Recap: 2025 CUNY Climate Justice Summit

Jana Lynne (JL) Umipig

Director of Arts and Cultural Organizing, El Puente

Jana Lynne (JL) Caldetera Umipig is the Director of Arts and Cultural Organizing at El Puente. She was born and raised in Honolulu on the Kingdom of Hawaii and currently resides on Lenapehoking Territory (Bronx, NY). She uses multidisciplinary artistic expression/creation work, intuitive, somatic and bodywork healing and decolonial, education for liberation to support her work as a cultural organizer and cultural bearer.

Jumaane Williams

NYC Public Advocate

Jumaane Williams, NYC Public Advocate, is a first-generation Brooklynite of Grenadian heritage who became a community organizer and later served as the Executive Director of NYS Tenants & Neighbors. He also served at the NYC Council from 2010 to 2019, where he sponsored the Community Safety Act, which ended the abuse of Stop, Question & Frisk in communities of color and created the NYPD’s Office of Inspector General to investigate unlawful and unethical behavior.

Letitia James

NYS Attorney General (Recorded Video Message)

Letitia James is the 67th Attorney General for the state of New York. When she was elected in 2018, she became the first woman of color to hold statewide office in New York and the first woman to be elected Attorney General. She began her career as a public defender at the Legal Aid Society. A proud Brooklynite, she is a graduate of Lehman College and Howard University School of Law.

Kendra Sullivan

NYC Climate Justice Hub Co-Director, CUNY

Kendra Sullivan is a public artist, an activist-scholar, and a poet. She is Director of the Center for the Humanities at the CUNY Graduate Center and co-directs the NYC Climate Justice Hub. She is the publisher of Lost & Found: The CUNY Poetics Document Initiative and the co-editorial director of Women’s Studies Quarterly. Kendra has produced public art addressing water access and equity issues in cities around the world and has published her writing on art, ecology, and engagement widely.

Eddie Bautista

NYC Climate Justice Hub Co-Director, NYC-EJA (Moderator)

Eddie Bautista is the Executive Director of the NYC Environmental Justice Alliance (NYC-EJA), which has been at the forefront of City and State campaigns to advance environmental and climate justice for over 30 years. Under Eddie’s leadership since 2010, NYC-EJA’s campaign accomplishments have come to define environmental/climate justice advocacy in New York, including the passing of the NYS Climate Leadership & Community Protection Act, the most aggressive climate action law in the nation (mandating 100% net zero greenhouse gas emissions – economy-wide – by 2050). This law served as a model for many of President Biden’s climate policies, including Justice40. Previously, Eddie served as Director of the NYC Mayor’s Office of City Legislative Affairs, where he spearheaded passage of several landmark laws, and Director of Community Planning for NY Lawyers for the Public Interest.

Nando Rodriguez

NYC Climate Justice Hub Advocate, The Brotherhood Sister Sol

Nando Rodriguez is the Senior Manager for Environmental Programming at The Brotherhood Sister Sol. He was born and raised in New York City’s Lower East Side, but also lived for several years in the Dominican Republic. Nando earned a B.A. in Liberal Studies with a minor in Environmental Science from the State University of New York at Purchase College while maintaining his involvement with community work, participating in student organizations and often taking leadership roles.

Elizabeth Yeampierre

Executive Director, UPROSE

Elizabeth Yeampierre is an internationally recognized Puerto Rican environmental/climate justice leader of African and Indigenous ancestry, born and raised in New York City. Elizabeth is co-chair of the Climate Justice Alliance, a national frontline led organization and Executive Director of UPROSE, Brooklyn’s oldest Latino community-based organization. Elizabeth was the 1st Latina Chair of the USEPA National Environmental Justice Advisory Council and opening speaker for the first White House Council on Environmental Quality Forum on Environmental Justice under Obama.

Jessica Clemente

Chief Executive Officer, We Stay/Nos Quedamos

Jessica Clemente majored in Environmental Science at SUNY Purchase. After graduating she served as Project Manager for the NYU School of Medicine’s “South Bronx Environmental Health and Policy Study.” The study, sponsored by the Environmental Protection Agency and Congressman Jose E. Serrano in partnership with four local community organizations—the Point CDC, Nos Quedamos, the Sports Foundation, and Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice allowed her to work closely with researchers and community partners on the relationships between air quality and public health. This work led Jessica to pursue a Master of Urban Planning at the New York University Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. In 2011, Jessica was asked to become the CEO of Nos Quedamos.

