Corporate Leaders, Environmental and Energy Experts Highlight Sustainability Challenges, Resources and Opportunities at Chicago Urban League’s 2023 SUMMIT

 

Corporate Leaders, Environmental and Energy Experts Highlight Sustainability Challenges, Resources and Opportunities at Chicago Urban League’s 2023 SUMMIT

Naomi Davis and Jacky Grimshaw receive inaugural Environmental Equity Leadership Award

CHICAGO – On Tuesday, May 2, the Chicago Urban League convened nearly 350 business and civic leaders for its 2023 SUMMIT, a daylong conference focused on “Equity in Clean Energy and Water.” Over the course of the day, more than 20 industry experts and corporate leaders shared insights and useful information about addressing environmental and sustainability inequities ranging from access to affordable, renewable energy to safe drinking water, and employment diversity.

SUMMIT 2023 was the League’s first to focus on energy and environmental equity. The day’s agenda included three plenary conversations, along with six breakout sessions that focused on specific topics such as federal contracting, financing, and opportunities in water and infrastructure projects.

“Each year, our SUMMIT aims to lift up a policy issue that is of importance to the Black community. While those issues may also be of interest to the general community, we know there is often a greater impact for Black communities. Such is the case with environmental justice,” said Karen Freeman-Wilson, President and CEO of the Chicago Urban League. “This year, we set out to talk about access to clean air, clean water, and the opportunity to be engaged in workforce and business opportunities around tangible solutions.”

Funding and Resources

Leaders representing local, regional, and national government agencies discussed the sustainability challenges facing Black communities and provided information on funding and other resources that are available to develop and support solutions.

The morning keynote speakers, Shalaya Morissette, Chief of the Minority Business & Workforce Division of the U.S. Department of Energy, and Debra Shore, Region 5 Administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), both noted that one of the biggest issues they see related to racial and economic inequity within renewable energy and sustainability is limited awareness of available resources. Both said their agencies have billions of dollars of grant funding available to support the efforts of minority business owners and communities, but people might not know about these opportunities or how to access them if they do not specifically visit their websites. (Minority Business & Workforce Division; Region 5 EPA grants)

Morissette and Shore also stressed that it is important to understand how to write a government grant to access the funds and said that technical assistance is also available.

“The Inflation Reduction Act and the infrastructure law have more than doubled the Region’s budget and increased the agency’s budget 10-fold,” said Shore, who added that the EPA is hiring and seeking talent.

The Intersection of Sustainability and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Executives from three of Chicago’s largest employers—ComEd, Walgreens Boots Alliance, and United Airlines—shared information about internships and diversity initiatives during a luncheon conversation about how sustainability intersects with diversity, equity and inclusion.

Muench, Alethia Jackson from Walgreens, and ComEd CEO Gil Quiniones also responded to audience questions about job opportunities, supplier diversity, and rising energy costs.

Creating a Just and Sustainable City

SUMMIT concluded with a look ahead at how leaders can work with the community to create a just and sustainable city and solutions to increasingly prevalent issues around safe drinking water, poor air quality, and related health concerns in underserved communities in the Chicago-area and elsewhere.

Karen Weaver, a former mayor of Flint, Michigan, shared lessons from her experience leading that city during an ongoing water crisis and noted similar issues seem to occur disproportionately in minority communities. Kimberly Du Buclet, Vice President of the Board of Commissioners of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, said MWRD hopes to take advantage of the Inflation Reduction Act to address such issues locally.

In addition to focusing on policy issues, SUMMIT is one of the Chicago Urban League’s major annual fundraisers. This year’s top sponsors included GCM Grosvenor and ITW.

More information about upcoming programs and events from the Chicago Urban League can be found at ChiUL.org. You can also follow the League on Facebook and Twitter.

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