Green Hawaii Youth Conference INTL (June 2011): A biannual plenary gathering of best practices of green solutions for poor and impoverished communities
It has been devastating to watch news of tragic human-made and natural catastrophes unfolding in the United States and various other parts of the world, such as the oil spill affecting the Gulf States of the United States and the earthquakes in Haiti and Chile. All too often, these types of events affect poor people and impoverished communities disproportionately. While we witness human hands, ingenuity, machinery, and mounting human losses and resource costs attempt to address very complex calamities, most people acknowledge that short term crisis intervention and long-term planning are vital to prepare for large scale environmental disasters whenever possible and to rebuild regions after the initial devastation.
The biannual Green Hawaii Youth Conference INTL (June 2011) provides a venue for humanitarian forces, industry, and decision-makers to collaborate, plan, and unveil green solutions for poor and impoverished communities facing such catastrophes. Indeed, green collaboration may serve to mediate entrenched political and social conflicts, renew important stakeholder ties, and meet struggling economies with sustainable ideas at their points of need.
The purpose of the biannual Green Hawaii Youth Conference INTL (June 2011) is to bring together humanitarian forces, industry leaders and a variety of decision-makers who have strong interest in human welfare and its sustainability through the venues of green education, green technology, and green industry/jobs for struggling economies. The conference has several objectives. First, it will
acknowledge the ongoing on the ground efforts for survival and sustainability as well as creative and tech-savvy environmental projects being developed in community-, industry-, and school-based programs within the United States and abroad. These projects engage youth, large and small nongovernmental organizations, educational institutions, and corporate industry leaders in strategic alliances with positive, practical results. Second, the conference will recognize exemplary environmental projects that include poor people as contributors of solutions and that meet practical needs in impoverished communities. Third, the conference will bring together green innovators, funders, and decision makers from community-based organizations, government offices, and industries of all types to focus attention and resources on communities in need of affordable, effective, multipurpose green solutions.
Participants in the biannual Green Hawaii Youth Conference INTL (June 2011) will include non-government organizations and various types of decision-makers, teams of youth from middle and high schools, colleges, and universities in the United States and abroad; educators and experts; and community and industry leaders who have developed and implemented exemplary green projects in the field. The foundation of the conference will rest on the theme of building survival possibilities and sustainability plans vis-à-vis the participation of green innovators.
Groups of prime importance to the success of the conference include grassroots organizations, student and faculty educators, and industry experts. These guests will participate as keynote speakers and as panel and poster presenters about the principal locations within the scope of the conference. They will showcase green technology projects in the areas of health care and health maintenance, communications, education, energy and housing, agriculture and food production, sanitation, and transportation that are affordable, practical, and sustainable for struggling economies. Acknowledgement and prizes will be awarded to community, youth, and industry teams that develop and showcase exemplary projects geared to work in economically depressed rural regions like Appalachia, states like California, cities like Detroit and Greensboro, island nations like Haiti, and sovereign territories like Navajo Country. These locales represent poor and/or impoverished communities or general populations with struggling economies.
The focus of the conference will be to unveil green intervention and sustainable humanitarian based solution packages that have a strong possibility of resolving and/or preventing public health crises like starvation, disease and malnutrition, poverty and chronic joblessness, homelessness, violence, and perpetual economic crisis. We will give special emphasis to locate funders, invite them to the conference, and list them as resources on the conference website. From among corporations, government grant programs, not-for-profit organizations, grassroots enterprises, charitable and humanitarian organizations, and individuals, organizers aim to invite sponsors to participate at all levels of the conference to sponsor developers of green projects to attend the conference and provide seed money for their projects. Objectives include all participants to leave the conference with solution packages that include important contacts and stakeholder relationships in the areas of advocacy and legislation, human and environmental rights, investigative and research capabilities in targeted communities, corporate and industry expertise, new and creative alliances for green skill building, project development, and ongoing funding.
As the most culturally and environmentally diverse state in the union, Hawaii is ideally suited to host the biannual Green Hawaii Youth Conference INTL (June 2011). Rich in natural resources from mountains to the ocean, and with stunning vistas, lush rainforests, dramatic mountain ranges, beautiful beaches, and a temperate climate, Hawaii offers a distinctive destination experience found nowhere else in the world.
