Opening KEYNOTE SPEAKER

​Yvette Arellano | Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services (t.e.j.a.s.)
Yvette Arellano (they/them, she/her) is a gulf coast organizer and emerging leader from Houston dedicated to the causes of environmental and racial justice. In 2015, they led the campaign against H.R. 702, which opened the floodgates to U.S. crude oil exports. They were instrumental in the joint 2016 publication Double Jeopardy in Houston and Air Toxics and Health in the Houston Community of Manchester between the Union of Concerned Scientists and t.e.j.a.s, revealing grave environmental injustice the belly of the beast, Houston. Her most recent contribution is Plastic and Health: The Hidden Cost of a Plastic Planet. It highlights t.e.j.a.s's focus on the human health impacts of petrochemicals involved in plastics production, chemical clusters, risk of accidents, and the lack of community engagement and access to information. 

Throughout her work, Yvette strives to emphasize that access to clean water, air, land, and food is a fundamental human right and Rights of Nature are fundamental to overall existence best pursued through vigorous intersectional thinking and organizing and. She has testified before the House Committee on Oversight &. Reform, House, and Energy Committee, EPA, National Environmental Justice Advisory Council, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, and state legislature over environmental injustices. Currently, Yvette is leading efforts in Houston to help stop petrochemical expansion fueled by plastic production. Currently, Yvette is leading efforts in Houston, home of the largest petrochemical complex in the nation, to help the city's most vulnerable communities on the petrochemical expansion fueled by plastic production.

Yvette serves on the boards of the Center for International Environmental Law, Backbone Campaign, Greenlatinos, and Peak Plastic Foundation.

Morning sessions
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BUILDING A GLOBAL MOVEMENT

Globalization is happening at hyper speed, thanks to technology. Our Convergence theme “All Hands On Deck” means that we need everyone at the table to make the Zero Waste Movement not only large, but inclusive. In this panel, our speakers, based in different parts of the world, dive into their work of spreading the concepts of Zero Waste.
Isaias Hernandez | Creator of Queer Brown Vegan & Co-Creator of Alluvia Magazine (NYC)
​Isaias is a graduate of UC Berkeley who studied Environmental Science. During his time at school, he was involved in the Students of Color Environmental Collective and Student Environmental Resource Center, where he managed running digital media environmental campaigns. Isaias is the former Co-Creator of Alluvia Magazine, an Environmental Magazine that features BIPOC Environmentalists across the United States through climate justice storytelling. In conjunction, he created the page Queer Brown Vegan where he discussed topics of veganism, zero-waste, and environmental justice and aims to make environmental educational topics accessible to all.
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Joshwa Tambo | Kibera Shoes (Kenya)
Joshwa is an award-winning social entrepreneur with over 7+ years of experience in business development, business coaching, immersive leadership development, and fundraising. He mentors and supports circular Economy SME’s to develop market penetration strategies, fundraising plans and environmentally focused product development using proven business development tools. He holds a Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science and a Post Graduate Diploma in Sustainable Business. He is the Founding Director of Kshoes taking the lead role in Business Development - turning waste into fashionable shoes and reinvesting generated revenues in building a pipeline of circular economy portfolios.
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Antónia Prata | Zero Waste Angola 
Antónia Prata, a woman of color from Luanda, Angola. Born in 1994 during the civil war and moved to Lisbon, Portugal at 6 years old. She has an Urban and planning Bsc and an MSc in Project management by Cardiff Met University. Antónia's current project is called Zero Waste Angola. This is an educational program that helps people to make changes in their communities on a personal, as well as a political level. This project is currently being worked to make an NGO, expanding it to many other parts of Africa as well.
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Growing up near a ditch that was used as a waste dump changed Antónia’s outlook on life. It helped to find an appreciation for nature, and to want to make the world a more eco-friendly and sustainable place for everyone. So that nobody else will have to live in the same conditions that she grew up with

Student Power and Plastics Campaigning in the time of COVID-19

This session frames the context of campaigning for plastics in this rapidly changing world. Students and the youth are informed more than ever before, and as future leaders they must be equipped with tools on setting the narrative that is important to them: for many this is intersectionality, climate justice, and systemic change.

