We're very excited to announce that Climate Changemakers is returning for Season 2, and this year we're going cross-country! To get the podcast juices flowing, we've compiled our Season 1 guests' responses to the question "What should Elevate and its peers be doing differently to move the work forward?," and are sharing their reflections with you today!

Stay tuned for a new episode every month featuring a conversation with an Environmental Justice worker from across the U.S. who is leading the fight against climate change and environmental racism, and make sure to rate and review Climate Changemakers!

Season 2 Coming Soon, and Season 1 Reflections

Climate Changemakers is back for Season 2! And this year, hosts Damon and Kiss are reaching beyond Illinois and talking with environmental justice movement workers from across the land about what ideas guide their work, which strategies have been effective, and what advice they have for Elevate as the organization works to put people and the planet first in the fight to build equity through climate action. 

The season kicks off with Marnese Jackson, an advocate, organizer and mother from Pontiac, Michigan whose work lives at every scale from the personal to the global. She is a member of Michigan's State Climate Solutions Board, on the leadership team of the Midwest Building Decarbonization Coalition, and a facilitator of BIPOC leadership programs in the climate justice movement. She talks about getting white folks to be self-reflective, bringing together multiracial coalition, and much more!

Subscribe to, rate, and review Climate Changemakers on your podcast app: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/climate-changemakers/id1503392646

Episode 2.1 - Marnese Jackson

On this episode, Damon and Daniel have the honor of talking with two of the leading voices in the fight to save the lives and communities of Centreville, Illinois, a community that has been living in raw sewage for decades. Nicole Nelson is an attorney with Equity Legal Services, where she litigates on behalf of and works with Centreville residents, and Valerie Marion is a lifelong Centreville resident who is one of the founders of Centreville Citizens for Change, a community group that provides bottled water and other resources to their neighbors. The duo talks about how their town was structurally neglected, the physical and emotional toll of the struggle for justice, and what you can do to support.

SHOW NOTES
Donate to the Home Repair Community Fund - https://charity.gofundme.com/o/en/campaign/centreville-citizens-for-change-home-repair-community-fund

Learn more and dive deeper into the fight - https://floodedandforgotten.com/

Episode 2.2 - Nicole Nelson and Valerie Marion

Climate Changemakers is back for Season 2! And this year, hosts Damon and Kiss are reaching beyond Illinois and talking with environmental justice movement workers from across the land about what ideas guide their work, which strategies have been effective, and what advice they have for Elevate as the organization works to put people and the planet first in the fight to build equity through climate action.

On this episode, the guys chat with Leanna Petrone, who is the Executive Director of Portland, Oregon based organization Latino Built. She breaks down how the organization provides support to Latino contractors and construction business owners, how she works to break cycles for her people, and the specifics of white supremacy in the Pacific Northwest.

SHOW NOTES
Learn more about Latino Built: https://latinobuilt.org/

Subscribe to, rate, and review Climate Changemakers on your podcast app: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/clim…rs/id1503392646

Become an AirGo Amplifier - airgoradio.com/donate

Rate and review AirGo - podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/airgo/id1016530091

Episode 2.3 - Leanna Petrone

Climate Changemakers is back for Season 2! And this year, hosts Damon and Kiss are reaching beyond Illinois and talking with environmental justice movement workers from across the land about what ideas guide their work, which strategies have been effective, and what advice they have for Elevate as the organization works to put people and the planet first in the fight to build equity through climate action.

On this episode, the guys are joined by Neil Whitegull. Neil is the Executive Director of the Ho-Chunk Housing and Community Development Agency, a nonprofit organization on Ho-Chunk sovereign land in Wisconsin. He breaks down the history of trust responsibilities between the federal government and indigenous people, the contradictions and opportunities of federal funding, Ho-Chunk stories that go back three ice ages, the film Ice Age, and much more.

SHOW NOTES
Learn more about the HHCDA: https://hhcda.com/

Subscribe to, rate, and review Climate Changemakers on your podcast app: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/clim…rs/id1503392646

Become an AirGo Amplifier - airgoradio.com/donate

Rate and review AirGo - podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/airgo/id1016530091

Episode 2.4 - Neil Whitegull

Climate Changemakers is back for Season 2! And this year, hosts Damon and Kiss are reaching beyond Illinois and talking with environmental justice movement workers from across the land about what ideas guide their work, which strategies have been effective, and what advice they have for Elevate as the organization works to put people and the planet first in the fight to build equity through climate action.

