To Save the Planet, Put Women First

A panel discussion on women and climate change.

Sponsored by the Upstate SC Climate Reality Project

Monday, August 17, 2020, 7 pm

Join the Upstate SC Climate Reality Project for our next virtual membership meeting as we hear from three speakers discuss the impact of putting women first in the solutions for climate change.

Panelists:

Dr. Mustafa Santiago Ali is a Thought-Leader, Strategist, Policymaker and Activist committed to the fight for environmental justice and economic equity.

Mustafa Santiago Ali is internationally renowned as a Keynote Speaker, Trainer, Leader, Community Liaison and Facilitator specializing in Social Justice issues focused on revitalizing our most vulnerable communities. Throughout his career, Mustafa Santiago Ali has worked to elevate environmental justice issues to strengthen environmental justice policies, programs and initiatives.

Mustafa Santiago Ali worked at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for 24-years. At the EPA, Mustafa S. Ali served as the Assistant Associate Administrator for Environmental Justice and Senior Advisor for Environmental Justice and Community Revitalization.

Dr. Veena Khandke holds bachelor and master degrees in Psychology from the University of Mumbai (India), and a doctorate in Human Development from the University of California, Davis. Dr. Khandke was born in Hong Kong, grew up in India and is fluent in four of India’s 23 official languages. She has been a US citizen since 2008.

At Dining For Women, she manages the Grant Cycles, advises applicants, works with grantees and liaises with Dining For Women Partners. In addition to her work with Dining For Women, Dr. Khandke is an adjunct instructor in Asian studies at Furman University. Her academic interests have always focused heavily on poverty in developing countries and women’s rights and empowerment. “I see working with DFW as the coming together of all parts of me: academic training, passion and contributing to changing the lives of women and girls in developing countries,” she says.

Dr. Diana Vanegas is an Assistant Professor of Biosystems Engineering at Clemson University. She earned a Ph.D. in Agricultural and Biological Engineering from the University of Florida. For the past five years, Diana has been collaborating with researchers from different disciplines, and with leaders of historically marginalized communities in Colombia to understand and address the multiple dimensions of environmental injustice. Using her academic platform, Diana seeks to raise awareness on vexing societal issues, and also to support the active participation of marginalized communities in the search for solutions to their local problems. Her work is configured through the principles and praxis of democratization of knowledge and technology.