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Featured Panelists:
Denise Abdul-Rahman, Chief Equity Officer and Founder, Black Sun Light Sustainability
Denise Abdul-Rahman is a former NAACP staffer and currently serves as State Chair for Environmental and Climate Justice for the Indiana State Conference of NAACP. She facilitates the Indiana Alliance for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion for Electric Vehicle Infrastructure and Economic Opportunities, Indiana Solar For All, and leads the building of equitable clean energy projects and demo projects to PowerUp Clean Energy Hobs, Minority Business Contracts, and infuse the Black Green Pipeline initiative. Denise currently serves on the Indiana University Resilience Institute Advisory Board, the Vote Solar EJ Award Advisory, as a National Senior ELP Fellow, and on the United States Speakers Bureau. She has many honors and recognition, among which are the Indiana University Neil-Marshall Exemplar Award and the Indiana University Robert McKinney School of Law Environmental Protector Award.
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Kerwin Olson, Executive Director, Citizens Action Coalition
Kerwin Olson was named Executive Director of CAC in 2011 after previously serving as Program Director, Public Outreach Liaison, and Phone Canvass Director. He is the CAC's chief public policy spokesperson and their primary lobbyist at the Indiana Statehouse. He studied American history and political science at the University of Chicago and was a music and theater geek at North Central High School in Indianapolis.
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Zia Saylor, Researcher and Communications Coordinator, Indiana Community Action Poverty Institute
Within the Institute, Zia Saylor focuses on consumer protections, environmental equity, and worker-friendly legislation. Her published research explores the intersection of poverty and inequality. She has previous experience organizing campaigns for increased state-level government transparency and progressive movement building. She studied at the University of Bristol as a Fulbright Postgraduate for her Masters' of Science in Public Policy.
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Moderator:
David Konisky, Lynton K. Caldwell Professor, O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs
David Konisky is a professor at the O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University and a co-director of the Energy Justice Lab. His research focuses on U.S. environmental policy and politics.
