 Good morning, everyone. Welcome. Special welcome to students and teachers joining us today. My name is Ruben, and I am a librarian here at the San Francisco Public Library. Before we begin, I would like to acknowledge that I am in San Francisco, California, on the unceded land of the Ramatush Ohlone peoples. Today we're here to talk about environmental stewardship, and it's important to acknowledge the native stewards of the land where I am a guest. So we acknowledge that the land where we are gathered today is the traditional land of the Ramatush Ohlone people. We must give thanks and respect to the Ohlone people by taking care of the earth, the animals and one another. We acknowledge that non-Ohlone residents are guests on this occupied land, and we're grateful for the opportunity to live, learn and play here. We promise to uplift and respect the Ohlone people, their history and their work. Thank you. So a few announcements before we get into the program for today. First, market calendar for April 25th at 12 p.m. Pacific, where in partnership with the New York Public Library, we will have National Book Award winning author Melinda Lowe participating in a question and answer session with San Francisco and New York City Youth about her highly acclaimed novel last night at the Telegraph Club. For any teens out there looking for information about college or other post-secondary options or looking to build goals for after high school, please join us for college consultation office hours for teens, a partnership with StudySmart on Tuesdays and Fridays in April at 5.30 p.m. Pacific. Please see our website SFPL.org for more information. And finally, please be sure to check out the recording of our panel conversation with Nicole Hannah-Jones and Nicholas Smith discussing the 1619 project born on the water from March 17th, which will be available on our YouTube channel through the end of April. Check out the San Francisco Public Library to see our upcoming events, find great books by inspiring women and more. Thank you for being here with us today and celebrating Climate Action Month and Earth Day, which is coming up next Friday. We're so happy that you're here with us for our monthly virtual program with Linda Calhoun of Career Girls. Linda Calhoun is an entrepreneur, activist, and community leader based in San Francisco. Linda is also the founder and CEO of Career Girls. Career Girls is the largest online collection of career guidance videos focusing on diverse and accomplished women. And we also have a host of phenomenal women, inventors, innovators, and changemakers. Without further ado, I present you with Linda Calhoun of Career Girls. Thank you, Reuben. It is truly wonderful to partner with you and your colleagues at the San Francisco Public Library. And I'm delighted to be in conversation today with these environmental advocates to help celebrate the upcoming Earth Day. And so now I'd like to briefly introduce our panel members. You can read their full bios in the program description, but I'd like to, in awful order, introduce you to Grace Anderson, who is a dream weaver and strategist working at the intersection of racial justice, healing justice, and environmental justice. As an independent consultant, Grace is committed to building the capacity of people of color in the environmental space by moving resources towards their dreams and by creating structural programming to support their growth. Next is Elmi Bermejo. I have been in community with Elmi for a while. She is an advocate and powerhouse on the international, national, state, and local stages. In 2015, Elmi was appointed by the mayor as a commissioner for the commission on the environment in San Francisco. And then in November 2021, President Biden appointed Elmi to serve as the regional administrator with the Small Business Association for Region 9, which is responsible for California, Arizona, Nevada, and Guam. And then next we're going to be in conversation with Morgan Coppia, who's an environmental justice coordinator with the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA Region 9, where she works to advance fair treatment and meaningful involvement for low income communities of color facing disproportionate environmental and health burdens. Welcome. My first question for all of you is to please tell our audience a bit more about what you do, why it's important to you, and specifically how the work you do aligns with your values, whoever would like to go first. Okay, thank you. Thank you, Linda, the ever pressing problem of unmuting oneself. So thank you for the opportunity to be here today and to the public library. You know, we, the commission on the environment just awarded them, give them a public service award, environmental service award at their last meeting. And as Linda said, I'm Elmi Bermejo and I'm a member of the commission for the environment in the city and county of San Francisco. And my other job is regional administrator for the Small Business Administration. And I think, for me, it's, I feel like I'm a serial public servant with an entrepreneurial flair, because I believe in public service, I believe that, you know, when people talk about government, they look at they think of buildings, I think of people. They really make systems work for people. If not, and how do we engage folks to do that and as a lifelong public servant. I've had the opportunity to work with local leaders, state leaders, federal leaders, including the legendary Senator John Burton. I'm President Obama, I work now for the Biden administration, and also have been involved in the commission on the status of women, how do we advance the rights of women. The Women's Foundation, I was a co founder of the policy Institute, which is where you affect change. It's not for the faint of heart, but it's worth doing. I'm also with the Spanish organized for political equality that looks at Latina leadership and