In this opening keynote Clinton Johnson, one of the founders of the North Star of GIS, welcomes the participants to their first in-person Homecoming event. The event aims to promote racial justice through equitable geographic approaches. The theme of this year's Homecoming is Resistance, Resilience, and Empowerment, highlighting their commitment to address the world's most pressing needs.
In this opening keynote Clinton Johnson, one of the founders of the North Star of GIS, welcomes the participants to their first in-person Homecoming event. The event aims to promote racial justice through equitable geographic approaches. The theme of this year's Homecoming is Resistance, Resilience, and Empowerment, highlighting their commitment to address the world's most pressing needs.
Be Black. Be Bold. Be Innovative. Show the World Equitable Geo. We're coming together as a collective to celebrate people of African descent, the diaspora, and talking about geospatial equity and justice. You're listening to The North Star Gaze, a podcast with intimate stories from geoluminaries. Hi everybody. I'm Aisha Jenkins. I'm a founder and vice president of the Northstar GIS. There were two things that we wanted to accomplish with this inaugural season of the podcast. We wanted to bring together our speakers and presenters and have one to one conversations about their experience in GIS. But we also wanted to get inside the heads of the North Star origin story. We wanted to interweave these stories into the podcast season. So, there are lots of conversations that happen throughout the year as we think about and ideate around themes and the different events that we host each year. So here's an early conversation that I had with Clinton Johnson, the founder of North Star, and it's around the reasons why North Star exists. And the importance of organizations like Northstar. So here we go! What is North Star? Where can we find out more about North Star at GIS? Yeah. So the first thing I wanted to say is there's a challenge that exists that called us into existing, and, it's that. Geography and geospatial capabilities. shape many public and private policies and many practices, and many people aren't even aware of that., leaders and policymakers use geographic data and geospatial intelligence for things like pandemic response, federal infrastructure plans figuring out where to invest in education locally, you know, you use these tools in your ride sharing apps like Uber and Lyft. When you order something from Amazon, this stuff is used extensively, so. We're talking about an area of tech that is in high demand and is fun and exciting. And it's also an area of science that informs policy and impacts communities. But unfortunately very often these policies and these practices that, that are informed by, by GIS often lead to racial disparities or they sustain racial disparities. And on top of that. Many of the people who are involved in that work, well, they don't, they either don't look like us or for those who do, they're not always invited to the tables that really matter. So NorthStar exists to try to create a What I talk about sometimes is a geo STEM community that centers on intersectional racial justice, meaning a, a community of, of all the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math that relate to geography. So there's geospatial, there's GIS, there's, marine science marine microbiology. Ecology, archaeology we want to make sure that when folks are doing their mapping work, doing their analysis, that they are considering people as a primary stakeholder, and ensuring that the results of their work will lead to more racial justice. And we also want to make sure that the people who do that practice better reflect the Black African diaspora, but also other underrepresented groups as well. So we, we, we do that work by trying to bring together practitioners in GeoSTEM focus on improving practices in GeoSTEM and creating spaces where people from all backgrounds can find a sense of belonging. Some of the main ways that we do that is literally to engage people around events. We have a Black History Month event series coming up and. And as with every year, we, we, we look to the Black History Month theme for the year as for inspiration, and this year it's Black Resistance. So we've expanded that, that concept to, to think about ideas of resilience, resistance, and empowerment in Black communities across many different topics, like climate and environment. Food systems and, and food security. So, so, so thinking about the importance of growing locally and you know, small scale forming health equity, community engagement, and, and really positive practices for, for justice, equity, and belonging. Across GeoSTEM. So we're going to open up our conversation for the year around those topics during February, this, this month in February, and later in the year we'll have a big gathering of folks from across the globe, both virtual and in person in the D. C. area that we call Homecoming. And this, and again, with that theme Actually, Aisha had this great idea of talking about it as homecoming R& R, and we can, we can think about R& R as resistance and resilience, rest and relaxation, all the ways in which we have to recover and reclaim spaces that are necessary for Black communities to successfully age. Resist and be resilient and be fully empowered. So we're excited to invite people from across the globe who see themselves as geography professionals or people working in spaces related to geography to join in those conversations and be a part of the change. And now, here's Clinton's opening keynote from the 2023 Homecoming event in Washington, D. C. It's been a long, hard road getting to this point. And I mean that in so many different ways. Many of us have experienced, tolerated, or survived conferences that while focusing on the power of geography and the geographic approach, could have done more to focus on communities. And we aim to create a different experience for folks here this week. I'm Clinton Johnson. Good morning, everyone. My pronouns are he, him, his. And as one of the founders of the North Star of GIS, joined by several other founders and team members milling around in the