​The session aims to be a dialogue between participants on how they take part as components of the world's existing systems, the politics and social nuances behind campaigning, and their place in the bigger picture all around the world.es.
Tiara Samson | Break Free From Plastic
​Tiara is the Plastic-Free Campus Coordinator of the Break Free From Plastic Movement, where she works with organizations, individuals, and schools from around the world to help them move away from single-use plastics, assist them in implementing alternative systems, and shift the narrative on plastic pollution.
Young Grguras | Post-Landfill Action Network
​(They/Them/Theirs) Campaign Director PLAN: The Post-Landfill Action Network
Young graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 2019 with a dual degree in environmental studies and ecology and evolution. While in undergrad, they organized on the Fossil Fuel Divestment Campaign (check out Fossil Free Pitt on Facebook), and worked as a Sustainability Program associate for the university. Young’s most recent involvement with the Beaver Cracker Plant in PA lead them to apply for the BFFP position, and they are excited to advocate for a brighter, plastic-free, future.

YOUTH CLIMATE ACTIVISM

Youth climate activism can be the very definition of grassroots. As a youth-led organization, Zero Waste Youth supports all young people in the fight of climate change. This panel highlights not only our youth partners who not only care about their community and the earth, but also what real systemic change looks like.
Jamie Minden | Co-Founder, Silicon Valley Youth Climate Strikes
Jamie Minden is a senior at St. Francis High School, and a co-lead and co-founder of Silicon Valley Youth Climate Strikes, now known as Silicon Valley Sunrise. She is also a Teen Conservation Leader at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, President of her school’s Environmental Club, and co-president of her school’s Pride Student Union. She is a graduate of the ACLU 2020 National Advocacy Institute and the American Legion Auxiliary Girls State program.  She has worked on a variety of causes, using her platform to advocate for racial justice and a Green New Deal. In her free time she enjoys going to the beach, working with horses on a local farm, and watching standup comedy.
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Anika Wadhera | Senior at Mission San Jose High School
Anika Wadhera is a senior at Mission San Jose High School in Fremont. Her passion for combating climate change was incited in middle school when she saw firsthand the impacts global warming was having on the environment. Spurred by this experience, she conducted a research project estimating the nitrogen output of the Fremont Unified School District and areas in which emissions could be mitigated. Since then, she has been involved in a variety of efforts, including helping to establish a composting system at her school as a part of a nonprofit organization. Anika hopes to continue her community involvement through education and empowerment.
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Shreya Ramachandran | Senior at American High School, Fremont
Shreya Ramachandran is a senior at American High School, Fremont. Four years ago, when she visited the county of Tulare for an Archery competition, she saw firsthand the effects of crippling drought.  California has been in a severe drought for many years now. She spoke to people whose wells have run dry, leaving them waterless, and farmers who have lost their years’ crops. She wanted to find a way to help people conserve water.

When she went to India soon after this, she found that California is not alone in dealing with drought, and she learned about the impact of failed monsoons. Peoples’ lands had become un-farmable and whole villages had been abandoned. She was particularly interested in the reuse of greywater, especially from laundry, so she set out to do research on grey water and also started her organization to promote its use. Shreya has won many awards; Google Science Fair Top 20 Global Finalist, President's Environmental Youth Award, and 2019’s Children’s Climate Prize. In November 2019, she launched an ambassador program, which already involves youth from various countries around the world. As Student Commissioner for the Sustainability Commission in Fremont, California, Shreya has proposed to add grey water systems into the 2020 climate action plan and build mandatory grey water pipelines for all new construction in California.
SUSTAINING WILDLIFE, SUSTAINING THE ENVIRONMENT
From military base to national park, the Presidio of San Francisco has undergone dramatic changes over the centuries and the 21st century chapter is a story of change for the better. This talk will focus on why restoring and promoting urban wildlife populations is essential in the direct and indirect conservation of nature, urban sustainability, and human health.
Jonathan Young | Wildlife Ecologist, Presidio Trust
Jonathan Young works as the lead wildlife ecologist in San Francisco’s Presidio national park, a former military base. His primary responsibilities include monitoring and managing the wildlife of the park, which typically involves habitat restoration, but in many cases bringing back (AKA: reintroducing) locally extinct species with the primary goal of promoting a healthier environment. Much of his work involves education and outreach and he recognizes that bridging the gap between our urban communities and the natural world is essential in promoting environmental awareness and inspiring action.

