Vision & Initiatives Partner
Taproot Earth

Colette Pichon Battle, a generational native of Bayou Liberty, Louisiana, is an award-winning lawyer and prominent climate justice organizer. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, when Black and Indigenous communities were largely left out of federal recovery systems, Colette led the Gulf Coast Center for Law and Policy (GCCLP) to provide relief and legal assistance to Gulf South communities of color. After 17 years at GCCLP’s helm, as frontline communities from the Gulf South to the Global South face ever more devastating storms, droughts, wildfires, heat, and land loss, she co-founded Taproot Earth to create connections and power across issues, movements, and geographies.

Member Chief
Onondaga Council of Chiefs and the Grand Council of the Iroquois Confederacy

Oren Lyons, a Faithkeeper of the Turtle Clan who serves as a Member Chief of the Onondaga Council of Chiefs and the Grand Council of the Iroquois Confederacy (i.e. the Haudenosaunee peoples), is an accomplished artist, social and environmental activist, and author; a Professor Emeritus at SUNY Buffalo; a leading voice at the UN Permanent Forum on Human Rights for Indigenous Peoples; and the recipient of many prestigious national and international prizes including The UN NGO World Peace Prize. Oren also serves on the boards of several major nonprofit organizations and social enterprises; is founder and Principal of One Bowl Productions, a purpose driven film and TV production company; and is an All-American Lacrosse Hall of Famer and Honorary Chairman of the Iroquois Nationals Lacrosse Team.

Southeast Regional Administrator
United States Department of Housing and Urban Development

Jennifer Riley Collins, a retired US Army Colonel whose last assignment was Military Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Manpower and Reserve Affairs at the Pentagon, is the Southeast Regional Administrator for the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, representing a large portfolio of programs and services and over 900 employees. She works throughout the Southeast with congressional delegations, state and local officials, stakeholders, and HUD employees, seeking to create strong, sustainable, inclusive communities and quality affordable homes for all. Previously, Jennifer served as Chief Administrative Officer and Senior Advisor to the Federal Co-Chair of the Delta Regional Authority (DRA) and founded her own consulting firm, J. Riley Collins Consulting, LLC.

Founder
Civic (Re)Solve

Ben Davis founded and leads Civic (Re)Solve, a ten-year program of the Wend Collective designed to foster enduring civic capacity in service of a thriving and representative democracy across the U.S. Ben joined the Wend Collective after co-founding OnSight Public Affairs and working for 15 years in public-policy, political consulting and campaign management in the Mountain West. He currently specializes in strategy development, communications, and leadership driven by collaboration and trust.