Katrina 20: Faith, Climate & Justice | A Moral Witness Dialogue
August 28 @ 2:45 pm – 5:00 pm UTC-8
On August 28, 2025 at 2:45 PM, join GreenFaith USA and the Center for Earth Ethics in New Orleans for Katrina 20: Faith, Climate & Justice, an interfaith gathering marking the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Part of the UNFCCC and Brazilian government’s Global Ethical Stocktake leading up to COP30, this free public event will explore the moral and spiritual dimensions of the climate crisis through the lived experiences of Gulf South communities.
Co-moderated by Karenna Gore of the Center for Earth Ethics and Jacqui Patterson of the Chisholm Legacy Project with opening and closing reflections from a special nationally recognized guest, the panel will feature faith and frontline leaders who have spent the past two decades rebuilding, resisting environmental racism, and envisioning a just future.
Participants include:
Bette Billiot – Community Organizer, Leadership Team Member for LA Liberation & Sovereignty Collective, Co-Director of Bayou Youth Leadership Project
Toi Carter – Louisiana Just Recovery Network Executive Director, MS Gulf Coast Katrina Survivor
Dr. Angela Chalk – Founder and Executive Director of Healthy Community Services
Reverend Tyrone Edwards – Plaquemines Parish Councilman, Former Member of Black Panther Party, Voting Rights and Climate Organizer Activist, Zion Travelers Cooperative Center Founder
Scott Eustis – Community Science Director, Healthy Gulf
Anthony Giancatarino – Taproot Earth Co-Director/Strategy Partner
Chenier “Klie” Kliebert – Imagine Water Works Founding Director; Creole Indigenous Climate Leader
Ms. Sharon Lavigne – Executive Director and Founder of Rise St. James
Gregory N. Swafford – Healthy Gulf Southeast Louisiana Organizer; Katrina Class of St. Augustine, Founding Director of Culture of Cleanliness
Darrilyn Turner – Zion Travelers Cooperative Center Executive Director
Music performances by local jazz musicians will open the dialogue, and MS Poet and director of the Cosmic Poetry Sanctuary Artis Burney will draw the event to a close.
Local food will be provided by Sweet Anoni’s catering.