On Episode 5, Dame and Kiss head east to talk Detroit with the inimitable Monica Lewis-Patrick. Known as the "Water Warrior," Monica is the cofounder of We The People Detroit, a community-based grassroots organization aiming to inform, educate, and empower Detroit residents on imperative issues surrounding civil rights, land, water, education, and the democratic process. She talks about the links between water access and austerity, the gender-based violence of water shutoffs, the regional coalition of water organizing across the Great Lakes, how her mother called her to action, and much more.

SHOW NOTES
Support We The People Detroit - https://www.wethepeopleofdetroit.com

Gloria House - https://snccdigital.org/people/gloria-house/

Rev. Dr. JoAnne Watson - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JoAnn_Watson

ALEC - https://www.alecexposed.org/wiki/ALEC_Exposed

Charity Hicks - https://www.onthecommons.org/magazine/commoner/remembering-charity-hicks

Prof. Gwen Winston - https://anchor.fm/onesongplaylist/episodes/Monica-Lewis-Patrick--Gwen-Winston-Motown-Matriarchs-Part-1-e10jmdk

We the Youth Detroit - https://www.wethepeopleofdetroit.com/youth-leaders

The New “Water Barons”: Wall Street Mega-Banks are Buying up the World’s Water - https://www.globalresearch.ca/the-new-water-barons-wall-street-mega-banks-are-buying-up-the-worlds-water/5383274

Water Shutoffs During COVID-19 and Black Lives: Case Study Detroit -https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/env.2020.0064#.YPwWWm4u4S8.facebook

Clean Water and Reproductive Justice - https://www.nationalpartnership.org/our-work/resources/repro/clean-water-and-reproductive-justice.pdf

Water insecurity and psychosocial distress: case study of the Detroit water shutoffs - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32930795/

Episode 2.5 - Monica Lewis-Patrick

Climate Changemakers is back for Season 2! And this year, hosts Damon and Kiss are reaching beyond Illinois and talking with environmental justice movement workers from across the land about what ideas guide their work, which strategies have been effective, and what advice they have for Elevate as the organization works to put people and the planet first in the fight to build equity through climate action.

On the final episode of Season 2, the guys head to the Bronx to talk with Diana Hernández. A professor at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health, Diana digs into her process of moving from advocating solutions to building deeper understanding of the problem, how her childhood in the South Bronx built her understandings of health and community, the complexities of fighting for quality housing for all, and much more. Plus, a cameo from her six month-old daughter!

SHOW NOTES
Amazing Grace: The Lives of Children and the Conscience of a Nation by Jonathan Kozol - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51537.Amazing_Grace

Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago by Jonathan Kozol - https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/H/bo20809880.html

Episode 2.6 - Diana Hernández

Climate Changemakers is a podcast series highlighting leaders in equity work and climate action. For season three, we’re centering artists and creators producing content about the environment and climate crisis in innovative ways. By passing the mic to them, we can together explore how to expand this important conversation through art and media, bringing in people who might not otherwise have participated.

UZMA NOORMOHAMED – EPISODE 1 

Uzma Noormohamed is the Program Director at the Illinois Science and Energy Innovation Foundation in Chicago. Uzma has over a decade of experience working on climate and energy issues and is most recently proud of leading E(art)H Chicago, a grant program supporting the use of art and stories to stimulate community engagement on climate change, natural resource use, and environmental justice in Chicago neighborhoods. 

This episode was recorded in the "Elevate Cafe" at our Green Street headquarters in Chicago.

Website: https://www.ElevateNP.org 
About Elevate: We design and implement programs that reduce costs, protect people and the environment, and ensure the benefits of clean and efficient energy use reach those who need them most. Elevate seeks to create a world in which everyone has clean and affordable heat, power, and water in their homes and communities — no matter who they are or where they live. Making the benefits and services of the clean energy economy accessible to everyone is how we fight climate change while supporting equity.

Episode 3.1 - Uzma Noormohamed

Climate Changemakers is a podcast series highlighting leaders in equity work and climate action. For season three, we’re centering artists and creators producing content about the environment and climate crisis in innovative ways. By passing the mic to them, we can together explore how to expand this important conversation through art and media, bringing in people who might not otherwise have participated.

Candace Hunter is a self-sustaining visual artist residing in Chicago and calling the world home. Her touring solo show, DUST IN THEIR VEINS: A Visual Response to the Global Water Crisis, illustrates the plight of women and children who are confined by water woes. See more of Candace's work: https://chleeart.com/2019/01/22/dust-...

This episode was recorded in the "Elevate Cafe" at our Green Street headquarters in Chicago.

