Superfund and Cultural Competence - Building a Foundation for Effective Community Engagement

Thursday, August 2, 2018, 2:00 PM-3:30 PM EDT (18:00-19:30 GMT)

EPA staff interact with impacted communities across the country. These communities may represent a broad range of cultures, including cultures based in race/ethnicity, class, place and other forms of identity. Each EPA site team may also represent a diverse range of cultural perspectives, skill sets and differing professional cultures. This webinar will show how understanding cultural competence skills and tools can help people connect across difference or perceived difference and work together more effectively. This webinar will deepen participants' understanding of what culture is and how it impacts Superfund work, and demonstrate through a series of case studies how becoming culturally competent can improve remedial outcomes, prepare job trainees for successfully entering the workforce, and improve dynamics of remedial teams whose members have different areas of expertise. The Superfund Redevelopment Initiative is hosting this webinar and is happy to answer any follow up questions about the webinar from the press or other interested parties.

Presenters:

Melissa Friedland, EPA Superfund Redevelopment Initiative (friedland.melissa@epa.gov or 703-603-8864)

Melissa Friedland is the Superfund Program Manager for Redevelopment and supports the Superfund Redevelopment Initiative, EPA's effort to return contaminated Superfund sites to productive use. Ms. Friedland has been involved with the Initiative since its inception in 1999. She is also the National Program Manager for the Superfund Job Training Initiative in Regions 1 - 5. She has worked at EPA since 1980, beginning in the RCRA program, followed by enforcement, and moving to the Superfund program in 1985. Ms. Friedland has managed the Superfund community involvement program and has served on detail to EPA's New England regional office, the Department of the Navy and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. She has also worked as a volunteer mediator with the District of Columbia government.

Sarah Malpass, Skeo Solutions (smalpass@skeo.com or 434-226-4104)

As a certified planner, Ms. Malpass has years of expertise engaging underrepresented communities and structuring inclusive, authentic dialogues to shape a collective vision for the future; and has designed and conducted trainings in cultural humility and collaborative problem solving. As Skeo's manager for the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practice area, Sarah brings expertise in designing DEI assessment frameworks, identifying and delivering capacity-building interventions, drafting clear and concise DEI strategies and plans, and developing and facilitating DEI trainings. Sarah provides facilitation, community planning and capacity building services to communities, with a focus on engaging diverse stakeholder groups in consensus-based dialogue and strategic planning processes. Her experience includes both site-scale and area-wide planning, with an emphasis on supporting community leaders in the development of community-based design and equitable development solutions that provide a foundation for healthy, vibrant community life.

Michael Lythcott, Skeo Solutions (mlythcott@skeo.com or 732-394-6638)

Michael has over 35 years of experience building productive, diverse, work teams. As a curriculum developer, master trainer, mediator, facilitator, and powerful motivational coach and speaker, Michael helps build sustainable models for power sharing, decision-making and collaborative problem solving. Michael is an internationally recognized expert in the fields of diversity, inclusion and Building Cultural Competence (BCC) and his work in these fields has been praised for reducing tensions that naturally surface in very diverse work groups. Since joining Skeo, he has provided technical assistance for more than 20 communities on varying assignments in nine of EPA's 10 regional offices and under several EPA programs, including CERCLA, RCRA, IPCO, OSRTI, OEJ and EPA Headquarters.

Moderators:

Michele Mahoney, U.S. EPA Technology Innovation and Field Services Division (mahoney.michele@epa.gov or 703-603-9057)

Michele Mahoney is a Soil Scientist working on issues related to remediation and reuse of contaminated sites within EPA's Superfund program. In order to support practitioners, she researches and reports on knowledge related to treatment technologies for mining sites, use of soil amendments for remediation and redevelopment/reuse, ecological revitalization, ecosystem services, phytotechnologies, and urban gardening. Michele develops and delivers training for the world-renown EPA Clean-Up Information Network (www.cluin.org), particularly a Mining Webinar Series, and topics related to Superfund Redevelopment, Ecological Revitalization, Ecosystem Services, and Phytotechnologies. She also creates and manages content development for the EcoTools and Mining pages on CLU-IN.org.

Michele has worked with EPA for over 20 years. Prior to her current responsibilities, Michele served the Agency as the lead for food waste composting issues and as an environmental fate and ecological risk assessor for pesticide registration. Michele also has experience as a Contractor for EPA and a Laboratory and Field Researcher.

Michele earned a M.S. in Soil Science from the Washington State University, and a B.S. in Agronomy & Environmental Science from Delaware Valley University.

Jean Balent, U.S. EPA Technology Innovation and Field Services Division (balent.jean@epa.gov or 202-566-0832)

Ms Balent is on the staff of the EPA's Technology Innovation and Field Services Division where she has worked to collect and disseminate hazardous waste remediation and characterization information since 2003. Ms Balent manages the Clean Up Information Network website and actively supports online communication and collaboration resources available to EPA. She formerly worked with the US Army Corps of Engineers Environmental Engineering Division in the Buffalo District. Ms Balent was also a member of the SUNY-Buffalo Groundwater Research Group where she constructed and tested large scale models of groundwater flow. Ms Balent has also conducted research relating to the Great Lakes, environmental remediation, and brownfields re-development. She holds a Bachelor's degree in environmental engineering from SUNY-Buffalo and a Master's degree in Information Technology from AIU.

Webinar Slides and References:

• Introduction, Melissa Friedland, U.S. EPA Superfund Redevelopment Initiative (6.99MB/PDF)
• Slide Presentation for Sarah Malpass and Michael Lythcott, Skeo Solutions (14.1MB/PDF)
• Conclusion, Melissa Friedland, U.S. EPA Superfund Redevelopment Initiative (316KB/PDF)

Webinar Slides and References:

• Introduction, Melissa Friedland, U.S. EPA Superfund Redevelopment Initiative (6.99MB/PDF)
• Slide Presentation for Sarah Malpass and Michael Lythcott, Skeo Solutions (14.1MB/PDF)
• Conclusion, Melissa Friedland, U.S. EPA Superfund Redevelopment Initiative (316KB/PDF)

Additional Resources:

• Seminar Archives
• Superfund Redevelopment Initiative Website
• SRI Quarterly Webinar Series Website
• SRI Regional Coordinators
• SRI Partnerships
• Superfund Redevelopment Focus List
• Superfund Task Force
• Superfund Alternative Approach
• CMC Properties Site Profile
• Fact Sheet: East Side Revitalization Reducing the Impacts of Flooding and Floodway Regulations Freeport, IL
• Anniston PCB Site (Monsanto Co) Site Profile
• U.S. Smelter and Lead Refinery, Inc. (USS Lead) Superfund site Profile
• Superfund Job Training Initiative
• EPA Flyer - East Chicago Superfund Job Training Initiative