back , I'm, I'm really excited and privileged to welcome you all to our first in person homecoming event. We gather today as participants in a conference, but also as members of a community, all united with a vital cause in mind. We're advocating for racial justice in the world. through a more racially just geography. And when we talk about geography, we're talking about the collection of practices that we think of as a geographic approach that can often be augmented and enhanced and replicated at scale through GIS. But we're also talking about the community of practitioners of geography, the people who actually are in those fields and the communities impacted by that work. Geographic approaches are being used in communities all around the globe, as you all know. They're helping communities face many, many challenges on many levels across many topics from natural disasters to social upheaval to the need for great access to high quality education, high quality health care resources. Challenges that disproportionately harm Black communities and other communities of color. Challenges that marginalize communities. And unfortunately, many of the geographic approaches used to address those challenges often also harm those communities. So our annual Homecoming event brings together our global community of Black GEO students, educators, entrepreneurs, and professionals, and our allies. To do two things. One, to promote Black representation in all things geo. And the other is to promote equitable geographic approaches. And this year's homecoming theme, Resistance, Resilience, and Empowerment, reflects our journey and our commitment to promote equitable geographic approaches to address the world's most challenging and pressing needs. These words, these, these themes. Resilience, resistance, and empowerment. They really They really get at the essence of what our collective spirit is. They are the driving force behind the North Star of GIS, and they are this year's theme for Black History Month. And we try to follow the themes for Black History Month set by the organization whose name escapes me right now, but they've been setting the theme for Black History Month, formerly Negro Week I believe since its beginning. Resilience, resistance, empowerment. Again, they embody the strength, the determination, and the courage that defines us and fuel our pursuit of racial justice and racial equity in geography and GIS. But before I dive any deeper into the event let's express our heartfelt gratitude to those who made this gathering possible. So first of all, delivering an in person experience requires an in person physical space to deliver that experience. And our supporters and partners at Howard University were eager to support us from the very beginning. So thanks to the generosity of Howard University, particularly to the Dean of Graduate, of the Graduate School, Dr. Dana Williams and Dr. Amy Yeboah Korokume, who wears many different hats at Howard, including Associate Professor of Africana Studies. Graduate Director of the Center of Applied Data Science and Analytics, and Director of Student Engagement at the Center for Women, Gender, and Global Leadership. Thanks to Dr. A, or Dr. Amy Yeboah, and Dr. Williams, and Errol Watkins across the hall, we've been given access to a great space, a great set of spaces some of you will get to enjoy. In this browsing room in particular within Founders Library, a historic space where many historic events have taken place. have taken place. And bringing together experiences like this take, they take time, it takes energy, and it takes resources. And we're excited to say that we had help from our allies, our allies and our colleagues in the geography space, our allies and colleagues in the sciences spaces more broadly, and folks GIS community. Our sponsors have been crucial. To amplifying and enabling us to, amplifying our platform and enabling us to unite our, our global community. First and foremost, a special thanks to the National Geographic Society, many of whom are here today. Their early support has been instrumental in elevating our platform, extending our reach. And making it possible for us to deliver an experience like this to people at no cost. Oftentimes, when you attend a conference like this, it's 50, it's 100, or maybe it's hundreds of dollars, but thanks to the generosity of Howard and National Geographic, we knew pretty early on that we'd be able to deliver this experience to people at no cost. And these contributions go beyond just financial support, it's a testament to a shared belief in the power of geography to create meaningful change. And with so much to be done to reach this moment and to deliver this experience, this experience that is both in person for two days and one day virtual for GIS Day, we're grateful to the constellation of sponsors and supporters that are in our, in our Melanated and Mapping community, including the National Academy's Gulf Research Program. Hope and Heal Fund, Mapping Black California, and Spatial GIS. Their contributions have been vital. Each of our sponsors in their own unique way have contributed to the fabric of the work that we do and to the fabric of our mission. They help us weave a tapestry of change and progress, not just in our immediate community, but in the broader world where we all feel the impact of geographic approaches, and where we all desperately need to feel the impact of racial equity. And as we acknowledge the support of our sponsors, let's also realize that every one of you that's here today is in your own way a sponsor of our, of our event. By participating, by sharing, by contributing to this overall experience, you're helping sponsor and create the future of geography that we know that we need to create. One that is more equitable, where every map is advancing equity, where every spatial analysis is advancing justice. anD I've, and again, I've said that a lot already, the, the idea that geography can help create racial justice in our world. But what does that really mean and how does North Star try to create that reality? And even before I go there, I want to go back a few years to a bit of an origin story. So there were a number of people walking around a big