Eunice Ko

NYC Climate Justice Hub Co-Director, NYC-EJA (Moderator)

Most recently, at the Mayor’s Office of Climate and Environmental Justice and the Mayor’s Office of Climate Resiliency, Eunice Ko worked in climate adaptation and urban policy with a focus on climate and environmental justice. She worked to integrate racial and social justice through policy, operations, and culture. Eunice has experience in organizational development, change management, and strategic planning in local government. She has worked for the City of Chicago and Austin on affordable housing, community safety, and mental health policies and services.

Celeste Perez

State Climate Policy Manager, NYC-EJA

Celeste Perez is the State Climate Policy Manager at NYC-EJA. Her work focuses on NYS Climate Leadership and Protection Act’s implementation, emphasizing equitable approaches towards a Just Transition. Celeste received a Masters of Science in Environmental Policy and Science from Pace University and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University at Albany. Before joining the NYC-EJA team, she focused her Master’s thesis on potential barriers and gaps low-income communities and communities of color face through New York State’s transition towards electrification.

Daniel Chu

Senior Energy Planner, NYC-EJA

Daniel Chu is the Senior Energy Planner for the New York City Environmental Justice Alliance. He is a geographer and urban designer with an interest in democratic built environment planning for environmental justice communities. Daniel received an M.S. in Design & Urban Ecologies and a B.A. in Urban Studies from The New School and is a current Ph.D. student in Earth and Environmental Science at the City University of New York.

Shravanthi Kanekal

Senior Resiliency Planner, NYC-EJA

Shravanthi Kanekal is the Senior Resiliency Planner for NYC-EJA. She is an urban planner with experience in climate change adaptation and sustainability strategies. Her interests lie in collaborative civic engagement, the intersection of design and policy, and its effect on social equity within communities. She also has four years of experience as an architect working on commercial, residential, and historic preservation and restoration projects. Shravanthi received a Masters of City Planning with a concentration in Land Use and Environmental Planning from the University of Pennsylvania and holds a Bachelor of Architecture from R.V. College of Engineering.

Kevin Garcia

Senior Transportation Planner, NYC-EJA

Kevin Garcia is the Senior Transportation Planner at NYC-EJA. Before joining NYC-EJA, Kevin was the Bus Campaign Manager with Tri-State Transportation Campaign, where he organized bus riders to raise awareness about issues facing the majority of NJ Transit riders. He helped win a bus network redesign, a commitment from the state governor to electrify NJ Transit’s bus fleet, and established the Bus Riders’ Bill of Rights. He earned a Master’s degree in City and Regional Planning from the Pratt Institute and graduated from Williams College with a B.A. in Mathematics and Philosophy.

Michael Higgins Jr.

Land Use Planner, NYC-EJA

Michael Higgins Jr. is a longtime community organizer born and raised in Brooklyn. He got his start in organizing as a member of Families United for Racial and Economic Equality (FUREE) doing base building and political education with public housing residents in Fort Greene, Gowanus and Boerum Hill. Later, he worked with Fifth Avenue Committee (FAC) as a staff organizer supporting initiatives such as Turning the Tide and the Gowanus Neighborhood Coalition for Justice (GNCJ). In his previous position as Senior Organizer of Housing and Sustainability at Brooklyn Movement Center, he led tenant association development at local apartment complexes and recruitment for a renewable solar subscription service for low and moderate-income Central Brooklynites. He received his bachelor’s degree in Public Health at Johns Hopkins University.

Victoria Sanders

Climate and Health Programs Manager, NYC-EJA

Victoria Sanders is the Climate and Health Programs Manager at NYC-EJA. Her work includes research and advocacy to support NYC-EJA’s environmental health initiatives to promote equitable, resilient, and healthy communities. She has previously worked at the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s Bureau of Communicable Disease focusing on epidemiological data analysis and Milestone Technologies, a technology company in which she worked in Human Resources and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Victoria has an MPH in Environmental Health Sciences from Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health with a certificate in Climate and Health.

Alan Minor

NYC Climate Justice Hub Coordinator, NYC-EJA

Alan Minor is the NYC Climate Justice Hub Coordinator for NYC-EJA. He comes to NYC-EJA formally trained as a journalist, writer, researcher, community organizer, and urban planner. Originally from Birmingham, Alabama, Alan has lived in New York City for the last 12 years and has been involved in a variety of community development efforts as a resident, tenant, general volunteer, worker, board member, and founder and co-founder of initiatives focusing on spatial [in]justice. Alan received a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Alabama–Tuscaloosa and a master’s degree in City and Regional Planning from Pratt Institute, where he wrote his master’s thesis on the concept of spatial justice and its applicability to the practice of urban planning and policymaking.

