Climate and Racial Justice Activist Isra Hirsi to Keynote Race Forward’s Inaugural Intergenerational Conference #RaceAnd Our Present Our Future

Contact:
Maya Boddie
[email protected]

 

New York, NY—Race Forward is proud to announce climate activist and racial justice advocate Isra Hirsi as the keynote speaker for its "#RaceAnd: Our Present Our Future" virtual event taking place September 25, 2021. 

Nineteen-year-old Hirsi is co-founder and co-executive director of the United States Youth Climate Strike, and the daughter of U.S Representative Ilhan Omar. Isra is also a shining example that young people of color are leading the transformation to a better world. 

“I’m delighted to be part of Race Forward’s #RaceAnd Our Present Our Future conference,” said Hirsi. “Our future depends on the conversations and actions we take right now at our present moment in history. Young activists leading the way with learnings from those who have walked this path will ensure we achieve a world where all people can thrive.”

As Race Forward celebrates our 40th anniversary this year, we are inspired by the ideas, strategies, and solutions of youth and young adults who have and continue to lead racial justice work across the country.

“We’re excited to have the dynamic Isra Hirsi as our keynote speaker for this conference highlighting youth organizers. Young people have long served as the catalyst for social change, from the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s to the uprisings in 2020 following the murder of George Floyd,” said Glenn Harris, president of Race Forward and publisher of Colorlines. “At a time when this nation must reckon with our racial history, the voices of youth of color will both shape and sustain the multiracial democracy we envision and are working toward.”

Hosted by Race Forward and The Funders’ Collaborative on Youth Organizing (FCYO), and led by youth and young adult organizers, "#RaceAnd: Our Present, Our Future," is Race Forward’s first, virtual intergenerational event of its kind. The dialogue will center the solutions-driven, movement-making work of young people within Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian-American, and Pacific Islander communities.

The conference will highlight the critical role youth play as advocates leading the charge on dismantling structural racism in the United States. Using organizing and policy strategies, visual art and storytelling, these young changemakers will display the ways in which they are continuing the global movement to defend Black Lives.

Register for #RaceAnd: Our Present, Our Future here.


 

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About Race Forward:
Race Forward catalyzes movement building for racial justice. In partnership with communities, organizations, and sectors, we bring systemic analysis and innovative approaches to complex race issues to build strategies and help people take effective action to advance racial justice in our policies, institutions, and culture.

About The Funders’ Collaborative on Youth Organizing:
Founded in 2000, the Funders’ Collaborative on Youth Organizing (FCYO) is a dynamic collective of social justice funders and youth organizing practitioners dedicated to advancing youth organizing as a strategy for youth development and social change. FCYO’s mission is to bring funders and youth organizers together to ensure that young people have the resources, capacities and infrastructure they need to fight for a more just and democratic society.