Resilient Communities Webinar Series

Part of the Local Government Education programming series, Resilient Communities webinars are a result of University of Illinois Extension and Prairie Rivers Network's collaboration to build capacity for technical assistance and education aimed to help communities navigate energy- and environment-related funding opportunities, provide guidance on community inclusion, and lead community-specific strategic planning. This outreach should help communities secure and manage resources to address legacy pollution, invest in clean energy technologies, and more.
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Submitting this registration form will register you for the Resilient Communities webinar series, including both the upcoming program listed below, as well as future programs in the series:

Watt’s Up with Data Centers? Part 3: Community Strategies for Responding to Data Center Development
Tuesday, Feb. 24, at 12 noon, CT

Has your community been approached by a data center?  This webinar in the Resilient Communities series will equip communities with practical strategies to navigate data center proposals, understand their environmental impacts, and know what questions to ask from the start. Participants will learn from a local community’s Community Benefit Agreement (CBA) to see how CBAs can align projects with community goals. We’ll finish with a look forward on how state policy can support responsible data center development, including greater transparency on power needs and water use and support for carbon-free electricity.

Speakers:

James Gignac is Midwest Policy Director for the Climate & Energy program at the Union of Concerned Scientists. Prior to joining UCS, Mr. Gignac served as environmental and energy counsel and as assistant attorney general to Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, where he worked on a variety of regulatory, legislative, and litigation matters involving clean energy, climate change, and environmental protection. Before his time in state government, Mr. Gignac was Midwest director for the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign, and also represented private sector clients in environmental matters with the law firm Mayer Brown LLP. Mr. Gignac earned a JD from Harvard Law School, and a BA in history and political science from Albion College. He previously served as a board member with Chicago Market, a new cooperatively-owned grocery store, and volunteers weekly with the Care for Real food pantry in Chicago's Edgewater neighborhood. He has been quoted in the Chicago Tribune and U.S. News & World Report.

 Lucy Contreras is the Illinois State Program Director for GreenLatinos and leads the Environmental Justice Caucus of the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition, where she is helping advance legislation to regulate data centers in Illinois. In these roles, she works closely with frontline communities to build understanding around environmental issues and to ensure community priorities are centered and reflected in policy solutions.

Moises Moreno is the Organizing Director with Alliance of Southeast (ASE) and co-staffs the South Works CBA and Policy campaign.  Moises has been with ASE for over a year and brings over 20 years of community-organizing experience and policy advocacy in Chicago. He currently lives on the Southeast side as Hyde Park resident.