Advancing sustainable schools for all
June 28-29, 2021
The Green Schools Conference (GSC) is the only event to bring together all the players involved in making green schools a reality: people who lead, operate, build and teach in schools.
This year the Green Schools Conference will convene virtually over two half-days of programming, featuring inspiring keynotes, interactive education sessions and engaging peer group networking opportunities.
The conference will address topics such as design for sustainability education and social equity, healthy schools and COVID response, empowering student leadership, achieving climate commitments, and much more. Whether you are a teacher, school or district staff, educational leader, parent, student, building industry professional, or non-profit partner, the Green Schools Conference is the premier opportunity to learn and engage.
For general questions please email us at help@greenschoolsconference.org
2020 Post Show Report
More Ways to Engage: Green School Summits
Our communities need schools that address the most pressing concerns for our future as they educate young leaders. Come together with professionals in your field to learn new strategies, gain inspiration from our green school community, and inform the next chapter of the movement.
For questions on the summits, contact schools@usgbc.org.
Summit for School Leaders
February 4-5, 2021
Join school and district leaders from around the globe to share strategies for leading toward greener, healthier, and inspiring schools that engage students in meaningful experiences that drive achievement across the board.
Register
Summit for Educators
February 12-13, 2021
Connect with other classroom educators to share practical steps to integrating sustainability education into classroom content and daily practice, engaging students in learning and in making positive change in their communities.
Register
Summit for Building Industry Professionals
February 18-19, 2021
Dive deeper into the future of green schools through an engaging dialogue about how design should effectively respond to and enable sustainability education and how building industry professionals can help schools live into the promise of greener schools.
Register
Summit for Facilities and Sustainability Leaders
February 25-26, 2021
With like-minded school staff, share best practices for creating and maintaining learning environments that are healthier for students, teachers, and the planet while gaining strategies to connect your important work to the classroom.
Register
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Program
The virtual Green Schools Conference - to be hosted June 28-29, 2021 - will provide an unmatched opportunity for green school leaders to convene to share new ideas and strategies for advancing environmental and sustainability literacy and transforming schools into healthier, more sustainable places to learn.
Call for Proposals
Share your knowledge by presenting an education session. We are now accepting sessions proposals from experienced presenters to be part of the Green Schools Conference program. Before submitting a session, please read the Call for Education Session Proposals, Submittal Guide and Program Policies documents linked below for information on topic priorities, session formats, and scoring policies.
Session Proposals are due by March 15, 2021 at 11:59 p.m. EST
Submit a Proposal
Call for Speakers
To design this year’s event to be most responsive to the needs of the green school community during a year characterized by change, the Call for Speakers will solicit applications and nominations for subject matter experts on priority topics that are identified on an on-going basis.
Throughout the month of February, a series of Green Schools Summits will gather input from key audiences – educators, facility managers, building designers and school leaders – on the critical challenges they face today. At the end of each Summit, the Call for Speakers will be updated to reflect new priority topics and will collect applications and/or nominations for subject matter experts willing to speak to them.
GSC will review these applications to select the most relevant speakers to address these topics during the Green Schools Conference in June to provide timely resources and education for green schools’ leaders.
Please review the current priority topics below. This list will be updated weekly in February with new or refocused priorities.
Note: The Call for Speakers is designed to collect applications/nominations from subject matter experts independent from a full session who are willing to speak about the specific priority topics outlined below. If you are interested in submitting a proposal for a full education session, please refer to the Call for Proposals information above.
Current Priority Topics
School Leader Focused
- Models and exemplars of schools where social-emotional learning and sustainability mindsets are integrally connected
- Models and exemplars where trauma-informed teaching and learning have led to action competence
- Large district exemplars where equity and sustainability have become interwoven in strategy and action
- Historic barriers and perceptions that prevent school leaders from connecting the concepts of sustainable development and anti-racism
Educator Focused
- Models or exemplars for how teachers, schools, or districts have “outdoor-ified” curriculum and teaching practices, making it easier for teachers to bring students outside to learn
- Models or exemplars for integrating interdisciplinary Education for Sustainability into everyday teaching and learning across a school system, so that all students can benefit equitably
- Strategies for ensuring that all students have equitable opportunity for outdoor experiences
Building Industry Professional Focused
- Strategies for using green buildings to educate students about climate change
- Models or exemplars for high-quality community-engaged school design and school design that centers equity
- Strategies for school districts to set goals and monitor for equity in the distribution of green design and construction projects/investment
- Technical explanation of the various combined strategies that are available or will soon be available to get to zero carbon schools
Facilities and Sustainability Staff Focused
- School and district climate commitments
- Healthy schools & COVID response
- Innovations in renewable energy, battery storage, and electrification
Speaker Nominations and Applications are due by March 22, 2021 at 11:59 p.m. EST
Apply/Nominate a Speaker
Call for Reviewers
Apply to be a peer reviewer. Peer reviewers evaluate session proposals and help maintain the quality of sessions by identifying exceptional presentations. Session reviewers receive discounted conference registration. Before applying, please read the Call for Reviewers Document linked below for information on the review process and reviewer requirements.
