Keynotes Announced for the 2015 Symposium
The Earth Day Symposium provides educational and networking opportunities for local government officials, community leaders, and professionals from diverse backgrounds in the planning and environmental fields. This year’s Symposium, “Livable Communities”, will be held June 3 at Il Monastero on the Saint Louis University campus. Read more about it and register online today!
Robert Garcia
Morning Keynote
Robert García is a civil rights advocate who engages, educates, and empowers communities for equal access to public resources. He is the Founding Director and Counsel of The City Project, a non-profit legal and policy advocacy team in Los Angeles, California. The City Project works with diverse allies on equal access to (1) healthy green land use through community planning; (2) climate justice; (3) quality education including physical education; (4) health equity; and (5) economic vitality for all, including creating jobs and avoiding displacement. Robert received the President’s Award from the American Public Health Association. PODER Magazine named him one of the Top 100 Latino Green Leaders. Hispanic Business Magazine has recognized him as one of the 100 most influential Latinos in the United States. Robert graduated from Stanford University and Stanford Law School, where he served on the Board of Editors of the Stanford Law Review. He is an Assistant Professor at Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science.
Robert has extensive experience in public policy, legal advocacy, mediation, and litigation involving complex social justice, civil rights, human health, environmental, education, and criminal justice matters. He has influenced the investment of over $43 billion in underserved communities, working at the intersection of equal justice, public health, and the built environment. He served as chairman of the Citizens’ School Bond Oversight Committee for five years, helping raise over $27 billion to build new, and modernize existing, public schools as centers of their communities in Los Angeles. He has helped communities create and preserve great urban parks and preserve access to beaches and trails. He has helped diversify support for and access to state resource bonds, with unprecedented levels of support among communities of color and low-income communities, and billions of dollars for urban parks. He served on the Development Team for the National Park Service Healthy Parks, Healthy People Community Engagement eGuide.
Amelia Pape
Afternoon Keynote
Amelia Pape is a Portland, Oregon-based social entrepreneur and food access advocate. She is the founder of My Street Grocery, a mobile grocer founded in 2011 as a social enterprise with a mission to improve fresh food access and build community by introducing customers to choices, resources, and relationships that celebrate the joy of food. In late-2013, Pape brought My Street Grocery into Whole Foods Market to enhance the scope and impact of the program. My Street Grocery currently operates community markets year-round out of a mobile grocery trolley throughout the greater Portland area, in collaboration with a cross-sector collective impact network of mission-aligned partners. My Street Grocery is the first food access-focused mobile grocer within Whole Foods Market and among large retailers nationwide. As Whole Foods Market’s first Food Access Coordinator, Pape oversees and develops local, regional, and national food access initiatives. She works closely with the Whole Cities Foundation, Whole Foods Market’s nonprofit organization dedicated to improving access to nutritious food. Read more about My Street Grocery.
Pape is passionate about supporting social entrepreneurs. She acts as a mentor for early-stage mobile grocery businesses, and serves on the Board of Advisors for Impact Entrepreneurs at Portland State University. She is co-creator of the Portland Area Food Forum, and is active in the local food justice movement. Pape has an MBA with a focus in social enterprise from Portland State University, and a BA in Economics and Political Theory from the American University. Pape loves to cook, explore, and eat local food everywhere she goes, and is particularly interested in how food acts as a conduit for social engagement in our communities. She loves the Pacific Northwest and spends time outside in its natural beauty as often as possible.
