Growing Meaningful Relationships

“Conversations are a starting point to understand how to address climate change. Conversations turn us toward each other so we can find ways to change together.”

Mila joined us in 2022 as a senior in high school, inspired to work against climate change after experiencing its impacts in her own community and by the wave of global student activism that amplified in 2019. She is a long-standing member of San José team of Silicon Valley Youth Climate Action, where she focuses on youth climate education. Mila was instrumental in supporting and honoring youth perspectives. Her keen perceptions of youth-centered needs and experience as a youth activist were invaluable to our research and developing content. In 2023, Mila was designated San José’s Climate Smart Youth Champion of the year. She is currently a university student, and a research assistant at Right Livelihood Center, investigating how successful movements for social change impacts students' worldviews and engagement in activism around social justice and sustainability. See Mila’s stories here and here.

“Imagine a thousand you’s doing the same small thing repeated over time.”

Julie has been working on environmental programs for local governments for over 20 years. As an Advisory Council member she brought more than 10 years of expertise and focus on Citywide efforts to develop and facilitate climate initiatives. Julie played a lead role in forming San José Clean Energy, developing Climate Smart San José, developing San José’s all-electric building requirements, and passing the City’s carbon neutral by 2030 goal. She also brought the perspective of a mother who is raising kids with environmental awareness and questions about the future. We are grateful to Julie for the stories she shared that supported our understanding, as well as the technical aspects of City-wide networks across San José that are supporting the City towards carbon neutrality by 2030. See Julie’s story here.

“I learned so much in working with the project. It was especially inspiring to talk with the council members and hear about their work, and to learn about the work of the partner organizations. What I most carry with me is the sense that each gesture we make has the capacity to make a difference.”

Genine offered our process and development many things: creative vision, language support, editorial assistance and most importantly for our council she was a master conversation facilitator. She guided our many meetings with creative and thoughtful writing and reflection prompts as well as expertly culling themes, phrases and language that came from our conversations and eventually became many of the messages of One Day / One Action. Genine is an author and poet. As an Artist-in-Residence at San Francisco Zen Center, she curated The Expert’s Mind & Nothing is Hidden, a series of readings, screenings & talks. For seven years, she stewarded The Meadow at the San Francisco Art Institute where she also taught writing. She currently teaches writing workshops & works 1:1 with writers & artists. Learn more about Genine here.

“Change is being comfortable with nuance. Multiple truths can coexist.”

Isaias brought us the perspective of a seasoned public educator. His creative approach to environmental literacy inspired us. Isaias is more commonly known by his moniker, Queer Brown Vegan, the name of this independent media platform to bring intersectional environmental education to all. His contributions of storytelling, and understanding of the spiritual and emotional side of environmentalism helped us to deconstruct complex issues, while centering diversity and authenticity that would resonate with our local community. 

Isaias has been featured in several noteworthy publications, including Vogue, New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, and Yale Climate Communications. His environmental social media advocacy earned him recognition as a top climate creator by Harvard C-CHANGE. Follow Isaias @queerbrownvegan. See his stories here and here.

“We need to shift our understanding to a more sensory or emotional way of knowing. This moves us into the realm of inspiring wonder and curiosity.”

Dr. Michelle Maranowski is an engineer, and an advocate the climate care. As a Council member, Michelle’s experiences as a researcher and educator helped shape One Day / One Action. Her background in climate justice advocacy led her to researching and developing the exhibition Solve for Earth for San José’s Tech Interactive Museum, a major exhibition on sustainability, climate change and action. In her previous position at Santa Clara University as a Senior Research Associate, she was responsible for creating programs that disseminate technical content, supporting students and faculty. Michelle’s commitment to community and her broad background in science and engineering, and her love of brainstorming ideas and solutions brought a deep sense of inspiration and wonder to our work in developing content. See Michelle’s story here.

“Art has the power to catalyze change.”

Mary is the Senior Project Manager for San José Public Art Programs, and served as the City manager for One Day / One Action. Mary’s vision and interest in supporting creative conversations about environmental justice, initiated this project in 2019, and helped us throughout our process, introducing us to community members and organizations that could support the expertise that we needed for the development of our Council and Community Partners. She supported us in creating the first series of conversations during COVID on Zoom with various stakeholders. Mary’s commitment to support public art that promotes social change and environmental justice helped us to bring One Day / One Action to fruition. See Mary’s story here and follow her work @sjculture.

“There is a sense of awe that comes from being outside. When you're in a natural environment, you feel a sense of belonging, a reciprocity. Being in a natural environment puts you in touch with the sublime, and you understand that you are a part of that place.”