how to make sure that Latinas are in leadership positions and prepared when that those opportunities come or how do we create those opportunities. And then, you know, you can't wait for other people right when you you just have to jump into and do it. And one of the things was in 2018. I mean, when a lot is decided she was going to run for lieutenant governor. And she said to me, talk to John Burton and he thinks that, you know, the 58 counties and you could help. And without even thinking about it, I thought, there's never been a woman lieutenant governor. She's so smart. I have to do this. And we didn't even discuss the details of what the job would entail. And she said, yes. And then we planned it out. And she became the first woman elected to be lieutenant governor of the state of our great state and just a few days ago was acting government governor when the governor was out of the state with his family on vacation. And so those are the kinds of things where you want to work with leaders who are going to create change, who are going to move the needle forward as they say because normal as people have talked about is not good for anybody, we have to make it better. We have to always seek to change things. And with that, there's also my family has a restaurant in San Francisco and I like to say that everything I learned about public service about customer service was at the restaurant cleaning tables. You know, you learn so much not to be afraid of the public so no matter where you are none of us prank from as it from the head of zoos as fully formed, we started somewhere. And with me it was my family's work ethic, and how to get things done, never give up always ask the questions that has led me to this so thank you for that opportunity. Thank you only. Thank you so much for for inviting us to share a bit about this today and I can hop in a little bit next and just share that you know we know that low income communities of color have historically had to bear the disproportionate environmental public health burdens and for EPA environmental justice means correcting those past wrongs and really trying to achieve fair treatment and meaningful involvement for all people regardless of race color, national origin or income with respect to all of our environmental laws policies and regulations and for me as an environmental justice coordinator at EPA. My job is to help my colleagues who are trying to better understand and address environmental justice challenges in their work, but also the community partners that we work with that's a huge component to the work that we do. And we also work with our other federal agency and other agency partners such as state local agencies, again to better understand and address the issues that are coming from being able to achieve environmental justice and I love that me brought up, you know the importance of a family and how family and history really inform and really set the stage for how we make decisions and and pursue our passions throughout our life and for me, when EJ isn't just a job. It relates back to family, it's something that helps me get back to people who are facing similar struggles that my family has experienced in the past. You know, my dad immigrated to the US from Mexico when he was a kid and when he and his family first arrived in the US they didn't really speak much English and they didn't really have a lot of economic resources. The only economic opportunity that they could find was to do work in the fields as farm workers. And in doing that they experienced several environmental justice challenges that we know like including exposure to pesticides exposure to extreme heat. And he, you know, did that type of work until he was able to put himself through college and, and eventually get his teaching credential and, you know, he and my mom just made so many sacrifices and worked so hard to ensure that me, my brother, my sister would never have to experience the kind of struggles that they went through. And for me, I just remember as a kid always reflecting on that my parents experiences and how different it was for from what I experienced and I just really wanted to always give back to people who had faced those similar issues and figure out a way to use my privileges that I was so fortunate for them to provide me with to help others who were facing similar struggles and so that's why environmental justice for me is so important and it's more than just a job it's something that we are all entitled to and is so important for us to do whatever we can to achieve. Thank you for that Morgan really appreciate your sharing your story with this grace. Yeah, thank you for inviting me Linda. So just to be a part of this panel with you Elmia and Morgan and with the public library I love my library card more than anything. So super excited to be here. I feel like I feel like I stumbled into this career. I really love being outside and that's how it started. Didn't grow up going outside grew up in rural Virginia but didn't grow up going outside. My professor in college was like you're not coming to my classes too much so you should like go spend time outside. So I came across the Student Conservation Association which places high school and college students and internships. And they sent me out to Joshua tree to remove invasive mustards and count desert tortoises and I just fell in love. I slept outside for the first time I learned how to climb and Joshua tree and I was just hooked so I graduated college and high till that out of there. It was a park ranger for a while and I think my work in the environmental field just came from a lot of a lot of time outside like instructing long backpacking courses teaching people how to climb teaching young girls how to see kayak. And as I got deeper into this work I was like oh well I'm not seeing our stories told like I know we were there like I would run into black folks and