Even as the Biden administration has taken welcome executive action in 2021, the climate crisis looms larger by the day.
Quakers are among those working for a vision of climate justice and creation care — through legislative advocacy, direct action, protests, sustainability work, and more.
The many ways Friends work towards this common vision will be our focus in FCNL’s April Quaker Changemaker event: “How Quakers are Working for Climate Justice” on Wednesday, April 28 at 6:30 p.m. EDT.
Friends involved in different parts of this social change ecosystem will talk about their experiences, goals, and concerns in pursuing “an earth restored.”
Speakers
Beverly G. Ward is the field secretary for Earthcare, Southeastern Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) and co-clerks the Quaker Earthcare Witness United Nations Working Group. She has taught several courses at the University of South Florida where she also worked as a faculty member in a research center. Her related experience includes conducting research and providing technical assistance to communities and local state and federal agencies on environmental and social justice, housing, and transportation issues. Among her publications and papers is “Making Black Communities Matter: Race, Space, and Resistance in the Urban South” (with Cheryl Rodriguez). She has served on several National Academies of Science Transportation Research Board committees and is the current research coordinator for the Equity in Transportation committee.
Beverly is an experiential workshop facilitator trained in conflict transformation, mediation, strategies on healing for trauma, and personal growth. She is an Alternatives to Violence Project facilitator and helps to provide community and prison workshops. She holds degrees from Vassar College, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and the University of South Florida. She lives on lands once inhabited by the Timucua (Ocklawaha River Watershed) and the Tocobaga (Hillsborough Bay Watershed).
Lina Blount is an organizer, trainer, and nonviolent action strategist who has been working on environmental justice campaigns in the Philadelphia area for over ten years. Lina currently works as the Education Coordinator for Pendle Hill and just rotated off as co-clerk of the Earth Quaker Action Team (EQAT) board, which she has served since 2013. Lina has also worked with the Divestment Student Network and spent two years as a canvass director and anti-fracking organizer in Pennsylvania.
Moderator
Clarence Edwards leads FCNL’s work on sustainable energy and environmental policy. He brings to FCNL extensive experience in government relations, issue advocacy, and strategic communications. Clarence has represented the policy interests of governments, nongovernmental organizations, and foundations. Prior to joining FCNL, Clarence spent six years at the Australian Embassy in the United States, where he advised on strategies to engage the Congress and executive branch.
As a lobbyist and advocate, he represented the interests of the Sabin Vaccine Institute, the ONE Campaign, and the Enough Project. He has also served as a congressional appropriations liaison for the Department of Energy, managed congressional outreach for the Council on Foreign Relations, and served in the Bureau of Public Affairs at the Department of State.