INTERTWINE SUMMIT 2021
Regional Climate Case Studies PANEL DISCUSSION
3:50 to 4:50 p.m.
What local projects are currently advancing climate adaptation and resilient communities? How can Intertwine Alliance partners plug in/support this work for maximum regional impact?
A new urban forestry initiative, Connecting Canopies, brings together BIPOC community members, private industry partners and representatives of governmental jurisdictions to change the way we plant and maintain trees and vegetation. Derron Coles, with Blueprint Foundation and DRC Solutions, will share how this initiative is working toward an equitable region-wide distribution of trees and the public health benefits they provide.
Transportation and climate justice
How can community groups and local governments partner to solve climate goals? How do you build an issue coalition to address climate justice in your community? Brett Morgan with 1000 Friends of Oregon will share some of his experiences as a coalition partner in the Getting There Together Coalition, and lessons learned from advocating for climate mitigation goals in Metro's 2020 Transportation Bond.
The 2021 legislature passed Oregon’s first comprehensive wildfire preparedness and resiliency bill, Senate Bill 762. The bill establishes significant policies and investments in an array of actions -- such as wildfire risk mapping, defensible space, wildfire smoke shelters, wildfire-safe building codes, mapping of vulnerable populations, and many others -- for creating community resilience in the face of climate change and wildfire. Mary Kyle McCurdy of 1000 Friends of Oregon will provide an overview of the program's elements, where the state is in implementing them, and how you can participate.
Dr. Rebecca McLain, PSU National Policy Consensus Center
Rebecca McLain (she/her) directs PSU’s National Policy Consensus Center’s research program in collaborative governance. Her work emphasizes policy-relevant research on the social and political aspects of environmental management. In 2017-18, she collaborated with The Intertwine Alliance on a study of the Tree for All watershed restoration program in the Tualatin Basin; currently she is leading a case study of the Columbia Basin Partnership for Salmon and Steelhead Management and a participatory evaluation of Oregon's Place-Based Water Resources Planning Program.
Dr. Derron Coles, The Blueprint Foundation and DRC Learning Solutions
Dr. Derron Coles (he/him) is a learning strategist with over 20 years of experience designing learner-focused workforce development training. Derron has a wide-ranging portfolio that runs the gamut from learning solutions for technical topics, like a globally utilized online training on river system analysis, to interpersonal skills training, such as his award-winning equity diversity and inclusion (EDI) curriculum. Derron has earned certificates in eLearning design, the Treisman method of collaborative learning, the Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and Training (DPSST).
Upon completing his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering at University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Derron moved to Oregon to complete a masters and doctorate in civil engineering at Oregon State University. He then spent eight years managing the mathematics program for the OSU Educational Opportunities Program. In this role, Derron led culturally responsive efforts to recruit and retain underrepresented science and engineering students.
Derron is now owner and principal consultant for DRC Learning Solutions, a culturally responsive company focused on helping organizations in both the private and public sectors develop and sustain social and environmental justice initiatives. As a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, Derron brings a process-oriented and learning-based approach to projects. The current DRC LS portfolio includes projects for small nonprofits, such as WaterWatch, larger organizations like the U.S. Forest Service, and multi-organization collaboratives like the Intertwine Alliance Equity & Inclusion Cohorts.
Derron is also the executive director of The Blueprint Foundation. The nonprofit provides workforce development for Black-identified students using project-based learning and multigenerational mentoring that attends to pressing environmental justice issues, while
solidifying skills necessary for college, a career in the green sector, and civic life.
Mary Kyle McCurdy, 1000 Friends of Oregon
Mary Kyle McCurdy (she/her) graduated from Stanford University with a degree in BA in Human Biology and received her law degree from the University of California, Davis, after which she clerked for a judge on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Mary Kyle started with 1000 Friends of Oregon in 1990 as a staff attorney, and now serves as the Deputy Director, where she oversees the policy and legislative work. She has been particularly focused on wildfire, climate and housing policy.
Brett Morgan, 1000 Friends of Oregon
Brett Morgan (he/him) is the Transportation and Metro Policy Manager for 1000 Friends of Oregon. He works to advance sustainable and equitable land-use policies for the Portland Metro Region, focusing greatly on transportation. In this role, he also serves on the Coordinating Committee for the Getting There Together Coalition, a Portland metro regional transportation coalition focused on transportation justice. His love for our lands and environment came from a childhood of camping and working on farms in the Willamette Valley. His previous professional work is in politics, working on campaigns and in government on the state and federal levels, and he holds dual degrees in environmental sciences and economics from Oregon State University. When he’s away from work and the outdoors, Brett loves playing and seeing live music and helping with family and friends' farms throughout rural Washington County.