Program Speakers & Moderators
James Montgomery, Society of Vincent de Paul Professor, Associate Professor of Environmental Sciences and Studies, DePaul University College of Science and Health
James Montgomery is an Associate Professor and Vincent DePaul Professor in the Department of Environmental Science and Studies, located in the College of Science and Health. He received B.S. and M.S. degrees in geology from Baylor University in Waco, TX, and his Ph.D. in soil science from Washington State University in Pullman, WA. Dr. Montgomery came to DePaul University in 1992 and served as department chair from 2004-2010. Dr. Montgomery’s research and professional interests include wetland science, soil science with a focus on urban soils, soil science education, and K-16 STEM education for students and teachers. He currently works with undergraduate students on a project to measure and measure and map spatial patterns of lead and other soil biological, chemical and physical characteristics in soil in the city of Chicago. This project provides students an opportunity to conduct authentic research and develop their professional skills through interaction with homeowners and community organizations. Dr. Montgomery teaches an HON Discover Chicago course on the environmental history of the Chicago lakefront, an HON introductory environmental science course, and upper level courses in environmental soil science and research methods.
Martha Glynn, DNP, APRN-BC, Medical Director and Family Nurse Practitioner, Erie Health Center
Martha Glynn is a Medical Director and Family Nurse Practitioner with 15 years of experience leading teams, developing successful programs, securing grant funding, and advocating for policy change. Deeply committed to improving individual and community health in Chicago, Martha serves as the Medical Director for the oldest teen health center in the city. Martha’s leadership and direction focuses on leading strategy, driving programming, and managing nurse practitioners, physicians’ assistants, and physicians to meet and exceed organizational goals. Martha considers themselves a change agent, having developed relationships locally and nationally to address needed health improvements. Martha is dedicated to improving processes, building partnerships, and ensuring that access to excellent healthcare is equitable. Martha’s accomplishments include being awarded the Primary Health Care Clinician Devotion Award at the Illinois Primary Health Care Association’s (IPHCA) Annual Leadership Conference and wins in policy passage of the Lead-Safe Housing for Kids Act of 2019, securing an HRSA grant to expand services for teens and young parents and renovate the oldest free-standing adolescent health center in Chicago, Erie Teen Center.
Wesley Epplin, Policy Director, Collaborative for Health Equity Cook County (CHE Cook County) / Health & Medicine Policy Research Group
Wesley's work focuses on advancing health equity and public health, health reform and health safety net, and aging equity across the life course. As Policy Director, he leads the development of and tracking of Health & Medicine’s annual policy agenda. Wesley advocates for equitable policies across structural inequities, making a public health argument for justice in social determinants such as housing. Wesley contributes to public health and broader planning efforts, including the Healthy Chicago 2.0 and Healthy Chicago 2025 plans, the OnTo 2050 Regional Plan, and the We Will Chicago citywide plan. At Health & Medicine, Wesley helped develop and leads planning for the Chicago Forum for Justice in Health Policy. He is also on the steering committee for the Collaborative for Health Equity Cook County. Wesley earned a Master of Public Health degree in Community Health Sciences from the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) School of Public Health (SPH) and a BA in Political Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In 2016, Wesley was selected for the inaugural cohort of the Culture of Health Leaders, a national leadership program supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to create collaborative solutions that address health inequities and move communities and organizations toward a Culture of Health. During the program, he co-developed and piloted the Organizing Health institute to train people in health organizing. Outside of his work at Health & Medicine, Wesley is a co-founder of Radical Public Health, a group at the UIC SPH that moves the public health field to focus on the root causes of health inequities. In his spare time, Wesley enjoys gardening and cooking, reading, and traveling.
Sahana Rao, Attorney, People & Communities Project, Natural Resources Defense Council
Sahana Rao uses legal and policy tools to support communities of color, low-income communities, and environmental justice coalitions in the New York/Northeast region and across the country. Prior to joining NRDC, she practiced environmental law as an associate attorney at Sive, Paget & Riesel P.C. in New York. Rao holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a law degree from New York University School of Law, where she was the editor-in-chief for the Environmental Law Journal. She is based in NRDC’s New York office.
Ihab Mikati, Attorney, Environmental Justice, Natural Resources Defense Council
Ihab Mikati uses legal analysis and advocacy to help promote the intersectional aims of communities in the environmental justice movement. Prior to joining NRDC, Mikati provided legal services to low-income tenants fighting evictions in New York City's Housing Court. He holds a BS in ecology from the University of Minnesota and received his JD from the New York University School of Law, where he had the privilege to attend as a Root-Tilden-Kern Public Interest Scholar. He is based in NRDC's Chicago office.