other people of color outside but I'm like oh why aren't our stories. Like in the mainstream environmental and outdoor movement. So transferred my work into like more of a like structural sense and like administrative sense like how can I build programs and structures to get more folks of color into this work and like uplift our stories and this work. And the more I started to do that I realized that a lot of us were burning out this work is really hard especially in the context of the US and places that were not made for us like with folks of color in mind. It can be really hard to like fight for yourself fight for your people and fight for the like long term longevity of our existence on this planet. I started to transfer my work into like caring for the people who care for the planet so the morgans and elmies of the world I want to make sure that they have like safe like soft systems like to keep them in this work to like center their joy and this work and make sure that they have all the resources that they need in order to keep going. Because I've seen so many of us burn out I've burnt out before and it's just not a sustainable way of existing and I think a lot of us. Like there's a lot of joy in this work and I think it's missed sometimes because of all the work that we have to do and so my work led me to pgm one which was co directing the largest racial affinity space for folks of color who work in connection with the land. And that would be like a gathering of five to 700 people who all people of color who would come together every year and talk about their connections to the earth. And we just got to celebrate and witness each other and didn't have to explain why we were there or like why we didn't have to like sit on di panels like we really just got to talk about our connection to the earth and the world. And so I've just like really like dug into that work like I'm good I'm here to support us staying in this work. I'm here to support like our joy and space and creativity in this work and so I work independently now, because I feel like that's what gives me the most space but get to overlap with a lot of really wonderful people in that. Awesome. Thank you I love how you all came to this work in paths that are so different. You know, your work ranges as I mentioned in the introduction from the federal the state and local levels. And can you tell us more about the work of the San Francisco Commission on the environment and how young people can get involved. The work of the San Francisco Commission and the environment is so important and I just love that because, honestly, when I was approached to be considered to be a member of the Commission I was like well I don't belong to the Sierra Club. And then Mayor at least said, that's exactly the kind of people that we want we want people who are engaged in their community, and my family's small business, who can really, as it were, preach the gospel of recycling in all kinds of ways not to the same customers as it is not the usual suspects as I like to say sometimes. And so the work of the Commission is is primarily we advise the mayor and the Board of Supervisors on environmental policies, and it's not just about recycling, which is very important and how to do it but we've had programs that go into the schools, so that we have Phoebe the Phoenix that will go into your school you know those kinds of things of course I don't think we've been doing that in, in the last two years, but programs like that programs that reach out to small businesses about how simple things can help your business is bottom line by changing light bulbs, and people think it's going to be expensive or it's going to be daunting, but we take an approach where we know it's slow, it's methodical, and then you are not just changing a light bulb, you're really making that light bulb go up in that person's head to say, wow, you know, I'm an environmentalist and I don't even know I am. So that's the exciting part about when people sort of discover that that being an environmentalist is not just like you don't have to go and get a PhD for that. And the exciting thing this year is we released our climate action plan. And that was released on November 2021, and it is data driven, and people focused because I think that these plans, they're impacting people. And it is going to be you know implemented with strategies to achieve zero emissions by 2040, while building a more equitable future. And then because we know that working together we can really make a difference and we can bring people into this process. And I just want to mention that the strategies identify there are six actions and key areas which are energy supply, building operations, transportation and land use, responsible production and consumption, housing and building a healthy ecosystems. And since April is also Climate Action Month, I asked there was a link calendar of events. And one of those events I mean we gave the commission honored the San Francisco Public Library which has been an amazing partner of the commission with the Environmental Service Award. And then there are other workshops from a workshop on bird migration to Buena Vista neighborhood volunteer communities, to Ocean Beach cleaning up the ocean so bringing families together children together. And there's so many, many, many other things in that calendar that I would really urge you to click on the link and I think we're going to put that in the chat for an opportunity to be outdoors to be you know with community and be with your family, and then make a difference on how we really take care of our planet. Thank you. Really happy to hear that. And Morgan, what kinds of jobs are available at the Environmental Protection Agency, and are there jobs for people who are studying STEM and, most importantly, are there internships and summer jobs for young people at the university? Yeah, that's a great question. Thanks