Power Shift Convergence

 

In April, Power Shift Network (PSN) virtually held a ten-day convergence of over 1600 diverse organizers and activists from across the globe. Headliners included Angela Davis, Tara Houska, Mary Heglar, and Bill McKibben.

A foundational belief that drove planning for PS21 was that those most immediately threatened by the climate crisis and environmental racism and those excluded due to ableism must be at the center of this movement for it to succeed. With this in mind, and with the support of a grant from Earth Rising, PSN took the following steps to make the virtual convergence accessible:

  • Translated event registration website and forms to request accommodations into Spanish, Vietnamese, and Haitian Creole

  • American Sign Language (ASL) & Spanish-English interpretation for the Opening & Closing Sessions, Headliners, & other full-group programming

  • ASL and Spanish-English interpretation were available upon request for Session Blocks and Community Breakouts (no registered attendees indicated a need for other languages)

  • The Power Shift 2021 Planning Team worked with speakers and facilitators to share best practices to create accessible presentations and sessions in advance of the event

  • Programming was specifically tailored towards growing a disability justice and language justice framework in our climate justice organizing work

All sessions where interpretation was requested in a specific language were accommodated. 128 sessions had optional captioning in English, 20 sessions had live Spanish interpretation, and 15 sessions had live ASL interpretation. The ASL interpretation service (First Choice Interpreting Service) and the language justice collective used for Spanish interpretation (BanchaLenguas) both had a strong commitment to language justice in terms of access, use of BIPOC interpreters, and use of gender-inclusive word choice. 

Members of the Earth Rising team also participated in the PS21 Opportunity Fair, where they got a chance to speak with convergence attendees and present funding opportunities for young climate activists.

 
Youth ActivismPolly Cancro