Resilience & Rebuilding is an open ended series of virtual programs exploring the impacts of the recent devastating wildfires in Los Angeles, offering a container for conversation and pathways for rebuilding that foreground ecology, community, and collective wellbeing.
The second program in the series presents case studies of rebuilding in the wake of other climate emergencies with the aim of incorporating lessons learned into LA’s recovery roadmap.
We will hear from speakers about mitigation, adaptation, and prevention measures they have taken in response to climate emergencies such as burying powerlines to reduce fire danger, improving messaging of environmental impacts on health, and addressing the systemic inequities of rebuilding through community-driven consensus.
The goal of Resilience & Rebuilding is to develop guidance for rebuilding efforts, from within and beyond the art sector, over the months and years to come. In addition to inputs from scheduled speakers, we encourage attendees to share their testimony and questions in the chat as part of this evolving document.
Resilience & Rebuilding is supported by Nora McNeely Hurley and the Manitou Fund. The series is jointly organized by MOCA Environmental Council Co-Chairs Andrea Bowers and David Johnson, Environmental Council Advisor John Quigley, and Environmental & Sustainability Strategist Kelsey Shell with support from Alitzah Oros, Public Programming Associate.
Tap Bui is an experienced community development and systems change leader with over 14 years of impact on the New Orleans East community and beyond. A New Orleans native, Tap is committed to engaging communities, stakeholders, funders, and policymakers in co-creating solutions to complex issues and collective decision-making to drive innovation and impact. She currently serves as the Co-Executive Director of Sông Community Development Corporation, a nonprofit organization that works to improve the quality of life BIPOC communities in Southern Louisiana. In this role, she oversees the organization’s strategic direction and initiatives as it relates to equitable community development, disaster response and recovery, advocacy and policy, and community services and programming. She strongly believes in de-stigmatizing New Orleans East and beyond and reclaiming the cultural resilience narrative of BIPOC residents.
Her experience spans community organizing, disaster recovery and response, nonprofit management, public health programming, program evaluation, and philanthropy. Tap holds a Master’s in Public Health from LSUHSC School of Public Health, is a certified medical interpreter and fluent in Vietnamese.
Nancy Convard is currently the Strategic Program Development Manager for the Hawaii Department of Health’s Environmental Management Infrastructure Project. She continues to provide coordination and technical support to the Maui Wildfires Response and Recovery activities. As Maui Wildfire Coordinator, she provides coordination and technical support to the EMD Administrator for Emergency Support Function ESF 10(Oil and Hazardous Substance) and ESF 3 (Public Works and Engineering). She manages EMD’s Comprehensive Environmental Monitoring Program for Maui, which includes planning and implementation of soil, sediment, beach, and coastal water sampling, coordination with air monitoring activities in Lahaina, and development of the environmental data portal.
Nancy is a licensed civil engineer and holds master’s degrees in public health and civil engineering from the University of Hawaii. She comes to DOH from the private sector and many years of international development experience in the Asia-Pacific region with the U.S. Government and international organizations focusing on infrastructure and environmental management.
Steve Crowder is the Mayor of Paradise, CA and was first elected to serve on the Town Council in 2018. The town of Paradise was devastated by the 2018 Camp Fire which burned more than 150,000 acres and claimed 85 lives, the deadliest in California history. In his time as Mayor and Council Member, Steve has led efforts to rebuild, reopen, and revitalize Paradise.
Prior to running for Council, Steve served on numerous Stakeholder Committees for the Town, including, The Beautification, Business License and Sewer Committee, as well as serving as a board member for the Paradise Ridge Chamber of Commerce. Steve has been a Paradise resident since 2013. He and his wife own an embroidery and shirt printing business and serve the community through participation in fraternal and service organizations, such as the Paradise Moose Lodge, Paradise Rotary Club and the Paradise Parade of Flags.
Diana Felton, MD is an ER Physician and Medical Toxicologist currently serving as Chief of the Hawaii Department of Health’s Communicable Disease and Public Health Nursing Division (CDPHND). CDPHND works to identify and eliminate tuberculosis, Hansen’s disease, HIV, STIs, and hepatitis in Hawaii and also incorporates the work of DOH’s Public Health Nurses in the community. She previously served as the State Toxicologist for the Hawaii Department of Health. Dr. Felton also has a strong interest in the intersection of climate change and health including how environmental impacts from climate change will affect human health and disease.
Dr. Felton graduated from the University of California, Berkeley and attended medical school at the University of California, Davis. Emergency Medicine Residency was done at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, MA and Toxicology Fellowship at the Harvard Medical Toxicology Program. She spent many years working as an ER physician and toxicologist in Massachusetts and Hawaii before transitioning to state government work in 2018.
Adam Mahoney is a reporter at Capital B News, a Black newsroom. His work has been cited by the U.S. and Illinois Supreme Courts and the White House, altered the city of Chicago’s vaccine rollout plan, led to several cities using federal funds to shelter houseless people, and used by activists and organizers nationwide. He is from Los Angeles and has reported from more than a dozen U.S. states and five countries.