Maxwell Evans, Journalist, Block Club Chicago
Maxwell Evans is an investigative journalist currently serving as a reporter for Block Club Chicago covering the Hyde Park, Woodlawn, and South Shore communities. He previously wrote for Gongwer News Service, Capital News Service, and City Pulse, all in Lansing, Michigan. A native of Kalamazoo, Michigan, Maxwell received his BA in journalism from Michigan State University. Maxwell's journalistic integrity is grounded in three core beliefs: that everyone has a story that someone else needs to hear, that quality journalism is the antidote to prejudice, and that every journalistic decision should be made with the truth--not money--in mind.
Gregory Bratton, Master Gardener, Intergenerational Growing Projects
Gregory Bratton, a South Chicago-based master gardener, has built over 100 community gardens throughout the City of Chicago. Mr. Bratton's projects include the Laquan McDonald and Trayvon Martin Community Gardens, the Hot Wheels Senior Community Garden, the Well Community Garden, the I Grow Chicago’s Peace Garden, and the rooftop garden at Gary Comer Youth Center. Using his wealth of agricultural expertise, Mr. Bratton is helping communities grapple with food scarcity by introducing them to urban farming on viable vacant lots within the neighborhood. Mr. Bratton's projects empower communities to take ownership of their sustainability and help address food scarcity issues such as accessibility, convenience, and safety. Mr. Bratton also sees his work as an opportunity for community-building, improving mental wellness, and positive redirection for neighborhood children through garden maintenance volunteering to help detour involvement in destructive behaviors.
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Howard Rosing, Executive Director, Steans Center, DePaul University
Dr. Rosing is the Executive Director of the Steans Center. He oversees the work of Academic Service Learning and the Egan Office for Urban Education and Community Partnerships and supports DePaul's partnership with the Asset-Based Community Development Institute. He works with faculty to develop scholarship on service-learning and community-based research and serves as a faculty member in Community Service Studies and an affiliate faculty member in Geography, Sustainable Urban Development (MASUD) and Community Psychology. He also co-directs MASUD. Dr. Rosing has taught and developed numerous service learning courses including Community Food Systems, Sustainable Urban Food Systems, and Geography, Food and Justice. His teaching directly supports DePaul's Minor in Food Studies and Graduate Certificate in Sustainable Urban Food Systems. Dr. Rosing is a cultural anthropologist whose research focuses on sustainable food systems development, urban food access, economic restructuring, and food justice movements in Chicago and the Dominican Republic.
James T. Kinard Sr., Environmental Scientist and Cognitive Educator using Feuerstein's Instrumental Enrichment (FIE), CEO and Founder of RMT Laboratory, Inc.
James T. Kinard Sr. is an Environmental Scientist and Cognitive Educator using Feuerstein's Instrumental Enrichment (FIE). James earned his Ph.D. in electroanalytical chemistry from Howard University and is President of Innovations for Cognitive Literacy, Inc., Chicago, Illinois. He developed and implemented the Rigorous Mathematical Thinking program and is a certified trainer of the Feuerstein cognitive development program, Instrumental Enrichment. He lectures at the international cognitive enrichment workshops in the United States, Canada, the UK, France, The Netherlands, and India. During his tenure at DePaul University’s Office of Applied Innovations, James’ work involved engaging inner-city youth and young adults in cognitive education by integrating FIE-MLE with environmental remediation technician training. The goal was to enhance the education and training of minority inner-city residents, living in environmentally contaminated communities, to help them secure jobs with environmental remediation firms.
Maliaka Hill, Community Organizer, Equity Legal Services
Maliaka is a Community organizer with Equity Legal Services, a legal firm located in Fairview Heights, IL. She has worked closely with communities impacted by storm water flooding and drinking water issues, and coordinates with their governing agencies to advocate for policy change. Her main concentration is working with communities of color and low-income communities to address environmental injustices, and assist with community- centered advocacy and mobilization efforts.
