Introduction by Kenny Ausubel, Bioneers CEO and founder
The exponential market growth of clean energy and the concurrent decline of fossil fuels foretell a radically different energy future. It's much closer than most people realize. Thomas Van Dyck, acclaimed socially responsible investment pathfinder and activist co-founder of the Divest-Invest movement, shows how the clean energy transformation is gaining inexorable momentum with big business and governments worldwide. While technological advances have already made clean energy cost-competitive, Thomas shows how we can accelerate the transition and overcome the desperate last stand of the fossil fuel political-industrial complex.
How can new innovative types of urban farms produce healthy food, generate jobs, rebuild lives, and revitalize marginalized neighborhoods? Urban farming master Michael Ableman will share his experiences and guidance on how to develop vital urban farming initiatives in your community, and how to avoid the pitfalls that doom many projects. Michael is co-founder/Director of Sole Food Street Farms, the largest urban farm in North America in Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, the poorest zip code in Canada rife with addiction, HIV, prostitution and homelessness.
Demographic changes and transfer-of-wealth trends are putting more and more investment decision-making into women's control. Groundbreaking women in the financial world are emerging at the forefront of movements to reshape values and practices and redirect capital into positive, socially constructive investments. Three such leaders from distinct segments of the financial world share their insights and strategies. Hosted by Catherine Chen, a Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) specialist, Senior Vice President and Financial Advisor at RBC Wealth Management. With: Ellen Dorsey, Wallace Global Fund Executive Director; Nancy Pfund, DBL Partners Managing Partner, a leading private equity manager.
How do we reshape our financial systems to reverse environmental devastation and worsening economic inequality? $50 trillion will change hands from "boomers" to "millennials" in North America alone by 2050. It will remake the world. We are ancestors of the future. We must know what our money does to people and places, then take actions to align our dollars with our values. Three visionary thinkers and actors in the field of progressive finance engage in a robust conversation about the future of money. With: Joel Solomon, author of The Clean Money Revolution; Vince Siciliano, CEO of New Resource Bank; Katherine Collins, author of The Nature of Investing. Moderated by Kevin Bayuk, co-founder and Worker Owner, LIFT Economy.
Presented by The Democracy Collaborative
Resistance to Trump is critical, but equally important is developing a new cogent national progressive agenda so that we will be ready to push for positive policies once the political winds shift (as they invariably do). One key is to support innovative local and regional programs that can be expanded nationally when the opening occurs. These "laboratories of democracy" are being fashioned by cooperatives, social ventures, community-based organizations, impact investors and philanthropy. Come explore some of the most promising initiatives from across the country. Hosted by Ted Howard, President/co-founder, The Democracy Collaborative. With: Repa Mekha, President/CEO, Nexus Community Partners, St. Paul, MN; Patricia Farrar Rivas, President, Veris Wealth Partners.
Introduction by Kenny Ausubel, Bioneers CEO and co-founder
How can we take on the most powerful pillar of the status quo—the fossil fuel industry? And how can we, despite these challenging times, find and maintain the necessary courage, steadfastness, and stamina to see our way through to victory? How do we organize and build effective coalitions? Mariel Nanasi, Executive Director of the courageous New Mexico non-profit, New Energy Economy, shares insights drawn from her longtime leading role in confronting the electric utility monopoly, the most powerful corporation in her state. Mariel is an inspiring dynamo who lives by the motto: "Activism is the antidote to despair.”
Introduction by J.P. Harpignies, Bioneers Associate Producer
As a primary architect of the globally significant 2016 Great Bear Rainforest Agreement, Jody dedicated 20+ years of her life to the insanely challenging, complex and ultimately successful struggle to protect the largest expanse of old-growth temperate rainforest in the world. This historic agreement formalizes a large-scale model for First Nations reconciliation and shared decision-making, ecologically responsible forestry, and absolute protection of 85% of the forest. Jody will explore how we can find durable solutions to our most “wicked” problems by examining the dynamics of power, gender, science and culture and by using tools drawn from whole systems thinking, innovative conflict resolution techniques and consensus decision-making.
The clean energy revolution is about how we use power in all senses. Distributed energy calls for distributed power and economic, social and environmental justice. What does it look like now on the ground? How do we get from here to there? With: Thomas Van Dyck, Managing Director/Financial Advisor, SRI Wealth Management Group, RBC Wealth Management, a leader in socially-responsible investing for 30+ years; Mariel Nanasi, Executive Director/President, New Energy Economy; Marco Krapels, Executive Vice President of Strategy & Global Markets at SolarCity. Hosted by Sarah Shanley Hope, Executive Director of The Solutions Project (100.org), a national organization accelerating the transition to 100% clean, renewable energy.
