Wednesday, August 19,2020

3:30 - 5:00PM

A live streamed event.*

Shashawnda Campbell is a community leader and activist for Environmental Justice. As a student at Ben Franklin High School in South Baltimore, Shashawnda co-founded “Free Your Voice,” a student-led group that worked for 5 years to shut down the largest incinerator proposal in US history set to be built less than a mile away from their school. Shashawnda has since helped develop the South Baltimore Community Land Trust to create community led development without displacement, permanently affordable housing, and zero waste infrastructure. A lifelong Baltimore resident, Shashawnda is committed to the implementation of Baltimore's Fair Development Plan for Zero Waste to help lead her City through a just transition that respects our lives and our planet.  

Ruhan Nagra is a community advocate and human rights lawyer at the University Network for Human Rights. She has worked on a range of human rights issues in the United States, India, and the occupied Palestinian territory. For the past three years, Ruhan has partnered closely with the Concerned Citizens of St. John Parish, a community group fighting toxic emissions from a neoprene facility in Louisiana's Cancer Alley. As part of her work with the Concerned Citizens, Ruhan led the design and implementation of an unprecedented health study of the area near the neoprene plant and has engaged in environmental justice advocacy locally, nationally, and internationally. Ruhan holds a J.D. from Stanford Law School and a B.A. from Brown University.

Lana Weidgenant is a climate justice activist and advocate for shifting to plant-rich food systems as a climate solution. She currently works as the Co-Deputy Partnerships Director for Zero Hour, a youth-led movement creating entry points, training, and resources for new young activists and organizers (and adults who support this vision) wanting to take concrete action around climate change. She is a Brazilian immigrant to the United States who moved from her Florida home to the Washington, DC area to attend college full-time at the Johns Hopkins University. Being at Johns Hopkins and in the DMV area, she saw the opportunity to stand up for the communities she comes from and the future of her generation in voicing for a more humane, sustainable future. 

Diana Van Vleet is the National Director of Outreach & Engagement for the American Lung Association’s Healthy Air Campaign, a science-based campaign supporting clean air and climate protections. Previously she served as Manager of Policy Communications at Climate Nexus, a non-profit communications organization focusing on climate and clean energy solutions. Diana holds bachelor’s degrees in environmental science and political science from the University of Virginia.
 

This event will begin with a virtual screening of the new film, “Unbreathable: The Fight for Healthy Air,” which focuses on the remarkable progress made by the Clean Air Act, and the remaining obstacles to eliminating air pollution and saving lives. 

Following the screening, a virtual panel of climate and healthy air activists will address their critical role in advocating for environmental justice, clean air, and a livable climate - all of which are essential for healthy communities. 

Please join us as these activists and advocates, from a variety of community-based and global organizations, discuss their efforts to engage and strengthen disproportionately-impacted communities and catalyze policy change at all levels of government.