GIS conference, one of the biggest in the world, definitely the biggest in the country. And three of us happened to be walking around that space with the same mission. We were curious about other folks who look like us, whether or not they were experiencing the same combination of isolation and inspiration. Isolation and inspiration that were coming from the same exact thing, from the conference itself. That space that we were in that was predominantly white and that did not seem to reflect the full, richness of the diversity of even just the Black African diaspora. It also not, not only that the technology and the geographic approaches being applied around the world inspire us, but the space itself made us feel a sense of isolation and made it difficult for us to enjoy the full benefits of a conference. So we didn't know each other and we were doing about the same thing. We were just walking up to people who look like us and we were asking them if they'd be interested in connecting long term. One set of folks who were from HBCUs who've been doing that same thing for 17 years up to that point have been coming to the same conference, have met each other on a public transportation stop. And realized that they were all feeling the same thing, were all there for the same reason, all happened to be representing HBCUs. And they started this sort of journey that we, we've built upon. Another person was the founder of Spatial GIS. He was, he was sort of frustrated by seeing himself as the only Black founder in the geospatial industry. And instead of, you know, minimizing competition, he was trying to grow that space and would do anything he could to try to, you know, inspire other folks to, to take up that, that work as well. And then there was me. I had recently joined a large GIS company and really learned what it meant to be underrepresented in tech. I had worked at the city of Philadelphia for some 20 years where. As I, every, every single day I went to work, I saw Black people, I saw other people of color. I saw them on my way to work, I saw them in the elevator, I saw them on the floor. And as I climbed the ranks in terms of levels of leadership, and as I climbed that sort of other ladder in terms of a path towards technology, the number of, of women were reduced as I walked into rooms, the number of people of color. What gets, gets smaller as I walked into rooms, the number of Black people in particular would shrink down to myself, and if I had a mirror, a reflection of me and I thought that that's what it meant to be underrepresented in tech, and it does, in a, in a local government entity, in a city that's predominantly Black, because in local government, we, we tend to be overrepresented, just not in the upper level roles and not in technology, but when I got to the tech industry for real, I was 100% of the black people that I would see every day If I could see my reflection. I was 100% of the black people in the office that I worked in. I didn't even see people on my commute who looked like me, and oftentimes I had to deal with the Make America Great again. inward music blasting people who harassed me on my way into work as a part of that experience. And that's when I really knew what it meant to be underrepresented in tech. That's when I really understood what it meant to be Black in tech. I was suddenly in the office during Ramadan not, not a Muslim, but wondering where that celebration was happening. I was drawing the, the Kwanzaa candle candle configuration on my wall and lighting the candles every day on the, on the whiteboard. I was trying to do everything Black that I missed from my casual encounters at work. And that's when I really understood. And in my work I started at that company, reaching out to people to see how they were feeling when we would have an incident in the world of a Black person being brutalized or killed at the hands of law enforcement. I would reach out and see how people were doing. And in reaching out to see how people were doing, I also encountered other people who like myself engaged with customers and tried to help them use geographic approaches through GIS. And each one of us who were in that work had had one other really common encounter. We'd have a customer who would say, Hey could you help us use GIS to, to address some inequities that we have in our community? Sometimes the customer sounds it like commercials. You know, I'll never forget one in particular where someone said, well, two, my very first customer said, I have a lot of money to spend on equity. And we sold that person a solution about the airport because the folks in the room didn't understand what equity was, didn't understand what maps or geography had to do with that. The customer bought the solution, but when we look back years later, they hadn't really implemented the roadmap that we laid out because they had equity as a priority. Another customer set up and sitting with a bunch of people around the room and they say, you know, really, the room gets quiet and they say, Hey. We, we're new to this city. We've just started working here, but we know for a fact that our policies create racial disparities for people. And we know that this problem is place based. We also know that you all have access to a lot of geospatial data. Please help us use geospatial data to figure out where our policies create racial disparities for people in our communities. And again, folks, every GIS person in that room, minus myself, either got quiet or made an attempt to change the subject either because of the discomfort that we feel when we, when we think about what we've been told about discussing issues of racism, sexism, homophobia, heterosexism at work, we're told we shouldn't, or we think somehow that politics are at play when we, when we think about how our policies impact people and, and we've been told that we shouldn't talk about politics at work, or because folks lack an understanding of the history of how racism from a systematic perspective has been applied through geographic approaches like redlining, inequitable zoning practices. You know, place based housing covenants that discriminated on the basis of, of race or country of origin or religion. So, you know, I