Join the YMCA every Friday during their fall lecture series!

The YMCA of the University of Illinois is pleased to partner with the Office of Inclusion and Intercultural Relations’ Diversity and Social Justice Education unit (DiversityEd) and the Student Sustainability Committee to host a talk series that explores the intersections of the environment and social justice called “Building A Better Environmental Movement.”

The University YMCA’s Fall 2017 Friday Forum series on environmental issues and solutions, ranging from climate change and policy to active transportation and agriculture, seeks to elevate sustainability issues on campus and in our communities and deepen our understanding of environmental justice.

The series will kicks off Friday, September 8 at 12 Noon with Thomas Tonatiuh Dominguez-Lopez of International Indigenous Youth Council on “Standing Rock and the Power of Indigenous Youth Voices.” Born and raised in Denver, Colorado; Thomas Tonatiuh Lopez identifies as Chicano paying homage to his Mexican, Diné, Apache and Hunka-Lakota roots. He spent months working with the International Indigenous Youth Council on the ground at Standing Rock to defeat the Dakota Access Pipeline. He is continuing his activist work; being a voice for those who have been silenced.  Thomas Tonatiuh Lopez is a college graduate from Metro State University of Denver with a bachelor’s degree in Technical Communications and a minor in Native American Studies.