35
Key Note Speakers
Key Note Speakers
Majora Carter
Clayton Thomas-Muller
Stephen Hazell
Liette Vasseur
Chalo Barruetas
Hosted by the Canadian Youth Climate Coalition
Key Note Speakers
Majora Carter
Majora Carter simultaneously addresses public health, poverty alleviation, and climate change as one of the nation’s pioneers in successful green-collar job training and placement systems. She founded Sustainable South Bronx in 2001 to achieve environmental justice through economically sustainable projects informed by community needs. Her work has garnered numerous awards and accolades including a MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship, one of Essence Magazine’s 25 Most Influential African-Americans in 2007, and one of the NY Post’s Most Influential NYC Women for the past two years. She is a board member of the Widerness Society, SJF, and CERES; and hosts a special national public radio series called “The Promised Land” (thepromisedland.org). Her work now includes advising cities, foundations, universities, businesses, and communities around the world on unlocking their green-collar economic potential to benefit everyone as President of the Majora Carter Group, LLC.
Clayton Thomas-Muller
Clayton Thomas-Muller, of the Mathais Colomb Cree Nation also known as Pukatawagan in Northern Manitoba, Canada, is an activist for Indigenous rights and environmental justice. With his roots in the inner city of Winnipeg, Clayton began his work as a community organizer, working with Aboriginal youth. Clayton went on to achieve many accomplishments as a youth leader in the Aboriginal community. Over the years Clayton’s work has taken him to five continents across our Mother Earth. He has been on the front lines of stopping industrial society’s assault on Indigenous Peoples lands to extract resources and to dump toxic wastes. Based out of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, Clayton is involved in many initiatives to support the building of an inclusive movement for Energy and Climate Justice. He serves as board chair of the Collective Heritage Institute (CHI), which hosts the annual Bioneers Conference in Marin, California. Over the years Clayton’s work has taken him to five continents across our Mother Earth. He has been on the front lines of stopping industrial society’s assault on Indigenous Peoples lands to extract resources and to dump toxic wastes
36
Express yourself on www.powershiftcanada.org
Key Note Speakers
Geoff Green
Adventurer and educator Geoff Green has led more than 100 expeditions to Antarctica and the Arctic, as well as dozens of other adventures around the globe. Not surprisingly, Geoff was named one of Canada’s “Top 40 Under 40” in 2005, and Outpost Magazine recognized him as one of “Five Canadian Explorers to Follow in 2004”. Notable organizations such as the Discovery Channel and the Smithsonian enlist Geoff to lead their expeditions. Geoff is the founder of the awardwinning organization “Students on Ice Expeditions” which has taken over 600 students, educators and scientists from around the world to the Polar Regions since 1999. He is a passionate ambassador for the protection of the planet’s global ecosystem. He inspires and motivates groups around the world of all ages with tales of adventure, incredible visuals, and personal observations on topics such as leadership, vision, teamwork, climate change and the power of youth. A charismatic and entertaining speaker, Geoff’s presentations are educational, inspirational, and unforgettable.
Chalo Barruetas
Chalo Barrueta is the co-founder of Banyan Youth, a project of Tides Canada Initiatives that gets youth involved in hands-on learning experiences around natural building, community organizing and renewal. Presently, through Banyan, he is also working with a collective of organizations to bring YouthBuild to Ontario. In addition to being a core member of Banyan, Chalo is working on the Ontario Youth Matter Campaign to create a provincial youth policy framework to bring together government in an aligned way towards ensuring success of our young people. He is also helping to lead U4Change, an intercultural arts and culture project in St. James Town, Toronto. Chalo is a graduate of George Brown’s Construction Engineering Technology Program and is currently pursuing graduate studies through OISE at the University of Toronto. His passions lie within the integration of social enterprise, green business development and community building.
37
Hosted by the Canadian Youth Climate Coalition
Key Note Speakers
Stephen Hazell M.Sc., LL.B
Ottawa-based consulting firm. Stephen is a lawyer, trained as an ecological scientist, and an expert in environmental assessment. Stephen has been executive director of the Sierra Youth Coalition providing overall leadership to Sierra Club Canada’s campaigns to transform Canada’s fossil-fuel based energy economy into one that is primarily based on renewable energy sources and more efficient use of fossil fuels that are burned. Stephen currently co-chairs a joint industry-environmental group initiative advancing a national regulatory framework to reduce smog emissions. He also leads Sierra Club regulatory interventions to ensure that ecological considerations are taken into consideration in approval of resource-development projects such as the Mackenzie Gas Project, Kearl Tar Sands Project, White Point Basalt Quarry and Marine Terminal, and Deep Panuke Offshore Gas Project. Stephen holds a Master of Science degree in Plant Ecology from the University of Toronto and a Law degree from Queen’s University. He is the author of Canada v. The Environment, his 1999 book on federal environmental assessment law and policy.
Liette Vasseur
Liette Vasseur is the Vice-President, Research at Brock University and former Associate Vice-President, Research at Laurentian University. She is now adjunct professor in Biology as well as being affiliated with PhD in Human Studies. Prior to that, Vasseur was the K.C. Irving Research Chair in Sustainable Development at the Université de Moncton, and a full professor in the Department of Biology. She also remains an adjunct professor in the School for Resource and Environmental Studies at Dalhousie University, Department of Biology at Université de Moncton as well as at the Fujian Agricultural and Forestry University, Fuzhou, China. Her research is mainly in climate change, sustainable development, community-based ecosystem management and conservation ecology. Her projects have been or are currently being carried out in Canada and countries such as China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Panama, Brazil and Burkina Faso. Vasseur received her PhD in biology from Queen’s University and Master’s from Université du Quebec à Montreal.
38
Express yourself on www.powershiftcanada.org