All-Society Presentation

Ethical Culture Leader Jone Johnson Lewis will discuss the work of Anna Garlin Spencer and how her work for social justice in the early years of the 20th Century relates to issues that we face today.

Former US Senator and President of the American Constitution Society (ACS), Russ Feingold, will speak about the ACS, a national network of over 250 lawyer and law student chapters who are working together to offer platforms for discussion, opportunities for networking and mentoring, and working at the federal, state, and local levels for a progressive vision of the law.

Former US Senator and President of the American Constitution Society (ACS), Russ Feingold, will speak about the ACS, a national network of over 250 lawyer and law student chapters who are working together to offer platforms for discussion, opportunities for networking and mentoring, and working at the federal, state, and local levels for a progressive vision of the law.

On March 13, 2020, 16 young people from Montana filed a climate lawsuit against the state, asserting that by supporting a fossil fuel-driven energy system, Montana is violating their constitutional rights.

Human-I-Tree is an original vision grown through community engagement at the New York Society for Ethical Culture by Audrey Kindred‘s collaboration with artists, activists, and children of all ages. It honors how every breath we take as humans is integral to the life of trees.

Audrey brings Felix Adler into dialogue with ecological hero and 2004 Nobel Prize for Peace recipient Wangari Matthai by proposing that “bringing out the best in one another and thereby ourselves” is not truly peace unless we honor our interconnectedness by respecting the earth together. Human-I-Tree branches into a whole family of tree concepts that can inspire our human community building processes.

ALL Society Presentation NOTE: 11:00-12:00 ET

“YVote is creating a youth-led civic movement. We equip young people to channel their passions into positive action—at and beyond the ballot box.”

Sanda Balaban, co-founder of YVote, and Audrey Kindred, of the NYSEC will present on how they collaborate to bring Voter and civic engagement activities to hundreds of youth in ongoing democracy reinforcing programs. They will show how other Ethical Societies can do similar civics / voter actions.

The program will include youth who will tell of their concerns and how YVote has prepared them for action and leadership.

Unite Against Book Bans campaign by the American Library Association (ALA) aims to raise awareness of the dramatic rise in censorship and book banning.

The ALA fully supports the right of every parent to control what their child reads, but not the right to restrict what other children read, or to limit the books that are available to young people in the library.