A growing number of localities in Wisconsin are adopting resolutions and action plans to address climate change. However, low-income communities and communities of color have historically not benefited from climate policies and programs.
Members of the Wisconsin Climate Table shared a new tool kit for Equity in Local Climate Action Planning and stories of climate change impacts and energy burden from frontline communities in Milwaukee. The tool kit is intended for municipal planners and policy makers and will be available later this spring. Speakers: Susan Gaeddert (1000 Friends of Wisconsin), Stephanie Robinson (350 Wisconsin), and Keviea Guiden (Citizen Action of Wisconsin).
Supported by APA Wisconsin.
CM credits are available.
Watch the recording of the webinar.
Be sure to check out the other webinars in the series.
Presenters:
Stephanie Robinson, AICP, is 350 Wisconsin’s Development Director and co-chairs the Wisconsin Climate Table’s Community Commitments campaign. Campaign members work to encourage strong, equitable climate and clean energy policies at the local level. Stephanie began her career as a consultant directing NEPA studies and leading air quality and clean transportation projects for local governments, regional agencies and utilities in California. She received an MA in City & Regional Planning with a Resource Management concentration from the University of Pennsylvania and a BA in Government from Cornell University.
Susan Gaeddert is Community Programs Director at 1000 Friends of Wisconsin, where she runs the Active Wisconsin program, a coalition of communities and advocacy groups around the state who are committed to active transportation infrastructure in their cities and towns. Susan also coordinates the Wisconsin Climate Table, a network of 33 nonprofit organizations spanning a wide range of expertise with the common goal of zero carbon emissions by 2050 in the state of Wisconsin. Susan graduated from UW-Madison with a Masters of Science in Urban/Regional Planning in 2020, where she specialized in transportation, land use, and recreational trail planning. Susan has experience working in the affordable housing sector, comprehensive plan development, and community engagement.
Keviea Guiden is the Project Coordinator for the Community Commitments Campaign, a subgroup of the Wisconsin Climate Table. Since September 2022, Keviea has been meeting with grassroots and grass tops organizations about the impacts of rising energy burden on low-income, BIPOC communities. Keviea started organizing around voters’ rights and elections in 2018 and quickly learned how issues of clean water, energy burden, affordable housing, and more must be addressed in an intersectional way to ensure that historically redlined communities cannot just survive but thrive. Keviea also works full time as a community organizer for Citizen Action of Wisconsin, a Climate Table member.