Keynote Speaker | Sustainability Month

Creating an Environmentally Safe and Socially Just World Where Humanity Can Thrive: A Day with Daphne Frias

Join youth activist, Daphne Frias, as she explores connections between climate & environmental justice, disability rights, and the impact of social and planetary boundaries on health and well-being (Kate Raworth, Doughnut Economics Model).

You are welcome to join one or more sessions throughout the day. Our time with Daphne will build upon Cornell’s adoption of the Okanagan Charter last fall. Cornell faculty, staff, and students will be invited to envision, explore, and contribute to Cornell’s on-going transformation into a health-promoting and sustainable campus.

Lunch and dinner will be provided – RSVP needed due to limited space.

Event Schedule

• 11:00am-12:00pm   Panel discussion - Bethe Common Room
• 12:15pm-1:15pm   Lunch Bethe - Dining Room
• 1:30pm-2:30pm   Workshop - Bethe Common Room
• 5:00pm-6:30pm   Dinner - Eco House Fireside Lounge
   

Panel Discussion

• Moderator:
  • Sandra Mosqueira-Caminada – Cornell’s Yang Tan Institute
• Panelists:
  • Daphne Frias – Youth Activist
  • Julie Edwards – Director, Skorton Center for Health Initiatives
  • Sarah Carson – Director, Campus Sustainability Office
  • Gen Meredith – Professor of Practice, Department of Public & Ecosystem Health
  • Swathi Suvarna – Graduate Student, City & Regional Planning
  • James Rand – Student, Defend the Forest Cornell
• Topics:
  • Cornell as a health-promoting and sustainable campus, Okanagan Charter
  • Climate & environmental justice
  • Disability rights, and the impact of climate change on health & intersectional identities
  • One Health, and more

Dinner Discussion

• Facilitators:
  • Liz Radman - Residence Hall Director, Ecology House
  • Eilyan Bitar - Associate Professor, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering

About the Speaker
Daphne Frias is a 25-year-old youth activist. She is unapologetically Latina. Daphne has Cerebral Palsy, and uses a wheelchair to ambulate. She is fiercely proud to be a loud champion for the disabled community. Active in the fight against gun violence and for voting rights, Daphne has been fighting the climate crisis as well. Her work deconstructs the silos between disability and the climate crisis with a public health approach. She was appointed as spokesperson for the global climate strikes that took place on September 20th, 2019. Most recently she was featured as a key panelist at the New York Times Climate hub in a conversation moderated by Emma Watson. She has no intention of backing down until the health of our earth is secure. Her work has been featured in the Sierra Club, Teen Vogue, PopSugar, NPR, Vice, Elle, among many others.
 

Co-sponsors
Hosted by the Campus Sustainability Office, Cornell Health, Hans Bethe House, and Ecology House. Co-sponsored by North Campus Faculty Programs, Yang-Tan Institute, Latina/o Studies Program