Cheryl Johnson, Executive Director, People for Community Recovery
Cheryl Johnson advocates for the safety of Altgeld Gardens residents with the nonprofit People for Community Recovery (PCR), which she has led as Executive Director since 2001. Cheryl is the daughter of the late Hazel Johnson, credited as the mother of the environmental justice movement, who founded PCR. Altgeld Gardens, a historic public housing community located on Chicago’s Far South Side, was constructed adjacent to polluting industries, and residents there suffer higher rates of disease and death related to the toxic environment. By fighting for the preservation of Altgeld Gardens and a healthy environment for its residents, Cheryl is redefining preservation in the context of environmental justice. Cheryl learned the fundamentals of community organizing from her mother and carries on the work of PCR’s mission to enhance the quality of life of residents living in communities affected by pollution. A lifelong resident of Altgeld Gardens, Cheryl is a well-known and highly trusted community leader. Under her leadership, PCR has been a fierce advocate for environmental justice and economic equity for south side and south suburban residents. Cheryl and the members of PCR recently stopped the demolition of two historic Chicago public schools at Altgeld Gardens that were listed on Landmarks Illinois’ 2021 Most Endangered Historic Places in Illinois list. People for Community Recovery has prevented resident displacement by stopping the demolition of hundreds of Altgeld Gardens’ housing units, pressured the Chicago Housing Authority to include community input in
its redevelopment plans, halted construction of a nearby landfill and secured safe environmental cleanup of nearby toxic sites. Cheryl’s deep community connection and long-term vision for a thriving Far South Side, and her commitment to carrying out her late mother’s legacy, fuel her work. Cheryl has presented about, and co-written, several journal articles on environmental health and risk factors. She serves on the Environmental Protection Agency’s National Environmental Justice Advisory Council and the Illinois Environmental Justice Commission and is an International Chemical Workers Union Health and Safety Council/Coalition of Black Trade Unionists certified trainer.
Mark Potosnak, Department Chair, Faculty, Environmental Sciences and Studies, DePaul University College of Science and Health
Dr. Mark Potosnak has degrees from Harvard and Columbia and he was a fellow in the Advanced Study Program at the National Center for Atmospheric Research. His research focuses on how climate change impacts interactions between the plants and air quality. His studies have revealed complex connections between temperature, drought, invasive species, carbon dioxide concentration and other global climate change factors on ecosystem emissions of biogenic volatile organic compounds. He also deploys low-cost air quality sensors that provide information for urban areas to be more resilient to climate change. Through the Metropolitan Chicago Data-science Corps, he fosters the work of student researchers who partner with local nonprofit organizations to meet their data science needs. Dr. Potosnak has been trained as a Climate Ambassador for the Catholic Climate Covenant, and in this role he shares his scientific understanding with others from a faith perspective.
Nathan Fleming, Fellow, DePaul University College of Law, Racial Justice Initiative
As DePaul College of Law's inaugural Racial Justice Fellow, Nathan Fleming will study and advocate for vulnerable communities in Chicago. He is a doctoral candidate in higher education at the University of Pennsylvania, researching important questions at the intersection of law, race, public policy, and education. His dissertation explores the evolution of mission at Historically Black Law Schools and provides an up-to-date account of the history of African Americans in American law schools.
Fleming, a native of Washington, DC, previously served as shadow U.S. Representative for the District of Columbia, an elected advocate to Congress on issues related to DC statehood and other federal matters. His work was instrumental in the passage of the historic DC Statehood legislation in the House of Representatives in 2020 and 2021. He also served as a legislative and committee director at the DC Council where he authored several pieces of legislation to expand educational, housing, employment, and community equity throughout Washington DC. Fleming taught Appellate Advocacy as an adjunct professor at the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law and was awarded the Yale Entrepreneurship Fellowship in 2013.
He earned his bachelor's degree in Political Science from Morehouse College, his master's degree in Public Policy from Harvard University, and his law degree from the University of California, Berkeley.
Heather Hummons, Head of Access Services / Librarian, DePaul University Library, College of Law Adjunct Faculty
Heather Hummons is one of the principal creators and organizers of the Criminalization of our Neighbors Programming Series. With 23 years of experience providing leadership and direction for the Access Services Departments at the Rinn Law Library and most recently John T. Richardson Library, Heather is well-versed in Academic Librarianship and Academic Law Librarianship. In her capacity as an adjunct faculty member in the DePaul University College of Law, Heather teaches a practical legal research course focusing on Cultural Heritage Law. She holds a Masters in Library and Information Science from Dominican University with a certificate in Digital Curation; a Masters in Science in Cinema Production with an Animation Concentration from DePaul University; and a Bachelors of Art in Multimedia Arts and Japanese Studies from DePaul University. She has prior experience in Archival Administration processing collections for the Vivian G. Harsh Research Collection of Afro-American History and Literature and Chicago Public Library Foundation. Accomplishments include 2020 American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) Minority Leadership Development Award, 2018 DePaul University Staff Quality Service Award, 2015 American Library Association (ALA) Spectrum Scholar (Proquest Scholar), 2015 Illinois Library Association (ILA) Sylvia Murphy Williams Award, and 2012 DePaul University Women of Spirit and Action Honoree.