The White House Conference on America’s Great Outdoors

As many of you have noticed from my Facebook and Twitter posts, today has been filled with a whirlwind of activity!

I know I should be asleep now, but I just had to share some of what made today buzz. It starting with time spent with Hazel Wong who graciously opened her home to me so I could catch up on some missed rest after a red-eye. After a brief nap, Dudley Edmondson and I met up to grab a bite at the famous Ben’s Chili Bowl. The two of us finally connected with Angelou Ezeilo, Executive Director of Greening Youth Foundation to sprint off to the pre-conference mixer at the Department of Agriculture where environmental leadership from all over the country and government officials met casually to network in preparation for our meeting time tomorrow. A highlight was meeting my Breaking the Color Barrier colleagues, like Audrey Peterman and Queen Quet. And I was delighted to see Dr. Cheryl Charles of the Children and Nature Network, and Akiima Price of the New York Restoration Project – and there were many, many others.

Badge and Binder for the Conference

The evening concluded with the most delightful talk with my hotel roommate Angelou. I tell you, this woman is doing amazing things for youth all over this country, and here is a snippet of some of the fabulous work she is doing:

Looking forward to sharing more about the conference tomorrow.

Note that the event will be streaming live. So check it out!