Profiles

Keynote Speakers

Marjora Carter

Click here to see her profile and video from the TED conference.

Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II

Click here to read his profile on the NAACP network.

......................................................

Cynthia Brown is the founder and principal consultant of The Sojourner Group established in 2001. She has engaged community and non-profit organizational leaders in coalition building, organizing and advocacy on economic justice issues such as worker’s rights, worker health and safety, welfare reform, living wage work, environmental justice, sustainable development and anti-oppression stemming from postures of racism, sexism, class-ism, hetero-sexism, etc. With 25 years of social justice activism as her background, her current work increases grassroots people’s capacity to build their own organizations, create effective alliances, and advocate for public policies that address their needs. Cynthia is a former city council woman in Durham, N.C. and a 2002 US Senatorial candidate, and she recently co-chaired the first U.S. Truth and Reconciliation Commission based in Greensboro.

Lenneal J. Henderson, Jr. is Interim Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at NCCU. His career in academia spans over thirty years, and includes serving as Daniel Blue Endowed Professor of Political Science at NCCU since 2001 and as Distinguished Professor of Government and Public Administration at the University of Baltimore since 1989. In addition, he has served as a contributor to and editor of civic publications including The State of the Black Triangle for the Triangle Urban League, and The State of Black America for the National Urban League.

Councilman Farad Ali was elected to the Durham City Council in 2007. He is Senior Vice-President for of Business Development at the NC Institute of Minority Economic Development. He has a Masters in Business Administration from Campbell University and has prior experience in real-estate and banking in the private sector.

Andrea Harris is President and co-founder of the NC Institute of Minority Economic Development. She has led a movement to promote and grow small businesses, especially those owned by women and racial/ethnic minorities as a means of building the asset base in limited resource communities. Her leadership has resulted in major public policies and private sector initiatives to grow and expand market opportunities, capital, and executive education, training, and managerial support. Over the past three years, financial transactions for minority businesses have exceeded $100 million, making North Carolina a leader in the South. She is a member of the NC Economic Development Board, JBC Institute of Global Diversity and Inclusion, the National Advisory Board for the Institute for Emerging Issues, NC Rural Economic Development Center, and several other boards and commissions.

Majora Carter was born, raised, and continues to live in the South Bronx. Her career has taken her around the world in pursuit of resources and ideas to improve the quality of life in environmentally challenged communities. She founded Sustainable South Bronx in 2001 after writing a $1.25M Federal Transportation grant to design the South Bronx Greenway with 11 miles of bike and pedestrian paths connecting the rivers and neighborhoods to each other, and to the rest of the city. That project secured over $20 million in funds to begin construction in 2008. She has been instrumental in creating riverfront parks, building green roofs, working to remove poorly planned highways in favor of positive economic development, and establishing the Bronx Environmental Stewardship Training (BEST) program to seed a community with a skilled workforce that has both a personal and an economic stake in the urban neighborhood. These accomplishments grow from her belief that self-image is influenced by surroundings, and so surroundings should be beautiful. She has been awarded a MacArthur "Genius" Grant, was named one of Newsweek’s “25 To Watch” in 2007, and in the same year became an Essence Magazine “25 Most Influential African Americans”, a NC Post “50 most influential women in NYC,” and BBC World Service’s "NYC's most influential environmentalist." Her special National Public Radio series “The Promised Land” is scheduled for 2008 release.

Pricey Harrison is in her second term representing the citizens of Guilford County in the NC House of Representatives. Her first term was defined by the championing of environmental issues and promoting legislation to provide a more sustainable energy future for North Carolina. In her second term Rep. Harrison has continued her leadership on energy and energy efficiency issues through chairmanship of the House Committee on Energy and Energy Efficiency and co-chairmanship of the Legislative Commission on Global Climate Change. She has recently been appointed as Vice Chair of the National Conference of State Legislatures Committee on the Environment.

Willie J. Gilchrist is chancellor of Elizabeth City State University and an educator and administrator for over 30 years. In 2001, Dr. Gilchrist was selected by the NC Senate to the UNC Board of Governors, the policy-making body for the 16-campus University of North Carolina. He began his second four-year term in 2005 and resigned from this Board to accept the appointment at ECSU. In addition to his work on the Board of Governors, Dr. Gilchrist has served on the Governor’s More at Four Committee, the Governor’s Education First Task Force, the Halifax County Airport Authority, the Halifax-Warren Smart Start Board of Directors, and on the boards of the Roanoke Valley Chamber of Commerce, the Halifax Development Commission, and the BMB Shelter Home.

G. Stephen Fountain is Program Manager for The North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association. His responsibilities include workforce development and information and education programs that address energy poverty through renewable energy and energy efficiency. He is national certified in Economic Development Professional and Housing Counseling, is a Certified Economic Development Specialist with the National Development Council, and is currently pursuing a certification in L.E.E.D AP (Leadership in Energy Environmental Design). Mr. Fountain has worked in various capacities for faith–based organizations, historical black colleges and universities, and for-profit corporations as well as not-for-profit organizations.

