jobs Campaign, Circle of Life, Earth Island Institute, Grassroots Globalization Network, ReThink Paper, and with the Student Environmental Action Coalition. His commentaries have been featured on AlterNet and NPR, in the Earth Island Journal, Sacramento News & Review, Permaculture Activist, Energy Bulletin, and the S.F. Bay Guardian. Aaron lives in Berkeley and is an avid gardener, hiker, singer, and amateur astronomer.

Jakada Imani, Executive Director, Ella Baker Center for Human Rights

Jakada became Ella Baker Center's Executive Director in 2007, after serving as a lead strategist and chief team member on some of its most high profile campaigns for eight years. Most recently, Jakada directed Books Not Bars, the ongoing campaign to replace California's abusive youth prisons with effective rehabilitation programs. Before that, Jakada helped lead the successful "Stop the Super Jail Campaign," a two-year effort to stop Alameda County from building a massive, expensive and remote juvenile hall. He was a leader in the "Justice for Moreno and Pacheco Campaign," the successful fight to free two wrongly convicted Latino boys in Solano County. And he ran Ella Baker Center's youth organizing project, Third Eye Movement, during the "No on 21" campaign to educate voters about the dangers of Proposition 21, a draconian ballot measure aimed at putting 14-year-olds in adult courts and 16-year-olds in adult prisons. Before joining the Ella Baker Center, Jakada was a Constituent Liaison for Oakland City Councilwoman Nancy Nadel. He helped launch or lead a number of important Bay Area organizations, including Empowered Youth Educating Society (EYES), Rising Youth for Social Equality (RYSE) and Underground Railroad (an artist collective). Born and raised in Oakland, California, Jakada is the father of three powerful and creative young girls.

Carolyne Stayton, Executive Director, Transition US

Carolyne works with communities across the United States to develop and implement the Transition Towns Model, a scalable design for creating community resilience. She is adept at aligning community activities towards unified goals, a skill honed from over thirty years of working with nonprofit organizations and educational institutions. She has successfully galvanized communities around various social issues and has particular expertise in program development, participative leadership and “learning” organizations. Her background includes serving as Director of New College’s North Bay Campus for Sustainable Living. Carolyne has a BA in Philosophy/English and a Teaching Credential from Notre Dame University in British Columbia, and a MA in Nonprofit Administration from the University of San Francisco.

AshEL Eldridge, Co-Founder, CommuniTree and Oakland Resilience Alliance

AshEL, a native of Chicago, is currently an Oakland-based artist, educator, organizer, and spiritual activist. He was an Outreach Associate and a Cultural Director of Green For All's public launch called The Dream Reborn, and was Spotlight Events Coordinator for Green Jobs Now. He performs spoken word, rap and sings nationally with conscious Hip Hop, Dub, Reggae and Electronica bands including Wisdom (www.wisdomcreations.com) and Bassnectar (www.bassnectar.net). He has shared stages with Steel Pulse, KRS-One, STS9, Michael Franti, Midnite, Ozomatli and more. In addition, he is a music, poetry, and meditation facilitator with Art in Action, where he works to empower low-income youth from urban communities. He has also combined the world of art, music and community healing with ecological sustainability within the CommuniTree Movement. His work aims to cultivate the links between both local and global movements for social justice, spiritual awakening and ecological healing through "edutainment" and other ways to captivate youth and hard-to-reach populations.

Kirsten Schwind, Program Director, Bay Localize

Kirsten brings over eleven years of organizing, research, and program development in the fields of social justice, global trade, food policy, labor organizing, clean energy, and local resources. Her writings on localization have been widely reprinted in several languages, and she enjoys speaking with groups of all sizes. She co-authored Bay Localize’s report Tapping the Potential of Urban Rooftops, which won an award from the American Planning Association’s California Chapter. Kirsten holds a B.A. in Economics and Public Policy from Swarthmore College and an M.S. in Natural Resources Management from the University of Michigan. At Bay Localize she focuses on program and organizational development. She has worked with a number of Bay Area nonprofits including as Program Director at Food First, and currently serves on the City of Berkeley’s Energy Commission. Kirsten lived for several years in Latin America and is fluent in Spanish.

Carla Maria Pérez, Program Coordinator, Movement Generation

Carla is a dedicated single mother and community organizer of Native/Latin American heritage residing in Oakland, California. She graduated from UC Berkeley in 1999 with a BS in Conservation & Resource Studies with an emphasis on Environmental Racism. She has worked with community groups from Yucatán, Mexico to Contra Costa, California on issues of environmental justice and sustainable agriculture and is a certified in Popular Education trainer and Indigenous Permaculture Design Consultant. Prior to joining Movement Generation, Carla spent 8 years as staff at Communities for a Better Environment (CBE). Most recently she served as CBE’s Northern California Program Director. She also was CBE’s Leadership Training Coordinator and Community Organizer. Carla developed CBE’s Northern California core curriculum for community members and staff, as well as coordinated Leadership Development Programs for CBE organizers in the Bay Area and Los Angeles. Carla is also a member of the School of Unity and Liberation’s Teacher Collective and a member of the Ruckus Society’s People of Color Trainers Network.