Community and economic development organizations are on the front lines of climate change—protecting housing, supporting small businesses, and strengthening local economies in communities most affected by climate risk. But these organizations are rarely resourced to do so and often lack the capacity to integrate climate into their work. What will it take to close this gap?

Join leading practitioners, researchers, funders, and field leaders working at the intersection of community and economic development and climate to explore how to support the sector in addressing climate challenges. In our first panel with state and national intermediary organizations, we will interpret and discuss findings from a recent Urban Institute survey of more than 450 community and economic development leaders on how they are approaching climate challenges and the resources and support they need to be successful. In our second panel, we will hear from local leaders from Tucson, Arizona, about how they’re embedding climate into economic development and creating new opportunities for workers and small businesses to benefit from resilience and energy-transition investments.

Speakers

• Madeleine Chaisson, Senior Manager, Jobs for the Future
• Stuart Clarke, Program Director, Hive Fund for Climate and Gender Justice
• Oriya Cohen, Policy Program Manager, Research to Action Lab, Urban Institute
• Krista Egger, Vice President of Building Resilient Futures, Enterprise Community Partners
• Kimber Lanning, Founder and CEO, Local First Arizona
• Lane Mandle, Chief of Staff, City Manager's Office, City of Tucson
• Sara McTarnaghan, Principal Research Associate and Colead, Climate and Communities Practice Area, Urban Institute
• Chantal Rush Tebbe, Managing Director, American Cities Program, The Kresge Foundation
• Andrew Rumbach, Senior Fellow and Colead, Climate and Communities Practice Area, Urban Institute
• Ginger Sykes Torres, Vice President of Resiliency Programs, Local First Arizona

We strive to host inclusive, accessible events that enable all individuals to engage fully. Please email [email protected] if you require any accommodations or have any questions about this event.

Support for this event is provided by The Kresge Foundation. For more on Urban’s funding policies, go to urban.org/about/organizational-principles.