19th Annual Multifaith Summit
CLIMATE CHANGE
Extinction Level Threats & Hopeful Solutions
Faith - Science - Sacred Activism

​"Is this any way to treat your mother?"
        ~ Rabbi Anson Laytner

Date: Sunday, October 31, 2021
Time: 2:00 PM  to 4:30 PM  (PT)
​Venue: Zoom

Northwest Interfaith was founded in the aftermath of 911 and has focused on bringing people together across religious and spiritual boundaries to form relationships of trust and celebrate our oneness and the common ground we share. Each year we have sponsored a multifaith summit to promote justice through compassionate conversations on topical issues that normally divide us.

​2021 was our 19th Annual Multifaith Summit and our focus was on Climate Change. Our presenters included four Duwamish, Buddhist, Jewish, and Christian Spiritual Leaders and five Climate/Environmental Activists who shared stories of Faith, Science, and Sacred Activism. They inspired us with new and meaningful ways to tackle the climate crisis right now.

Their goal was to invigorate attendees’ personal and collective commitments to climate and environmental justice.

​FAITH PANEL 
The wisdom of all world religions reminds us that we are one. Our multi-faith panel will share the moral and ethical imperatives in their faiths that call for action to address the climate crisis and promote environmental justice. Their offerings will inspire us and revitalize our commitment to carry on our work.
 
Ken Workman, First Peoples (Duwamish) 
Rev. SeiFu Anil Singh-Molares, Buddhist (Zen) 
Deirdre Gabbay, Jewish (Shmita Project Northwest) 
Anna Johnson, Christian (Maryknoll)

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ACTION PANEL
Our collective call for urgent, bold and ambitious climate action is essential. Science has provided practical solutions for us to begin the transition to a clean, just and renewable future. Our panel of climate activists will share tools and resources that will equip us to effectively implement these hopeful solutions.
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Kathy Delbecq (Creation Care Network) 
Russell Beard (Environmental Justice) 
Jessica Zimmerle (Advocacy) 
Libby Carr (How to Be an Activist) 
Marjorie Ringness (Carbon Footprint Tracker) 

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WRAP UP & SOCIAL CONVERSATIONS
Participants wer invited to join the Action Panel Breakout Room of their choice. Time spent in dialogue with others who share your interests creates the opportunity to explore new possibilities for meaningful action. It also provides the chance to renew individual and collective commitments on how to tackle the climate crisis.

Co-Sponsors:
Northwest Interfaith; Interfaith Community Sanctuary; Duwamish Tribe; Earth Ministry; Congregation Beth Shalom; Maryknoll, Creation  Care Network; St Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral; Spiritual Directors International; Meaningful Movies; Call of Compassion NW; St. Patrick Catholic Church

FAITH PANEL

KEN WORKMAN – DUWAMISH TRIBE
Ken Workman is an enrolled member of the Duwamish Tribe, 5th generation Great-Grandson of Chief Seattle. His leadership with the Duwamish Tribe and community work includes serving as a Tribal Council member for the Duwamish Tribe’s governmental entity (now ex-officio Tribal Council member); former president of the Duwamish Tribal Services, the nonprofit arm of the tribe; and board service with the Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition and Southwest Seattle Historical Society. Ken is now retired from having had a long career at The Boeing Company’s Flight Operations Engineering Group, where he worked as a Systems and Data Analyst. He now enjoys retirement during which he takes long walks in the mountains east of Seattle where he lives on a river.

Rev. SEIFU ANIL SINGH-MOLARES – BUDDHIST (ZEN)
Rev SeiFu has been steeped in spirituality and religion for over 40 years, with an initial start as an undergraduate philosophy student.  He focused on comparative mysticism as a grad student at Harvard.  A Zen priest, he now leads the non-profit association “Spiritual Directors International,” comprised of over 6000 spiritual directors, companions, and guides worldwide.  He is also a former technology executive.

DEIRDRE GABBAY – JEWISH - DIRECTOR, SHMITA PROJECT NW 
Deirdre Gabbay is director of The Shmita Project Northwest, an organization dedicated to bringing attention to the Hebrew calendar's seven-year Shmita cycle which centers the relationship between the earth and the wellbeing of the human and more-than-human world, through education, inspiration, community-building, and programmatic support. She founded Ahavat v'Avodat HaAdamah, "Love and Service of the Earth," in 2015 to establish an environmental presence for the Pacific Northwest rooted in Jewish text, tradition and practice, specifically to support a response to climate change. Deirdre is a member of Congregation Beth Shalom and a board member of Washington Interfaith Power & Light/Earth Ministry. She blogs at www.shmitainseattle.com, where all of her divrei Torah (sermons) can be found.