Afternoon sessions
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BEESWAX WRAP WORKSHOP by ECOLOGY CENTER INTERNS
The Beeswax Wrap Workshop, hosted by Ecology Center interns, will teach attendees about the harms of single-use disposables and provide individual level solutions to eliminate plastic waste from their lives. We will also discuss the importance of honey bees in our ecosystem. Beeswax Wrap is a great way to get started with a more sustainable lifestyle.
Alishba Shabir, Youth Intern: Alishba took part in the Youth Environmental Academy throughout 2019. She contributed to spreading the word about the “For Thirst Water First” campaign, a movement which encourages folks to stay healthy and hydrated. Alishba has a passion for health and creating a thriving community, and she takes pleasure in baking and cooking. She currently attends Berkeley High School and plans to attend university and med school in the future.
Cydney Devine-Jones, Youth Intern: Cydney joined the Ecology Center in early January of 2019. As a youth environmental academy scholar, Cydney got to participate in community outreach, farmer markets, multicultural cooking and workshops at the Ecology center. Now Cydney is a year long intern who is truly dedicated to educating the public about environmental and global health issues in our community.
Atl Benavides, Youth Program Assistant: Graduating from our Youth Environmental Academy (YEA) in the summer of 2019, Atl has since joined the Ecology Center team as a youth intern. During his time at YEA, Atl joined our Thirst Water First​ campaign; he engaged with the public at our Farmers’ Markets and events about the negative health impacts of sugary drinks. As a youth program assistant, Atl can be found helping out at our Farmers’ Markets, tabling events, or working on projects in our offices. Atl is also currently attending Berkeley High School and will graduate in the class of 2020.

IMAGINING YOUR FUTURE: ENVIRONMENTAL career panel

This panel aims to inspire and support the next generation of climate leaders. Hear from a range of industry professionals, including government agency officials, about how they paved a way into the environmental sector to address some of the world's biggest issues, from energy conservation to waste prevention. This panel will cover their personal journeys in an effort to inspire students and young professionals to find where they fit in in the climate space.
Maybo AuYeung | Environmental Program Manager, City of Palo Alto 
Maybo AuYeung has 10 years of experience in the Zero Waste and Sustainability industry. Currently, she is the Environmental Program Manager for Zero Waste Palo Alto, overseeing the Deconstruction Ordinance implementation and administering waste collection and processing contracts. Prior to that, she was the Environmental Services Management Analyst, and Zero Waste Coordinator for the City of Palo Alto. Maybo began her Zero Waste career with Recology San Mateo County, and is a member of Zero Waste Youth USA. She has a B.S. in Management Science from UC San Diego and a degree in Energy Efficiency & Climate Policy from De Anza College.  
Ashoka Alvarez | Program Coordinator, CivicSpark Fellowship Program
Ashoka is the CivicSpark Regional Coordinator for the San Francisco Bay Area Region, an AmeriCorps fellowship program that places members in local government agencies to build capacity on resiliency and sustainability issues. She is a San Francisco native, and graduated from UC Santa Cruz with a BA in Environmental Studies in 2017. She was a CivicSpark Fellow with the ‘17-18 cohort, serving in Richmond at the CA Department of Public Health, working within the Office of Health Equity. There, she built out an adaptation toolkit for local health departments to support a statewide effort to incorporate adaptation planning into public health. She is passionate about environmental justice and equitable representation within environmental spaces.
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Kimberly Lam | Municipal Manager,  Republic Services
Kimberly Lam is a Municipal Manager at Republic Services, one of the largest waste and recycling companies in the nation. She manages contracts for a few cities in Contra Costa County, and helps implement waste diversion programs for residential and commercial sectors. Kimberly is also on the Board of Directors for a local non-profit, Sustainable Contra Costa. She has a B.S. in Environmental Science from UC Berkeley. 

