Program
Northern California Environmental Justice Strategy Summit (2026)
9:00 - 9:15 am - Welcome and Overview
Iris Stewart-Frey and Christopher Bacon, summit organizing committee
Jim Glaser, Provost welcome
Isabelle Gomez, Ohlone welcome and land acknowledgment
9:15 - 9:55 am - Introduction, Connection, and Mapping of Nor Cal EJ Research
Introduce organizing committee and EJ&CGI, Iris Stewart-Frey and Christopher Bacon
Connecting to personal history, Sibyl Diver
Mapping EJ research, Katherine Cushing
10:00 - 11:15 am - Panel: California Environmental Justice Policy Futures Panel
Iris Stewart-Frey and Christopher Bacon, moderators
Marie Choi, Strategy Director, Asian Pacific Environmental Network
Marisol Aguilar, Deputy Director, California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc
Gustavo Aguirre, Associate Director, Center on Race Poverty and Environment
Geneva E. B. Thompson, Deputy Secretary for Tribal Affairs, California Natural Resources Agency
Yvonne Chi, Deputy Secretary for Equity and Environmental Justice, California Environmental Protection Agency
11:15 -12:00 pm - Follow-up Discussion
Follow-up discussion on CA environmental justice policy opportunities, challenges, and emerging priorities in the context of state transitions and federal shifts
Beth Rose Middleton and Ayodele Thomas, moderators
Reflections and Q&A
Beth Rose Middleton, Ayodele Thomas and Johnathan London, discussants
1:00 - 3:00 pm - Topical Breakout/Working Groups
Topical Breakout/Working Groups, Chad Raphael (SCU), facilitator
How can diverse participants collaborate to overcome existing challenges and advance California environmental justice priorities over the next five years?
- Indigenous environmental justice, Beth Rose Middleton and Sibyl Diver, co-facilitators
- Agriculture and food justice, Chris Bacon , Ayodele Thomas, Gustavo Aguirre and Emily Schwing (Food Systems Manager, County of Santa Clara), co-facilitators
- Water Justice, Iris Stewart-Frey, Clare Pace (UC Berkeley), Marisol Aguilar, Deputy Director, California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc, Taylor Valmores, Community Water Center, and Katherine Cushing, co-facilitators
- Climate and energy justice, affordability, Alice Kaswan and Mijin Cha co-facilitators
- Heat exposure and clean air justice, C.J. Gabbe (SCU), Tseming Yang (SCU), Violet Saena, Climate Resilient Communities, co-facilitators
3:00 - 3:30 pm - Report Back
Report Back - identify the most important themes emerging from the topical discussions, Ned LeBlond, facilitator
3:45 - 4:45 pm - Discussion on Strategic Priorities
What are strategic priorities at this moment? How can different participants, such as academics, students, CBOs, agencies, and communities/residents, get involved? Chris Bacon, Iris Stewart-Frey and organizing committee, co-facilitators
Synthetic Commentaries
Taylor Valmores, Senior Legislative Manager, Community Water Center, commenter
Cacey Hill, County of Santa Clara, Director, Office of Sustainability and Resilience, commenter
4:45 - 5:00 pm - Conclusion
Iris Stewart-Frey - Santa Clara University
Chris Bacon - Santa Clara University