Advancing Climate Justice in Parks

Larissa is a restorative circle keeper, published Indigenous and anti-racism researcher, award-winning ribbon skirt artist, and proudly passes on Métis and Jamaican ancestry to her daughter, Zyra. She is the Founder of Future Ancestors Services, a youth-led professional services social enterprise that advances equity and climate justice through lenses of ancestral accountability and anti-racism.

Under Larissa’s leadership and since their launch in April 2020, the organization has mobilized +$20K in donations for anti-racist and climate justice initiatives. Larissa and her team seek to increase their clients’ capacity to honour people and Planet through their minds, work, and spaces, and do so while leveraging decolonized and Indigenized approaches to ‘doing business.’ Among their +140 diverse clients are small youth-led collectives and non-profits; Canada’s most influential law firms and publishing houses; and the highest offices of the Canadian government.

Lorien Nesbitt seeks to create more liveable and equitable urban environments. During her career, she has had the privilege to work with communities and organizations across Canada and internationally to achieve sustainability and environmental justice goals.

Nesbitt’s research focuses on urban forestry and social-ecological interactions in urban environments, with an emphasis on environmental justice, human health, well-being, and climate change. In the realm of environmental justice, her current research is particularly concerned with understanding the nature and dynamics of green gentrification, i.e., the physical or psychological displacement of residents due to local greening activities.

CEED Canada (aka CEED) is a not-for-profit environmental education organization that provides tools and resources to MURB residents and property owners in social housing communities. Our aim is to understand and increase climate action and ultimately, encourage tenants to use their local footsteps to make a global imprint.

Zamani Ra, CEED’s founder, initially created a Waste Management and GHG reduction program as a campaign in a TCHC MURB building to help tenants conceptualize climate action with cultural relevance.  Zamani has over 20 years of experience in community capacity building. Over the past 6 years, she has successfully secured more than $100,000 in community improvements with overwhelming community support; become a member of BEA: Black Environmentalist Alliance, and been selected for membership on the Tenant-Staff Oversight and Advisory Board in support of Toronto Community Housing’s Confronting Anti-Black Racism Strategy as a tenant member. She is a Goddess of Inspiration, Warrior of Words, Sharer of Voices, Creator of Curated Content, Builder of Communities, Paradigm Shape Shifter, and Promoter of People Power.

Stephanie is a project manager at Park People, where she supports several of the organization’s programs, including Cornerstone Parks, WinterParks, and the annual Canadian City Parks Report. She contributes to program-wide research and evaluation, using a mixed-methods approach to understanding organizational impact. Stephanie is particularly passionate about equity-based engagement practices and community-led programs that are reflective of local community contexts and neighbourhood composition. Stephanie has a BA in Environment and Urban Sustainability from X University and an MA in Human Geography from the University of Toronto.