Earth Day Panel on the Intersectionality of Racism, Economy & Climate Change

Thursday, April 22^nd 5:00-6:30 pm

Price: free

Registration: required at act.sierraclub.org (click to register)

Description: On Earth Day, Sierra Club of Maine will host a panel discussion on the intersectionality of racism, economy, and climate change. Speakers will include Josh Wood, Race & Climate Justice Organizer and Co-Organizing Director for Maine Strikes, Ania Wright, Grassroots Climate Action Organizer for Sierra Club Maine, and Davis Taylor, Professor of Economics and Quantitative Social Studies at College of the Atlantic.

Josh Wood is a 15-year old racial and climate justice organizer based in Sanford, Maine. At Maine Strikes, he is the co-organizing director. He served as the youngest Communications Director in the state #BlackLivesMatter movement after the death of many Black people across America during a global pandemic. Through starting a petition to remove school resource officers in his hometown, awareness of racial justice issues have grown increasingly local to his area. In August 2020, he helped create initiatives in Black Lives Matter Maine that have since seen the demilitarization of police departments in small towns, equitable changes to schooling, and more. He was recognized by the Portland Press Herald for his contribution to small town movements, and now continues to work with Maine Climate Strikes to pass county-wide climate emergencies and manage statewide action teams. Josh will speak about intersectionality to class and race in rural areas. He will speak about how to make small towns more accessible and equitable, and how to make change on big levels in small places.

Ania Wright is the Grassroots Climate Action Organizer for Sierra Club Maine. She works to engage and support youth in climate justice initiatives, with a focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion. A recent graduate from College of the Atlantic, she has been extensively involved in climate justice activism in the State of Maine and has attended international climate summits in support of the Paris Climate Accord. Ania is a founding member of Maine Youth for Climate Justice, which supports young people in their work for climate action. She is also the Youth Representative to the Maine Climate Council, where she helped develop a Climate Action Plan for Maine. Ania also sits on the board of Maine Climate Action NOW!, where she is leading an effort to develop a “Climate Justice Crash Course” for youth and adults. Her ongoing efforts, including her address to the last in-person meeting of the Maine Climate Council, have helped center equity and justice in Maine’s climate movement.

Davis Taylor, PhD, is Professor of Economics and the Cody Van Heerden Chair in Economics and Quantitative Social Sciences at College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor. Originally trained in microeconomics, his teaching and research extends across a broad range of economic topics and paradigms, emphasizing interdisciplinarity and pluralistic approaches. His research and community engagement focuses on cooperatives, cooperative economies, food systems, and ecological economics. Davis has served on the boards of the Natural Resources Council of Maine, the Good Tern food cooperative (Rockland, Maine) and the Cooperative Development Institute, along with the Policy Committee of the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association.