Peer Reviewer Applications are due by March 8, 2021 at 11:59 p.m. EST
Apply to be a Reviewer
Program Timeline
- Tuesday, Jan. 26 – Call opens for session proposals and peer reviewer applications
- Tuesday, Feb. 9 – Call opens for speakers to apply for specific topic areas
- Monday, March 1 – Deadline for peer reviewer applications
- Monday, March 8 – Deadline for session proposal submissions and speaker applications
- Monday, March 8 – Notifications sent for accepted peer reviewers
- Thursday, March 25 – Round 1 peer reviewers must complete reviews of submissions
- Thursday, April 8 – Round 2 peer reviewers must complete reviews of submissions
- Week of April 19 – Notifications sent for accepted session proposals and speakers
For questions regarding the GSC Program, please email program@greenschoolsconference.org.
View our 2020 keynote speakers
Opening Plenary
Plenary Luncheon
Women in Green Breakfast
As the first African-American/woman of color to host her own science television series, Danni Washington is deeply passionate about our oceans and science communications. She dreamed of studying the oceans since she was six years old. In 2008, Danni graduated from the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science with a B.Sc. in Marine Science/Biology. At age 21, she and her mom Michelle Swaby-Smith co-founded the Big Blue & You – a non-profit organization dedicated to inspiring and educating youth about marine conservation through the arts and media.
Most recently, Danni is the host of a STEM educational TV series which features the latest advancements in bio-inspired technology and design called XPLORATION NATURE KNOWS BEST which is nationally syndicated on FOX & available on HULU, Amazon Prime and throughout the world.
In 2017, Danni was selected as one of the 10 young innovators who was profiled in CA Technologies #STEM10 initiative alongside artist Jaden Smith. Danni was also awarded the Emerging Female Leader of the Year Award by EarthX.
With nearly a decade of experience in the science media arena. Danni also has a deep appreciation for the arts and seeks any creative outlet to express herself including dance, film and music. She is a lover of scuba diving, stand-up paddle boarding and all water activities.
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Lily Gardner, a junior at Henry Clay High School in Kentucky, is a director of Future Voter Support work for Sunrise Movement. She also serves as the state policy director for Kentucky Youth Climate Strike, a hub coordinator of Sunrise Lexington, and on the Bluegrass Youth Sustainability Council. Recently, Lily planned the September 20th Climate Strike in Louisville, Kentucky, drawing a crowd of hundreds. Since then, she’s trained high schoolers from across the country in climate organizing and served on the Youth Climate Coalition, the youth coordinating body to plan upcoming Earth Day events.
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Rayan Krishnan is an 18-year-old freshman student at Stanford University, from Sammamish. Having grown up in Washington and its parks, he has always had an appreciation for the natural environment. When he found that the federal government planned to exit the Paris Accord, he pledged his high school to meet the carbon emissions reduction goals of the Accord and formed the organization Schools Under 2 degrees C to challenge other schools to reduce their carbon emissions. Most recently, he created the game Operation Sustain to teach the science of climate change in an engaging way to elementary students.
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Isaac Vergun is a 17-year old sprinter, cross country runner, and climate activist and federal plaintiff in the case Juliana et al. vs. U.S. At 11-years old, Isaac got the attention of Bill McKibben by stepping onto the stage to ask about starting a divestment campaign for his hometown of Beaverton, Oregon.
Isaac co-founded Youth Acting for our Earth (YAE!) and is the Lead Youth Climate Leader, bringing the program to four states and counting. He trained to become a Climate Reality Leader and was twice elected to the Global Boards of Plant-for-the-Planet. He was also elected President of the Children’s Board. He participated in the Youth Summits in Germany and Italy as well as inspiring adults from around the world in Monaco at PlantAhead. Honored as a Youth in Action by the Marshallese Community and a leader of his high school’s Black Student Union, Isaac is part of the Oregon Youth Legislative Initiative (which helps youth make personal connections with legislators to influence the adoption of sane climate policy), and a teen board member of the Oregon Jewish Community Youth Foundation.