so much for asking that. So EPA has lots of different types of jobs that are available, including those for people who are pursuing STEM. Some of those job positions that might interest those who are looking into getting into the field include environmental engineer positions, physical scientists, life scientists, and environmental protection specialists. So those are kind of the STEM oriented positions, but we also have other types of positions at EPA, for example, related to business and administration, such as grant specialists, accountants, IT specialists, and others. And we also have some legal positions available, such as attorney advisors and general investigator positions. And so there are several opportunities available including for those who are looking to pursue STEM. So really what just wanted to highlight some of those opportunities and then related to internships. There are several that I think might be of interest to this group. And those include our virtual student federal service program, our pathways program, and our recent graduate program. So just a glimpse of a little bit of information for each of those the virtual student service federal service program is an unpaid internship. It's entirely web based 100% virtual and requires a commitment of about 10 hours per week. For our pathways program that one's a paid internship program that is really geared towards training students to prepare for permanent positions so that they could hopefully be hired at EPA at the end of their position as an intern, and after they graduate. And here at EPA region nine we typically have those pathways positions open in January and we generally make selections in the spring. And then we also have our recent graduate program which is designed for as the name might suggest recently graduated students who are looking for full time positions at EPA. Those folks are completing one year of job training that includes a number of hours of training and individual development plans that are developed. And given that there's successful performance and a good fit. We strive to be able to onboard those folks as permanent positions with the agency, and we'll be providing some chat links in the chat to provide more information about each of those positions that are available and I'm going to take a look at that. Oh, Morgan that's great. Thank you so much for sharing that information and I'm happy for our audience to know all these different avenues for pursuing work with the agency. You know, grace, you talked a lot about how you, the things that you're doing and how you came to them. For your audience, how would you define the work that that you're doing the area that you're working in so that they can prepare themselves to pursue a career similar to yours. How would you define it. Yeah, yeah I don't know if there's anything you can do to prepare for it I feel like I've, yeah I've been like stumbling along a lot. And finally I'm finding my setting but it took a lot of just like trying things and seeing what like really stuck. In the previous to co directing PGM one I was at the Sierra Club, and ran their program to get kids outside and I kept noticing that I kept, like I tended to really focus on like how to introduce people into the field I think that's something that I'm always been interested in like, if you're someone like me grow up like very low resources like don't have the ability to take on paid internships or like to travel a bunch like how can we get you into the field and like allow you enough to figure out what works for you and so I would say in order to prepare just like try a lot of things, but I divide my work now as like racial justice, healing work and environmental justice and I used to the words like environmental sit well with me because I didn't see like many examples of like black folks and the environmental space. And so I was just like I was okay like when I think of environmentalist like what's been taught to me it's like john here I'm like okay first of all it doesn't look like me at all. And then also like he isn't someone like ideologically that I'm in line with so like that didn't sit well and so I think as I started to expand my work. I was like okay I'm really interested in like centering folks of color in our work and so it's racial justice. I'm really interested in like how we continue on this path and like how we build systems like fellowships grant programs and other things that keep us in this work like mentorship programs and how that. And how we heal our relationship to the planet so it's also healing work and then it's environmental justice because I believe like Morgan was saying earlier like healing that connection that we've had to the planet and the earth and making sure that we all have like healthy access to like healthy air, water, food. And I think something that else is that I would encourage is just like looking for the intersections of all this work together like I'm really also interested in like how do we like dismantle white supremacy in our culture and how do we like live in a society where like prisons aren't the answer and I think that's all environmental justice and so I encourage people to like really like think of their work is like more expansive than like the titles that are like attributed to it I think I got really caught up early on around. Oh it has to be environmental so it needs to look like this very specific thing. I feel like I've been able to be like really expansive and successful in my work because I've allowed it to just be really intersectional. Thank you for that and you know, Grace you're picking up on something that's come through loud and clear on this panel this far is the power that each of you have. You've taken action. You haven't been bystanders and just sort of moving along on that thread. The question I have for each of you is, if you had a magic wand. What is the one thing you