Stronger Together: Creative Partnerships between Community Organizations & Local Government for Extreme Weather Preparedness
Join us to learn about innovative partnerships between local governments, community organizations, and residents who are working together to influence policy and create projects that protect them from extreme heat and flooding.
Speakers will share success stories from San Diego, CA and Yonkers, NY where local government and community partners are working together to expand urban tree canopy and engage residents in identifying local priorities for adaptation planning.
Attendees will walk away with a clear understanding of how to build mutually beneficial partnerships that will bring more resources and long-term improvements to communities that have been hit hardest by extreme weather.
Learn more about our speakers:
- Genea Foster is Groundwork USA’s Director of Community Planning and is responsible for leading the Climate Safe Neighborhoods Partnership, which builds the capacity of Groundwork Affiliates to envision and implement local resilience projects that build community capacity to drive systems change. Genea is an urban planner and organizer who has worked with youth, communities of color, and municipalities towards climate resilience, health equity, and food sovereignty through planning, organizing, and popular education. Genea holds a Bachelor’s in Environmental Studies and Biology from Wellesley College and a Master’s in City Planning from MIT.
- Thad Winkle is the Deputy Director of Groundwork San Diego – Chollas Creek, where he leads strategic community initiatives and organizational development. His life commitment is to build a world where all people can flourish, beginning with those who have been most overlooked and disregarded. He has worked in churches, nonprofits, jails, a prison, and a state psychiatric hospital. Before moving to San Diego, Thad was the pastor of an LGBTQ+ affirming, justice-oriented church in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
- Harrison Nesbit is the Community Adaptation Program Manager at Groundwork Hudson Valley. He’s passionate about advancing community-driven initiatives and developing equitable strategies to strengthen environmental conditions in the communities most vulnerable to extreme heat and flooding. He is keen to maintain and expand holistic, nature-based solutions that improve air quality, cool neighborhoods, and reduce flooding. Harrison has a M.S in Sustainable Environmental Systems from Pratt Institute.
