Join us for a panel discussion highlighting the work of a diverse group of young climate activists and creative artists applying “heart and head” to “repair the world,” as directed in ancient Jewish texts. These speakers will share insights and strategies to achieve climate justice and reverse the devastating effects of climate change. The event is intended to incite intergenerational action and build sustainable communities, both in Los Angeles and globally. The program will amplify the vision of artists Tiffany Shlain and Ken Goldberg—who created the exhibition Ancient Wisdom for a Future Ecology: Trees, Time, and Technology—which participants will tour as part of the event.

Featuring Nalleli Cobo (Co-founder, People Not Pozos and South Central Youth Leadership Coalition), Kristy Drutman (Founder, Browngirl Green and Co-founder, Green Jobs Board), and Isaias Hernandez (Creator, Queer Brown Vegan).

Moderated by Environmental Protection Agency's Southern California Field Office Director Noemi Emeric-Ford. 

Following the conversation, gather outside for a screen printing workshop led by Self Help Graphics, a self-guided walking tour of Skirball's trees and plants, a zine-making workshop, and light refreshments.

Lineup subject to change. 
 

Nalleli Cobo led a grassroots campaign to permanently shut down a toxic oil-drilling site in her community in March 2020 at the age of 19—an oil site that caused serious health issues for her and others. Her organizing against urban oil extraction has yielded major policy movement within the Los Angeles City Council and Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, which voted unanimously on bans of new oil exploration and phasing out existing sites. 

Nalleli, 22, grew up in South Los Angeles and launched her activism as a 9-year-old after noticing foul smells emanating from the oil well across the street from her home. Over the years, she endured headaches, nosebleeds, and heart palpitations caused by pollution from the well. She began attending meetings and rallies with her mother and, at the age of 9, gave her first public speech on the issue. Even as a child, her skills as an orator caught others’ attention and paved the way for her to eventually become the leading spokesperson for banning oil extraction in Los Angeles. 

She co-founded People Not Pozos, which aims to secure a safe and healthy neighborhood, and the South Central Youth Leadership Coalition, which focuses on environmental racism in the community. In March 2020, Nalleli’s tireless organizing culminated in the definitive closure of the AllenCo drilling site across the street from her childhood home. In addition, thanks to her work, AllenCo executives are facing over 24 criminal charges for environmental health and safety violations. Moreover, Nalleli’s leadership spurred preliminary votes in the City Council in favor of banning oil extraction in the city in 2020. 

She was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 19. After three surgeries and medical treatment, she was declared cancer-free but cannot have children as a result of her illness. In the end, Nalleli led a citizens’ movement that shut down an oil drilling site and initiated the process to phase out the largest urban oil field in the US. Nalleli’s story and leadership also inspired the enactment of SB 1137, which bans all new oil wells within 3200 feet of communities in California. Nalleli won the 2022 Goldman Environmental Prize, was named on the 2022 Time 100 Next list, California Energy Commission Hall of Fame, Activist of the Year, Agente de Cambio, and more.

Kristy Drutman, otherwise known as “Browngirl Green” is a speaker, consultant, media producer, and environmental educator passionate about working at the intersections between media, diversity, and environmentalism. As a young entrepreneur, Kristy has educated hundreds of thousands of people across the globe about modern-day environmental issues through speeches and media content as well as facilitates workshops centered around environmental media and storytelling in cities across the United States. Kristy is also the Co-Founder of the Green Jobs Board, a climate tech start-up bridging the equity and inclusion gap within the green economy through conversations, resources, and pathways to bring more diverse talent into the environmental field.

Isaias Hernandez is an environmentalist, educator, and creative devoted to improving environmental literacy through content creation, storytelling, and public engagements.

Isaias is more commonly known by his moniker, Queer Brown Vegan, the independent media platform he started to bring intersectional environmental education to all. His journey to deconstruct complex issues, while centering diversity and authenticity, has resonated with a worldwide audience. He also collaborates with other leaders from the private and public sectors to uplift and produce stories of change for his independent web series, Sustainable Jobs and Teaching Climate Together.

Isaias has been featured in several noteworthy publications, including Vogue, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, and Business Insider. His social media advocacy earned him recognition as a top climate creator by Harvard C-CHANGE. As a public speaker, he’s presented for The New York Times, Nike, UC Berkeley, Billie Eilish’s Overheated Summit, Harvard University, and more. He recently co-founded the Symbiocene events company that operates worldwide. Isaias is based in Los Angeles and New York, working as a full-time content creator, public speaker, and dog parent.

Noemi Emeric-Ford is the Director of the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Southern California Field Office and oversees the day-to-day operations representing Region 9 as the place-based senior-level manager among Southern California communities, local elected officials, and organizations, and is an active member of the Senior Management Team. Noemi has more than thirty years of experience at the US Environmental Protection Agency working in Washington, DC and Chicago, IL and leading the City of Los Angeles’s Brownfields program through an Intergovernmental Personnel Act assignment. She has extensive experience serving as a Regional Brownfields Coordinator, Regional Team Manager and Community Involvement Coordinator addressing environmental justice and cumulative impacts across the Pacific Southwest with an emphasis on Hawaii and the Pacific Islands. 

Noemi has repeatedly shown outstanding dedication to improving the climate of equity, inclusion, and belonging in region 9 and was recognized with the Vivian Malone Jones Legacy Award for more than twenty years of contribution to social justice in the EPA and the communities EPA works with. Noemi has a B.A. and M.A. from University of Illinois at Chicago and lives with her husband and twins in Pasadena, CA.