Registration Now Open for the Sustainable Design Leaders Winter Summit 2020!

Hi folks, As we open up registration for the Winter Summit, I want to acknowledge that going to Alabama might be uncomfortable for some people, or even objectionable, given that state’s radical position against women’s reproductive freedom. Pulling out of Gulf State Park would be making a strong statement, and might get some people’s attention, so we’ve seriously considered it. We’re also hesitant, however, for a few reasons. First, it has been really hard to find good venues for the Winter Summit, and Gulf State Park is a great one. But that’s not a good enough reason not to do the right thing. Second, by avoiding Alabama (and potentially also other states with laws many of us find objectionable) we would be contributing to the separation between people in different parts of the country with different views, when instead we should be trying to connect and communicate more. We can look for ways to engage with people on this issue when we’re there in ways that we couldn’t do from a distance. To that end we’re reaching out to groups that are working on women’s rights in Alabama, and seeing if there some way we can support their work when we’re there, either as individuals or—if we agree that this a good use of our collective time and energy—as a group. So far we’ve heard from Planned Parenthood of the Southeast that they don’t support boycotts of local businesses, because those boycotts tend to hurt local working people. On this, as on other issues, we have to face the challenging question of how to stand up firmly for what we believe is right while respecting people who don’t see things our way. So, we’re going to go ahead with holding the Summit at Gulf State Park, and work on ways to use our time there constructively on this and other issues. I'd love to hear other ideas on how to make the best of this situation! Nadav

https://eji.org/ - This organization focuses on some of the other issues, but what about the Equal Justice Initiative (based in Montgomery)? Also an incredibly powerful book if you haven't read it, I recommend Just Mercy...

Hi everyone, As Nadav mentioned in the above post, we know that some of you may be concerned about attending the 2020 SDL Winter Summit and supporting the state of Alabama with your tourist dollars. For anyone who is interested in offsetting this impact by supporting organizations working toward reproductive freedom, we’ve put together a list of resources here. Most of the organizations in this list are located in other parts of the state. Because this will make it difficult to offer in-person support, we have included a donation link for each organization. However, if you are interested in supporting local organizations in person as well, we encourage you to reach out to any of these groups directly. Feel free to use this forum to coordinate with each other. The ACLU of Alabama has also stated that they would be willing to come speak to a group if some of you are interested. BuildingGreen will not be organizing this during the summit as we already have a full agenda. If there is anyone who would like to pull this together, I’m happy to put you in touch with my contact at ACLU. As always, please reach out with any questions or feedback. Thank you Yarden for your excellent suggestions! If anyone else has thoughts to share, we welcome your input. We also recognize that social justice and equity are much broader than reproductive rights. If you know of other resources, there's no need to limit this discussion. Thank you all for being so engaged! Best, Jen

Hello all,   For those of you coming to Gulf Shores next week and interested in getting involved with local initiatives fighting for reproductive rights, we’ve created this spreadsheet to help you coordinate with each other.    Looking forward to seeing some of you at the summit! Jen