Helping to found Youth Acting for Our Earth (YAE!), Isaac leads free one-day trainings for youth in grades 4-12, and has spoken to media, schools, congregations and other organizations. He has been a successful fundraiser on several occasions, most recently being a guest speaker for a fundraiser to benefit Our Children’s Trust at a dinner gathering of members of community churches in a small town in Oregon; Isaac’s compelling speech helped to bring in almost double the fundraising goal, resulting in a total donation $46,163. Isaac has been an invited speaker to several conferences, such as the 2016 and 2019 Soil Not Oil International Conferences, and received a standing ovation after his 15 Minutes of Brilliance Keynote at the Living Future Conference (a conference of green building professionals). Isaac earned an International Baccalaureate Middle Years Program Certificate. Currently a senior, he plans to study environmental science and journalism and will be speaking at Penn State and Howard University this February.
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Tim Swinehart teaches Environmental Justice and IB Geography at Lincoln High School, in Portland, Oregon. He is the recipient of the 2015 Oregon Outstanding Social Studies Teacher of the Year award. In 2016, Tim helped create Portland Public Schools’ first-in-the-nation climate justice education policy and has served on the PPS Climate Justice Committee for the last three years. Tim is co-editor of A People’s Curriculum for the Earth: Teaching About Climate Change and the Environmental Crisis, and his writing about teaching the environmental crisis has appeared in Rethinking Schools magazine, at HuffPost and Common Dreams. Tim has led workshops and spoken around the U.S. and Canada about the need for bold climate justice education that empowers students to act as leaders for social and environmental justice, and his work as an environmental justice educator has been featured in stories at The New York Times, YES! Magazine, and NEA Today.
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Living sustainably has always been a core belief and practice of Mahesh Ramanujam. Growing up in India where much of the population around him faced economic and environmental hardships, Mahesh learned from a young age to make do and be grateful for what things he had and to give what he could to others so they could share in his resources. This is the philosophy that Mahesh brings to U.S. Green Building Council and Green Building Certification Inc. — maximize the resources you have today so there is abundance for many tomorrow. Mahesh believes in the power of people to change the world for the better, and that true global market transformation can be achieved by working together to build healthier and more sustainable communities, where buildings perform at a higher level and human health and wellness is prioritized and enhanced. In his dual roles as President and Chief Executive Officer of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and Green Business Certification, Inc. (GBCI), Mahesh leads and empowers hundreds of employees across the globe and thousands of volunteers across USGBC’s ever expanding community to help realize USGBC and GBCI’s mission and vision. Mahesh brings a true passion for people, global sensibilities and strategy, and an entrepreneurial leadership approach to USGBC and GBCI’s rapidly expanding and diversifying teams, as well as their respective suites of best-in-class products and offerings. Mahesh has a wide range of expertise including organizational leadership, consensus building and negotiation, global business and market development, marketing and communications, technological innovation and enterprise platform development, and organizational excellence. Before becoming CEO of USGBC, Mahesh served as USGBC’s Chief Operations Officer and as Chief Information Officer prior to that. Prior to joining GBCI in 2009, Mahesh was COO of Emergys Corp., a business technology-consulting firm that leverages emerging technologies to deliver business transformation to its clients. Over a period of 11 years, Mahesh successfully led various business transformation programs at IBM and Lenovo. Mahesh currently sits on the Advisory Council of the International WELL Building Institute and the Board of Directors of GRESB. Mahesh graduated from India’s Annamalai University with a degree in Computer Engineering.
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Jaimie P. Cloud is the founder and president of the Cloud Institute for Sustainability Education in New York City. The Cloud Institute is dedicated to the vital role of education in creating awareness, fostering commitment, and guiding actions toward a healthy, secure and sustainable future for ourselves and for future generations. The Cloud Institute monitors the evolving thinking and skills of the most important champions of sustainability, and transforms them into educational materials and pedagogical systems that inspire people to think about the world, their relationship to it, and their ability to influence it in an entirely new way.
As a pioneer in the field of Education for Sustainability (EfS) Jaimie is an international keynote speaker, thought leader and educational consultant. Jaimie writes and publishes extensively, and is a leadership advisor and curriculum development coach to administrators, teachers and curriculum specialists in schools and school districts, governments and civic organizations, and corporations around the country and in other parts of the world.
Jaimie is inspired by the potential of schools as learning organizations, children and young people as leaders, and schools and their communities learning in partnership for a sustainable future.
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Darcy Winslow is the President and co-founder of the Academy for Systems Change, an organization focused on advancing the field of awareness-based systemic change in order to achieve economic, social, and ecological wellbeing.
The Academy designs, develops and delivers
a range of programs
to support, coach and build community among emerging and existing leaders who are at the pioneering edge
of systems change work. Unlike conventional leadership training organizations, the Academy’s approach fosters deep understanding
of the powerful connection between change within the individual and changing the systems
in which they work. The Academy was in part founded to create a network of networks to contribute to the growth of the emerging field of ‘awareness based systems change’, thus accelerating our impact on the critical global ecosystems we rely on to thrive.
