ContentsMelissa Hsiung, an organizer at ClimateAction.tech, set out to better understand the intersections of race, climate, and technology. She hosted an online workshop in June 2020 to help process emotions and reactions and as an invitation to learn out loud and from each other. Here is her slide deck and facilitation notes.
These slides are adapted from an informal talk that I gave to a small group of tech workers as part of ClimateAction.tech’s first Salon series. It was mid-June, just a few weeks after George Floyd was murdered, and three months into the pandemic shutdown in New York. I was starting to learn about environmental justice, and most of the concepts presented here are based on things that I’ve read.
I’ve modified the slides to be more focused on brainstorming areas of social impact within a tech organization. The goal is to provide some tools for starting a conversation, to help each other see more possibilities for the work we do and the world we live in. You can read the speaker notes for more information and as a facilitation guide.
In the spirit of learning and evolving together, I welcome feedback on the ideas that follow. Please let me know if you have questions or comments, if there are errors or other issues. I would also love to know if these exercises helped you take anti-racist or climate action. I can be reached at melissa@climateaction.tech.
About the author
Melissa Hsiung is an organizer at ClimateAction.tech and a grad student in Columbia’s Sustainability Management program.