would do right now to protect our planet and whoever wants can jump in. Linda the first thing that comes to my mind is if I had a magic wand I would just think everybody could believe in science into facts. Let's start with that, because I think that we can't make up things when the world is falling apart and pretend it's not happening and and I think to me it's like believe in science would be the number one thing for me. Thank you all me. Morgan Grace, you've got the power. I mean it's a tough question if you have one thing that you could change the wave of a magic wand. But I think, if I have one choice, I would probably just instill a little reminder in all of our hearts about that deep connection with the natural world that we were just describing how sacred and important it is to respect that connection. And that reminder be ever present. And I think that that would help us just guide our decisions in a way that is more consistent with living in harmony with the natural world that is so important to our existence and our well being. When we're in those positions where we're deciding between something that's harmful and something that's less harmful or not harmful at all that that decision would be more guided by that intrinsic link that that we all share with the natural world. My magic one yeah I would ensure that everyone has access like safe feel safe and needed in our society I think we are a very extractive culture. And because of that we treat people and the planet as this fits disposable. And so I think like creating a world in which like people feel like people have access to education food opportunity will also save our planet. Well, I think you are all working to make those powers come true. Thank you for sharing them. And you know grace one of the things that you know you, you mentioned or that I saw in your bio is directing resources to communities that haven't traditionally had them, or to issues that are disproportionately impacting communities. And so you're a fellow with Pisces Foundation, you know an organization that's moving resources. And can you tell us about the foundation and share how your career path led you there. So I'll give you some examples of how girls can, or anybody watching, I tend to focus on girls ages 10 to 15 but for anyone in our audience where you can navigate to an organization and find the resources to support the work that you want to do. So start with the Pisces Foundation. Yeah, the Pisces Foundation is based in the Bay, and their tagline I'll just read it directly they create a world where people in nature can thrive together. And our, our relationship started is after I left PGA one, and it's so many brilliant people of color who just needed resources to launch their ideas already knew what needed to happen in order to like advance the environmental space. I just needed resources and so I pitched the foundation on hosting me as a fellow to create a long standing fellowship for folks of color in the environmental space, one where people get well resource in order to advance an idea that they have that could be like starting a neighborhood garden, like working on land back and indigenous communities like starting a newsletter focused on black folks in the environment like just anything that they knew that would impact the field and so it's been about a year now, and I'm working alongside Angela they are see Mooney who's an indigenous woman and so Cal and we're trying to build something. Yeah that that is long standing that everyone has access to. So many of us are under capitalized and I don't think folks of color get the same investments and people don't take the same risk and so this is kind of an answer to that or like a subversion of that I think careers that people can explore around it I think similar to what I was saying earlier like just seeing your work at the intersections of many different fields is really helpful. There are a lot of jobs like within foundations I think it's specifically around moving resources like it would be great to see more people and these foundations while this is the mechanism that we're using I don't think it's I think it's I don't know if there's peace and perfect, like a lot of systems we have but at this point in time I think like the need for folks of color within foundations that have large amounts of money that needs to be moved like it is a role that we can take on to like to introduce more organizations led by folks of color to the world, and also to like embed equity into these organizations and like really thinking about like what investment is needed to like really shift power within our society and so I think like foundation roles. I also think freelancing roles I'm still figuring it out for myself but I encourage people like who aren't finding an organization that works well for them to like try to work like in between it or like make things for themselves and like really have like, like really use their creativity and like power that they know they have to like create something that they want to see as well. Great. I love that word the power to create something that they they don't see that exist at the moment. You know, I mean I want to bring you in. Again, to talk about solutions that exist to address adverse environmental conditions, and how a young person can be part of those solutions, but I would be remiss if I didn't ask you to also share a framework for understanding the problems and solutions in developing public policy. I mean, as I said you are, you are expert and experienced at every level of the public engagement. So, can you share sort of your MO for getting these things done. Well, I'm with grace to reject you have to create things, because you can't wait for someone to create it if it doesn't exist, whether it's a program, or something like that so two examples are when he's found us organized for political equality hope got started because