Darcy also worked at Nike, Inc. for 21 years and held several senior management positions, most notably starting the Sustainable Business Strategies in 1999, Global Director for Research Design and Development, General Manager/VP for Nike’s Global Women’s Footwear, Apparel and Equipment division, and Senior Advisor to the Nike Foundation.
Darcy participates as a Board Member for The Carbon Underground, The Cloud Institute for Sustainability Education, and the Institute for Sustainable Solutions.
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Whitney Ellersick, MS, RDN is the Nutrition Services Senior Director at Portland Public Schools where she has been employed since 2007. Whitney graduated from University of California, Davis with a BS in Clinical Nutrition and completed her dietetic internship at Oregon Health and Science University with a MS in Clinical Nutrition. Whitney has been a dietetic preceptor and guest lecturer since 2008, and in 2013 was nominated for the National Outstanding Preceptor Award. Whitney is an active member in Culinary Institute of America Healthy Kids Collaborative, School Nutrition Association, and Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. She has been the Director of Communication for 4 years, President-Elect, President and currently Past-President of the Oregon Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Whitney was recognized in 2011 by Food Service Management Magazine in the feature “30 under 30,” in 2014 as the Oregon Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Recognized Young Dietitian of the Year and was featured in the textbook, The Profession of Dietetics: A Team Approach. Under Whitney’s leadership the PPS Nutrition Services department has been recognized as a leader in local food procurement and Food Management Magazine selected their yakisoba lunch as one of the Best K-12 School Meals in America.
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Dilafruz Williams, PhD, is professor of Leadership for Sustainability Education and Chair, Educational Leadership and Policy, at Portland State university. With dozens of partners, she has designed, co-founded, and supported several cutting-edge initiatives such as: Learning Gardens Laboratory, Leadership for Sustainability Education master’s program, Sunnyside Environmental School in Portland Public School District, and an NSF-funded project: Science in the Learning Gardens: Factors that Support Ethnic and Racial Minority Students in Low-Income Schools.
A prolific scholar, she has given workshops and keynote addresses in Austria, Australia, India, Nepal, New Zealand, Mexico, South Africa, and USA. She is selected to the Fulbright Specialist Roster and has been visiting scholar at Stanford University and Waikato University in New Zealand.
She was elected citywide and served on the Portland Public School Board from 2003-2011.
She is recipient of several awards and honors, including the Hoffman Award for Faculty Excellence and Ehrlich Award for Faculty Service-Learning.
Dilafruz is co-author of Learning Gardens and Sustainability Education: Bringing Life to Schools and Schools to Life (Routledge), and co-editor of Ecological Education in Action: On Weaving Education, Culture, and the Environment. (SUNY). She has graduate degrees from Bombay, Syracuse, and Harvard Universities in the sciences, public administration, and philosophy of education and is an avid gardener.
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Sponsors
Join the educators and green building leaders responsible for advancing green schools worldwide and sponsor the 2021 Green Schools Conference. For the first time, GSC will be global and virtual, greatly expanding upon the hundreds of educators and decision-makers who have gathered at GSC for inspiring programming and networking for the last ten years.
This the only conference uniting three groups vital to the success of green schools:
Academic (School Leaders, Teachers, Parents and Non-profit Partners)
Operations (General School or District Administrators, Facilities Operations Management)
Building design & construction (Architects, Engineers, Contractors, Product Suppliers)
Green Schools Conference sponsors enjoy prominent branding on our virtual platform, in education sessions, and through unique networking events. As a sponsor, you can engage with sustainability leaders and demonstrate your support for healthy, high-performing schools, all while empowering the green leaders of tomorrow.
The 2021 prospectus is coming soon. For more information, signal your interest here or contact Kasey Page at kpage@usgbc.org.
View our 2020 sponsors and exhibitors
Partners
The Green Schools Conference thrives on the collaboration and partnership of supporting organizations nationwide. GSC is produced by the Center for Green Schools at USGBC in partnership with Green Schools National Network.
View our 2020 partners
Registration
The Green Schools Conference will be held virtually on June 28-29, 2021. Registration will open in March 2021, with early bird rates applicable through May 14, 2021. Subscribe to our newsletter to be notified when registration opens.
|
Early Bird |
Regular (after May 14) |
PreK-12 School or District/Government/Nonprofit Employee |
$85 |
$100 |
Member |
$105 |
$125 |
Nonmember |
$120 |
$140 |
Justification Toolkit
Attending the Green Schools Conference is an investment that will benefit not only you, but your school, district or company. The materials below offer a greater understanding of GSC and how to communicate the value it provides. Please feel free to customize and use them to request approval to attend the conference.