Introdutory Event to Climate Careers
Welcome to Act on Climate's first event. Act on Climate is a webased platform that works to connect individuals to the latest jobs, opportunties and jobs in the climate space. We want to work on building a community of likeminded individuals on all things climate.
In this event we will go over more details on what we offer and what we hope to achieve together.
The focus of this event will provide participants with an introduction on what its like to work in the climate sector, how to get started, and why is an important sector to be in. We have a whole array of panelists who will be sharing more about their career journeys in the climate space.
Event Panelists:
Panelist: Laurel Hanson
Bio: Laurel is a seasoned practitioner and thought leader in climate resilience and disaster risk reduction with experience working in international contexts with the UN, NGOs and the US Government. Most recently, she worked on the response to Hurricane Melissa in Jamaica, supporting humanitarian work throughout affected towns and villages. Additional overseas work experience includes managing projects to build the resilience of nomadic pastoralists in Mongolia, working with the Rohingya population in Myanmar in the aftermath of Cyclone Komen, and implementing environmental awareness and climate adaptation projects in Nicaragua.
She has also served in global policy focused roles with the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) in New York, where she supported the 2019 Climate Action Summit and Sustainable Development Goal Summit, and with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), where she was a coordinating lead author on the 2023 Flagship Report "The Impact of Disasters on Agriculture and Food Security." Until the closure of the Agency, she worked as a Senior Advisor at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)'s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance. She holds a Master of Arts in Geography with Distinction from King's College in London, and a Bachelor of Arts in International Development from Tulane University.
Panelist: Birahim Niang
Bio: irahim Niang is a lawyer with a Master's degree in International and Comparative Environmental Law from the University of Limoges in France. He currently holds the position of Advocacy Manager at adansonia.green, a Senegalese non-profit organization whose main objective is to support entrepreneurs, businesses, organizations, and green initiatives in Senegal. Our missions range from fostering green projects and initiatives through a startup incubator (organic waste management, reuse, reforestation), to creating a green community, promoting green initiatives, and sharing green resources. I have nine years of experience in areas such as climate change adaptation, loss and damage, carbon markets, climate finance, reuse, and organic waste management. In all these areas, Birahim frequently leads workshops and/or conferences on all aspects of climate and climate change.
Panelist: Theo Boitshwarelo
Bio: Theo Boitshwarelo is a passionate environmentalist, sustainable development advocate, and 3rd-year CIPS (Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply) student from Botswana. She is committed to advancing climate education, youth empowerment, and community-led environmental action across Africa. Theo serves as the Sustainable Development Lead under the African Union Students’ Platform and is actively involved in Eco-Schools and Eco-Generation, where she promotes environmental literacy, climate action, and the Sustainable Development Goals within schools and local communities.
She recently hosted a high-impact Eco-Schools webinar featuring panelists from across Africa, with participation from more than four universities, strengthening continental collaboration in climate education. Theo also represented Botswana in Uganda as a delegate at the Afro-Arab Youth Congress, joining youth leaders from multiple nations to engage on sustainable development, climate diplomacy, and youth leadership. Her work is deeply rooted in a grassroots and faith-based foundation, shaped by her upbringing in a small village where environmental education was limited. This inspires her mission to bridge climate knowledge gaps between rural and urban communities while uplifting young people to take meaningful climate action. Driven, values-led, and committed to creating lasting impact, Theo strives to influence global policy discussions and contribute to a more sustainable, just, and climate-resilient Africa.
Panelist: Shreya Kanpoor
Bio: Shreya is a Communications Associate with the Council on Energy, Environment, and Water (CEEW), one of Asia’s leading climate policy think tanks. She leads CEEW’s social media channels and thought leadership efforts. She works on a range of digital communications and multimedia activities, like developing MOOCs for government officials, short-form video explainers on the latest climate policy research, and insight-led newsletters.
Prior to joining The Council, Shreya worked with UN Women as a Communications Assistant in their New Delhi Office. She managed UN Women India’s social media presence, and revamped the Generation Equality Allyship programme, that brought together a diverse and influential group of gender advocates, private sector firms, influencers, and media platforms, all committed to advocating for gender equality. At UN Women, she also played a key role in producing “हम – When Women Lead”, a coffee table book that profiled 75 stories of women’s leadership across sectors and regions in India. During her bachelor’s, Shreya interned with Greenpeace India’s Campaigns and Communications team and worked on their Urban Mobility campaign. Shreya holds a bachelor’s degree in Communication & Media, English, and Psychology from CHRIST (Deemed To Be University), Bengaluru, and a Master’s in Society and Culture from IIT Gandhinagar.
Panelist: Leonard Adler
Bio: Leonard Adler is the Founder & CEO of Green Jobs Network (GJN), a leading online career platform that serves individuals and employers in green and climate job sectors such as conservation, sustainability, and clean energy.
GJN’s services connect individuals with jobs, career resources, and community. These include:
Job boards for environmental and social impact jobs, and dedicated websites for fellowships, internships, and apprenticeships.
Free content that makes it easy to find career and workforce services including career coaches, education & training programs, and interactive tools to explore occupational pathways.
A 140,000-member group on LinkedIn where people can share opportunities and connect.
A popular free green jobs newsletter with more than 200 jobs in each issue.
ClimateJobs.AI, a suite of AI-powered career services including the world’s first AI climate career coach.
Leonard has spoken on the topic of green and climate jobs at venues including Harvard University, Stanford University, and the annual meeting of the National Career Development Association. He is also the host of the Green Jobs Pod, which explores the world of green and climate careers.
Leonard has a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center, where he was a Public Interest Law Scholar and co-founded the Georgetown Journal on Fighting Poverty. He has worked to promote greater access to law and justice through roles at Equal Justice Works, FindLaw, Nolo, and Justia. He has an MPP from Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government and a Bachelor's degree in Political Science from Stanford University.
The event will be happening Wednesday December 3rd from 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM Eastern Standard Time online.
For participants who cannot come will get a link to the zoom recording afterwards by email.
Learn more about Act on Climate: actonclimate.ca
Join our Community: https://actonclimate.ca/criteria/
Subscribe to our Newsletter for more: https://lnkd.in/eUX_Bf6J
We look forward to seeing you at our event!