Climate change and resilience building: A lesson from New Orleans
WWF Australia and The Sydney Alliance are proud and excited to be presenting this important event on climate change and resilience building featuring a special international guest, Rev. Willie Bennett -
A lesson from New Orleans.
The talk and panel discussion will take us from New Orleans to Dallas to Sydney, via the South Pacific and promises to be both informative and hugely motivating.
Rev. Willie Bennett is a community organiser with over 30 years’ experience organising with low income communities in Fort Worth, Dallas, Austin and Houston, Texas. He is Lead Organiser at The Metropolitan Organisation (TMO) - an organisation of institutions dedicated to developing power and leadership among citizens in Texas in order to transform the city. TMO is part of a larger network of organisations known as the Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF), of which The Sydney Alliance and Queensland Community Alliance are also members.
Among his many experiences and achievements, Rev. Willie organised the Hurricane Katrina Survivor’s Network (KSN), who in 2009 negotiated 10,000 vouchers for people in Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas who had not received any support after Hurricane Katrina. He also won over $150 million in rents for Dallas area survivors.
After Rev. Willie Bennett’s talk, he’ll be joined by a notable panel of experts on resilience building, climate change and working with vulnerable communities, including:
- Dermot O’Gorman (CEO, WWF)
- Monica Barone (CEO, City of Sydney)
- Seforosa Carroll (Manager, Church Partnerships - Pacific, Uniting World)
With more still to be announced.
Audience members will have the opportunity to ask questions of the panel, as well as network with panelists after the formalities wrap up.
This promises to be a truly special evening, and we do hope to see you there.
(Please note: This is at the UTS Haymarket Campus (not the Tower Building), which is on Lower Quay street behind the Paddy’s Markets Building)