we looked around and we said, you know, the lots of organizations that are honoring women, but they're not women of color, and certainly they're not Latinas and yet they were Latinas in government. So, when I was a deputy mayor to Mayor Tom Bradley and we thought how do we honor him this is a long time ago so it started up is that then it became a policy Institute, and to say, Okay, it's not enough to honor. Now we have to make sure that these women know what the leadership path is, how power is exercised in the halls of power in Sacramento and Washington DC at the local level. How do we train them and how do we partner with people and how do we prove women who are doing things in their community. So they're already active. And their leaders, it's just that no one said, you are a leader, right and when somebody says to you, you're a leader you go, really, I'm just organizing my neighborhood, and you realize by saying that there's like a little light bulb that's like, Oh, and then participating in that understanding how some of the systems work, then people get appointed to boards and commissions, they run for office, you don't have to run for office. Vote, they probably are out there telling people to vote so it's that kind of engagement about the fact of creating things. And I think when it comes to public policy, and this is, you know, for young people because I think everybody has to be a make sure that we're we're all voting and understanding what we're voting for so that we have the people that we want to see an office to create change, because as I said it's about people at the end of the day. And when it comes to public policy that is not for the faint of heart because it doesn't happen overnight. And for instance, you know if you know what the problem is, then, you know, you have to educate that there are the public that there is a problem. And then to me, once you identify the problem, who's the problem impacting. How can this be addressed. Will there be any unintended consequences in your plan. Who's on your side, who's kind of waving might be on your side maybe not on your side that you can get to your site, who is never going to be on your side. And then how do you move forward because also creating those partnerships. Once that policy is done with that that partnership stays on. And when you have that partnership, even if you didn't succeed this time. That partnership is going to make you a powerful force the second time around because sometimes legislation doesn't happen. But I think also, when we talk about putting more women in office is about creating change. Look at what I served with Senator, then Senator now supervisor Holly Mitchell on the Commission on the status of women we we served together. And I remember saying to her. Okay, I think you, I said, it's going to be so exciting when you get elected to the assembly and she said, Oh, go on. She went to the assembly she went to the Senate. She chaired the budget committee. But then, when you talk about women, she said, Well, why is it that African American women are, you know, she did the Crown Act because so many people there's so much, you know, either and not understanding cultural norms about how people carry themselves and the pride that they have. Right. And so she came the Crown Act about, you know, how African American women have their hair right so that is now moving on to the national level. So it starts in California I would say whenever starts in California look out world it's going to be in your community soon. And so those are the kinds of things where you look at it probably wasn't easy, but it makes sense right and sometimes you have to just call attention to everything. And just like when you get this story about these babies that were like drowning in the ocean, and that this woman was passing by, and she thought oh my God this baby is drowning I think I'll go save it one at a time brings a baby back from the ocean and saves it. And so the second woman who was passing by and observes this says well what's going on there. And this first woman goes well come and help me these babies are drowning. And so the second woman goes. Okay, but doesn't come back and the first woman says, Why are you still there. So the second woman says I'm teaching them how to swim. And then a third woman comes by watches this one saving one kid at a time another teaching them to swim. She looks at the situation and starts to walk away. And then says, Why are you leaving and the third woman says, I'm going to see who is throwing those babies in the ocean, and that is public policy. So all of us play a role, you know as teachers as parents as aunties as moms, you know your city one kid at a time your teacher is teaching you, and then our elected officials elected civic leaders and us, we can say, as a private citizen. Well why is that happening. I'm going to figure out who's doing that, why it's happening and how do we change that. And so while public policy doesn't always happen overnight. It can be done, we just need to band together and create those strong partnerships across ethnic lines, across gender lines, and bring people along. And so, to me that that is an exciting way, I think, because all of us create change and then at the end of the day we say, It wasn't just you but like we did it together. Oh my goodness, I love these panels and the knowledge and the wisdom that is shared so thank you so much for that answer elmi and Morgan I want to bring you back in on the work of the environmental protection agency. It is critical. And to elmi's point, you know what happens in California has national and international implications. And so what are some of the ways the EPA is improving environmental and public health in the Bay Area. Great question. Thanks so much for for asking this and you know EPA is doing a lot of different work to protect human health and the environment in the Bay Area from