We are excited to announce that Jacqueline Patterson, Senior Director of the NAACP Environmental and Climate Justice Program (ECJ Program), will be a keynote speaker at the 2021 Getting to Zero Forum in New York City this fall. Concerns about equity and ensuring a just transition are top of mind as we work towards decarbonizing our built environment and Jacqueline Patterson will share insights at the 2021 Forum from her decades of working on behalf of social justice progress.

The ECJ Program was created to provide resources and support community leadership in addressing this human and civil rights issue by advocating for: 1) reducing harmful emissions, particularly greenhouse gases; 2) advancing energy efficiency and clean energy; and 3) strengthening community resilience and livability.

Throughout her career, Jacqui has worked as an advocate and activist on women’s rights, violence against women, HIV&AIDS, racial justice, economic justice, emergency response, and environmental and climate justice. Since 2007 she has served as coordinator & co-founder of Women of Color United. She currently serves on the Advisory Boards for Center for Earth Ethics and the Hive Fund for Gender and Climate Justice, as well as on the Boards of Directors for the Institute of the Black World, Greenpeace, the Bill Anderson Fund, Peoples Solar Energy Fund, the American Society of Adaptation Professionals, and the National Black Workers Center Project.