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CTNOFA Winter Conference Keynote
March 23, 8:00 am - 5:00 pm EDT
Saturday, March 23, 2024
Eastern Connecticut State University
Willimantic, CT
Tickets available now
CTNOFA will be hosting its 42nd annual Winter Conference on March 23, 2024. The conference will feature a variety of workshops, covering topics such as farming, seed saving, organic land care, community food security, social justice issues, and more, including a keynote address by Maya van Rossum, founder of the Green Amendments for the Generations organization
Maya K. van Rossum is the Founder of Green Amendments For the Generations, a grassroots non-profit organization inspiring a nationwide movement to secure constitutional recognition and protection of environmental rights in every state and ultimately at the federal level. van Rossum is also the Delaware Riverkeeper, leading the watershed based advocacy organization, the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, for over 30 years in its efforts to protect the health of the Delaware River and its tributaries.
A skilled activist, attorney, strategist, and community organizer, she has testified multiple times, by invitation, before US Congressional Committees; was named among Philadelphia Business Journal’s Power 100 in 2019 and one of the “10 Most Influential People of 2015” When It Comes to Energy Issues by SNL Energy; is the recipient of the 2022 PA Interfaith Power & Light Visionary Award, the 2020 River Hero by River Network, and the Giraffe Hero award, given to those who have the courage to stick their necks out for the common good.
Her writing has been featured in such publications as Fortune Magazine, BloombergLaw, Law360, the Boston Globe, and TIME Magazine. She is author of The Green Amendment: The People’s Fight for a Clean, Safe, and Healthy Environment. Since launching Green Amendments For The Generations, constitutional amendments have been proposed in 15 states, with New York formally passing a Green Amendment in 2021.
For decades, communities have relied on laws to ensure protection of a clean environment. The truth is, our laws are designed to accommodate pollution as much as — perhaps even more than — preventing it. As a result people feel powerless when it comes to preserving the quality of their water, air, public parks, and natural spaces. But there is a solution for achieving better, and much needed, protection of our environment: bypass the laws and turn to the ultimate authority — our state and federal constitutions.
Maya van Rossum will discuss a new and inspirational tool for environmental preservation, one that will provide a new way of thinking about and pursuing environmental protection from both a policy and legal perspective.
We all have the right to pure water, clean air, and a healthy environment. Maya’s talk will focus on how to truly secure that right, not only for our own sake, but also for that of future generations.
For more information about the Conference, please visit
https://ctnofa.org/winter-conference/2024-winter-conference/