knew and some of my colleagues that I reached out to knew that it would be important for us to use GIS and to use geographic approaches to address these issues. And suddenly, we could see each other and we can connect around that. So when I met up with the other two people at that conference, I had that in mind. They wanted us to connect that global community to to grow our collective impact, to grow and share our knowledge and our skills. And I wanted us to change the industry in another way. I wanted us to bring a focus on equity and racial justice through our technology. And, and all of that is in our background. That's in the DNA of how we organized. We connected with HBCUs and we continue to. We connected with business owners in the GIS industry and we continue to. We connected in and around our, in and around and despite the companies that we worked at and we continue to do that and we have a focus on changing the industry. Collectively, and we try to do that through partnership with lots of organizations. And so we see ourselves as the North Star of GIS. with an ambitious, well, first of all, even just the title, North Star of GIS. Now we're boldly saying that we are going to be the direction that GIS should follow. And while we have broadened our scope to geography and geo more, more sort of simplistic, but really to, to broaden the net, we recognize that GIS and geospatial are amplifiers. They scale up geographic approaches. So We want to make sure that not only are we teaching people and identifying and promoting equitable geographic approaches, but we're accelerating their, their impact and their utilization across the world through technologies like GIS. And so we really believe that we can help create a racially just world through a geography, community of practice, and community of practitioners. That better reflect our communities and our focus on racial equity. Why geography? Because it has such an impact on so many facets of our life. From, I don't know why my slides don't like Ys, but, From understanding our history, our culture, to determining where to place infrastructure and how to develop urban landscapes. Historic, Ecologic to exploring space. Geography has a huge impact on, on us on a global scale, regional scales, at the very local levels. And the people who do that work, therefore, have a huge impact on how we live our lives, what we get exposed to, what we get access to. And so we, we see that geography informs public. It informs local and global impact. It's changing our world. And so it needs diverse perspectives. It needs to be informed by a broad range of perspectives so that we get more holistic and complete solutions. Towards that end, one of the things that we do is we try to understand what our community looks like. So we are running a survey at northstar. gis slash share. Where we are inviting people to share their, to some degree, share their experiences, share their perspectives and commitments. But right now, the, the primary focus of the survey is to understand the representation of women in all things GL. We're trying to understand your experiences encountering women on your teams, encountering women at conferences. Encountering Women on Big Stages at Conferences. So, please fill out and share this survey and that'll help us understand. We have an, have a program area that we call Horizon. And Horizon is our event programming. If you all can follow the corniness of us Event Horizon, Horizon. We host events like this for Black History Month. Annually we do something virtually. We do a homecoming that we tend to do annually. We skipped last year so we could put a lot of focus into an in person experience this year. And we also create these experiences that we call Black at Geo events. So getting back to that origin story what we learned from the folks who were doing this work before us, sometimes we see them as our elders, was that connecting in and around and before, during and after big events like that is important. So we try to create spaces. That are virtual, that are physical, that are engaging, where we are centered, and we invite people to come together. And we find that when we do that well suddenly people can enjoy the conferences that they're at much more. They find people who they, who they identify with, who they connect with, who are sharing their experience. And they, and they hang out with them as if they've been long time friends. The first time we did this was in 2019. We didn't call it Black at, at Ezra UC at the time, but it, I think that was our first homecoming experience. We saw ourselves as all coming together from across the globe into one place. And after our first event that a hundred people showed up to for the rest of that week, people would, you would have believed that we had known each other forever, that we were family that we'd been colleagues for years, but these were people who had just met each other and were suddenly experiencing the conference together. There was one person who showed up there who I want to say he's a geologist and suddenly, and was getting interested in GIS, and once he attended our experience, he said, That's when he knew that GIS was for him, he could feel like he belonged, and now he's on the board of directors for Eurysa, he's leading up a team in I forget where he lives at now, in the Caribbean. There was another couple of people who met at the event at that first event and by our third event, they were letting us know that they were getting married. So there's, there's lots of experiences and impact that come from our events. Like I said, we try to host our, our events in ways that, that connect us all. We try to host our events at Black owned venues. We try to encourage people to find Black owned venues near them. near the conferences that they're hosting so that we can spread those funds around. We also have our Bridge Program that connects Black GEO students, educators, professionals, and others with access to opportunities in GEO. Up here you see two students from Oregon State. They're two of 20 HBCU students within our network that we have provided cash grants to for the past couple of years. Our cash grants are largely passed through you know, from the