2020-21 Tzedek Lecture: “Building an Inclusive Green Economy for All”
What will the next four years mean for the future of climate justice, economic justice, and racial justice? How have the pandemic and economic uncertainty affected the fight for climate change? Climate justice advocate Vien Truong will consider these questions, share insights, and offer solutions for how we can fight for a more just and sustainable future in her 2020–21 Tzedek Lecture “Building an Inclusive Green Economy for All” (new title) on Tuesday, February 2, 2021 at 4 p.m. via Zoom.
Truong has worked to bring equity, social justice, and climate justice to the front lines of the environmental movement and policy making. “Climate justice work is a fight for a new economy, a new democracy, a new relationship to the planet and to each other. When we win this fight, we will win the world that we want. The future is worth fighting for.”
Truong’s parents, nine siblings, and grandmother fled war-torn Vietnam in a boat, rowed 500 miles toward Macau, were intercepted and sent to a refugee camp where Truong was born. They came to Oregon and worked as migrant farm workers following the harvest across the state. Subsequently they moved to Oakland, California where her parents worked low-wage jobs in sweatshops while supporting their large family. Truong, who grew up amid the poverty and violence of 1980s Oakland, was the first in her family to attend college. She earned a BA at UC Berkeley and a JD at University of California’s Hastings College of Law. Deeply committed to her Oakland community, she works to bring resources for reducing pollution and creating the infrastructure for sustainable economic revitalization.
Truong serves as the Senior Director of Global Engagement and Sustainability with the Nike Corporation. She formerly served as CEO of the Dream Corps, and led Green For All, a national initiative that puts communities of color at the forefront of the climate movement and equality at the center of environmental solutions.
Truong co-led the coalition to pass and implement California’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (SB 535), creating the largest fund in history for the poorest and most polluted communities. It has invested over $1.5B in disadvantaged communities most harmed by fossil fuel pollution, and served as a model that has been replicated in other states. Truong has received numerous congressional, state, regional, and local awards for her work advocating on behalf of those most vulnerable to climate change, including a White House Champion of Change award for her work on climate equity.
Truong’s talk is free and open the public, but registration is required. The lecture will be recorded and available on the OHC’s YouTube channel.