About Elevate:
We design and implement programs that reduce costs, protect people and the environment, and ensure the benefits of clean and efficient energy use reach those who need them most.

Elevate seeks to create a world in which everyone has clean and affordable heat, power, and water in their homes and communities — no matter who they are or where they live. Making the benefits and services of the clean energy economy accessible to everyone is how we fight climate change while supporting equity.

Episode 3.2 - Candace Hunter

Climate Changemakers is a podcast series highlighting leaders in equity work and climate action. For season three, we're centering artists and creators producing content about the environment and climate crisis in innovative ways. By passing the mic to them, we can together explore how to expand this important conversation through art and media, bringing in people who might not otherwise have participated. 

Judy Natal - Episode 3

Judy Natal is a Chicago-based artist, author, and Professor Emeritus of Photography at Columbia College Chicago. Her recent project, The Weather Diaries, is a body of work based on the 33 video interviews Judy conducted in Iceland, the Faroe Islands and Hawai'i, with a particular focus on Traditional Indigenous practices (TEK). It has turned into a book project accompanied by an immersive exhibition with sonic, craft, still photography, video, archival materials, and story components.  

https://www.judynatal.com/

This episode was recorded in the "Elevate Cafe" at our Green Street headquarters in Chicago.

➡️ Subscribe: Elevate
➡️ Website: https://www.ElevateNP.org 

About Elevate: We design and implement programs that reduce costs, protect people and the environment, and ensure the benefits of clean and efficient energy use reach those who need them most. Elevate seeks to create a world in which everyone has clean and affordable heat, power, and water in their homes and communities — no matter who they are or where they live. Making the benefits and services of the clean energy economy accessible to everyone is how we fight climate change while supporting equity.

Episode 3.3 - Judy Natal

Climate Changemakers is a podcast series highlighting leaders in equity work and climate action. For season three, we're centering artists and creators producing content about the environment and climate crisis in innovative ways. By passing the mic to them, we can together explore how to expand this important conversation through art and media, bringing in people who might not otherwise have participated. 

Resita Cox - Episode 4

Resita Cox is a director whose documentaries center on Southern, Black communities and use them as a lens to examine topics ranging from environmental justice to racial justice. She is the director of Freedom Hill, a documentary about the environmental racism that is washing away the first town chartered by Black people in the nation, with which she was named a 2021 Hulu/Kartemquin Accelerator Fellow.  

This episode was recorded in the "Elevate Cafe" at our Green Street headquarters in Chicago.

➡️ Website: https://www.ElevateNP.org 

About Elevate: We design and implement programs that reduce costs, protect people and the environment, and ensure the benefits of clean and efficient energy use reach those who need them most. Elevate seeks to create a world in which everyone has clean and affordable heat, power, and water in their homes and communities — no matter who they are or where they live. Making the benefits and services of the clean energy economy accessible to everyone is how we fight climate change while supporting equity.

Episode 3.4 - Resita Cox

Climate Changemakers is a podcast series highlighting leaders in equity work and climate action. For season three, we're centering artists and creators producing content about the environment and climate crisis in innovative ways. By passing the mic to them, we can together explore how to expand this important conversation through art and media, bringing in people who might not otherwise have participated. 

AirGo - Episode 5

Damon Williams and Daniel Kisslinger are the co-hosts of AirGo, a weekly podcast and cultural media hub in Chicago that reshapes the culture of the city and beyond. They are currently working on producing Help this Garden Grow, a podcast documentary about Hazel Johnson, the “mother of the environmental justice movement.” 

This episode was recorded in the "Elevate Cafe" at our Green Street headquarters in Chicago.

➡️ Website: https://www.ElevateNP.org 

About Elevate: We design and implement programs that reduce costs, protect people and the environment, and ensure the benefits of clean and efficient energy use reach those who need them most. Elevate seeks to create a world in which everyone has clean and affordable heat, power, and water in their homes and communities — no matter who they are or where they live. Making the benefits and services of the clean energy economy accessible to everyone is how we fight climate change while supporting equity.

Episode 3.5 - AirGo

Climate Changemakers is a podcast series highlighting leaders in equity work and climate action. For season three, we're centering artists and creators producing content about the environment and climate crisis in innovative ways. By passing the mic to them, we can together explore how to expand this important conversation through art and media, bringing in people who might not otherwise have participated. 

Kate Levy - Episode 6

Kate Levy is Detroit and NYC-based filmmaker who has produced films, storytelling platforms, and multimedia installations about water, education, immigration rights, police violence and environmental racism. Her feature, Whose Water?: The People's Movement for Safe, Affordable Water and Sanitation in the United States, was released in Fall 2022.