With the visitor industry as Hawaii’s leading industry and an integral part of its community, Hawaii ranks business and ecotourism as significant interests and maintains natural, physical, cultural, and human resources to meet demand. The island state is committed to honoring its people and heritage; valuing and perpetuating natural and cultural resources; supporting a vital and sustainable visitor industry; and providing a unique, memorable, and enriching visitor experience. With its pristine ocean, year-round wind and sunlight, and a strong and growing cadre of green vendors in all economic sectors (e.g., agriculture, culture, education, health and wellness, and nature and technology), Hawaii is the most appropriate place to showcase and encourage U.S. interest in the green economy.
In preparation for the first biannual Green Hawaii Youth Conference INTL (June 2011), an advisory team has been established to oversee the development and professionalization of the conference. The 6- to 8-person advisory team is composed of men and women with backgrounds in education, technology, green industry and job creation, not-for-profit and community organizations, government, and media. These professionals have expressed a genuine interest in green education, technology, and industry/jobs for struggling economies domestically and internationally. Member bios follow.
Advisory Team Members:
Steven E. Handwerker – Liaison to Professional Associations and Organizations
(peacewk@peacewk.org)
Dr. Steven E. Handwerker is a licensed psychologist in three states (New York, Florida, and South Dakota), is a Supreme Court family mediator, and is board certified as a forensic examiner and trauma expert, serving on the professional and scientific board of the National Center for Crisis Management part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. He is the founder and chairperson of the International Association for the Advancement of Human Welfare, Inc., a 501 (C), 13 year old organization concerned with values that promote peace (www.peacewk@peacewk.org or www.peacewk.org). Dr. Handwerker was the first membership chair for Division 48 (Peace Psychology) of the American Psychological Association and is the founder and chair of the task force in that division concerned with peace and spirituality which has orchestrated and presented in over 65 APA programs since the task force was created in 1997. Prior to his 30-year professional career as a board-certified and licensed psychologist, Dr. Handwerker served as Vice President of Quality and Standards Controls for an international food chain. To protect and care for the environment he has taken the lead in his 3,500-family community for creating critical awareness of programs supporting environmental conservation and recycling. For the past 2 years, he has written a monthly article on these matters, and for the past 10 years, he has been an outspoken representative of green action programs. Dr. Handwerker has been married for 35 years and has two children.
Pamela Davis – Liaison to Youth Technology Programs
(iampam@hotmail.com)
Dr. Pamela Davis is an accomplished educator with a balance of education and experience in experiential teaching and learning. Dr. Davis has an earned doctorate from Columbia University in instructional media and technology, and her professional expertise spans the field of education from kindergarten through graduate school. She excels at staff development and at the development of student-centered learning environments for learners of all levels and proficiencies. In the field of robotics, Dr. Davis, who trained at Carnegie Mellon Robotics Academy, has been a coach for the FIRST LEGO League, hosted FIRST LEGO League and Jr. FIRST LEGO League local competitions and exhibitions, been a featured presenter at the FIRST International World Festival, and formed and advised FIRST LEGO League and Jr. FIRST LEGO League teams.
Paul F. Dwyer is employed as an outside training consultant for the Workforce Development Division of Penn Foster Career Schools, concentrating on international clients. His primary responsibilities include formulating training and development programs using Penn Foster education and training capabilities. He has prior experience managing a satellite educational facility in Port au Prince, Haiti. Mr. Dwyer earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and a master’s degree in educational psychology from the University of Scranton.
Dr. Allen Dwight Callahan is an independent scholar of biblical languages and literature. He holds a bachelor’s degree in religion from Princeton University and a master’s and doctorate from Harvard University in the study of religion specializing in the New Testament and the history and literature of early Christianity. Dr. Callahan has taught biblical languages and literature, biblical theology, and biblical hermeneutics at Boston College, Andover-Newton Theological School, Holy Cross College, Harvard Divinity School, Macalester College, and the Seminário Teológico Batista de Nordeste in Bahia, Brazil.
