Where Do We Go From Here? A Community Conversation on Climate Justice

What does it mean to care for the land we live on? Who decides what a sustainable future looks like? What do we owe each other in the middle of a crisis? Where Do We Go From Here? brings these questions to Weeksville Heritage Center for a community conversation on climate justice, animal rights, and ecofeminism in Brooklyn. Kwolanne Felix, Haley Duren, and Vanessa Sanchez join moderator Noella Williams to share their advocacy for environmental justice across food, education, and community organizing. RSVP Meet Our Speakers Vanessa Sanchez Vanessa is a Brooklyn-based community educator and plant-based chef whose work explores the intersection of food systems, behavioral changes, and the craft of consumption. With a background in psychology and a career rooted in public health advocacy. Her practice moves beyond recipes, focusing instead on food as a universal language for storytelling and systemic awareness. As the founder of Alegría Vegana, she curates events that focus on community building. Currently a lead educator within the NYC public health sector, Vanessa is dedicated to creating grounded, inclusive spaces where the act of the meal becomes a participatory art form. She is a bilingual facilitator committed to making food consciousness an accessible, creative, and transformative community experience. Haley Duren Haley Duren is a plant-based Executive Chef based in the East Village. After going vegan almost 8 years ago, her love for sustainable food systems has shaped her career into one which is driven by deep passion, genuine excitement, and love for both the world and everyone who shares it. As the former Executive Chef of Cadence, a beloved plant-based Southern restaurant, Chef Haley continues to make her mark in the New York City dining scene. With her current restaurant, Long Count, Duren connects with local farms around New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania to create hyper seasonal, plant-forward menus. Awarded Time Out Magazine’s Best Young Chef’s in NYC of 2025, Duren shapes her philosophy behind plant-based cuisine being just as notable as traditional culinary paths. Haley’s mission is to close food insecurity gaps with community outreach and initiatives including local food drives, bake sales & pop ups, and starting an after school program for high schoolers to teach them about healthy eating habits. Chef Haley is one of the faces of the new generation of the hospitality industry, one led with compassion for others and the world alike. Kwolanne Felix Kwolanne Felix is a NYC-based writer, historian, and gender and climate scholar. Kwolanne is pursuing a PhD in U.S. and environmental history at New York University and works as the Fellowship Manager at Black Girl Environmentalist where she runs an exciting programs empowering women and gender-expansive folks in the climate sector. She writes articles, essays, and opinion pieces about climate change, politics, gender, and American history, and has been featured in Truthout and Ms. Magazine. Noella Williams (Moderator) Noella Williams is a Brooklyn-based writer covering Black culture, queer identity, fandoms, music, and veganism through journalism, community organizing, and music. Exploring the intersection of race, class, pop culture, and gender through a chronically-online lens, her work can be found in publications like Teen Vogue, Vox, and UPROXX or comic conventions like New York Comic Con. She’s currently writing her debut book, Misogynoir and Multiverses: A Black Girl’s Guide to Fandom Culture, and organizing the nationwide feminist college tour for Lux Magazine. In the rare moments that she’s offline, she’s probably tucked into bed listening to Solange’s A Seat at the Table, rewatching Interview with the Vampire, or DJing as EEVEE. Learn more Support for Weeksville’s programs and initiatives is provided by the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the National Endowment for the Arts; Hon. Kathy Hochul, Governor of the State of New York; the New York State Council on the Arts; the New York State Office of Children and Family Services; the State of New York; and Assemblywoman Latrice Walker; Hon. Zohran K. Mamdani, Mayor of the City of New York; Hon. Antonio Reynoso, Brooklyn Borough President; the New York City Department of Youth & Community Development; and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the New York City Council, including Council Member Darlene Mealy and Council Member Chi Ossé. Additional support is provided by the Altschul Foundation, Altman Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Brooklyn Org, Charina Foundation, Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc., Donald A. Pels Charitable Trust, Ford Foundation, Hyde and Watson Foundation, Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund, Mellon Foundation, Mosaic Network & Fund, National Grid Corporation, Scherman Foundation, The Robert M. Schiffman Foundation, and William C. Bullitt Foundation.