This episode was recorded in the "Elevate Cafe" at our Green Street headquarters in Chicago.

➡️ Website: https://www.ElevateNP.org 

About Elevate: We design and implement programs that reduce costs, protect people and the environment, and ensure the benefits of clean and efficient energy use reach those who need them most. Elevate seeks to create a world in which everyone has clean and affordable heat, power, and water in their homes and communities — no matter who they are or where they live. Making the benefits and services of the clean energy economy accessible to everyone is how we fight climate change while supporting equity.

Episode 3.6 - Kate Levy

Climate Changemakers is a 5-part podcast series, showcasing and celebrating leaders in equity work and climate action across Illinois, presented by Elevate Energy. This episode's guest is Suzy Schlosberg, the Co-Director of the Chicago Youth Alliance for Climate Action. A senior at Whitney Young High School, Suzy is also on the steering committee for the Ready for 100 Chicago Collective and is a student intern at the Sierra Club office.

Learn about Elevate Energy and their 20th anniversary: https://www.elevateenergy.org/

Learn more about podcast hosts Damon and Daniel: http://airgoradio.com

Episode 1 - Suzy Schlosberg

Climate Changemakers is a 5-part podcast series, showcasing and celebrating leaders in equity work and climate action across Illinois, presented in celebration of the 20th anniversary of nonprofit organization Elevate Energy. This month's Climate Changemaker is Juliana Pino, the Policy Director at the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization (LVEJO). At LVEJO, Juliana analyzes, researches, and advocates for environmental justice, climate justice, and economic justice in local, state, and federal environmental policy. She serves on the Board of Directors of the Illinois Environmental Council, a statewide organization that promotes sound environmental policy and protections for land, air, water, wildlife, and human health.

Check out LVEJO: http://www.lvejo.org/

Learn about Elevate Energy and their 20th anniversary: https://www.elevateenergy.org/

Learn more about podcast hosts Damon and Daniel: http://airgoradio.com

Episode 2 - Juliana Pino

Climate Changemakers is a 5-part podcast series, showcasing and celebrating leaders in equity work and climate action across Illinois, presented in celebration of the 20th anniversary of nonprofit organization Elevate Energy. This month's Climate Changemaker is Anton Seals, Jr. Anton is the Lead Steward of Grow Greater Englewood, a social enterprise focusing on building a equitable and resilient local food system that fosters protections of vacant land in divested communities and focuses on connecting those residents with community wealth building opportunities. In this wide-ranging conversation, Anton talks about the connections and unique challenges of reshaping Black Chicagoans' relationship to food, as well as how the structures and pathologies of power limit this transformative work.

Learn more about Grow Greater Englewood: http://growgreater.org

Learn about Elevate Energy and their 20th anniversary: www.elevateenergy.org/

Learn more about podcast hosts Damon and Daniel: airgoradio.com

Episode 3 - Anton Seals, Jr.

Climate Changemakers is a 5-part podcast series, showcasing and celebrating leaders in equity work and climate action across Illinois, presented in celebration of the 20th anniversary of nonprofit organization Elevate Energy. This month's Climate Changemaker is Patricia Abrams. Pat is the Executive Director of the Renaissance Collaborative, a social impact organization that has provided affordable housing, workforce development, employment, and educational services and solutions to over 1,000 individuals annually in Bronzeville and its adjacent communities for the past 27 years. She talks about how environmental sustainability became an important piece of her work, the transformation of the historic Wabash YMCA that houses the organization's office and housing, and how we can move forward in a more human direction.

Learn more about the organization: https://www.trcwabash.org/about-us.html

Learn about Elevate Energy and their 20th anniversary: www.elevateenergy.org/

Learn more about podcast hosts Damon and Daniel: http://airgoradio.com

Episode 4 - Pat Abrams

On this final episode of Climate Changemakers, Damon and Daniel are joined by Lissette Castañeda. A lifelong Logan Square resident, Lissette is the Interim Executive Director of LUCHA, an organization working to advance housing as a human right by empowering communities– particularly the Latino and Spanish-speaking populations–through advocacy, affordable housing development, and community building. She talks about the ways in which her work is connected to the Puerto Rican diaspora, how COVID is impacting the fight for housing as a human right, and much more.

