Our Goal: Engage healthcare professionals and equity advocates in our local climate movement, and develop a shared understanding of how climate change impacts our health and what we can do about it.

Friday 4/19 | 12:30pm - 5pm
12:30 Registration/Networking
1:00 Welcome and Opening Remarks
1:15 Keynote + Q&A: Cecilia Sorensen
2:00 "Stories from the Frontlines” Plenary Panel Discussion
3:00 Topic-Specific Table Discussions
3:50 Closing Remarks
4:00 Networking/Happy Hour
5:00 End

  • Health Professionals on the Front Lines of Climate and Health Equity Solutions

    Dr. Cecilia Sorensen, Director of the Global Consortium on Climate and Health Education at Columbia University, will give us an insiders’ view on how health professionals are dealing with emergent health issues related to climate change (including extreme heat, degraded air quality, extreme weather events, emerging infectious diseases, women’s health, and worker health) and what healthcare systems can do to address their carbon footprint and prepare for our community’s changing needs.

  • Local healthcare providers will highlight how climate change is already affecting their work and their patients’ health. Based on the wide range of experience and expertise they bring to this conversation, the panelists will identify concrete solutions that our region’s healthcare system should prioritize, in order to overcome the climate-related challenges and risks that healthcare providers currently face. Panelists: Dr. Valerie Lou, Dr. Jane Van Dis, Dr. Kate Weber, Mary Zelazny, Darrell Whitbeck

  • During this session, Summit attendees will have the opportunity to self-select topics they are interested in exploring in depth, related to a wide variety of issues at the intersection of climate, health, and equity. Each discussion will be facilitated by a local expert on the topic, who will guide their group through a process of identifying local (1) needs, challenges, and barriers, (2) solutions and opportunities for action/progress, and (3) key stakeholders who are or should be engaged in advancing solutions and progress. The crowd-sourced outcomes of this discussion will be shared with all attendees after the Summit.

Saturday 4/20 | 8:30am - 4pm
8:30 Registration/Networking
9:00 Welcome and Opening Remarks
9:15 Climate Testimonials
9:45 Keynote: Wade Norwood
10:30 Break
10:45 Interactive Activity
11:45 Lunch
12:45 Breakout Sessions #1
1:35 Break
1:45 Breakout Sessions #2
2:35 Climate and Health Solutions Fair
4:00 End

  • To illustrate the wide range of ways that climate change impacts the health of our community, a handful of local residents will share their personal climate stories, followed by time for audience members to reflect on their own experience with climate change. Storytellers: Danielle Lyon, Jahasia Esgdaille, Dolores Carmona, Jenna Welch, Cynthia Wilson

  • "The Ecology Song: Our Community's Health Depends on Our Planet's Health"

    Wade Norwood, Chief Executive Officer of Common Ground Health, will help us understand how climate change intersects with other community concerns and how we can therefore improve our our health and wellbeing through the implementation of effective, equitable climate solutions.

Breakout Sessions #1

  • Dr. Lemir Teron of Howard University will explore how racism shapes the climate crisis and other environmental crises, resulting in disproportionate impacts and lack of access to solutions for historically marginalized populations.

  • What we eat and how we produce that food significantly impacts both human health and the health of the planet. Our panel of experts will discuss the implications of our food choices and provide concrete recommendations for how we can better nourish ourselves and the natural systems on which our lives depend. Panelists: Carl Simon, Dr. Ted Barnett, Wilmer Jimenez, Klaas Martens

  • Our region’s transition to clean energy is well underway, but it is not yet clear if that transition will be an equitable one. This panel discussion will shed light on both the barriers to ensuring equitable access to the benefits of clean energy and opportunities for creating equitable access that our community can/should prioritize. Panelists: Simeon Banister, Rod Cox Cooper, Mike Riedlinger, Jenna Lawson

  • The original people of this land have a lot to teach us about how to responsibly steward the Earth’s resources and live in harmony with other species. This panel will explore how that wisdom can inform our region’s approach to addressing climate change, in order to create a healthier, more equitable, and regenerative community. Panelists: Ronalyn Pollack, Dean Seneca, Dr. Rohsennase Dalton LaBarge

  • Transportation is our region’s largest source of emissions. It’s also essential for a thriving, equitable community. What will it take to create a regional transportation system that meets the needs of local residents AND is good for the environment? That’s the big question that this panel will explore. Panelists: Corinda Reaves, Cody Donahue, Mike Bulger

Breakout Sessions #2

  • It’s clear that climate change has major implications for human health, particularly for historically disadvantaged communities, but how can we act on this insight by promoting policy, systems, and environmental changes that protect local communities? In this session, Dr. Katrina Korfmacher, Professor of Environmental Medicine and Director of Community Engagement for the Environmental Health Sciences Center and the Institute for Human Health and the Environment at the University of Rochester, will introduce Health Impacts Assessment (HIA) as an approach to reducing health hazards related to climate change.

  • To effectively and equitably address the climate crisis, we need systems-level solutions. That requires a focus on policy at all levels of government. If you want the low-down on what good climate policy looks like and how to move it forward, this panel discussion is for you. Panelists: Dr. Kate Weber, Clement Chung, David Alicea

  • Though our region is considered a “climate haven” and will likely experience fewer extreme weather events than other places, we still need to be ready for when disaster strikes. This panel will focus on concrete steps that will help our community develop resilience and prepare for whatever the future may hold. Panelists: Angelica Perez-Delgado, Akilah Banister, Dr. Erik Rueckmann

  • If our approach to addressing climate change focuses only on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, we’ve kind of missed the point. In this panel discussion, we will peer under the surface to scrutinize the deeper issues that have gotten us into this mess, and what we can do to turn things around. Panelists: Aqua Porter, Dr. Lemir Teron, Dr. Llerena Searle

  • Building energy upgrades provide a fantastic opportunity to improve people’s health, economic stability, comfort, and quality of life, all while reducing emissions. So if you’re looking for win-win climate solutions, building efficiency and electrification should be at the top of your list! This panel will explore how our region can take advantage of this opportunity, to quickly and equitably transition our local building stock off of fossil fuels. Panelists: Shalini Beath, Shinita Hlywa, Elizabeth McDade

Program Advisory Committee

Rachel Betts - Greater Rochester Health Foundation
Monica Brown - Greater Rochester Health Foundation
Sheila Carpenter - Connected Communities
Dina Faticone - Common Ground Health
Dr. Gerry Gacioch - Rochester Regional Health
Dr. Sandy Jee - URMC / Finger Lakes Children's Environmental Health Center
Annette Jimenez Gleason - RACF
Aqua Porter - RMAPI
Mary Zelazny - Finger Lakes Community Health