Second Annual Anti-Poverty Symposium, 04/18

"Unitas in Action: Fighting Poverty and Living Sustainably"

April 18, 2023
8:45 a.m.–5:00 p.m.

Villanova Room
Connelly Center

Join us on Tuesday, April 18 for Villanova University's second annual Anti-Poverty Symposium in collaboration with the Villanova Sustainability Leadership Council and the Office for Mission and Ministry. This symposium will assemble experts in poverty alleviation and sustainability to discuss and motivate the community to contribute to the significant effort of building a sustainable planet free from poverty. This year’s discussions will be broadly framed around the intersections of poverty, ecocide and the path toward ecological justice. This event is open to everyone; please select the option to register as Alumni, Family, & Friends. Please contact uaevents@villanova.edu for questions. 

The event will feature renowned experts and other powerful presenters with a range of experiences and policy and research perspectives. Sessions will feature lively conversations among guests who bring different theoretical, methodological and disciplinary approaches to analyzing and mitigating climate crisis and poverty.

The symposium's events will kick off on Monday, April 17 with an evening concert performed by the Pastoral Musicians in the St. Thomas of Villanova Church. Throughout the symposium, we invite you to stop by the Exhibit Walk with art installations from featured organizations which will be located in the Connelly Center. We hope you will join us in April and for the series of lead-up events throughout the spring semester. 

This interdisciplinary event is part of a University-wide initiative on poverty and inequality made possible by a gift from Paul Tufano Esq., '83 VSB, '86 CWSL and Christine Tufano '84 CLAS, '86 MA.

Agenda

Subject to change; all in-person seating will be on a first-come, first-served basis

Monday, April 17

8:00–9:00 p.m.: Evening Concert at the St. Thomas of Villanova Church 

Missa Gaia: A Musical Celebration of Mother Earth performed by the Pastoral Musicians

Originally performed by the Paul Winter Consort, Missa Gaia is a contemporary ecumenical and ecological concert-Mass celebrating the Earth. This major work incorporates texts from Saint Francis of Assisi, the Bible and the Roman Liturgy and draws musical inspiration from the sounds of the natural world. In addition to student soloists, hear the Kyrie intoned by an Alaskan tundra wolf, and the Sanctus sounded by a humpback whale. The work with be performed by the Villanova Pastoral Musicians, Villanova University’s liturgical music ensemble of vocalists and instrumentalists, and offers listeners an invitation to rediscover a sense of awe before the great family of creatures to which we belong. 

Morning Sessions

The Exhibit Walk with featured organizations will be displayed in the Connelly Center throughout the day.

8:45–9:15 a.m.: Opening Remarks

• Rev. Peter M. Donohue, OSA, PhD, '75 CLAS, President of Villanova University
  
• Paul Tufano Esq., '83 VSB, '86 CWSL, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of AmeriHealth Caritas Family of Companies
  
• Stephanie Sena, Anti-Poverty Fellow at Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law and Founder of Student-Run Emergency Housing Unit of Philadelphia (SREHUP)
  
• Rev. Kevin M. DePrinzio, OSA, PhD, Vice President, Office for Mission & Ministry
  
• Rev. Anthony Banks, OSA, Assistant General of the General Council of the Order of St. Augustine

9:15–10:05 a.m.: Panel 1: Laudato Si’ Action Platforms:  A Call to Conversion, A Vision for Action

• Cardinal Robert McElroy, Bishop of San Diego
• Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson, Chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences 
• Moderated by Jose Aguto '94, Executive Director of Catholic Climate Covenant
  

10:10–11:00 a.m.: Panel 2: The Road to Repairing our Broken Ecosystem, and the Right to Be Hopeful

• Naomi Klein, Senior Contributing Writer for The Intercept and New York Times bestselling author of How to Change Everything: The Young Human’s Guide to Protecting the Earth and Each Other (2021)
• Raj Patel, Co-director of The Ants & the Grasshopper and Co-author of Inflamed: Deep Medicine and The Anatomy of Injustice (2021)
• Moderated by Bill McKibben, Author of The Flag, the Cross, and the Station Wagon (2022), Co-founder of 350.org and Founder of Third Act

11:00–11:10 a.m.: Break

11:10 a.m.–12:00 p.m.: Panel 3: Pathways to Sustainability at Villanova University: Innovations and Challenges

• William Lorenz, Director of Sustainable Engineering Program, Villanova University
  
• Fr. Art Purcaro, OSA, Assistant Vice President of Mission and Ministry, Villanova University

12:05–12:55 p.m.: Panel 4: Inequality, The End of Nature, and the Fight for a Fairer Future

• Bill McKibben, Author of The Flag, the Cross, and the Station Wagon (2022) and Co-founder of 350.org
• Moderated by Scott Ferguson, Emmy Award-winning Producer known for Succession, The Night Of (2016), Only Lovers Left Alive (2013) and Brokeback Mountain (2005)

12:55–1:55 p.m.: Lunch with Exhibit Walk

Afternoon Sessions

1:55–2:45 p.m.: Panel 5: Healing the Land, Ending Poverty Through Kincentric Wisdom and Indigenous Storytelling

• Robin Wall Kimmerer, Author of Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants and Distinguished Teaching Professor & Director of the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (virtual)
• Melina Laboucan-Massimo, Co-Founder of Indigenous Climate Action 
  
• Yanenowi Logan, Co-Vice President of the National Congress of American Indians & Student in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences & the American Indian and Indigenous Studies Program at Cornell University, 
• Moderated by Meg Martin, First Nation Student featured in I Am Still Here

2:50–3:40 p.m.: Panel 6: Global Perspectives in Climate Crisis Solutions

• Wanjiku "Wawa" N. Gatheru, Founder and Executive Director of Black Girl Environmentalist
• Raj Patel, Co-director of The Ants & the Grasshopper and Co-author of Inflamed: Deep Medicine and The Anatomy of Injustice (2021)
• Sean Callahan, President & CEO of Catholic Relief Services
  
• Moderated by Dr. Chiji Akoma, Professor and Chair of the Department of Global Interdisciplinary Studies, Villanova University

3:40–3:50 p.m.: Break

3:50–4:40 p.m.: Panel 7: Local Perspectives in Climate Crisis Solutions

• Kali Akuno, Co-founder and Co-director of Cooperation Jackson 
• Dimka Braswell, Owner of R and B Farms and Member of the Philadelphia Food Policy Advisory Council
• Zulene Mayfield, Chairperson of Chester Residents Concerned for Quality Living
• Moderated by Luz Escobar Zapata '24 CLAS
  

4:45–5:00 p.m.: Closing Interfaith Prayer Service

• Fr. Robert P. Hagan, OSA, Prior Provincial of the Augustinian Province of St. Thomas of Villanova
• Rev. Julia Sheetz, PhD, Director of Multifaith Ministry, Villanova University