​ANNA JOHNSON – CHRISTIAN - MARYKNOLL
 Anna Johnson lives and works in Seattle, Washington as Unit Manager of Mission Formation for Maryknoll’s US Church Engagement Division. A Catholic since birth, she has worked in Catholic organizations for over a decade. After having the opportunity to live and work with people around the world, she saw that the changing climate is a core driving force of the injustice they face, and knowing it will only get worse without drastic intervention in human activity, she pursued her Master’s Degree in Sustainability Leadership from Arizona State University and graduated this year. She grew up with a wild love of the outdoors, and on any given weekend you can find her camping, kayaking, hiking with friends or her partner, Corbin, and their dog, Tilly.

ACTION PANEL

KATHY DELBECQ – CREATION CARE NETWORK
I am a backyard birder, homeowner, and consumer. My three children are already impacted by climate change: a chemical engineer in Alaska, a biochemist and avid fly fisher, and a graduate student in stream ecology. My grandchildren are ages 3 and 1. I participate in the Creation Care Network in Seattle, the Multifaith Network for Climate Justice in Bellingham, and my parish Creation Care Ministry. In 2020 I completed the Global Catholic Climate Covenant’s Laudato Si animators training. It is the language of faith that challenges me to stay engaged and hopeful. 

RUSSELL BEARD – ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
Russ Beard is an enrolled member and elder of the Duwamish Tribe, and fifth-generation descendant of the Duwamish diaspora. His mother, June Hoover Beard is the great-great granddaughter of the Duwamish sia’b Suquardle, sub-chief of the Duwamish tribe (Curley Jim to the first white settlers of our lands), and the younger half-brother of Si’ahl (Seattle), signatory to the Treaty of Point Elliott. Russ currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Duwamish Tribal Services, the nonprofit arm of the Duwamish Tribe which aims to promote the cultural heritage, engage in environmental stewardship, educational activities, and tribal member support services. He and his wife Ginger, live in Mississippi where he retired after 28 years of federal service as an oceanographer with the Naval Oceanographic Office and a center director for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and having earned his degrees in history, geology, and graduate studies in Mississippi as well.  He stays connected to the Duwamish Tribe through his service on the nonprofit Board, ex-officio service on the Tribal Council, and active engagement using his certification as a naturalist and environmental expertise for Duwamish environmental justice and stewardship projects in and around the Tribe’s headquarters surrounding the Duwamish Longhouse.

Sr. JESSICA ZIMMERLE – EARTH MINISTRY/WASHINGTON INTERFAITH POWER & LIGHT - ADVOCACY
Sister Jessica Zimmerle is the Program & Outreach Director of Earth Ministry/Washington Interfaith Power & Light. She supports faith communities through Earth Ministry/WAIPL's Greening Congregations program and is the lead on mobilizing people of faith in advocacy campaigns on climate change, fossil fuels, chemical safety, salmon recovery, and more. Sr. Jessica has a Masters of Arts from Seattle University’s School of Theology and Ministry and a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Studies from Pacific Lutheran University. She is an invested member of the Deaconess Community of the ELCA and is approved for ordination as a Lutheran Minister of Word and Service. ​

LIBBY CARR – MEANINGFUL MOVIES
Libby, like most of us, has deep concerns about what we are doing to the planet. She has worked as paid staff (VISTA, Sierra Club & WAmend) and with numerous environmental organizations as a volunteer.  Most recently, at a workshop with the Creation Care Ministry at St Mark’s, she became aware of Project Drawdown’s work, along with the 4 Levels of Action and the hopeful and effective film 2040.   As a strong proponent of still acting on hope, her main focus these days is to encourage others to use these three tools to raise awareness about climate change and to take action.  As a board member of Meaningful Movies, she understands the power of film to educate and motivate people.  ​

MARJORIE RINGNESS – ST MARK’S EPISCOPAL CATHEDRAL – CARBON FOOTPRINT TRACKER
Marjorie Ringness has had an appreciation for the beauty and wonders of God’s creation in the natural world since childhood. But, frightened by the forest fire smoke that enveloped Seattle a few years ago, climate change suddenly became urgent. Encouraged by strong leadership from the clergy and vestry at Saint Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral in Seattle, Marjorie helped revive the Creation Care Ministry there in 2019. Drawing from the talents and expertise of many of its own parishioners, the Creation Care Ministry has hosted forums, workshops, and experiences to bring awareness of the climate crisis to the Saint Mark’s community.

LISA ALTIERI – BRIGHTACTION
Lisa Altieri is Founder and CEO of BrightAction, with the mission of empowering people on climate solutions. BrightAction's program includes Sustain Island Home for the Episcopal Church and custom programs for many cities, companies and organizations.  Lisa’s background is a unique blend of experience including data analytics, business management and grassroots community organizing.  Lisa has a B.S. and M.S. in Environment & Development Economics from UC Berkeley.