12 – 1 PM, How to Organize Frontline Communities in the Time of Crisis

Objective
-How to organize in Frontline Communities in a Respectful Manner in a time of crisis and disaster
-Understanding how Racism and Oppression behavior becomes present in the times of Crisis and Disaster
-How to undo Implicit Bias in the time of Crisis and Disaster
-How to show-up for Frontline communities in the time of Crisis and Disaster
-Understanding the correlation between COVID-19 Crisis and Climate Crisis -leaning into Adaptation, Mitigation and ResiliencyHosted by Marnese Jackson and Stephanie Bowman from Mothers Out FrontAgenda
Introductions- 2 mins
Meeting Norms and Objectives -3 mins
Working Definitions- 3 mins
The Problem- 10 minutes
Correlation between COVID-19 and Climate Crisis- 5 minutes
Tools-10 minutes
Other- 5 minutes
Questions-10 minutesBios
Marnese Jackson is a Environmental and Climate Justice activists, advocate, trainer and educator, mother from Pontiac, Michigan where she lives with her two children London and Dawson. Pretty much SAVE PLANET EARTH AND ALL THE PEOPLE WHO THERE. Marnese joined Mothers Out Front, a Climate Action non-profit mobilizing Mothers to take on Climate impacts in December 2018 as the Frontline Organizing Program Manager. In her role at Mothers Out Front, Marnese also coordinates the U.S. National Youth Global Climate Strike Parent Working Group with the 350.org and the Future Coalition. Marnese has been organizing since high school and brings a breadth of experience in the Environmental and Climate Justice movement. She is the former Midwest and Great Plain States Regional Organizer for the NAACP’s Environmental and Climate Justice Program where she built capacity within the NAACP members to engage in energy-related projects across 17 states and created the ECJ Live Podcast talk show. She was the Weatherization Coordinator for Oakland Livingston Human Services Agency and Energy Outreach Specialist for Southeast Michigan Regional Energy Office.

Marnese has presented 2019 Michigan Neighborhood Association on Climate Change impacts on Neighborhoods. Marnese presented at the 2016 Michigan Human Rights Coalition-Environmental Justice is a Human Right, 2017 Webster University Human Rights Conference, 2017 National Environmental and Climate Justice training and at the 2018 Race Forward’s Facing Race Conference. Marnese was a part of the 2015 Climate Justice Alliance – East Michigan Environmental Action Council delegation for the Hurricane Katrina commemoration. Marnese helped organize the 2018 Michigan Environmental Justice Summit, the 2017 Detroit Climate Justice March and is a Member of 2017 Al Gore’s Climate Leadership Corps, Soulardarity, MEJC’s Clean Air Council, Pontiac City Policy Council, Roosevelt PTO Member and Mothering Justice. Marnese holds a Master’s Degree in Social Justice from Marygrove College and a Bachelor’s in Public Relations and African American Studies from Eastern Michigan University. Marnese is passionate about Environmental, Energy, Climate, Utility, Racial, Economic, Education and Gender Justice. Her passion for Environmental Justice comes from her extended family members being exposed to the Hurricane Katrina aftermath and her children having asthma due to poor air quality. Marnese enjoys kayaking, dancing, going to the movies, creating science experiments and crafts with the kids, baking and facilitating workshops

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Before joining Mothers Out Front, Stephanie Bowman was a battleground state grasshopper for various gubernatorial and presidential campaigns. From age 14, she knew life in activism was inevitable. From delivering freshly picked vegetables to neighbors doors, canvassing with AFSCME, and starting her own organization to help assist high schoolers in working to pay for college.

After receiving her degree in Political Science from Hampton University, she began organizing from Virginia, Wisconsin, to Kansas. Six states later she decided to continue to graduate school at Cornell in Marketing Strategy. Upon completion, she felt disgusted thinking about the transactional treatment by party politics. Her increased knowledge in marketing blatantly showed the intentional exclusion of using proven methodologies to engage people of color. Her passion is in building relationships, managing teams, and moving towards measurable change. Colorado Springs is her paradise; as a Kansas native she always admired the beauty and preservation Colorado fought hard to protect. Now she is prepared to continue the fight.