2026 In My Mind - Collective Care; A Climate Solution
Organizing Change with Visible and Invisible Communities for Mental Health and Environmental Justice
Focuses on climate change’s impact on mental health.
Thursday, October 8, 2026
The LGBT Center, 208 West 13th St, New York, NY 10011
IMM26
Program
NOTE: Program and presentation times are approximate and subject to change, and will be final on October 8.
DBGM, Inc., IMM26’s parent organization, was approved by the NYS Department of Education to offer Continuing Education Units/Credits (CEUs) to eligible presentations for LCSWs, LMSWs, and LMHCs.
Eligible Breakout Presentations are marked CE on the DRAFT Program below.
Time
1:30pm
5:30pm
Presentation Titles
7:30am
8:00am
9:00am
10:30am
10:45am
12:00pm
12:30pm
2:00pm
2:30pm
2:45pm
4:00pm
5:15pm
Setup, Tech Check; Check in/Registration
LIGHT BREAKFAST Sponsored by
CALL TO ORDER
Two-Spirit Ancestral Invocation
WELCOME & Housekeeping
Speaker: From Climate Stress to Collective Care: Mental Health, Community Well-Being and Resilience in Africa
Speaker: Advocacy for Queer and Climate Justice in Southeast Asia
WELLNESS BREAK
BREAKOUT SESSION 1
(CE) B1-A-Intersectionality in Action: Mental Health and Eco-Justice
(CE) B1-B-Queering Green: Environmental Justice and Dismantling Systemic Inequity
(CE) B1-A- From Climate Anxiety to Collective Action: Community-Led Environmental Care and Mental Well-Being in Ghana
LUNCH
We Remember Our Own - a Memorial
Call to Order (Afternoon Program)
Welcome, Housekeeping
Speaker: Healing is in The Culture, and The Culture is The Land
Speakers: Closing the Research Gap on Climate Change’s Impact on Human Well-Being
WELLNESS BREAK
BREAKOUT SESSION 2
(CE) B2-B - Climate Change, Safety and Belonging: An assessment of subjective vulnerabilities, perceptions and climate change needs of LGBTQ+ Jamaicans
(CE) B2-C-Activating the Process of Remembering: a Healing-informed Social Imaginary for Community Building in the Context of Climate Change
(CE) B2-D -Werking for Mother
BREAKOUT SESSION 3
(CE) B3 A - Folklore, Indigenous Knowledge, and Ecological Justice as Frameworks for Narrative Storytelling and Film
(CE) B3-B - Advocating for Patient Care Through Political Prescriptions: Teaching Patient Self-Advocacy on the Frontlines of Climate and Social Change
(CE) B3-C - Critically Challenging AI Usage in Corporate and Non-Profit America to Promote Equitable, Climate-Forward Thinking
(CE) B3-D - Beyond Access: Reimagining Behavioral Health Through Community, Care, and Climate Resilience
Announcements
2Spirit Ancestral Invocation
END
Until IMM27
2S LGBTQIA+ Indigenous, Black and Peoples of Color - HIV and Mental Health
Presenters
IMM26 Planning Team
LIGHT BREAKFAST
IMM26 Planning Team
Jason Johnson (Shinnecock and Cheyenne Nations)
IMM26 Planning Team
Fortunate T Silinda, Ph.D. (University of South Africa)
Aidil Iman, Greenpeace Malaysia, (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)
WELLNESS BREAK
BREAKOUT SESSION 1
Joey Jolene Mataele (Tonga Leitis Association, Kingdom of Tonga)
Gary Bailey, DHL, MSW, ACSW (Simmons University School of Social Work)
Bernard Memsah Yawson
LUNCH
Edwin George
Afternoon Program
IMM26 Planning Team
Meghsha Pskwasaw8n Barner, J.D., Odanak Abenaki (Two-Spirit and Native LGBTQ+ Center for Equality)
Damon Watkins, Ph.D., and Jesse Lasoff-Santos, Ph.D. (I-CARE)
WELLNESS BREAK
BREAKOUT SESSION 2
Emme Christie, PhD and Michael Mikulewicz, PhD
Julika von Stackelberg, Ph.D. (Cornell Cooperative Extension)
kk naimool
BREAKOUT SESSION 3
Jerel Ramsey
Brian Goings-MBA, MPH (Meharry Medical College-PhD Student)
Lindsay Mixer, MA (Sociology, Humboldt State University), MEd (Human Sexuality, Widener University), (Vibrant Emotional Health)
LaGina R. Harris, MSHE, Co-Founder, Melanin Minds; Melissa Mel, Co-Founder, Melanin Minds
Jason Johnson (Shinnecock and Cheyenne Nations)