RETHINKING THE MATERIALS ECONOMY

The Materials Economy is a production system that dominates our manufacturing world. It is a system that starts with the extraction of raw materials from the ground and their processing into consumable materials. The five stages of the materials economy are extraction, production, distribution, consumption, and disposal. In this state of climate emergency, we need to rethink our materials economy: how we make, consume, and dispose of the materials we use every day. How can we do this differently and build more circular, equitable, and thriving local economies at the same time? How can we start to see production of goods and services as part of a life cycle, rather than a linear flow, where trees can grow, water can be recycled, and soil can be regenerated?
Ann Blake, Ph.D. | Founder, Building Regenerative Economies
Dr. Ann Blake is an independent consultant with over 30 years of experience finding safer alternatives to industrial chemicals and materials in global manufacturing. Her work has included creating criteria for environmentally preferable purchasing, ecolabels and product rating systems as well as local, national and international chemicals policy reform. In 2018, Dr. Blake worked with the Berkeley Center for Green Chemistry advising Costco Wholesale, the second largest global retailer, on their chemicals management. Dr. Blake’s current work focuses on the intersection between climate adaptation, safer materials, and economic equity.
 
Dr. Blake is a member of the Green Ribbon Science Panel created by the California legislature to advise California EPA on the implementation of California’s Safer Consumer Product regulations. Dr. Blake has created curriculum on green chemistry and alternatives assessment for the University of California Berkeley Extension Program and for the University of Washington Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences. She is a co-author of the BizNGO 2014 Plastics Scorecard, and of Perennial Industrial Crops: Green Chemistry and Carbon Sequestration, in the 2019 Springer Handbook of Ecomaterials. Prior to consulting, Dr. Blake worked for the California Environmental Protection Agency's Department of Toxic Substances Control as a hazardous waste inspector and Pollution Prevention Coordinator.  Dr. Blake has a B.A. from Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts, and a Ph.D. in molecular genetics and neural development from the University of Oregon. 
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Shreya Ramachandran | Grey Water Project
Shreya Ramachandran is a senior at American High School, Fremont. Four years ago, when she visited the county of Tulare for an Archery competition, she saw firsthand the effects of crippling drought.  California has been in a severe drought for many years now. She spoke to people whose wells have run dry, leaving them waterless, and farmers who have lost their years’ crops. She wanted to find a way to help people conserve water.
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When she went to India soon after this, she found that California is not alone in dealing with drought, and she learned about the impact of failed monsoons. Peoples’ lands had become un-farmable and whole villages had been abandoned. She was particularly interested in the reuse of greywater, especially from laundry, so she set out to do research on grey water and also started her organization to promote its use. Shreya has won many awards; Google Science Fair Top 20 Global Finalist, President's Environmental Youth Award, and 2019’s Children’s Climate Prize. In November 2019, she launched an ambassador program, which already involves youth from various countries around the world. As Student Commissioner for the Sustainability Commission in Fremont, California, Shreya has proposed to add grey water systems into the 2020 climate action plan and build mandatory grey water pipelines for all new construction in California.
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Kavi Reddy | Permaculture & Design Thinker
Kavi Reddy is a Permaculture & Design Thinker who is constantly actualizing solutions for the benefit of Earth today and in the future. With a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies Field Research from UC Berkeley, Kavi's academic curiosity traversed the history of people, money, power, and the solution oriented practices of business, social entrepreneurship, and regenerative agriculture. Kavi's entrepreneurial experience ranges from co-founding a YCombinator backed tech startup to building agriculture supply chain partnerships between independent female permaculture farmers in rural Telangana and the UK based Lush Cosmetics. Today, Kavi runs a Think Tank & Research Group that helps teams identify significant problems, design regenerative business models, and apply a scientific approach to measure social impact.

​Teaching Zero Waste Systems Thinking

Sage Lenier | Activist and Student Professor, UC Berkeley
Sage is a recent UC Berkeley graduate and the founder of Solutions for a Sustainable Future, a student-led course that she has taught to 600 students. Currently, she is training her interns to teach the course and is employed by the environmental nonprofit The Story of Stuff Project.