Emily’s deep knowledge of food justice and land stewardship filled an important role in our Council. Specifically her work to develop programming that supports local immigrants and youth as leaders in foodways and sovereignty, giving us insight into important community work that is happening in San José. She helped us to create content that reframed how we are connected to the land as a way to develop a sense of belonging–a value that is vital in creating the ongoing health of all of our futures. Emily has worked as a leader at Veggielution, a sustainable urban farm in the middle of San José, creating thriving opportunities for people to engage with whole, fresh, organic produce as a system of care and nourishment. In her current role as Acting Executive Director, Emily oversees strategy and programs for Veggielution. See Emily’s stories here and here, & follow her work @Veggielution.

“Having conversations that allow us to express our feelings about climate change should be as normal as talking about sports! Asking ourselves and each other questions like these can support our own emotional well-being as well that of our families and community. When will you start this conversation?”

Jann brought to One Day / One Action the knowledge and importance of how our natural environments are vital to our mental health and wellbeing. Jan has been a practicing psychotherapist in San José for the past 34 years, specializing in Climate Anxiety. She became aware of the issues of climate change in the 1970’s and has been a passionate advocate for all Earthlings, always with the intention to balance the angst of the future with the beauty of the moment. Jann has become a very important collaborator for our project helping us not only with content framing, but also creating with us the first public Climate Café in San José, held at Veggielution in October 2023. For her third act, Jann is exploring and being witness to the remaining wild places of the US and Canada by road tripping the backroads. She is a member of the Climate Psychology Alliance. See Jann’s stories here and here.

“Including and listening to diverse youth voices is a big driver in creating real environmental justice. We want to see ourselves included. It’s also very awesome to see people who we know are not usually part of the conversation, having a voice.”

Urmila joined our council as our University Youth Activist and Science Specialist. She is studying Molecular and Cellular Biology at UC Berkeley. Urmila came to us as an activist for climate action. She passion began when she was a teenager living in San José, including serving on the Student Board at the Tech Interactive where she helped to design and facilitate their first Youth Climate Action Summit, and leading a countywide effort for Santa Clara County to bring awareness to microplastics. Urmila shared the importance of our ancestral stories as a model of resilience and resistance, and how important it is to center equity in everything we do. See Urmilla’s stories here and here.

Trena is an artist, educator, researcher and writer, whose work engages participatory research strategies, generosity, cross-disciplinary platforms, community-centered stories and creative engagement. At the heart of her work is the investigation of the intersections of cultural and natural ecologies that shape our public imaginations. Through engaging intergenerational temporary and ongoing communities of collective thinking and actions in a variety of contexts, her work aims to support cultural perspectives, shared conversations and stories of resilience to engage important issues of our time. She has been a lead artist on many creative public commissions including working with urban planners, scientists, educators, social scientists, activists, historians, writers and indigenous culture bears to rethink our reciprocal relations to local environments, integrating cultural and environmental knowledge as a system for collective care and stewardship. Trena’s work has been supported by Montalvo Arts Center, the City of Santa Rose, City of San José Public Art, Intersection for the Arts, and Jindal Foundation and National Gallery of Modern Art in India and recently through the California State Arts Council Creative Corp funding. She brings this transdisciplinary lens to uplift and amplify community practices, stories and conversations that can support creative solutions for our changing planet. Follow her @fieldworks_collaborative

For more than two decades, Oakland-based 'marksearch', led by cultural researcher, artist, and literacy educator, Sue Mark, has been designing interactive opportunities for communities to amplify and preserve neighborhood narratives in Oakland, across California, nationally and internationally. Through strategies such as neighbor-led walking discussions, community celebrations, skill-sharing workshops, interactive storytelling and published community scholarship, projects center the voices and expertise of everyday people. marksearch collaborates with neighbor groups, community organizations, citizen historians, local knowledge-bearers, and activists to realize these local actions. marksearch projects collectively gather, celebrate, amplify and preserve multi-faceted neighborhood narratives that nurture long-term resiliency. They have received generous support from many foundations including: The Fulbright Commission, National Endowment for the Arts,The Creative Work Fund,The Kenneth Rainin Foundation, Oakland's Cultural Funding Program, and The California Humanities. marksearch is honored to been a fellow at Berkeley's Kala Art Institute (2014-2022) and with the US Japan Friendship Commission (2016, 2019-2021). Sue is currently the Community Engagement & Design Specialist for the African American History & Engagement project, a partnership between California State Parks and the California African American Museum to research, document, and interpret Black community histories in California State Parks. marksearch.org, follow @commons_archive

