Leading Through the Polycrisis: Healing, Resilience, and the Future of Environmental Health and Justice
Gary Cohen, Annie Leonard, and Brandi Jenkins, with Host Michael Lerner
Some leaders have said we are the first generation to understand the full dimensions of the climate crisis and the last generation to do something about it. We are facing new realities when it comes to human health, community health and planetary health, as well as assaults on democracy, human rights and denial of our shared history. As leaders, how can we hold the polycrisis without being crushed by the enormity of the personal, political and planetary challenges? How can we heal ourselves and build resilience in the organizations we need to sustain our movements?
Join us for conversation with Annie Leonard, creator of The Story of Stuff and former executive director of Greenpeace USA; Brandi Jenkins, deputy director of the Beyond Petrochemicals campaign and a 20-year veteran of the EPA; Gary Cohen, Co-founder of Health Care Without Harm; and Commonweal Co-founder Michael Lerner in conversation about the long road that has brought the environmental health and justice movement to where we are in this moment. Come for the conversation and stay for a reception afterward.
Sunday, Oct 18
1:00 pm – 3:30 pm PDT
In Gallery Commonweal and on Zoom
$15 suggested donation, no one turned away
Sunday, Oct 18
1:00 pm – 3:30 pm PDT
In Gallery Commonweal and on Zoom
$15 suggested donation, no one turned away
Gary Cohen
Gary has been a pioneer in the environmental health movement for nearly 40 years. He has helped build coalitions and networks globally to address health impacts related to climate change and toxic chemical exposure. Cohen is co-founder and president of Health Care Without Harm, created in 1996 to help transform the health care sector to be environmentally sustainable and support the health and climate resilience of the communities they serve. Since its inception, the nonprofit has grown to lead and partner in groundbreaking initiatives in more than 88 countries. The White House honored Cohen with its Champion of Change Award for Climate Change and Public Health. He received a MacArthur Fellowship and “Genius Grant” from the MacArthur Foundation.
Annie Leonard
Annie spent 17 years with Greenpeace US, serving as executive director from 2014 to 2023. She created The Story of Stuff, co-launched the Jane Fonda Climate PAC, and has campaigned widely on a range of environmental and democracy-related issues. She is the co-author of the new book, Protest: Respect it. Defend it. Use it.
Brandi Jenkins
Brandi is the deputy executive director of Beyond Petrochemicals, where she drives the campaign’s work to confront petrochemical expansion and protect communities across the United States. Her portfolio spans advocacy, strategic partnerships, and organizational growth, and she leads research and data initiatives to expose petrochemical harms, strengthen public accountability, and equip communities and decision-makers to act. Brandi brings more than 20 years of experience navigating the intersection of environmental policy, government, science, and community advocacy. Before joining Beyond Petrochemicals, Brandi directed community engagement and public affairs for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s southeast region.
Michael Lerner
Host
Michael is the president emeritus and co-founder of Commonweal. His principal work today at Commonweal is with the Cancer Help Program, CancerChoices, the Omega Resilience Projects, the Collaborative on Health and the Environment, and Commonweal New School. He was the recipient of a MacArthur Prize Fellowship for contributions to public health in 1983 and is author of Choices in Healing: Integrating the Best of Conventional and Complementary Therapies (MIT Press).
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