Past GreenTown Presentations

Toni Preckwinkle
Board President, Cook County

Jacqueline Patterson
Director, NAACP Environmental and Climate Justice Program

Turtle Tracking
Forest Preserves of Cook County

The Forest Preserves are embedded in an urban environment yet retain plenty of habitat for a variety of wildlife. In the video presented by Forest Preserves of Cook County, wildlife biologists demonstrate some of the wildlife found in our Palos Preserves’ wetlands.

Sagawau Canyon Tour
Forest Preserves of Cook County

The Forest Preserves of Cook County, with nearly 70,000 acres, is one of the oldest and largest forest preserve districts in the United States. It receives an estimated 62 million visits each year, providing an escape into a world teeming with wildlife and rich with outdoor recreation and environmental education opportunities. Learn from one of the naturalists as they take you on a tour of the unique and fragile Sagawau Canyon located in the Sag Valley.

Building a New Flexible, Resilient, and Adaptable Regional Food System
(9:45 -10:45 am)

The COVID-19 pandemic heightened issues that this country’s food system already was experiencing. This session will discuss new opportunities for this transition, new collaborations, and investments, and how to diversify markets and build resiliency and adaptability.

• Allessandra Kummelehne, Executive Director, South Metropolitan Higher Education Consortium

• Camille Kerr, Founder & Principal, Upside Down Consulting

• Liz Moran Stelk, Executive Director, Illinois Stewardship Alliance

• Lena Hatchett, Associate Professor at Loyola University Chicago and Cook County Department of Public Health, Community Health Advisory Council Member

• Marlie Wilson, Purchasing Project Manager, CFPAC - Moderator

Carbon Neutral: Regional and National Strategies for Meeting IPCC Scientist GHG Reduction Recommendations
(9:45 - 10:45 am)

Explore the science and examine how Illinois communities are one piece of a national “cities and regions” movement toward 100% renewable energy.

• Matt Cox, CEO and Founder of Greenlink Analytics

• Kate Bowman, Renewable Energy Program Manager at Utah Clean Energy

• Joyce McLaren, National Renewable Energy Laboratory - Senior Energy Analyst - Moderator

Chicago and Beyond: Equitable Solutions to Climate Goals
(9:45 - 10:45 am)

• Sarah Edwards, Environment & Sustainability Program Manager, Cook County - Moderator

• Angela Tovar, Chief Sustainability Officer at City of Chicago

• Kumar Jensen, Chief Sustainability and Resilience Officer, City of Evanston

• Brianne Mullen, Office of Sustainability, City of Richmond, Virginia

Clean Energy Tools and Financing for Communities
(11 - 12 pm)

This session will provide a brief overview of any legislative updates on CEJA and other potential renewable energy legislation.

• Delmar Gillus, Chief Operating Officer at Elevate Energy - Moderator

• Mohammed Elahi, Deputy Director Cook County Government

• Chris Lindgren, Superintendent of Buildings & Grounds at Park District of Oak Park

• Aaron Joseph, Managing Member, Starfield Road LLC.

Climate Crisis Resiliency and Green Infrastructure
(11- 12 pm)

This session will examine some of the most pressing climate-related issues facing low-income communities and neighborhoods, including flooding, the heat island effect, and pollution, and will discuss programs, projects, and strategies to directly address the needs of low-income residents and residents of color in frontline communities and will specifically address water resilience as a tool for equity.

• Sarah Edwards, Environment & Sustainability Program Manager, Cook County - Moderator

• Olga Bautista, Community Planning Manager, Alliance for the Great Lakes

• Emily Okallau, Chicago Region Trees Initiative Community Coordinator

• Marcella Bondie Keenan, Program Director of Climate Planning and Programs for the Center for Neighborhood Technology

• John Legge, Chicago Conservation Director at The Nature Conservancy

Waste Reduction and the Circular Economy
(11 - 12 pm)

Discuss the paradigm shift from waste management to resource recovery, and will demonstrate policies and boots-on-the-ground initiatives that are building the circular economy around resource recovery.