Conor (Coco) Tomás Reed

Independent Scholar-Organizer, CUNY Alumni (Moderator)

Conor (Coco) Tomás Reed is a Puerto Rican~Irish, gender-fluid, independent scholar-organizer in radical cultural and educational movements in the Americas and the Caribbean, and the author of New York Liberation School: Study and Movement for the People’s University (Common Notions, 2023). Coco is co-developing the quadrilingual anthology Black Feminist Studies in the Americas and the Caribbean (Malpaís Ediciones), is a contributing editor with LÁPIZ Journal and Lost & Found: The CUNY Poetics Document Initiative, and is on the Board of Directors for CLAGS: The Center for LGBTQ Studies at CUNY. Coco has been immersed in two decades of struggles around transforming education and public space, anti-imperialism, police and prison abolition, solidarity with Palestine and Puerto Rico, reproductive rights, housing justice, and beyond.

Angela Zhou

2024-2025 NYC Climate Justice Hub Intern

Angela Zhou grew up in Sunset Park and focuses on identifying air pollution hotspots in Sunset Park, transportation justice, and community-centered peak electricity demand management solutions as an Intern for UPROSE. A student of urban sustainability, her capstone project focuses on NYC’s Living Shorelines. In her free time, Angela enjoys making stuff with her hands, gardening, singing karaoke, playing board games, and reading fantasy novels.

Hennessy Garcia

2024-2025 NYC Climate Justice Hub Fellow

Hennessy Garcia is a queer Black and Latinx student and organizer. Through her previous work as a Climate Justice Organizer with Sixth Street Community Center she has organized, lobbied and advocated for numerous climate policies. She has worked in coalition with organizations like Public Power NY, NY Renews, Renewable Heat Now and No North Brooklyn Pipeline. Hennessy believes in fighting for collective liberation for all.

Maria Reyes

NYC Climate Justice Hub Advocate, The Point CDC

Maria Reyes serves as the NYC Climate Justice Hub Advocate at The Point CDC. She draws from her bachelor’s degree in Environmental Studies with a minor in Growth and Structure of Cities from Haverford College. Prior to joining the Hub team, Maria worked as an intern at an engineering consulting firm focusing on building decarbonization. In this role, she gained familiarity with local climate policy and screening multi-family buildings for renewable energy and retrofit opportunities.

AnaKaren Santana

2024-2025 NYC Climate Justice Hub Fellow

AnaKaren Santana is currently finishing a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology with a minor in Communications at York College. She is also finishing up a City College for Leadership for Democracy and Social Justice Fellowship, where she is focusing on economic justice work as an intern at ALIGN. In her free time, AnaKaren enjoys spending as much time as possible with her daughter, reading, and going to the movies.

Shaheeda Smith

NYC Climate Justice Hub Advocate, Good Old Lower East Side (GOLES)

Shaheeda Yasmeen Smith has empowered New York City’s youth and communities for over two decades as a visionary, organizer, healer, and storyteller. With a background in public health practice, she recognizes the intersectionality of environmental justice and public health issues, particularly their impact on marginalized communities. Shaheeda’s mission is to build awareness and preparedness within communities of color through innovative programming. Shaheeda serves as the Hub Advocate at Good Old Lower East Side (GOLES), advocating for equitable solutions and fostering unity across diverse backgrounds. Her extensive experience spans grassroots organizations, municipal government agencies, and corporate environments.

Michael Menser

NYC Climate Justice Hub Co-Director, CUNY

Dr. Michael Menser received his PhD in Philosophy from the CUNY Graduate Center and teaches in Philosophy, Urban Sustainability Studies at Brooklyn College, Earth and Environmental Sciences at the CUNY Graduate Center, and Community Ownership and Workplace Democracy at the CUNY School for Labor and Urban Studies. He was the founding Board Chair of the Participatory Budgeting Project and is currently the Associate Director of Public Engagement for the Science and Resilience Institute at Jamaica Bay. He is the author of We Decide! Theories and Cases in Participatory Democracy and is a contributor to Prospects for Resilience: Insights from New York City’s Jamaica Bay and is a member of the PSC-CUNY’s Environmental Justice Working Group.

Eunice Ko

NYC Climate Justice Hub Co-Director, NYC-EJA

Most recently, at the Mayor’s Office of Climate and Environmental Justice and the Mayor’s Office of Climate Resiliency, Eunice Ko worked in climate adaptation and urban policy with a focus on climate and environmental justice. She worked to integrate racial and social justice through policy, operations, and culture. Eunice has experience in organizational development, change management, and strategic planning in local government. She has worked for the City of Chicago and Austin on affordable housing, community safety, and mental health policies and services.