Rebuild or Retreat? Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Climate Migration and Mobility in the Global North
Conference with the German Historical Institute, University of Pennsylvania, Kiel University and Heinrich Böll Stiftung Washington DC.
Apr 23, 2026 - Apr 24, 2026
Find out more at https://ghiworkshops.hypotheses.org/rebuild-or-retreat
POCACITO is chairing the closing roundtable on Friday, 4/24 at 4:30pm:
Where Do We Go From Here? Research, Policy, and Publics
with
Jacqueline Patterson is the Founder and Executive Director of The Chisholm Legacy Project (TCLP). TCLP’s mission is to serve as a vehicle to connect Black frontline communities with the resources to actualize visions.
Prior to the launch of TCLP, Patterson served as the Senior Director of the NAACP Environmental and Climate Justice Program for over a decade. During her tenure, she led a team in designing and implementing a robust portfolio including serving the state and local leadership whose constituencies consisted of hundreds of communities on the frontlines of environmental injustice through political education and organizing work executed by NAACP branches, chapters, and state conferences.
Patterson has dedicated her career to intersectional approaches to systems change. Working with frontline communities from Kampala to Kalamazoo to Kingston, her passion for social justice led her to serve as coordinator & co-founder of Women of Color United; Senior Women’s Rights Policy Analyst for ActionAid; Assistant Vice-President of HIV/AIDS Programs for IMA World Health, Outreach Project Associate for the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Research Coordinator for Johns Hopkins University, and U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer in Jamaica.
Patterson holds a master’s degree in social work from the University of Maryland and a master’s degree in public health from Johns Hopkins University. She currently serves on the Advisory Boards for Center for Earth Ethics, Environmental Justice Movement Fellowship, and the Hive Fund for Gender and Climate Justice, on the Governance Assemblies for Mosaic Momentum, and Collectrify, as well as on the Boards of Directors for the Bill Anderson Fund, Emerald Cities Collaborative, Movement Strategy Center, the Just Solutions Collective, the National Black Workers Center Project, and Ceres.
Justin Ángel Knighten is a national communications strategist, crisis leader, and public affairs executive working at the intersection of government, business, media, and community trust. From 2021 to 2025, he served as Associate Administrator for External Affairs at FEMA, leading national communications during some of the most complex disasters in recent history, including major hurricanes, wildfires, and long-term recovery operations. He worked closely with governors, mayors, federal leaders, and frontline responders, translating high-stakes decisions into clear, trusted public guidance when it mattered most.
Justin is the founder of Ángel Public Affairs and a principal at Pinnacle Collective Public Affairs and Mozaic Media + Communications, advising clients on crisis response, reputation management, and storytelling. His cross-sector work spans major corporate brands, nonprofits, governments, and advocacy organizations across California and nationally.
He is a current Fellow with the George Washington University Alliance for a Sustainable Future, a National Leadership Council member at the University of Washington Foster School of Business Climate Risk Lab, and a former Pritzker Fellow at the University of Chicago Institute of Politics.
