CONFERENCES & EVENTS

When CEJS started in 2013, one of the goals was to be a convener for regional and international conversations on environmental justice and sustainability. Since then, many conferences and events have drawn thousands of attendees. Many conferences hosted resulted in new scholarly works.

In 2020, CEJS had to pivot to a purely online conference format and Earth Talks was born. The inaugural Earth Talks was highlighted in USA Today and the event kicked-off with Denis Hayes, who founded Earth Day 50 years earlier. Earth Talks is now CEJS’s annual signature event showcasing the environmental justice and sustainability work by SU students, staff, faculty and community partners.

In 2014 and 2016, CEJS hosted Just Sustainability conferences for attendees from all over the world. Both conferences led to special issues of the journal, Interdisciplinary Environmental Review. Then in 2018, CEJS partnered with the Albers School of Business and Economics to host the Innovation for Sustainability Conference for the International Association of Jesuit Business Schools and the Colleagues in Jesuit Business Education. This resulted in a special issue of the Journal of Management for Global Sustainability. CEJS also hosted the 2018 Pacific Northwest Climate Resilience Summit and the 2018 Food Tank Summit.

In her role as Campus Sustainability Manager, Yolanda Cieters is well-recognized around campus because she interacts with so many different departments to gather information for the STARS report. “If Yolanda is knocking on your door, you probably owe her some data,” says CEJS Director Phillip Thompson. “She is an amazingly hard working and dedicated employee who does her job with professionalism, grace and humor.” Cieters juggles a vast array of activities that include sustainability reporting and planning; advancing the implementation of sustainability initiatives; organizing events, managing interns, producing web and newsletter content, providing campus sustainability tours and much more. Through this work, she collaborates with staff, faculty and students and with countless external stakeholders. In 2018, Cieters was the recipient of Seattle University’s Lee Thurber Award for staff excellence. As one of her nominators for the award noted, “Yolanda is the most deserving person for this award because of three things: Her work ethic, optimism and genuine care for other people.”

Over the past year, Cieter’s role has expanded to serve as co-chair of the Laudato Si’ Action Platform (LSAP). Through this seven-year effort, she will help the university align sustainability initiatives within academics and campus operations with the LSAP’s priorities, which seek to “develop concrete actions to protect our common home.”

With the help of our CEJS donors and partners such as Rotary International, Professionals Without Borders and Engineers for a Sustainable World, our students, staff and faculty have contributed to water, sanitation and food justice projects that have improved the lives of more than 16,000 people in Haiti, Nigeria, Peru and Thailand.