NAACP's The People's Climate Summit
In partnership with Earthjustice, this call to action will comprise two panels and a teach-in with a light reception to follow at the Forum. There will be tours of the Obama Presidential Center before the summit to help people understand the climate components of the new Obama Presidential Center led by the Obama Leadership Network team available for registered Summit attendees on a first-come, first-serve basis (available to Summit registrants who are Convention registrants only. Space not guaranteed.) All summit members are also invited to watch a screening of the NAACP’s Center for Environmental and Climate Justice’s Climate in Color Film, AVA, on Saturday, July 18, 2026.
Engage with nationally and regionally recognized thought leaders, including NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson, Rep. Justin J. Pearson, Mayor Brandon Johnson, Sen. Kristen Gonzalez, Sen. Robert Peters, Debbie Chizewer, Iyana Simba, Dep. Governor Bria Scudder, Sen. Marcus Evans Jr. and other distinguished leaders, as well as frontline community activists, including the Chicago Teacher’s Union Foundation’s Environmental Justice Freedom School and NAACP Environmental and Climate Justice Committee Chair, Katherine Egland, and other leaders from Chicago and globally, who are experts in this space.
As data centers expand, communities across the country face environmental and climate justice harms including water contamination and depletion, air pollution, excessive energy use, quality-of-life impacts, and siting and land use concerns. Moreover, as the federal landscape shifts, localized democracy is more critical than ever to ensure that communities are equipped to advocate for their voices to be heard as well as consider the climate and environmental health impacts, including increasing climate-related disasters with each environmental policy rollback. We also have a window to build on the successes of localized environmental justice organizing to meet the policy needs at this moment.
Your voice matters, and lasting change requires all of us. We invite you to attend, bring your family, friends, neighbors, and colleagues, and join a growing movement to build environmentally healthy, climate resilient, and sustainable communities that put people not polluters first.
We look forward to welcoming you to the summit!