SF: Climate Strides and Climate Week
Dispatches from a week on the move!
“Ok, we’re ready.”
We’d found our spot - a beautiful hillside in Golden Gate Park covered in lovely flowers. The Climate Strides banner Paddy had made was positioned just above two Rumpl blankets’-worth of Protect Our Winters hats, beanies and shirts. Paddy, Britt and I had tested the walk-run route the day before, scouting spots that would have any hopes of hosting the 150+ folks who had signed up to attend the event (we found out it was featured on Luma’s “happening around San Fransisco this week” calendar, which bumped registration numbers considerably).
Photo credit: Marnie Kinnaird
We were, in fact, ready. For our run/walk panel. For the astounding 76 people that ended up showing up.
“Hi, is this the Climate Strides event?”
Our first participants. People I didn’t know. While the Central Park event was full of dear friends and people familiar to us, the majority of the registrants for this event had no idea who we were.
Photo credit: Marnie Kinnaird
I did my spiel (“Welcome To Climate Strides SF, hosted by Where The Climate Things Are!” and “our thesis is that those that love recreating in nature also want to protect it”) Paddy O’Leary, my co-host, spoke about POW (“I’m a POW Athlete Alliance member myself!”) and Brittany Blitzer informed guests of the thoughtful programming she had in store for everyone (“we will walk or run, and the point where the two groups meet as we travel around Blue Heron Lake, that’s we will have our first speakers”).
And we were off. A small group ran one way (led by Paddy and Britt), a larger group walked the other way (led by me), and all were captured by our awesome photographer Marnie Kinnaird and our resident WTCTA videographer,
. My face hurt from smiling.
Photo credit: Marnie Kinnaird
Our speakers were again jaw-droppingly cool. A slate of folks who spanned off-grid community solar, electrification, policy, climate art and conservation. We stuck to similar prompts as our first event and to the podcast format I’ve adopted (what was your “aha” moment on climate? what is your favorite climate solution?) while inviting further reflection and anything else they wanted to share.
Photo credit: Marnie Kinnaird
We were joined by:
Luis Reyes, Forest Health Community Engagement Fellow at Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, where he focuses on outreach to historically marginalized groups to make environmental initiatives more inclusive and accessible.
Mercedes de la Vega, Energy Partnerships Manager at Acumen, which for over 15 years has invested in energy entrepreneurs serving people living in poverty around the world.
Jon Jon Moore Palacios, Communicator at Rewiring America (which is leading the electrification movement), Founder of Black in Climate (creating connections and documenting the experiences, needs, and desires of Black people working on climate), and Board Member and Mentor at Footprints Running.
Emily Teitsworth, Executive Director of the Honnold Foundation, focused on global solar energy access and innovation.
Chance Cutrano, Director of Programs at Resource Renewal Institute - where he focuses on large landscape conservation by harnessing science-backed tools to strengthen climate resilience and safeguard biodiversity - and former mayor of Fairfax, CA.
Zoe Young, former Head of Creative Content at The Nature Conservancy in California and climate writer. During her concluding speaking moment, she walked us through her installation currently situated in Golden Gate Park, showing California’s two climate futures - one if we invest in nature, and the one we’ll have if we don’t.
And what better way to end the event than with NA beers from Best Day Brewing, which we all enjoyed as the weather got colder and the day got grayer. But we all kept talking. People wanted to be together.
Photo credit: Marnie Kinnaird
I personally can’t think of a better way to kick of SF Climate Week. But maybe I’m biased because I got to put this on with my friends. The inspiration I feel not only from these incredible speakers but also from the people that showed up (CEOs! Artists! Climate tech founders! Conservation stewards! Poets! Biologists!) is immense.
Additional Climate Week Roundup
Where else did I hang out this week?
I might have seen some of you at the Project Drawdown panel on Monday - Storytelling for Solutions: Turning Climate Narratives into Action. To share the stage with these incredible folks - Masika Henson, Louie Psihoyos, César Córdova and Kristy Drutman of
- was humbling and extremely cool, to say the least (I’ve looked up to Louie and his filmmaking for years). The message was clear - we need to make climate storytelling personal and uplifting, showcasing things that are working, climate solutions in action. And also - have fun with it! A climate dating show? Who knew!This all taught me that bringing people in by engaging them in a conversation that matters to them - hello outdoor community! - is what it’s about.
You also might have joined us for the panel I moderated at the Patagonia store with Protect Our Winters…what a fun event. To share the stage with POW Alliance members Christopher Blevins, Ian Bolliger and Paddy (O’Leary! From above!) was a treat. We spoke about shared connection to the outdoors and climate action, and also showed visual pieces Christopher and Paddy created (How To Recall and Urban Oasis, respectively). It was also fun to get to open it up to Q&A with the crowd, where the panel fielded some tough questions, including about the balance between building a broad base of support for environment and also not losing the ability to make actual, tangible progress. To meet in the middle without sacrificing forward motion.
Whew. Ok. I think it’s time to sleep. Thanks for reading this far. ✌️