generosity of, of Esri. We get 50, 000 each year to give to five students. And we also crowdsource another 5, 000 to give to an 11th. And every now and then. We can't find a student who's been identified. So 20 students have, have received about as much as 100, 000 across those 20. We may have done 105. And we will continue to do that for as long as we can, and we will grow that as we get more support from more folks. We're launching a telescope program because we know that it's important to highlight The work that we do to reflect so that we can help better reflect the impact of Black folks in this space. So we are launching a new series of podcasts and social media campaigns that will promote and elevate and highlight. People who, people who look like us who are doing this work. The Bridge Program also includes access to community. We understand that the experience that I had and that many people had at the organization that I was working for where you're the only person who looks like you in your office, so how do you connect with community? So we try to break down. physical and geographic and digital barriers by creating safer spaces so that we can connect with each other and share our knowledge and resources and opportunities and we're growing that space and we call that our our melanated and mapping community. So, you know, I've talked a lot about our programming, so we've got Horizons, which is showcasing Black geo talent and tech for racial justice, we've got Bridge, which is connecting Black people to opportunities in geo, we've got Telescope, which is magnifying stars in geo, and then we've got this guides programming that is largely low key, we provideTRANSCRIBED by CHIPS. Consulting and training and guidance to organizations that want to be more equitable. Some of us are DEI certified and we bring that knowledge to help organizations advance progress. I took longer telling our story than I had expected. So I want, I want to move the program along to our keynote panel. So, it's my honor to introduce and moderate our keynote panel this morning. It's a highlight of our homecoming event, and as, and as I'm getting started, I would like to ask our esteemed panelists to, to take a seat up front. This panel is featuring leaders from the National Geographic it'll delve into the transformative power of geographic knowledge. And geography's pivotal role in empowering Black communities and other communities of color. I'm going to spend a little time introducing our panelists so we know who we are talking to. We've got Shannon P. Bartlett as the Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer at the National Geographic Society. Shannon oversees the organization's DEI efforts. Her work focuses on cultivating an environment where diversity in all its forms are, is welcome and integral to the mission driven work of the society. Shannon's work at the society is exemplary. I haven't encountered another organization in geography or otherwise where DEI is such a through thread. We've got Karen Greenfield next to Shannon. The Senior Vice President of Inclusive Content and Engagement at National Geographic. She's responsible for inclusive content strategies across the brand's platform. Her leadership in storytelling and content creation is instrumental in bringing diverse perspectives to the forefront of National Geographic's narrative. Next to, next to Karen Greenfield, we have Crystal Brown, and as the Chief Communications, Marketing, and Brand Officer. Crystal advances the society's mission through innovative media and marketing campaigns. Her expertise in communication plays a crucial role in promoting the society's vision and impact on a global scale. And last and definitely not least, we have Deborah Grayson, Ph. D., serving as the Chief Education Officer. Dr. Grayson furthers the society's mission in education, aiming to develop an explorer mindset among educators and young people. Her leadership in educational initiatives is pivotal in bringing geographic knowledge to classrooms and communities worldwide. This conversation is about sharing knowledge, inspiring action. And it embodies our theme of resistance, resilience, and empowerment through geographic understanding and action. As we listen to the panelists let's consider how their insights can inform our, our own work, our own efforts, and our own lives, and through the channels that we have access to, to create more just and inclusive and accessible environments for the world around us through a geographic lens. And on that note, thank I want to thank the sponsors of the 2023 Homecoming Conference event, which was held on Howard University's campus. Thank you National Geographic Society, National Academy's Gulf Research Program, Mapping Black California, Hope and Heal, and Spatial GIS. We also want to give a special thanks to our guests. Thank you. for trusting us with your stories. Shannon, Sandra, Kevin, Margo, Frank, Jen, Dr. Louberts, Karee, Dr. Graham, Gloria, Michael, Eric, Sky, Nick, Dr. Yoboa Kwakun, Veronique, and Dawn. We also want to thank Howard University for allowing us to present in the iconic browsing room and to the Northstar team. Thank you. Shakonda, Raisha, Clinton. Erica, Yolanda, and our volunteers and student ambassadors. Thank you also to KMG. Audio is produced by Cherry Blossom Production, and I'm Aisha, your host and the executive producer of the inaugural season of the North Star Gaze podcast, which is based on the 2023 Homecoming conference event. Thanks for listening to the North Star Gaze, intimate stories from geoluminaries. If you're inspired to advance racial justice in geofields, please share this podcast with other listeners in your community. The intro and outro are produced by Organized Sound Productions with original music created by Kid Bodega. The North Star Gaze is produced in large part by donations and sponsorship. To learn more about North Star GIS, Check us out at north star of gis.org and on Facebook or Instagram at GIS North Star. If you'd like to support this podcast and North Star of gis, consider donating at North star of gis.org/donate or to sponsor this podcast, email podcast at north star of gis.org. You've been listening to the North Star Gaze.