Mikki Sager is the North Carolina Representative for The Conservation Fund, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to balancing environmental protection and sustainable economic development. She works with the Fund’s Resourceful Communities Program to support rural grassroots organizations in planning and implementing “triple bottom line” initiatives that generate sustainable community economic development, social justice and environmental stewardship. This goal is accomplished through capacity-building, movement-building, policy advocacy and innovative demonstration projects.

DeWayne Barton is a veteran who has been involved in community improvement and youth development for over 15 years. A visual and performing artist involved in environmental justice issues—both through his art and his community involvement, he serves on the Boards of Clean Water for North Carolina and the Canary Coalition. Currently he works in partnership with Dan Leroy and the Clean Air Community Trust to develop the Asheville Green Opportunity Corps (Asheville GO), a paid training program designed to prepare Asheville-area youth for "green-collar" careers through meaningful community and environmental service.

Lynice R. Williams is Executive Director of North Carolina Fair Share, www.ncfairshare.org established in 1987 to bring together people within communities impacted by issues of injustice on health care, the environment, economic justice and voting rights to work on their own behalf for solutions to these issues toward a fairer NC. With her leadership NC Fair Share members founded and led a four year statewide campaign and coalition to win NC Same Day Registration (SDR) at Early Voting Sites in 2007, the first legislation of this kind to become law in the South. Ms. Williams is a founder of NC Environmental Justice Network and Grassroots Energy Alliance and has received numerous awards including Raleigh News and Observer’s “Tar Heel of the Week” and The Independent Weekly’s “Citizen’s Award,” and NC Fair Share was named a 2007 NC Justice Center “Defender of Justice” in the category of Grassroots Empowerment.

William J. Barber II is clearly one of North Carolina’s most inspiring and progressive orators. Since his election as president of the North Carolina NAACP in 2006, he has excited thousands of people with his enthusiastic leadership. Named one of “Seven Who Will Matter in 2007” by the Raleigh News and Observer, he organized the Historic Thousands on Jones Street (HKonJ) Peoples Coalition and March in February of 2007 and 2008. He was elected this summer to the national board of the NAACP. Rev. Barber pastors Greenleaf Christian Church, Disciples of Christ, in Goldsboro and has played a major leadership role in a number of organizations addressing community development, education inequality, HIV-AIDs, and other issues of importance to low-income and African American communities

Larry D. Hall represents the people of District 29 in the North Carolina House of Representatives. He is a member of the North Carolina bar, winner of the 1997 NAACP President's Award, and a major in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve. His business leadership positions include Durham Business & Professional Chain, Board Chairman ‘97-’98 and Durham Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors 1998. Community activities include Board Chair and member Durham Companions Mentor Program 1990 through 1995, Business Mentor for the Rights of Passage Program in 1995, and Legal Counsel for the Triangle Association of Minority Contractors.

Paul Quinlan is Director of Economic Research and Development at the North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association (NCSEA), where he oversees the organization’s Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Workforce Development Program. The purpose of the program is to understand potential workforce shortages and knowledge gaps in the building science and solar energy industries, and to facilitate training initiatives that work in concert with existing workforce and economic development strategies. Mr. Quinlan also leads market research initiatives and manages the wind program at NCSEA.

Frederick Lee Yates is Mayor of Winfall, North Carolina, and President of The Alliance of Black Elected Officials. A retiree of the United States Marine Corps, he is currently serving his fourth term as the first Afro-American mayor of the Town. During his term of office, he led Winfall to complete a new Town Hall Building, renovate 17 homes under a block grant from the Department of Commerce, build a new fire department and purchase new trucks, create Winfall Landing Park on the Perquimans River; and install a $6.4 million sewer system that serves the entire town.

Tobin Freid is the Sustainability Manager for the City and County of Durham. In that capacity she assists city and county employees, businesses, and citizens in implementing environmentally sustainable practices, including reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Prior to becoming the Sustainability Manager, Tobin was the Project Coordinator for Energy and Environment at the Triangle J Council of Governments, where she worked on transportation, alternative fuels, and energy projects.

Yolanda Banks Anderson currently serves as Interim Associate Dean of the College of Science and Technology at North Carolina Central University. She is also a tenured Associate Professor of Environmental Science. Previous positions at NCCU include Chair of the Department of Environmental, Earth and Geospatial Sciences (2006-2007) and Director of the Environmental Science Program (1996-2006). Dr. Anderson’s research interests are in environmental justice, environmental health, environmental monitoring, and sustainable communities. Prior to coming to NCCU, she was employed at the National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory/Office of Research and Development at the US Environmental Protection Agency.

