- Full agenda and speaker lineup coming soon. Sponsorships are open now.
Sustain Rockford Presents
Now that the Rockford region has a Climate Action Plan, it’s time for all of us to use it to help make our community more sustainable. Earthrise 815 brings neighbors, business owners, and local leaders together for one full day of learning, connection, and action.
Internationally known author and environmentalist Bill McKibben will keynote the day, joined by Illinois Commerce Commission Chairman Doug P. Scott. A full slate of breakout sessions, led by subject matter experts on all aspects of the Climate Action Plan, will take place at this all-day conference along the scenic Rock River at Rockford’s Embassy Suites.
Earthrise 815 is a project of Sustain Rockford, the same grassroots organization behind the 2024 Solar Conference and Expo.
An all-day conference on the scenic Rock River, open to the public.
Bill McKibben is a contributing writer to The New Yorker and founder of Third Act, which organizes people over the age of 60 to work on climate and racial justice. He founded the first global grassroots climate campaign, 350.org, and serves as the Schumann Distinguished Professor in Residence at Middlebury College in Vermont.
In 2014, he was awarded the Right Livelihood Prize, sometimes called the “alternative Nobel” in the Swedish Parliament, along with the Gandhi Peace Award and honorary degrees from 19 colleges and universities. He has written more than twenty books about the environment, including his first, The End of Nature (1989), The Flag, the Cross, and the Station Wagon, and his latest, Here Comes the Sun.
Doug Scott is the Chairman of the Illinois Commerce Commission where he worked to help pass Illinois’ nation-leading legislation, CEJA- the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act. Previously Doug served with the Great Plains Institute and was the Chairmen of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.
Mark Charles is an author, public speaker, podcaster, and leading authority on the 15th-century Doctrine of Discovery and its ongoing impact on US history, faith, and culture. A dual citizen of the Navajo Nation and the United States, he is the son of a Dutch-American mother and a Navajo father, drawing on his dual heritage to forge a path of national conciliation across racial, gender, and class lines. He co-authored the award-winning book Unsettling Truths: The Ongoing, Dehumanizing Legacy of the Doctrine of Discovery and ran as an Independent candidate for U.S. President in 2020 on a platform to build a nation where “we the people” might actually mean all the people. Mark is currently working on two books, Decolonizing Faith and Decolonizing Health, and hosts the weekly podcast My Second Cup of Coffee, where he delivers paradigm-shifting insights on history, faith, politics and health.
Join neighbors, sustainability experts, and local leaders as we turn Rockford’s Climate Action Plan into real, on-the-ground progress.
Inspiring and educational track-based sessions led by subject matter experts on all aspects of the Climate Action Plan.
Meet local partners, sponsors, and sustainability organizations working across the Rockford region throughout the day.
A locally sourced, low-waste lunch is included; because a sustainability conference should practice what it teaches.
Earthrise 815 is a project of Sustain Rockford, a nonprofit, grassroots organization. Whether through sponsorship or a donation to Sustain Rockford, your gift helps cover the keynote, breakout speakers, and low-waste lunch, and our continued mission of sustainability.
