Casemmie Johari Cole-Kweli
Casemmie Johari Cole-Kweli is a sustainability professional and educator mentored by nature and years of multi-disciplinary engagement. Johari is passionately driven by youth stewardship, environmental education, and innovation. A proven visionary and contributor of higher-level, circular-designed strategies and creative solutions to learning institutions, organizations, and community partners.
She currently serves as President and Managing Director of the Community Development Corporation of PHP [The CDC], a community-led organization in Pembroke Hopkins Park, IL. Owner and operator of Iyabo Farms, an organic farm and family homestead in Pembroke Township, IL, with proven devotion to local food access and education for Nearly 30 years. At Iyabo Farms, she hosts on-farm research and food demonstrations, internships, food safety training, Ag and Eco-Tourism, and environmental engineering camps for next-gen farmers, scientists, and environmentalists.
Johari is a Third-Year Ph.D. Student in Learning, Instruction, and Innovation focusing on STEAM, Biomimicry, and transdisciplinary Education.
Naomi Davis
Naomi is dedicated to self-sustaining Black communities everywhere. Her strategy begins with her aim to reinvent her childhood “sustainable-square-mile” here in the Age of Climate Crisis. She is the founder & CEO of Blacks in Green (BIG™), an urban theorist, attorney, activist, and proud granddaughter of Mississippi sharecroppers. Her heritage forms the foundation for BIG’s course in Grannynomics™, The 8 Principles of Green-Village-Building™ and The Sustainable Square Mile™ which Naomi authored and teaches nationally in community lectures and workshops and at universities. Naomi serves as a bridge and catalyst among communities and their stakeholders in the design and development of green, self-sustaining, mixed-income, walkable-villages within black neighborhoods – so that every household can ultimately walk-to-work, walk-to-shop, walk-to-learn, walk-to-play – and neighbor dollars can circulate locally to help limit greenhouse gasses associated with transportation and manufacturing pollution. She conveys the risks of global warming; the health/wealth opportunities of the new green economy; the power of neighbors to lead in their city’s enviro-economic policy and practice; and the primacy of land ownership.
DeAngelus Garcia Bey
DeAngelus is a Digital Communications Strategist with nonprofit marketing agency Shareable.
DeAngelus is a multimedia storyteller who uses photography, graphic design, and urban luxury to connect brands and audiences to the cultural value of the product or service they’re experiencing. His professional experience has now grown to include managing brand direction for nonprofit organizations, small businesses, and various fine and performing artists.
Robin Lisowski
Robin Lisowski serves as the Director of Service Solutions at Slipstream, where she leads planning efforts related to emerging services, including beneficial electrification. Robin has worked with energy utilities for 15 years and in the energy efficiency industry since 2008. She has a passion for interdisciplinary approaches to energy management and sustainability and the nonprofit’s leadership role in this space. Robin has a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science and Spanish from Augsburg College and a Master of Arts Degree in Public Policy and Administration from the La Follette School of Public Affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Lee Ringo
Lee Ringo, a clean energy advocate and Program Management Professional, brings an exceptional track record of nearly 15 years in sales and operations. He combines this experience with an unwavering commitment to achieving end-user approval through total quality management.
In collaboration with the CDC, Lee leveraged his project management expertise to spearhead the Pembroke Energy Efficiency Project (PEEP). This groundbreaking initiative successfully implemented clean energy and energy efficiency upgrades in four homes in Pembroke-Hopkins Park, IL.
Building upon the accomplishments of the PEEP pilot, Lee worked with the CDC to develop an innovative and scalable model called “SPARK.” This model serves as a blueprint for transforming communities through clean energy and can be replicated effectively in other locations seeking sustainable solutions.
Furthermore, Lee is deeply devoted to fostering relationships and establishing networks that champion environmental and climate justice, as well as drive forward clean and renewable energy initiatives. His work as co-lead for the MWBDC equity working group for education and training exemplifies this.
Lee holds an undergraduate degree in Project Management and boasts certification as a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt. As a PMP candidate for the esteemed Project Management Institute (PMI), he considers himself a perpetual student, continuously translating knowledge into actionable results.