As global leaders gathered for the UN Climate Ambition Summit on Wednesday, September 20, WECAN hosted an event, right across the street from the UN, bringing together women leaders to call on

As global leaders gathered for the UN Climate Ambition Summit on Wednesday, September 20, WECAN hosted an event, right across the street from the UN, bringing together women leaders to call on governments to reckon with their role in fueling climate chaos, and harm against communities and the planet by continuing the extraction of fossil fuels. Governments must invest in and deploy a Just Transition that is grounded in a climate justice framework and uplifts care economies, community-led solutions, Indigenous rights, and a different vision than business as usual. During the event, we hosted two panels detailed below.

In the first panel, “Women Ending the Era of Fossil Fuels," speakers shared expertise and frameworks for transitioning away from extraction and ongoing policy advocacy and campaigns that seek to phase out fossil fuels and other harmful extractive practices.

Speakers included: Sharon Lavigne, Founder and President of RISE St. James, Turtle Island/USA; Farhana Yamin, Coordinator, Climate Justice & Just Transition Donor Collaborative, United Kingdom; Eriel Tchekwie Deranger (Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation), Executive Director of Indigenous Climate Action, Canada; Tzeporah Berman, Chair, Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, Canada; moderation and comments by Osprey Orielle Lake, Executive Director, WECAN.

In the second panel, "Women-led Climate Solutions Are Central to a Just Transition and Thriving Future," leaders shared how to implement and support solutions that are advancing a Just Transition, and recent successes and victories for community-led climate just solutions!

Speakers included: Casey Camp Horinek (Ponca Nation), Ponca Nation Environmental Ambassador and WECAN Board Member, Turtle Island, USA; Helena Gualinga (Kichwa from Sarayaku), Indigenous Youth Climate Leader, Ecuador; Ozawa Bineshi Albert (Yuchi and Anishinaabe), Climate Justice Alliance Co-Executive Director, Turtle Island/USA; Elizabeth C. Yeampierre, Executive Director, UPROSE, Turtle Island/USA; Zukiswa White, Coordinator, Women and Gender Constituency, South Africa; moderation and comments by Osprey Orielle Lake, Executive Director, WECAN.

Oct 17, 2016

Chief Arvol Looking Horse’s lecture on water crisis, environmental justice, and unity will break the surface of the numerous perturbing issues affecting the Native

Oct 17, 2016

Chief Arvol Looking Horse’s lecture on water crisis, environmental justice, and unity will break the surface of the numerous perturbing issues affecting the Native American community that have been unrecognized and disregarded for centuries.

As the 19th Keeper of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe and Bundle, Chief Looking Horse was the youngest to have been given this responsibility in history at only twelve years old. Also the spiritual leader of the Lakota Nation of South Dakota and all three branches of the Sioux tribe, he has dedicated his life to “letting the world know how beautiful [their] way of life is”. The intensifying suppression of his people’s spiritual preferences is what has encouraged Chief Looking Horse to fight for the religious freedom, cultural survival, and revival for Native Americans across the country and restore pride to their lands. He met with the Dalai Lama in 1995 to establish a relationship between Tibet and the Lakota Nation, and has lectured at many reputable universities, including Harvard, Yale, Stanford, and UCLA. Chief Looking Horse is also the author of White Buffalo Teachings and columnist for Indian Country Today, as well as the founder of the Big Foot Riders in memory of the massacre at Wounded Knee. He has won many awards, such as the Juliet Hollister Award from the Temple of Understanding and the Canadian Wolf Award.

Stand Down is an invitation to get traumatized Veterans off the street and back into their lives. It is a three day event that includes medical, dental, legal services but most inportantly, it restores Vets with a sense of community. Int he words of its founder Dr. John Natchison it is a drug free Woodstock music festival combined with Maslow's hierarchy of needs and a family picnic. A thousand Vets show up and 2,000 grateful volunteers welcome them. There are now over 300 Stand Down events in the US. Of the percent of citizens who sign up for the military Veterans disproportionately experience trauma, PTSD, substance abuse disorders and homelessness. Community and connection is the means to Veterans to recover their purpose and passion.