Eco Afro Futures Summit
The climate transition is stalling — not for lack of science, but for lack of connection.
Scientists, artists, organizers, policymakers, and investors are each doing essential work. But they rarely share a room, a language, or a theory of change. And the communities with the deepest stakes — Black, Indigenous, and other frontline communities — are the least resourced and least heard in the decisions that shape their futures.
Eco Afro Futures is the infrastructure built to change that.
Hosted at the Oakland Museum of California, the 2026 summit convenes people across sectors for a half-day of dialogue, exchange, and relationship-building grounded in Afrofuturism ecological knowledge. Three themes anchor the day:
Energy & Technology for Collective Power — community-centered climate tech that expands access and resilience
Democracy as Climate Infrastructure — how governance and power-sharing shape environmental outcomes
Regenerative & Cooperative Futures — economic systems that circulate wealth, restore land, and strengthen communities
EAF is a year-round initiative by Critical Ecology Lab — the only Black-led independent Earth science research institute in the United States. Our NSF-backed research measures the persistent ecological impacts of plantation slavery on forest carbon. This summit translates that science into action.
We believe that when you design for the most marginalized, you build solutions that work for everyone.
Can't attend in-person? Register for the livestream of the opening session here!
Event Agenda
10:30 AM — Arrival & Check-In Networking + coffee available for purchase from Mother Tongue Coffee
Arriving before 11am? Head to Security Control at 50 10th St
11:00 AM — Opening Session
Welcome & Opening Remarks Dr. Suzanne Pierre, Founder & Executive Director, Critical Ecology Lab
Keynote Sessions
Fables & Futures: Stories, Technology, and Society Ariam Mogos, Learning Designer & Technologist, Stanford d.school
Regenerative and Cooperative Economics Noni Session, Co-Founder & Executive Director, East Bay Permanent Real Estate Cooperative
How to Build Radical Futures in the Present Professor Tianna Paschel, associate professor and co-director of the Black Studies Collaboratory, University of California Berkeley
Featured Remarks
Roquel Crutcher, Director of Strategy, Advocacy & Impact, Common Future
Phoenix Armenta, Policy Innovation Team Lead, Governor's Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation
12:45 PM — Break
Light bites featuring vegan bean pies by That Hausa Vegan
Coffee available for purchase from Mother Tongue Coffee
1:00 PM — Workshop & Exhibit Hour
Workshop capacity is limited — advance sign-up required; sign-up instructions will be sent to registered guests
Workshop I — Power in Our Hands: Reimagining Energy Tech for Climate Justice; Led by Mubarak Haruna with BRIDGEGOOD
Workshop II — Who Shapes the City? Power, Place, and the Built Environment; Led by Chidera Osuji & Haley Carruthers
Workshop III — Small as Scale: Quilts, Grandmothers & Black Ecologies; Led by Carey Flack
Guided Exhibit — Explore museum exhibits (Good Fire: Tending Native Lands or Natural History) with Critical Ecology Lab curated guides
2:15 PM — Closing Session
Poetry by Ashia Ajani
Closing remarks + Toast
www.ecoafrofutures.org
Interested in a partnership conversation? Contact Stacey King, Director of Operations: [email protected]