Team up for action!
While we’ve all been hunkered down, many of us are also gearing up for action. Together as teams, we have the opportunity to pool our knowledge and resources for elevated, powerful outcomes.
Our two global online leadership trainings brought 95 newly trained leaders into our chapter this summer! And climate-concerned citizens continue to find us, as well. What all this means is that we have lots of people looking to find ways to raise awareness about the climate crisis and to build out solutions — plenty to start new initiatives and campaigns!
Already some of our members have volunteered to lead efforts on a variety of new fronts. Please review this list and consider choosing a team or two to join — or suggest one to start yourself.
- Environmental Justice: “EJ” is intrinsically linked to the climate crisis. Many of us have the privilege of not having to worry about noxious air or toxic chemicals leaching into our lawns. But many people in our region have to fight these injustices on a daily basis. What can we do to right these wrongs?
- Youth Action Group (ages 12-21): We have new teenaged members of our chapter beginning to organize around the unique insult the climate crisis presents to their generation, which will inherit the consequences of the choices we make today. If you’re in this age segment and you want to partner up, let us know! Meetings are on our calendar and will be the last Monday of each month at 5:00pm.
- Business: We’ve had a national group of business leaders anxious to have Chicago involvement in the Business Working Group. We now have a local lead on this. There’s a custom presentation deck available for small- and mid-size companies and opportunities to contribute to addressing the for-profit sector’s response to the climate crisis.
- Creatives: The mind of a creative can be extremely powerful when turned to address the climate crisis. Thinking outside the box is just what this movement needs to keep expanding the reach of our critical messages. We will share our skills with chapter endeavors but, also, how can we use our creative skills to spark magical outcomes?
- EVs: Let’s push for a vehicle revolution. Electric cars are going to be less expensive than traditional internal-combustion engines in the next few years. But people have a lot of questions and concerns. As with any new technology, issues include the rate of adoption and access. Let’s push an initiative that helps our society leave the gas-powered car in the dust.
- Solutions: While the topic of solutions is hopefully a strand running through everything we do in our chapter, we’re ready to give this bright topic a stage of its own. We’ll offer a guided Drawdown course in the new year for connecting to solutions. After that, this team could turn into an action(s) group. If this is a success, we’ll look to devise a series of solutions based workshops in the future.
Members, if you’re interested in taking part in any of these newly forming groups, let us know. You can also express interest in yet-to-be-activated “circles” and any of our existing campaigns by completing our ‘Committees + Circles’ poll. Join today!
Thank you for all you’re doing and will continue to do to preserve a habitable planet. We’re excited for the possibilities ahead in 2021 and beyond!
Jennifer Linton is a graphic, web and textile designer who resides in Chicago in Bucktown. She serves as the chapter’s membership chair.