Gregory’s background in nonprofit leadership brought a community-centered lens to the management of our social media process. Renowned for effective communication and resourcefulness, Gregory excels in collaborative project delivery across diverse sectors such as modeling, fashion, sports, education, cannabis, and nonprofits. His proficiency encompasses content creation, storytelling, branding, strategic planning, and social media strategy implementation. Learn more about Gregory’s work here, follow him @gregory_d_collins

Aziza supported One Day / One Action in the development of the initial social media design and concept. Aziza has years of experience working with social media as a tool to support and inform large municipalities, including leading strategic communications efforts for the City and County of San Francisco during the COVID-19 pandemic. She is currently Director of Public Affairs and Strategic Communications at Cal Maritime. Learn more about Aziza here.

Chris is the founder and creative director of StudioSilog, a creative design studio focused on social impact. Chris helped us to visualize the movement of our content from spring through winter seasons, bringing One Day / One Action alive. Chris’s visual conceptual support and keen vision for the design of the project allowed us to craft a moving and meaningful experience for our public. Before launching his studio, he was the Senior Designer at SDG agency and a graphic designer at the Brooklyn Museum. He graduated from The Cooper Union School of Art. Learn more about StudioSilog here.

“Art has the power to catalyze change.”

Genine is a writer, editor, poet, educator, avid observer of the natural world and creative visionary. She supported One Day / One Action as our language expert, guiding and culling key ideas and concepts from our numerous meetings and helping us with the language of our content. Genine’s own writing and poems have been published widely. She has curated numerous readings and conversational exchanges among writers and creatives. Learn more about Genine’s work here. 

Hoang Truong has been serving the San José community as a specialist and educator for 8 years. His background in public health and a passion for working with the community brought a keen and nuanced understanding to the vernacular and cultural practices of San José’s Vietnamese community. Hoang also supported One Day / One Action through introducing us to organizations who later became community partners. His community leadership and support opened the doors to people and stories from the vibrant and diverse Vietnamese community of San José. See Hoang’s One Day / One Action story here.

Omar Rodriguez is the owner and Marketing Director at Kooltura Marketing—an entrepreneur driven by a profound passion for cultural marketing and branding. Over the past 14 years, he has cultivated meaningful partnerships and engaged deeply with local non-profit organizations and community members, which have played a pivotal role in Kooltura’s growth and impact. Omar's focus has been on creating opportunities and services that bring community members together to celebrate heritage and culture throughout the City of San José. Follow @koolturamarketing

Ana is the Co-founder of J.A.V. Language Solutions LLC, a boutique interpreting & translation agency that provides services to nonprofits, businesses, city councils, school districts, law firms,and courts. She is a Certified Court Interpreter by the Judicial Council of California and a CertifiedHealthcare Interpreter through the Commission of Healthcare interpreters (CCHI). She also is a foreign lawyer authorized to practice law in El Salvador, where she practiced for over 15 years working in law firms, Government Agencies, and Nonprofits in the areas of Social Development,Government Contracts, and Bidding.

The San José Public Art Program is part of the City of San José’s Office of Cultural Affairs, a division of the Office of Economic Development. The City of San José Public Art Program inspires community through artworks and exhibitions. The program has facilitated projects that are recognized nationally and internationally for innovative programming. As part of the broader Office of Cultural Affairs goals for a vibrant arts community, the San José Public Art Program has been awarded prestigious grants from the National Endowment of the Arts and ArtPlace America for its art and placemaking initiatives.

With a background in architecture, real estate, and construction project management, Mary has over three decades of experience in public art project management. She specializes in supporting community engaged social change work and social and environmental justice. Mary is the project manager for One Day / One Action. See more about Mary’s work here and follow @sjculture.

City of San José Public Art Director Michael Ogilvie has spearheaded public art efforts that have reduced tagging and gang markings by 80%, beautified buildings and bridges, reduced psychological trauma in abused and abandoned children, honored the fallen, memorialized the past, enhanced investment portfolios, reduced litter and pollution, and created a better future for residents. With two decades of public art experience, he knows and understands public art is not a luxury; it is a necessity and it is as diverse and versatile as the communities we inhabit. See Michael’s story here.

San José, Capital of Silicon Valley, is the largest city in Northern California and the 10th largest in the nation. The San José Environmental Services Department leads Climate Smart San José and manages garbage and recycling services; watershed protection and pollution prevention; municipal drinking water and recycled water; sustainability initiatives; and the operation and infrastructure improvements of the San José-Santa Clara Regional Wastewater Facility. ESD’s mission is to deliver world-class utility services and programs to improve our health, environment, and economy.