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• Collaborative Conversations · January 14-28, 2021

Collaborative Conversations: Anti-Racism and the Environment
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Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods believes in the power of nature and art to heal and nourish communities. However, natural areas, parks and preserves are often not safe or accessible places for BIPOC (black, indigenous, and people of color) communities, due to over-policing, racial profiling within green spaces, institutional bias, and other systemic injustices.

Join this three-part virtual workshop series, hosted via Zoom, exploring environmental inequity in Lake County and surrounding areas through connection, empathy, and anti-racist action. Through this workshop, participants will:

• Learn about the ways that systemic racism and institutional structures disproportionately impact people’s experiences of nature-engagement and environmental issues;
• Identify local opportunities for anti-racist environmental actions and advocacy;
• Engage in open, intentional, and thoughtful dialogue, and
• Identify a collective action that participants can collaborate on upon completing the training​

​All sessions will be moderated by Courtney Combs, Lake County Community Foundation. The $5 program fee covers all three sessions.

By registering for this series, you are committing to attend all three virtual sessions, and to arrive open to learn and ready to listen.  Anti-racism work asks us to go beyond what is convenient; it is a daily practice that must be cultivated carefully and intentionally. 

​UPDATE:  We are currently at capacity for this series.  If you would like to be notified of any openings or similar workshops in the future, please fill out our waitlist form.

Workshop Schedule:January 14, 2021 : Equity & the Environment with Keynote Presenter José G. González
Explore how racism impacts access to greenspace, the inequities that exist in the outdoors, and how environmental organizations (and individuals) have participated in this racism.

About the Speaker:

José G. González is the Founder and Director Emeritus of Latino Outdoors. He is an experienced educator as a K-12 public education teacher, environmental education advisor, outdoor education instructor and coordinator, and university adjunct faculty. As a Partner in the Avarna Group and through his own consulting, his work focuses on Equity & Inclusion frameworks and practices in the environmental, outdoor, and conservation fields. He is also an illustrator and science communicator.
 
His commentary on diversity and environmental/outdoor equity has been featured by High Country News, Outside Magazine, Earth Island Journal, and Latino USA, among others.  He engaged in collaborations with the White House Council on Environmental Quality, U.S. Department of Interior, and the National Park Service during the Obama Administration.

He also represented Latino Outdoors in several coalitions including the Latino Conservation Alliance, the Next 100 Coalition, and California Parks Now. He has been recognized with several honors, including the National Wildlife Federation 
​Environmental Educator Award, Grist Magazine “Grist 50”, and The Murie Center Spirit of the Muries, among others. You may have also seen him in various outdoor spaces or read his poetic musings.
 
He received his B.A at the University of California, Davis, and his M.S at the University of Michigan School of Natural Resources & Environment. His teaching coursework was at the Bilingual, Multicultural, Education Department at Sacramento State.

January 21, 2021: Local Leaders Take Action
Join a panel of local environmental leaders to learn about regional environmental justice and equity issues, as well as what local community leaders are doing to change it. Panelists include:

• Celeste Flores, Co-Chair of Clean Power Lake County
• ​Tonyisha Harris, Clean Energy Programs Director at Illinois Environmental Council​  ​​
• Representatives from the Sunrise Movement Chicago Hub

January 28, 2021 5:00 - 6:30 PM: Owning Anti-Racism Work
Through collective discussion, explore how to build an anti-racism practice and how to sustain this work beyond the workshop series.

About the Moderator:

Courtney Combs joined The Lake County Community Foundation as Program & Communications in May of 2020. In her role, Combs advances the mission of the Foundation through support of Lake County’s health and human service sector. She has range of experience working directly with victims of violence, advocating for criminal justice reform, and strategic planning for intentional impact.​ Combs began her career in Lake County, Illinois in Early Childhood. After working on the road, she realized most families were experiencing systemic issues. Combs voiced these concerns and eventually was asked to create YWCA Lake County’s Racial Equity Initiative, and Public Policy and Advocacy Program. This experience provided her with a wealth of experience and expertise in data analysis, community organizing, and cross-sector collaborations.

She is a resident of Lake County and is passion-driven for a more equitable Lake County. Combs holds an M.A. in Public Policy from Eastern Illinois University and a B.A. in Sociology from Florida State University. She is currently working on her M.B.A. in Finance at NorthPark University.
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This workshop is presented by Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods, Riverwoods Preservation Council, and Lake County Community Foundation thanks to support from Healing Illinois, a collaboration between the Illinois Department of Human Services in partnership with The Chicago Community Trust. Healing Illinois is a new and bold statewide initiative to address and heal the harms caused by racism. It is an urgent invitation to everyone to create community centered, inclusive and safe spaces to talk about racial disparities and design local solutions. And, it’s a first step toward the larger mission of fighting poverty and ending racial inequality for all Illinoisans.