When it comes to brownfield projects, local decision-makers are presented with a valuable opportunity to reshape their community’s approach to environmental justice and equitable development—whether through policy, financial incentives, or other interventions that set equitable standards for future brownfield projects. Brownfield clean-up and development are powerful tools to advance environmental justice by seeking to mitigate environmental hazards and promote healthier, vibrant communities in areas that may have been disadvantaged by the presence of one or more brownfield sites.
Join the National Brownfields Coalition on April 5, 2022 at 11:30am ET for an engaging virtual event addressing how practitioners can center equity in their work and develop strategies for inclusive brownfields redevelopment. Recognizing the risk of gentrification and home and business displacement arising from brownfields redevelopment projects, event speakers will share best practices for development, planning and community engagement processes centered on community wealth building and supporting existing community members.
Speakers will provide insights from the field on a wide range of environmental justice and equity issues related to brownfields cleanup and reuse policy and practices, and share actionable strategies to advance equity in brownfield processes and outcomes. Participants will learn about actionable strategies for reducing displacement and the many roles and sectors that must be involved to advance equitable development in brownfields work. Participants can engage through lectures as well as break-out discussion groups.
Harold Mitchell
Harold Mitchell is the Executive Director and Founder at ReGenesis Community Development Corp. Mr. Mitchell founded the ReGenesis project in 1997 in response to a spate of respiratory illnesses in neighborhoods near waste and toxic chemical facilities in his community. Today, the project has successfully leveraged millions of public and …
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Harold Mitchell is the Executive Director and Founder at ReGenesis Community Development Corp. Mr. Mitchell founded the ReGenesis project in 1997 in response to a spate of respiratory illnesses in neighborhoods near waste and toxic chemical facilities in his community. Today, the project has successfully leveraged millions of public and private dollars in funds towards site clean ups, economic development, affordable housing and healthcare for communities affected by environmental racism. Mitchell served as a representative in the South Carolina Legislature for 13 years. He received the National Black Caucus of State Legislators Regional Legislator of the Year Award, 2015. He is a lifelong resident of Spartansburg, South Carolina.
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Katharine Burgess
Katharine Burgess is the Vice President of Land Use and Development at Smart Growth America, where she oversees SGA’s Land Use programs including LOCUS, the Form Based Codes Institute and the National Brownfields Coalition. Prior to Smart Growth America, Katharine led the Urban Resilience Program at the Urban Land Institute. …
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Katharine Burgess is the Vice President of Land Use and Development at Smart Growth America, where she oversees SGA’s Land Use programs including LOCUS, the Form Based Codes Institute and the National Brownfields Coalition. Prior to Smart Growth America, Katharine led the Urban Resilience Program at the Urban Land Institute. At ULI, she built up the organization’s program of work addressing how buildings, cities and communities can be more prepared for the impacts of climate change, considering topics ranging from climate risk to built environment adaptation strategies addressing sea level rise, extreme heat, wildfires and other climate hazards.
An urban planner, Katharine has fifteen years experience practicing in the US, UK and Germany. She began her career managing post-Katrina hurricane recovery charrettes commissioned by the States of Louisiana and Mississippi and the City of New Orleans, and subsequently worked in masterplanning and land use consulting. Her research work has included landscape performance research for the Landscape Architecture Foundation, as well as international urban policy research for the Robert Bosch Foundation Fellowship program. She holds an MSc in Regional and Urban Planning from the London School of Economics and a BA from Williams College.
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Elizabeth Yeampierre
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 …
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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. Elizabeth has been featured in the NY Times as a visionary paving the path to Climate Justice. She was named by Apolitical as Climate 100: The World’s Most Influential People in Climate Policy , also featured in Vogue as one of 13 Climate Warriors in the world and a recipient of the Frederick Douglass Abolitionist Award FD200. Recently, she has spoken at Oxford University, the Ethos Conference in Brazil and the Hague.
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