Tonight we were joined by Mary Haddad, Jenine Tobias and Julie Okoniewski. Below is their bios and Mary’s artist statement, the creator of the mural. We spoke about today’s guilty verdict of Derek Chauvin in the murder of George Floyd, and also the power of activism and art. Thank you to Mary and Jenine and for the wisdom and guidance of Generation Z.

Mary Haddad is an 18-year-old Arab-American artist, creator, student, and activist. She is a senior in high school attending the DCC Bridge Program full-time. Passionate about activism, Mary created and painted, with the help of her community, a Black Lives Matter Mural.

instagram @maryhaddadart

Jenine Tobias is an African American sophomore  at Oakwood Friends School who devotes her time in the upbringing and encouragement of her peers and those around her. Bringing world peace is at the top of her list but that can only start from changing the world around her.

instagram @jaetoviyah

Julie Okoniewski is Associate Director of Development and Alumni Affairs at Oakwood Friends School and served as a Good Work Institute fellow in 2017-18. She is also the founder of VOTE (Voices of Tomorrow Empowered) a free two-week residential program designed for Hudson Valley and New York City youth to learn about political advocacy through the arts.

Instagram @oakwoodfriends and facebook – oakwoodfriends

Hosted by Susan & Micah

How do we sustain efforts for the earth, the land, our neighbors? Whether looking to align purpose and values, to decolonize and generate the kind of commitment needed to center the leadership of those most affected, to energize volunteers, or to strengthen ideas, sharing leadership and power is key. Rather than build on the foundations that created problems, building solutions grounded in new structures can make those solutions durable. Caroline and Shaniqua draw on their respective shared leadership journeys, offering responses for those who assume it is too hard, and sharing tips on easy first steps to take. 

Websites: For Earth Day, check out the work of kingstonlandtrust.org and support their Spring Appeal; explore a flexible approach to shared leadership at sociocracyforall.org; see what dcpaa.org and mothersoutfront.org are up to

Shaniqua Bowden, the Culture and Community Engagement Captain at the Kingston Land Trust, is a 7-year Kingston resident who first fell in love with green space as a kid in her hometown of South Boston, Virginia. She later moved to New York City where she studied communications and liberal arts at Empire State College. She’s a proud mom and active entrepreneur dedicated to ensuring Kingston is a well-rounded community and has come to KLT to assist in their mission of sharing public land access to all. Other community projects she’s worked on include Black History Month Kingston, My Kingston Kids and a weekly radio show called the Nubian Cafe.

Caroline Fenner is a middle school English teacher who, after 13 years of living and working in the New York City area, moved to Poughkeepsie in 2012 to have two children and live in the beautiful Hudson Valley.  In 2016, Caroline became involved in local activism and the progressive movement. She helped form the Dutchess County Progressive Action Alliance in order to inspire and mobilize the people of Dutchess County towards sustained political activism in order to promote progressive agendas at all levels of government.

Co-hosts Terri and Hélène talk money, finance, and investing with community and labor organizer Vonda Brunsting to this episode of the Good Work Hour. Locally, Vonda is working as steward for the Hudson Valley Prosperity Network, which is currently partnering with GWI on a Community of Practice. She also is a GWI Board Member.

Vonda lives in Beacon, and works with the Initiative for Responsible Investment at the Center for Public Leadership of the Harvard Kennedy School. In partnership with the Grantham Institute at LSE, she is launching a project on Investing in the Just Transition, which aims to build a clean energy economy that works for communities and working people. Previously, she was director of the Capital Stewardship Program Service Employees International Union (SEIU). Vonda served as a trustee on the SEIU Master Trust Pension Plan and on the board of the Council of Institutional Investors. Prior to joining SEIU‚ Vonda co-founded two community organizations devoted to leadership development and community change and worked on community finance initiatives at the University of New Hampshire and the Harvard Business School. She currently serves on the SRI and Investment Committee of the Unitarian Universalist Common Endowment Fund. She received her B.A. from Calvin College and holds a Master’s degree in Public Policy from the University of Chicago.

For more info on the Hudson Valley Prosperity Network, contact [email protected] or [email protected]

Hosted by Aja Schmeltz & Terri Hall

Jason Lord a Holistic Practitioner, Youth Mentor, and Educator who specializes in personalized Wellness Counseling and Guided Meditation. On this episode, Jason describes why his last visit to the region lasted 21 years, how he defines place and tugs at our heart strings as he explains why is so committed to providing attainable paths to wellness to BIPOC communities.