Newly launched Summer Speaker Series builds future conservation leaders
Young professionals engaging with Delegates Kathy Tran and Jackie Glass in VCN’s Legislator Panel. Photo by VCN.
Complementing the launch of our first inaugural paid summer fellowship program, VCN’s Summer Outreach Fellow, Andreana J. Lin, hosted a virtual 9-week speaker series for our network partners. In this interactive series, over 40 young professionals across the Commonwealth engaged in conversations with current environmental leaders and professional development opportunities.
Why a Summer Speaker Series?
“The reasons are two-fold,” said Andrew Perrow, our Civic Engagement and Outreach Manager. “One, for young and ambitious future conservation leaders to meet one another and, two, to provide them access points in a larger networking community. It will be a free-flowing exchange of discussion where our fellows and interns will learn about big issues together.”
The 2022 Summer Speaker Series schedule:
Week 1: Introduction to a Career in Conservation with VCN!
- Narissa Turner, Policy & Campaigns Manager – Clean Energy & Climate, VCN
- Wyatt Gordon, Policy & Campaigns Manager – Land Use & Transportation, VCN
- Nicole Duimstra, Communications & Campaigns Manager, VCN
Week 2: The Virginia Legislature and the Environment
- Connor Kish, Legislative and Political Director, Sierra Club – Virginia Chapter
- Anna Killius, Assistant Director of Policy and Government Affairs, James River Association
Week 3: Grassroots Organizing for Environmental Advocates
- Amy Wentz, Co-founder of Southside ReLeaf
- Sarah Ahmed, Statewide Field Director, Virginia League of Conservation Voters
Week 4: Legislator Panel: Meet Our Delegates!
- Kathy Tran, 42nd House District Delegate
- Jackie Glass, 89th House District Delegate
Week 5: Working for a VA State Agency and SWCD
- Danielle Simms, EJ Coordinator, Virginia Department of Environmental Quality
- Anne Coates, Executive Director, Thomas Jefferson Soil & Water Conservation District
Week 6: Beating the Atlantic Coast Pipeline!
- Nancy Sorrells, Augusta County Coordinator, Alliance for the Shenandoah Valley
- Greg Buppert, Senior Attorney and Natural Gas Regional Leader, Southern Environmental Law Center
Week 7: Enabling Inclusivity in our Workspaces, Institutions, and Social Network
- Isaias Hernandez, Environmental Educator & Founder of QueerBrownVegan
- Alexia Leclerq, EJ Organizer, Education Director, & Co-founder of Start:Empowerment
Week 8: Executive Director Panel on Organizational Leadership and Motivations
- Daria Christian, Executive Director, Friends of the Rappahannock
- Faith Walker, Executive Director, RVA Rapid Transit
Week 9: Professional Development: Resume Workshop
- Nicole Duimstra, Communications & Campaigns Manager, VCN
What’s Next?
The Summer Speaker Series is just the start in cultivating our future conservation leaders, lawmakers, lobbyists, advocates, organizers, teachers, directors, community members, and most importantly—passionate people united in solidarity to empower their communities and save our Earth.
Like our mission and want to support us? Donations are a great way to do just that!
If you want to read our latest news, then make sure to check out our blog and subscribe to our newsletter.
Bill of the Day: Nature-Based Solutions to Protect Our Wetlands
Virginia’s coastal wetlands are among the most critical natural resources, but continue to be lost at a significant rate.
Bill of the Day: Preserving Tree Canopy
Virginia continues to lose tree canopy at an astonishing rate. This loss of tree canopy needs to be slowed and replaced to help manage stormwater, flooding, and mitigate against the most harmful effects of climate change.
Bill of the Day: Environmental Justice & Protecting Rights
Several bills this session build towards a more environmentally just Virginia.
Bill of the Day: Reduce, Reuse, Extended Producer Responsibility, Recycle
Extended Producer Responsibility is the concept that manufacturers are responsible for the entire lifecycle of their product, particularly for end-of-life disposal and recycling. These programs shift waste management burdens away from consumers, local governments, and taxpayers to the producers, which incentivizes producers to design programs and products to be more sustainable, reusable, or recyclable.
Bill of the Day: Creating Safe, Affordable Housing
VCN is supporting legislation that would create more safe, affordable housing across the Commonwealth.
Report: Air Pollution Impacts from Data Centers in Northern Virginia
VCU's Institute for Sustainable Energy and Environment published a report examining the extent of current and potential future air pollution emissions from data centers in Northern Virginia.