Laura Lauffer is the coordinator of the green building program at Central Carolina Community College in Pittsboro. Prior to joining CCCC, she worked as a community organizer in sustainable agriculture, at RAFI-USA and SSWAG. Laura believes that, here at home, we have the answers to our environmental problems and that affordable, quality educational programs can bring good jobs and improved environmental conditions to all of our communities.

Johnetta Ruth Alston is Executive Director of JRuth, Inc., an organization that assists those in need through four programs: Self Sufficiency, Rental Housing Placement, Employment; and Home Ownership. In conjunction with JRuth, Inc., Ms. Alston is a training coach and instructor for Durham Technical Community College where she teaches Life Skills, Financial Literacy, and Employability Skills within Durham and Orange Counties as well as in Federal Correctional Facilities. Ms. Alston is the recipient of several local and state awards, including the City of Durham’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and the City of Raleigh’s Community Service Grant. She facilitates the Building Your Business entrepreneurial classes of Good Work, Inc., and in 2007 hosted the Durham Summer Camp for Women, an extension of Building Together Ministry’s camp in Raleigh.

Dan Leroy is working with DeWayne Barton and the Clean Air Community Trust to develop the Asheville Green Opportunity Corps (Asheville GO), a paid training program designed to prepare Asheville-area youth for "green-collar" careers through meaningful community and environmental service. Mr. Leroy has spent the last ten years designing, developing and coordinating community-based restoration and service learning programs for a variety of organizations, including Adopt-A-Watershed, the Center for Land-Based Learning and the University of California. Dan has a background in ecology, nonprofit management, youth leadership development, curriculum design, and strategic planning.

Lamont Summersett is the Chief Financial Officer of Lincoln Park Coast Cultural District/Lincoln Park Redevelopment LLC and is the co-creator of the Green Collar Apprenticeship Program (GreenCAP). As a developer and financial management specialist with more than 15 years experience, he is also the Chief Executive Officer of The Tempy Group, LLC, a real estate development firm responsible for project management and design/build services. Mr. Summersett has worked with Deloitte and Touche, LLP where he managed and coordinated audits of not-for-profit organizations, government agencies, and financial institutions, and in the private sector where he coordinated fundraising campaigns, created and implemented policies and procedures, and managed construction financing. Most recently, Lamont worked with the Honorable Rev. Floyd H. Flake in Jamaica Queens NY as a consultant, reengineering the business office which was responsible for more than $100 million in assets.

James R. Harris is Director of Economic and Community Development for the Town of Carrboro. His responsibilities include housing, economic development, human services funding, special projects such as the Farmer’s Market and the Sunday Craft Market, and managing the Carrboro Revolving Loan Fund, which has funded 30 businesses, Weaver Street Market being the largest. James also chairs the Orange County Communities in Schools Board of Directors, is a member of the Orange County Boys and Girls Club Board of Directors, and is a member of the Orange County Funder’s Group, Orange County Partnership to End Homelessness, Orange County HOME Council, and the Chapel Hill/Carrboro Chamber of Commerce’s Economic Development Partners Group.

Maria Kingery is a co-founder of Southern Energy Management and oversees SEM’s marketing and human resources departments. She also works hard at creating a balanced work environment where people are challenged to grow and develop to their full potential, personally as well as professionally. Prior to co-founding SEM in 2001, Maria was retail operations manager for Burt’s Bees and has more than 15 years of experience in business development, operations, sales, and marketing.

June Mabry is a co-owner of San-Kawa, LLC, a company that specializes in manufacturing products containing 75-percent post-consumer glass and which won a 2008 Recycling Business Development Grant from the Recycling Business Assistance Center of the N.C. Division of Pollution Prevention and Environmental Assistance. Her business operates on a co-op basis and has an R&D division for developing regional businesses. She currently sits on several boards, including the Governor’s Community Development Board under the Secretary of Labor.

Anietie (Nate) Udofia is co-founder of Green Durham, a private nonprofit that provides management consulting, training, and placement services as well as workforce and economic development in the clean and green economy. The team is responsible for system design, installation, commissioning, project management, service and support on all types of turnkey control systems projects. He is also a founder of the Green Durham Roundtable which works to develop Durham as a model green community.

John Parker leads Good Work (www.goodwork.org), a 17 year-old community development organization with a focus on economic empowerment, entrepreneurship, and sustainable development. His work spans sustainable community economic development, entrepreneurship, stewardship, leadership development, and grassroots organizing, and currently he serves on the boards of the Beloved Community Center of Greensboro, stone circles, and the RUPRI (Rural Policy Research Institute) Center for Rural Entrepreneurship.

