We’ve all seen the futuristic images: Lower Manhattan’s piers completely submerged in water, the shoreline licking up against skyscrapers. As we gather more data documenting climate change's impending impact, this doomsday scenario is starting to seem like an inevitability, and recycling our peanut butter jars feels more and more futile. But what if we could fight back against climate change using more impactful top-down solutions from city, state and community leaders, rather than relying on the everyday consumer?

Join LM Live for a conversation with two women who are leading the charge to design systemic strategies to combat climate change: Clare Newman, President of the Trust for Governors Island and Julie Tighe, President of the New York League of Conservation Voters. Moderated by Alyssa Katz, Deputy Editor of The City, the conversation will dig into the the work that Clare, Julie and their organizations are doing to preserve New York City’s livability for years to come, including conducting the research and devel­op­ment to build resilient and healthy urban neigh­bor­hoods, creating high qual­i­ty green jobs for New York­ers with a diverse range of back­grounds, and advocating for low emission transportation and common sense waste management.

This breakfast is open to all: women, non-binary folks and their allies and champions.

This event is sponsored by Verizon.

About Our Speakers:

Clare Newman serves as the President and CEO of the Trust for Governors Island (TGI), charged with the planning, redevelopment, and ongoing operations of 150 acres of Governors Island. Clare comes to TGI from the Brooklyn Navy Yard, where she served as Chief of Staff and Executive Vice President. At BNY, Clare implemented a suite of projects that will bring 10,000 jobs to the Yard by 2020 and foster future development. Previously, Clare was a senior leader on the Government Innovation team at Bloomberg Philanthropies in charge of the Mayors Challenge, an international competition to generate innovative ideas to solve major urban challenges. Prior to joining Bloomberg Philanthropies, Clare was a Vice President at New York City Economic Development Corporation’s (NYCEDC’s) Real Estate division. In her over five years at NYCEDC, Clare executed projects throughout the five boroughs, including the restoration of the Loews Kings Theatre in Flatbush, Brooklyn, the City’s bike share program, and the Applied Sciences tech-campus initiative.

Clare received a Masters of Urban Planning from the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation at Columbia University and a B.A. with honors in Political Economy from Williams College. She is a member of the board of TransitCenter and a member of WX.

The Trust for Gov­er­nors Island is the 501(c)(3) non-prof­it orga­ni­za­tion cre­at­ed by the City of New York respon­si­ble for the plan­ning, oper­a­tions and ongo­ing devel­op­ment of Gov­er­nors Island. The Trust’s mis­sion is to real­ize the full poten­tial of Gov­er­nors Island for the inspi­ra­tion and enjoy­ment of all New York­ers, demon­strat­ing a bold vision for pub­lic space.

Fol­low­ing near­ly two decades of plan­ning and invest­ment, the Trust is embark­ing on a growth strat­e­gy cen­tered on trans­for­ma­tive arts and cul­ture, extra­or­di­nary open space, and edu­ca­tion and research focused on the cli­mate cri­sis. These efforts will togeth­er advance the mis­sion of the Trust to con­tin­ue Gov­er­nors Island’s trans­for­ma­tion as an extra­or­di­nary pub­lic place, sup­port­ing year-round pub­lic access and cre­at­ing a path towards finan­cial sustainability.

Julie Tighe was named President of the New York League of Conservation Voters and the NYLCV Education Fund in 2018. As President, she oversees the organizations’ policy, political, and programmatic work. Due in part to the League’s and her advocacy in 2019, the State Legislature passed the Climate Leadership & Community Protection Act, along with congestion pricing and several other pieces of legislation to reduce emissions from the transportation and buildings sectors. Her priorities for NYLCV include expanding the use and production of renewable energy, greening the transportation sector and reducing waste. Prior to joining NYLCV, Tighe served for more than a decade at the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, most recently as Chief of Staff.

Alyssa Katz is a deputy editor with THE CITY and a former member of the NY Daily News editorial board. Previously, Katz was editor of The New York World and City Limits. She is the author of "The Influence Machine: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Corporate Capture of American Life" and "Our Lot: How Real Estate Came to Own Us."

Find her at @alykatzz on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook