HEALING LAND AND COMMUNITIES TOGETHER: LEARNING FROM TRADITIONAL ECOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE AND INDIGENOUS FOOD SYSTEMS
Our connection to the land, and the spirit of place, is intimately connected to the health of people. By deepening our understanding of our connection to the land, we can better understand our way of life and how we pursue harmony and joy.
Karenna Gore
Founder and Executive Director, Center for Earth Ethics at Union Theological Seminary
Karenna Gore is the founder and executive director of the Center for Earth Ethics (CEE) at Union Theological Seminary, Teaching Professor of Practice of Earth Ethics at Union, and adjunct faculty at Columbia Climate School. She is also a member of the network of experts at the United Nations Harmony with Nature Program. Ms. Gore’s previous experience includes serving as director of Union Forum at Union Theological Seminary, legal work at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and Sanctuary for Families, and serving as director of Community Affairs for the Association to Benefit Children (ABC). She has also worked as a writer and is the author of Lighting the Way: Nine Women Who Changed Modern America. Ms. Gore is a graduate of Harvard College, Columbia Law School and Union Theological Seminary.
Lyla June Johnston
Indigenous musician, scholar, and community organizer of Diné (Navajo), Tsétsêhéstâhese (Cheyenne) and European lineages
Dr. Lyla June Johnston (aka Lyla June) is an Indigenous musician, scholar, and community organizer of Diné (Navajo), Tsétsêhéstâhese (Cheyenne) and European lineages.
Her messages focus on Indigenous rights, supporting youth, traditional land stewardship practices and healing inter-generational and inter-cultural trauma.
She blends her study of Human Ecology at Stanford, graduate work in Indigenous Pedagogy, and the traditional worldview she grew up with to inform her music, perspectives and solutions. Her doctoral research focused on the ways in which pre-colonial Indigenous Nations shaped large regions of Turtle Island (aka the Americas) to produce abundant food systems for humans and non-humans.
Iris Fen Gillingham
Farm Director, Gael Roots Community Farm
Iris Fen Gillingham grew up on Wild Roots Farm, an off-grid regenerative farm in the Catskill Mountains of New York. Iris became involved in climate justice work at the age of 9 when her community rose up against the threat of fracking. Between 2014-2019 she worked with Earth Guardians and helped launch the climate justice organization Zero Hour. Her passion for change and positive voice have been featured in articles and videos by Vice, The New York Times, CNN, and Teen Vogue, along with international TV stations and local media outlets. She was also featured in the National Geographic film “Paris to Pittsburgh”, and has received local awards for her work in Sullivan County, including the SPARK award. Working with the Livingston Manor Summer School students in their garden, running internship programs, and hosting workshops on her family’s farm inspired her to found Gael Roots Community Farm. Iris wants to support people of all ages (especially young people) to build connections to their food, energy resources, and local ecology, with an emphasis on creating stronger relationships between themselves and the natural world. She is passionate about fostering collaboration and connection at Gael Roots. Iris attended SUNY Sullivan and received a degree in Human Ecology from College of the Atlantic in Maine.
Wes Gillingham
Board President & Co-Chair of the Policy Committee, Northeast Organic Farming Association
Wes Gillingham is President of the Northeast Organic Farming Association Board and co-chair of the policy committee, working on New York State and National farm policy. He and his wife Amy have been farming for over 30 years on land he has built a relationship with his entire life. He and Amy coordinated a 150-family CSA vegetable operation for many years. As a co-founder of Catskill Mountainkeeper, an environmental advocacy organization he has organized multiple efforts on energy use, climate change and environmental justice efforts both regionally and nationally. He currently sits on the steering committee of NYRENEWS, a coalition that pushed for and passed New York State's Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. Previously, as an Acting Director of Field Programs for the National Audubon Society Expedition Institute, he taught graduate and undergraduate environmental education throughout North America. Wes also works as a consultant on ecological sound farming practices through Wild Roots Agroecology LLC
Reverend Richard Joyner
Founder & Chief Operating Officer, Conetoe Family Life Center
Reverend Joyner is the founder and current Chief Operating Officer for the Conetoe Family Life Center. He founded this organization in 2007 with the goal of fighting food insecurity and chronic illness in the community. Since then, he has been featured on CNN as a CNN Hero in 2015 for his outreach to the community and his educational practices toward the youth. He is also a lead pastor for the Conetoe Chapel Missionary Baptist Church, having led his congregation since 1986, and is a US Army Veteran.