Henry McKoy is Chairman of Fourth-Sector Bancorp, an NC-based holding company that is in the process of founding the nation’s first venture bank devoted to sustainable enterprises. He founded and chairs the non-profit think tank called OneVoice Institute of Business and Entrepreneurship, which focuses on the connections between social innovation and entrepreneurship; sits on and chairs numerous boards across North Carolina related to sustainability, community development, business and education; and launched an advisory and consulting firm working with sustainable minded companies and organizations.

Katy Ansardi is President of Sustainable North Carolina and the NC Sustainable Business Council. Prior to joining SNC, she directed outreach and communications for the North Carolina Solar Center. Katy co-founded Indelible Blue, Inc. a Raleigh-based information technology company, owned a private tutoring center, volunteered with the Wake County Business Education Leadership Council, and helped start expansion business units for a real estate development and management company in Florida, where she held both commercial contractor and real estate licenses.

Jane Norton is of President of ReSourcing Natural Solutions (www.design-with-nature.com) a sustainability consulting company and Chief Visionary Officer of Eartheal, (www.eartheal.org), a not-for-profit offering sustainability education and community service projects currently developing the Community Green Guide, (www.communitygreenguide.org), an online and print guide to the Triangle's green and sustainable resources. Her background includes a Master's in Community Design, experience designing passive solar homes, and 15 years of facilitating creativity, team building, leadership development and sustainability to a variety of clients in the business, governmental, not-for-profit and educational sectors. Her passion and service is helping people learn Nature's principles and apply them to designing healthy, prosperous, and sustainable lives, livelihoods, organizations and communities.

Marc Dreyfors is Executive Director and co-founder of Forests of the World and The Forest Foundation and an owner of Carolina Biofuels and Greenway Transit. In 1993 he started Forests of the World, LLC., a U.S.-based import company designed to assist in the development and marketing of sustainable forest products, sales of which exceed $2 million in crafts from 20 countries, primarily hand-crafted by women from renewable and natural materials. In 2000 he helped start The Forest Foundation, a non-profit 501(c)(3), that provides services in “green” business development to artisans in areas of high biodiversity, and environmental education in the areas of fair trade, natural capitalism and sustainable development. He has consulted in Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Colombia, Mexico and the U.S. on the topics of micro-enterprise development, sustainable resource management and ecotourism. The Forest Foundation recently purchased Carolina Biodiesel to increase distribution of alternative biofuels in the Triangle area by building a biodiesel plant and starting Bull City Biodiesel Cooperative.

Keith Shaljian is the founder of Bountiful Backyards, an edible landscaping collective that is working to transform the relationship people have with food and their communities—from kitchen gardens and composting to neighborhood-scale orchards bursting with useful plants. He has completed a 6-month Biointensive apprenticeship in Argentina and has studied soil science as well as native, perennial, and medicinal plants in New Paltz, NY, Washington, DC, and Durham. Urban permaculture, dynamic accumulator plants, composting, and uncommon fruit trees are his primary interests, along with freelance writing.

Melvin Whitley is the Outreach Minister at Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church and has been a community organizer for four decades, working to develop political empowerment in targeted low-income neighborhoods. He is former Political Director for the Durham NAACP, President of Y.E. Smith Neighborhood Association, Congregation Outreach Chair for Democracy North Carolina, Chairman of Durham ACORN, Outreach Chairman for Men in Recovery (Homeless Veterans), Co-Chair Partner Against Crime District One, on the Board of Clean Energy Durham, and member of a number of organizations that reflect his objectives. Rev. Whitley was the primary organizer for “Operation Pipe Dream” which made news in August 2007 when he delivered letters to 31 Durham convenience stores that allegedly sold the love roses (crack pipes), asking them to stop selling the item.

Hope Taylor is Executive Director of Clean Water for NC, a non-profit membership organization that advocates for clean, safe communities and workplaces and economic justice with environmentally restorative jobs for people disproportionally impacted by high energy costs and toxic, degraded air and water. A former biomedical researcher who has been a clean energy and social justice activist for 30 years, Ms. Taylor led the CWFNC Board, staff and volunteers to create the “Water and Energy for Justice Youth Teams” and is building the initiative for a statewide, independently-administered energy efficiency program that would reduce energy costs by providing energy-saving programs for all North Carolina ratepayers.

Evette Wagner was North Carolina's state hurricane planner from 1993-1997 with the North Carolina Division of Emergency Management. After Hurricane Fran, she established an environmental assessment team to help with the required National Environmental Policy Act documentation for speedier receipt of federal funds, and as a consultant for FEMA Region IV (Atlanta, GA), she helped to establish similar environmental assessment teams throughout the eight state region. Her background includes service in the US Navy as an environmental supervisor and typhoon specialist at the Naval Oceanographic Command Center in Agana Guam, and twenty three years experience in environmental planning and emergency management planning. She is currently working to establish a non-profit organization that will help provide training opportunities in green technology and community sustainability.