Join the British Consulate-General and the Trust for Public Land for a discussion on climate justice in Atlanta and beyond.

Moderated by Jocelyn Dorsey (Trust for Public Land Board and WSB Atlanta), the conversation will focus on the impacts of climate change and environmental disruption to diverse communities. This session will explore themes within the boarder climate-change and social-justice agenda, as part of a series of events leading up to November’s COP26 UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow.

British Consul General Andrew Staunton will provide remarks.

Panelists:

The Rev. Dr. Gerald L. Durley was born in Wichita, Kansas; grew up in California, and graduated from high school in Denver, Colorado. He was recruited to play basketball for Tennessee State University where he became a student leader in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s. Upon earning a degree in psychology, Dr. Durley became one of the first U.S. Peace Corp volunteers to serve in Nigeria. Upon leaving Nigeria he relocated to Switzerland and played basketball for a National Swiss team while completing post graduate studies. After arriving back in America, Dr. Durley was gravely disturbed by the decaying moral, social, cultural, and family value systems throughout the nation. This concern compelled him to enroll at the Howard University School of Divinity and to earn the Master of Divinity. After 25 years of service, he retired as the pastor of Providence Missionary Baptist Church and is currently the Pastor Emeritus. While serving as pastor, he became intensely involved in the climate change, global warming, and environmental justice movement. Rev. Dr. Durley now combines the disciplines of faith and science with the lessons learned as a civil/human rights advocate from the 1960’s. He believes that God created a perfect ecologically balanced world for humans to care for, but we are destroying it at an alarming rate. He asserts that for the environment to be saved, the educational, scientific, business, political, and faith communities must seek common solutions.

Dr. Na’Taki Osborne Jelks co-founded the West Atlanta Watershed Alliance (WAWA), a community-based environmental justice organization that works to grow a cleaner, greener, healthier, more sustainable West Atlanta through authentic community engagement, organizing, education, environmental stewardship, community science, and participatory research. In her role with WAWA, Jelks leads efforts to advance environmental justice, community-centered watershed restoration, equitable development, health equity, and resilience on Atlanta’s Westside. She also oversees the organization’s efforts to provide equitable access to place-based, culturally relevant environmental education and connections to nature for all Atlanta residents regardless of race, class, or geography.

Angelou C Ezeilo love for the environment stretches far back to when she was a little girl who had the chance to escape the dense urban streets of Jersey City, New Jersey, to summer in her family’s home in upstate New York.After a brief stint of practicing law, it was through her work as a Legal Specialist for the New Jersey State Agriculture and Development Committee that Angelou embarked upon a career as an environmentalist.Angelou further honed her skills as a Project Manager for the Trust for Public Land (TPL) in both its New Jersey and Georgia offices. In her position, Angelou acquired land for preservation and worked on the New York/New Jersey Highlands Program, Parks for People-Newark, the New York/New Jersey Harbor Program in New Jersey, the AtlantaBeltline and the 20 County Regional Greenspace Initiative in Georgia. While at TPL, Angelou realized the disconnect between the land that was being preserved and the education of people about that preservation—particularly as it related to our next generation. This was the impetus for the Greening Youth Foundation. As a woman and minority-founded and led non-profit, Angelou is at the helm of a movement to provide environmental and wellness education and career pathways to a new generation, both in the United States and in countries throughout Africa.