• Jen Nelson, Senior Program Manager, Seven Generations Ahead

• Stephanie Katsaros, Founder, Bright Beat

• Tom Fecarotta, Vice President, External Affairs and circular economy thought leader at Rheaply

• Mike Nowak, Host of the Mike Nowak Show — Moderator

Carbon Free Chicago
(2:15 - 3:15 pm)

This session will highlight Carbon Free Chicago (CFC), a newly-launched, thirty-year campaign for the prompt and equitable decarbonization of Chicago. The campaign was launched with a clear vision of success in mind: “By sunrise on January 1, 2051 Chicagoans will no longer burn fossil fuels to heat or power our buildings, vehicles, or grid.” The campaign is organized around a Theory of Change (TOC) based on the answers to three key questions: 1) what cultural, technological, and legislative milestones must Chicago achieve on the path to Decarbonization; 2) how can decarbonization happen equitably and efficiently; and 3) how, and in what order, can these milestones be achieved as quickly as possible? Doug Farr, lead organizer of CFC, will outline the initiative’s Common Agenda, and engage panelists in a discussion around equity and these core questions.

Doug Farr, Founder, and Principal, Farr Associates

Allessandra Kummelehne, Executive Director, South Metropolitan Higher Education Consortium - Moderator

Just Transition: Movement to a New Economy
(2:15 - 3:15 pm)

How to move to a clean and regenerative future while also advancing the movement for good jobs and moving toward a more sustainable future for workers and communities most impacted by the effects of climate change.

• Sarah Coulter, Executive Director, Calumet Collaborative - Moderator

• Emily Rhodes, Technical Assistance & Planning Manager, Just Transition Fund

• Kentina Kellum, Program Manager-Pre-Employment Education, and Training, OAI, Inc.

• Nakhia Morrissette, Central Region Director, Solar Energy Industries Association

• Shantanu Pai, Assistant Sustainability Researcher, University of Illinois

Innovative Policy Solutions
(2:15 - 3:15 pm)

This session will provide a brief overview of any legislative updates on CEJA and other potential renewable energy legislation. This session will also highlight and discuss policy strategies for advancing clean energy solutions at the municipal and community level, such as citywide building performance standards, electrification building codes, and equity-focused Green Zones.

• Sarah Edwards, Environment & Sustainability Program Manager, Cook County - Moderator

• Rajiv Ravulapati, Government Services Analyst, City of St. Louis

• Heather Navarro, 28th Ward Alderwoman, City of St. Louis

• Kelly Muellman, Sustainability Program Coordinator, City of Minneapolis

• MeLena Hessel, Policy Advocate at Environmental Law & Policy Center

• Ken Davies, Climate Smart San Jose at City of San Jose, Environmental Services Department

Reinventing Mobility: Curbing Emissions to Help Communities Prosper
(3:30 - 4:30 pm)

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown that air quality improves without millions of cars on the road. Yet people in communities that have historically had poor air quality are suffering the effects of the disease far more than anyone else. In this session, participants will learn how Smart Columbus is reinventing mobility in the Ohio region by expanding access to transportation. The session will also explore Chicago area transportation plans, necessary steps to advance electric vehicles in the region (including Chicago’s EV-ready program) and why these efforts can achieve the Chicago metro area’s GHG emissions reductions goals—and how it will help communities hardest hit by pollution.

• Erin Aleman, Executive Director, Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning

• Mandy Bishop, Deputy Director of Public Service/Smart Columbus Program Manager, City of Columbus

• Samantha Bingham, Clean Transportation Program Director at the Chicago Department of Transportation

• John Harris, Founding Principal, a5 Branding & Digital - Moderator

Reducing GHG Emissions through Low Carbon and Net Zero Buildings
(3:30 - 4:30 pm)

This session will look at the Net Zero Building movement, including active case examples, funding strategies, code and zoning barriers, potential policies, and local government efforts across the Chicago metro area.

• Katie Kaluzny, Associate Director at Illinois Green Alliance - Moderator

• Lois Vitt Sale, Chief Sustainability Officer, Wight

• Jamie Meyers, Energy Manager, Cook County Bureau of Asset Management

• Gail Paul, City Administrator, City of Countryside

• Gabriela Martin, Energy Program Director, Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation

Urban Forestry: Can Nature Be Medicine?
(3:30 - 4:30 pm)

Trees and the collective urban forest in the Chicago Region provide (critical benefits and services to the people who live here. By supporting and growing the urban forest, the Chicago Region can improve water and air quality, reduce flooding, increase the amount of green space, and sequester carbon from the atmosphere – while at the same time improve the health of residents.

• Veronica Kyle, Statewide Outreach Director, Faith In Place - Moderator

• Melissa Custic, Chicago Region Trees Initiative Coordinator, The Morton Arboretum

• Al De Reu, TreeKeepers Program Manager Openlands

• Charles O’Leary, Deputy Director of Resource Management, Forest Preserves of Cook County

• Teresa Horton, Research Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology, at Northwestern University