Our 2024 “Visionary Voices” open house events bring people together for conversations focused on the built environment. Here are highlights from the first event, which took place at the Center for Neighborhood Technology office on Wednesday, July 10.  

Diverse perspectives are critical in shaping urban environmental decisions – and they’re driving policy change, panelists at our first of three open house events agreed.  

At Visionary Voices: Women to the Front, Leaders Shaping Urban Environmental Policy, women leaders shared their own stories and “superpowers” as Center for Neighborhood Technology CEO Nina Idemudia, AICP, asked questions and follow ups.  

Chicago Recovery Plan Director Lindy Wordlaw, AICP, who called herself an “accidental planner,” frames environmental issues in ways that connect to people’s priorities for the city’s Department of the Environment.  

“I hear a lot that Black folks don’t care about climate change,” Wordlaw said. “Yes, they do—when it connects to everyday issues like the comfort of your home or can I afford my electric bill. We have a role in crafting these policies on terms that people are willing to engage.”  

Olga Bautista, executive director of Southeast Environmental Taskforce, shared her experience being the kid who translated the utility bill for their parents—and eventually her neighbors, too. She echoed the importance of tapping into local knowledge in the context of data-driven decisions, describing the “retraumatizing” experience of testifying with her neighbors before one commission after another without experiencing much change.  

“They would ask us, ‘What are the problems in the neighborhood?’ and then turn to a white man and ask, ‘What are the solutions?’” Bautista shared. She and her group started to work on their own solutions – like a green industrial corridor, more sidewalks, and better truck routes through Hegewisch and the Southeast Side. 

Mexican-American Raquel Garcia Alvarez’s indigenous ancestors from Guanajuato inspire her to foster connections between indigenous communities and public lands, she said. Garcia Alvarez, who is Forest Preserves of Cook County Policy Manager, noted the agency is hiring a tribal liaison and working on a policy to give Native Americans more access to the land. She also shared flyers in English and Ojibwe highlighting Forest Preserves assets.    

“Native Americans are telling us what they want, and we’re trying to work that out,” she said. “I consider myself a future ancestor helping to provide that space so people in the future can know that they can help protect this land [just] as I honor my ancestors' past.” 

Some of the other highlights included advice to young women thinking about planning as a career and responding to questions from the audience -- about 50 people ranging from planners to community leaders to partners and friends of Center for Neighborhood Technology.  

Please save the date to join us again from 4 to 6 pm Wednesday, September 11-details to come soon!