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
DRAFT 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 will be marked CE on the DRAFT Program below.
Time
12:45pm
5:30pm
Presentation Titles
7:30am
8:00am
9:00am
10:30am
10:45am
12:00pm
12:30pm
1:30pm
2:15pm
2:30pm
3:45pm
5:00pm
Setup, Tech Check; Check in/Registration
LIGHT BREAKFAST
(Sponsored by Ryan Health & Ryan Chelsea-Clinton
CALL TO ORDER
Two-Spirit Ancestral Invocation
WELCOME & Housekeeping
SPEAKER: To be announced
SPEAKER: To be announced
WELLNESS BREAK
BREAKOUT SESSION 1
B1-A-Intersectionality in Action: Mental Health and Eco-Justice
B1-B-Queering Green: Environmental Justice and Dismantling Systemic Inequity
B1-C -Rising Pressures: Climate, Stigma, and the Mental Health of Caribbean LGBTQ+ and Gender-Marginalized Communities
B1-D- 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
Panel Discussion: Government Agencies
Speakers: Closing the Research Gap on Climate Change’s Impact on Human Well-Being
WELLNESS BREAK
BREAKOUT SESSION 2
B2-A - Climate Change, Safety and Belonging: An assessment of subjective vulnerabilities, perceptions and climate change needs of LGBTQ+ Jamaicans
B2-B-Activating the Process of Remembering: a Healing-informed Social Imaginary for Community Building in the Context of Climate Change
B2-C -We Were Always Here: Integrating Environmental Justice and the Politics of Survival into Affirming LGBTQIA+ Youth Care
B2-D -Werking for Mother
BREAKOUT SESSION 3
B3 A - Folklore, Indigenous Knowledge, and Ecological Justice as Frameworks for Narrative Storytelling and Film
B3-B - Advocating for Patient Care Through Political Prescriptions: Teaching Patient Self-Advocacy on the Frontlines of Climate and Social Change
B3-C - Beyond Access: Re-imagining Behavioral Health Through Community, Care, and Climate Resilience
B3-D - Critically Challenging AI Usage in Corporate and Non-Profit America to Promote Equitable, Climate-Forward Thinking
Announcements
2Spirit Ancestral Invocation
END
Until IMM27
Presenters
IMM26 Planning Team
LIGHT BREAKFAST
IMM26 Planning Team
2Spirit Community
IMM26 Planning Team
Speaker
Speaker
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)
Panel Discussion: Moderator Darren Citrine Glenn (The Glenn Family Foundation); Panelists: Yemi Knight (Anchor Bridge Environmental); Earth Lezama (The Sugarcane Collective); Crystal Roberts (The Crystal Clear Initiative)
Bernard Memsah Yawson
LUNCH
Afternoon Program
IMM26 Planning Team
Moderator: Talia Santiago-Bonds, CDO, NYS OMH
Damon Watkins, Ph.D., and Jesse Lasoff-Santos, Ph.D. (I-CARE)
WELLNESS BREAK
BREAKOUT SESSION 2
Emme Christie, PhD & Michael Mikulewicz, PhD
Julika von Stackelberg, Ph.D. (Cornell Cooperative Extension)
Aruna Krishnakumar, LCSW (Hetrick Martin Institute)
kk naimool
BREAKOUT SESSION 3
Jerel Ramsey
Brian Goings-MBA, MPH (Meharry Medical College-PhD Student)
LaGina R. Harris, MSHE, and Melissa Mel, (Melanin Minds)
Lindsay Mixer, MA (Sociology, Humboldt State University), MEd (Human Sexuality, Widener University), (Vibrant Emotional Health)