Episode 5 - Lissette Castañeda

Climate Changemakers is back, baby! AirGo returns to partner with Elevate for another three conversations with some of Illinois' most impactful environmental justice and sustainability movement workers, showcasing their work and sharing what lessons they've learned. This episode is with Ramon Etc. aka Radius, the cofounder of the Love Fridge Chicago, a mutual aid network that sets up community-run, free-food fridges across the city of Chicago. He talks about how the network emerged, his relationship with food, and how we can build a more embodied and sustainable relationship to our food system.

SHOW NOTES:

Check out Ramon's music - 
SEEN (Etc Records/ARR sound)
https://radiusetc.bandcamp.com/album/seen

Sense x Radius (Etc Records)
https://senseradius.bandcamp.com/album/the-live-archive-2-era-of-the-tec

Partner Organizations - 
eric aka manny is on the team and runs flatlands press
https://www.instagram.com/flatlands_press/

lisa armstrong is a head/og designer
https://www.instagram.com/lisastrongarms/

charlotte cohen is main web related designer/etc
https://www.instagram.com/charlottecohen/

Feed The Crib/Del dia chicago
https://www.instagram.com/feedthecrib/
https://www.instagram.com/deldiachicago/

Grocery Run Club
https://www.instagram.com/groceryrunclub/

grow greater englewood
https://www.instagram.com/growgreaterenglewood/

bronzville kenwood mutual aid
https://www.instagram.com/bk_mutualaid/

stephanie dunn/starfarm
https://www.instagram.com/stephaniedunn8318/

Gotham Greens
https://www.instagram.com/gothamgreens/

Urban Growers Collective
https://www.instagram.com/urbangrowerscollective/

Thankful For Chicago
https://www.instagram.com/thankfulforchicago/

Chef Chanell
https://www.instagram.com/chefchanell/

Back to school boxes
https://www.instagram.com/backtoschoolboxes/

Bobcat eats
https://www.instagram.com/bobcateatsfoodwasteprogram/

kitchfix
https://www.instagram.com/kitchfix/

Moms Chicago
https://www.instagram.com/momschicago/

Episode 6 - Ramon Etc. of the Love Fridge Chicago

On the penultimate episode of Climate Changemakers, Damon and Daniel talk with artist, community builder, and Chicago gem Tonika Lewis Johnson. A lifelong Englewood resident, she helped co-found the Resident Association of Greater Englewood (R.A.G.E), whose mission is to “mobilize people and resources to force positive change in Englewood through solution-based approaches." She is also a lead co-founder of the Englewood Arts Collective, established in 2017 to help artistically “reframe the narrative” of Englewood. Her Folded Map Project, which brings together "map twins" from opposite sides of the city, has been widely acclaimed as both an artistic project and a flashpoint in the fight against structural racism. She talks about the ways that the project has evolved, what she's learned from it about our collective relationships to land, what she imagines in the demolished spaces across her neighborhood, and much more.

SHOW NOTES
Cooked Survival by Zip Code - https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/videos/cooked-survival-by-zip-code/

Open Lands Tree Stewardship project - https://www.openlands.org/trees/

Go Green on Racine - https://gogreenonracine.com/

Folded Map Action Kit - https://www.foldedmapproject.com/submit

Episode 7 - Tonika Lewis Johnson

On this eighth and final episode of Climate Changemakers, Dame and Daniel are joined by Olga Bautista of the Chicago Southeast Side Coalition to Ban Petcoke. In response to decades of pollution and environmental destruction by industry in her home neighborhood on the Southeast side of the city, Olga banded together with other community members to fight for environmental protections from and cleanup of Petcoke, a toxic byproduct of oil refinement that was poisoning the air she and her family were breathing. The coalition successfully fought the Koch brothers, who were forced to dispose of the petcoke in a less destructive manner. She talks about the devastation of industrial pollution, learning to collect the necessary data herself, the unique challenges of having a set at the redevelopment table during a pandemic, and much more.

SHOW NOTES
Exit Zero - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24898568-exit-zero
COPD - https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/copd/symptoms-causes/syc-20353679
NRDC - https://www.nrdc.org/
Nancy Loeb - https://www.law.northwestern.edu/faculty/profiles/NancyLoeb/
Invest South/West - https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/sites/invest_sw/home.html
Great Cities Institute - https://greatcities.uic.edu
Poor People's Campaign - https://www.poorpeoplescampaign.org

Episode 8 - Olga Bautista

Climate Changemakers is a podcast series, showcasing and celebrating leaders in equity work and climate action, presented by Elevate and hosted by AirGo. In season one we highlighted leaders across Illinois, and in season two we will be featuring leaders nationwide!

Climate Changemakers

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