Building Resilience While Centering Equity & Dismantling Anti-Black Racism

621 Huntington Avenue,Boston MA 02115

17 June, 2022

Description

Come and hear how CROs from three cities have responded to the trifecta of events - global pandemic, civil rights movement, and economic turmoil through the Resilient Cities Network community of practice (CoP). Resilience provides the framework for the change we need in cities. Hear from CROs about how to ensure cities thrive in both good times and bad times through policies, programs, and solutions that center on the needs of those most vulnerable. about the panelists: LAURIAN FARRELL (moderator): As Director for North America, Laurian works with cities to implement impactful resilience solutions. Throughout her 20-year career as a Water Resources Engineer with a master’s degree in Landscape Architecture she has worked at the confluence of engineering science, policy, and people to successfully execute visions at various municipal, engineering consulting, and philanthropic organizations.Prior to joining R-Cities, Laurian worked at 100RC as an Associate Director of Global Resilience Practice. She was also the Senior Manager for Environment at the City of Brampton, Ontario, where she project managed the city’s Riverwalk initiative, a $250-million flood protection and downtown revitalization project. MEGAN L.SPARKS: a visionary leader with boundless energy for driving equitable growth and resilience among people, organizations, and communities. An architect of cross-sector movements, she thrives when bringing wild ideas to life in highly complex environments. Megan serves as the Senior Director of the Division of Strategic Initiatives and Partnerships in the office of Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens. In this role, Megan and her team work to drive greater equity, resilience, and improved quality of life for Atlantans, especially the most vulnerable and historically disinvested, by building strategic, innovative, multi-stakeholder initiatives. She works across Mayor Dickens’ team to develop creative public-private partnerships, and she serves as point-person for many of the city’s philanthropic and community partners. KRYSTAL REYES: Krystal currently serves as Chief Resilience Officer for the City of Tulsa overseeing the city's resilience strategy that calls for using a racial equity lens in all city policies, programs, and practices. Previously she held various positions in government and non-profit sectors in New York City, coordinating multi-disciplinary, community-led, and city-wide efforts to address disparities in health and well-being. Throughout her career, Krystal has focused on improving the quality and quantity of early education opportunities for children, improving supports for families, and developing meaningful community partnerships. Krystal has a Bachelor of Arts in Politics and Spanish Literature, as well as a master’s degree in Public Administration from New York University. LORI NELSON: Lori Nelson, Chief Resilience Officer, City of Boston Lori Nelson currently leads the City of Boston's efforts as Chief Resilience Officer. In this role, she leads efforts in planning and dealing with catastrophes and slow-moving disasters, such as persistent racial and economic inequality. Her tenure in governmental affairs is always connected to advocating for racial equity and justice for all. Lori's political portfolio includes strategy and niche outreach for Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) communities for former/current elected officials. Her civic engagement work has roots within the Boston Chapter of NAACP, the Black Ministerial Alliance of Greater Boston, Inc. JENY MATHEWS-THUSOO Jeny Mathews-Thusoo (she/her) has worked in social change for 20+ years with a vision that the future of cities belongs to the those who believe in the power of dreams. She is the Program Lead of Inclusive Futures with Resilience at The City of Calgary focusing on how governments and institutions can have trusted relationships with equity-deserving communities. She’s establishing a community futures-thinking practice to democratize the future, and to collectively imagine transformative futures of trust and governance. Jeny is an instructor with the University of Calgary, Faculty of Social Work teaching social policy.