7th Annual Michigan Climate Summit Plenary Speakers – Part 5

Art & Stories & Culture
Climate Justice
Climate Summit

June 25, 2026

Collective Courage is the theme of the 7th Annual Michigan Climate Summit. Part five closes out Summit on a high note, with a no-holds barred panel on climate justice and how to put it at the center of the fall election, the announcement of our Public’s Choice Art Prizes, followed by a Singing Resistance singalong.

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Authored by

Denise Keele Ph.D.

Michigan Climate Action Network

Executive Director

Experts

Nique Love Rhodes

Cultural Alchemist + Diplomatic Disruptor Hip-Hop Artist

Elisabeth Pixley-Fink

Young woman with braided hair and floral crown smiling at the camera during an indoor event.

Zoriana Martinez

Ancestors Approved

Founder

Woman with colorful floral headscarf and glasses looking at the camera.

Nayyirah Shariff

Flint Rising

Director

Michelle Martinez

University of Michigan

Inaugural Director of the Tishman Center

Andrea Pierce

Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition

Policy Director

Samantha Cooper

Cultural Engagement Advisor

Presenters

00:00:00 Dr. Denise Keele, Executive Director, Michigan Climate Action Network
00:05:59 Andrea Pierce, Policy Director, Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition
00:09:57 Michelle Martinez, Inaugural Director of the Tishman Center, University of Michigan
00:14:52 Nayyirah Shariff, Director, Flint Rising
00:31:01 Samantha Cooper, MiCAN Cultural Engagement Advisor, announces the Public’s Choice Art Prizes
00:34:55 Performance by Samantha Cooper, Elizabeth Pixley-Fink, Zoriana Martinez, Nique Love Rhodes