cleaning out contaminated sites to protecting our air protecting our water. But one thing that I kind of wanted to highlight is the work that we do to support communities and undertaking initiatives to address environmental justices that they're facing, using their own community driven solutions to addressing this challenges I know this has been mentioned several times during this panel that you know communities know what they need they know each other so well they know the conditions they face. Often what's lacking is the resources that they need to undertake those really critical projects and giving them agency in the process and allowing them to participate in the decision making process for those environmental challenges that affect them. And one way that I'm really supportive of and happy that EPA is able to support that type of work is through our environmental justice grants program. And so we have several different types of environmental justice grants that give direct, give money directly to those community groups who are looking to better understand and address their environmental justice issues from better understanding air quality localized air quality doing air monitoring projects to promote awareness about environmental education with youth about climate change to youth and those are several types of projects that we support and we have a few different types of funding, one of them is called an environmental justice small grants. That's about a year long project that goes to organizations who are a little bit newer to the federal grants process you know federal grant funding is tricky it's not intuitive to navigate. And it can be really difficult for those community based organizations who aren't as well resourced or have the time to acquire a grant writer to to attain that funding they need so our EJ small grants program is designed to be a little bit more manageable for those grassroots groups, who are taking their toes in the federal grants world, and it's a shorter term project, really at the essence of it again community driven so a working in partnership with communities to understand and address environmental public health issues. We also have another kind of tier two of EJ grants which is called our environmental justice collaborative problem solving cooperative agreements, and those ones are a little bit more advanced their two years long. And they really encourage folks to develop strong partnerships with the different sorts of stakeholders that are involved in in getting environmental justice issues addressed and one of the types of EJ grants that I'm really excited to be working with is a small grant that was recently selected for the San Francisco Community of Bayview Hunters Point. There's a great organization called the Asian Week Foundation that's working with the Fort Steen Community Garden in Bayview Hunters Point on environmental justice project so bringing in community members who are coming mostly from Chinese immigrants African Americans in Bayview Hunters Point to address food of the food desert issue that they face and incorporate them in the therapeutic process that the community gardening can be and we're so excited to be able to provide some funding to support that organization and doing this type of important work that is really needed and again these folks know exactly what is needed in their communities and our role. One of the most important roles that we can play is to just provide them with the resources they need to do that important work. Well thank you so much Morgan and Grace and Elmi. We are at the end of our program we had one question that came in from the audience about, is there a career girls for older women, and the answer is yes. Is there anybody you know our target audience that we aim to serve is 10 to 15 but you know half of our audience is much older than that so thank you again. Thank you. Thank you all so much. And just Linda and panelists do you have any final words of farewell for the audience. Well I do I would like to hear if I could ask Ruben, if there's one skill that anybody watching could develop to advance their interest in this work. What would it be for me I would say reading researching understanding the data. Do you need to say curiosity. I like just question everything there's a lot of things that exist just because of tradition, and they don't need to exist anymore so just like lots of lots of questions and curiosity. And I might say just persistence tenacity. As you mentioned a lot of these challenges are very complex, and it takes a lot of time and hard thinking and ability to keep going despite the obstacles that it often seems like you're facing to pursue these goals in the midst of the various challenges that come up. I agree with that. And I also think it is curiosity asking questions. Why are things happening. Why do they have to happen this way. How can we change it. I think the other thing is, you know, talking to people and just showing up, you know, now that things are opening up. Don't be afraid to go to a meeting that you may not necessarily feel comfortable in. And to show up there'll be somebody that smiles and reaches out because I think we have to bring one another in and make sure that we are looking out for those folks who are in the back of the room. Maybe they want to stay there, but they should be made to feel welcome whoever they are. So thank you all so much. That was such a wonderful conversation and thank you all in the audience for joining us today. If you love today's program, check our calendar for future virtual programs. We invite you to join us for our next event with career girls focusing on mindfulness and self care on Wednesday, May 11 at 10 am Pacific. And that's all for today. So take good care of yourselves, stay safe. And we hope to see you at another library program soon. Thank you. Thank you so much everyone. Have a great day. Thank you.