Dr. Callahan has published more than 40 scholarly articles and is the author of three books: The Embassy of Onesimus (Harrisburg, PA: Trinity Press International, 1997), A Love Supreme: A History of Johannine Tradition (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2005), and The Talking Book: The Bible and African Americans (New Haven, CT: Yale University, 2006). He is co-editor of and contributor to two volumes of essays: Semeia 83/84: Slavery in Text and Interpretation (Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 1998) with Richard A. Horsley and Abraham Smith, and African Americans and the Story of Nimrod (New York: Palgrave, 2008) with Anthony Pinn. He was a featured scholar in the television documentaries From Jesus to Christ: The First Christians; The Roman Empire in the First Century; The History of Early Christianity; Portrait of a Radical: The Jesus Movement; Peter and Paul: The Christian Revolution; the Discovery Channel’s Who Was Jesus? (Renegade Pictures, 2009); and, most recently, A Christmas Journey to Freedom, broadcast on the Day of Discovery. Dr. Callahan was also a featured commentator in two independently produced documentaries on the contemporary crisis in the American political economy, A Crisis of Faith and State of the Union.
Demetria S. Ledbetter is a grassroots professional who has spent 7 years working at Beloved Community Center in Greensboro, North Carolina. Beloved Community Center is patterned after Dr. Martin Luther King Junior’s vision of a beloved community that recognizes the dignity, worth, and equality of all people. Ms. Ledbetter focuses on program implementation, financial and nonprofit management, and the development of communication/media strategies.
An alumna of North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University with a bachelor’s degree in transportation and logistics, Ms. Ledbetter has worked in logistics, education, and insurance. She has received training in job readiness (Equipped for the Future), conflict resolution, time management, project management, and communication. Her current project is Pathways to a Greener Career, initiated as part of President Barack Obama’s American Reinvestment and Recovery Act. This year-long project has involved assembling a group of community leaders, grassroots professionals, architects, engineers, green professionals, and educators at Beloved Community Center to give youth a pathway out of poverty. The Pathways to a Greener Career program serves as a training program that provides youth and young adults with job readiness skills and experience with green jobs.
Currently, Ms. Ledbetter serves as the Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors at the Fund for Southern Communities and Health Care of All North Carolina. She is connected with the Emerging Change Makers Network, whose primary goal is to “Change the World.”
Brian C. Alston – General Secretary (Advisory Team)
(brian1201@msn.com)
Brian C. Alston is an adjunct professor at Grand Canyon University and has been involved in peaceful conflict resolution since leading peer mediation during Boston’s turbulent school busing crisis of the 1970s. He has been involved in community organizing since the 1980s. He is a master’s-level clinician and college professor who teaches in the areas of ethics, neurotheology, philosophy, psychology, and religion. He has pioneered work in the disciplines of Relationship Literacy and Neurotheology. He is currently raising awareness of the politicization of poverty, both domestic and international, through participating in humanitarian initiatives in Haiti and by organizing symposia and book projects (including the Visions in Conflict series) to disseminate the good work of others doing peaceful conflict resolution around the world. Mr. Alston has initiated a series of industry-specific green conferences in Hawaii to encourage collaboration and green project development (www.greenhawaiiconferencess.com).
We are hosting the biannual Green Hawaii Youth Conference INTL because we believe that green collaboration may serve to ameliorate devastated populations suffering from environment or economic crises; to mediate entrenched political and social conflicts, renew important stakeholder ties, and meet struggling economies with sustainable ideas at their points of need. The focus of the conference will be to unveil green intervention and solution packages that have a strong possibility of resolving and/or preventing public health crises.
The purpose of the biannual Green Hawaii Youth Conference INTL is to recognize the creative and tech-savvy environmental projects developing in community-, industry-, and school-based programs around the country and in various other parts of the world. The conference aims to solicit and award exemplary green projects that meet practical needs in poor and impoverished communities and to solicit support from humanitarian and green technology arenas. The objective is to build alliances among humanitarian professionals, non-government organizations, green innovators, industry leaders, communities in need of creative ideas and green technology solutions, as well as funding sources that may support them.
We seek cooperative alliances with industry leaders of all types who align with these priorities. We welcome your feedback and participation.
Sincerely yours,
Brian C. Alston
Conference Planner
Green Hawaii Youth Conference INTL (June 2011)
P.O. Box 3170
Lihue, HI 96766
(808) 217-1831 Brian1201@msn.com
