Letting Our Lives Speak in a Climate-Changing World
This Spring, Friends School of Portland partnered with the Climate Tech Incubator at The Roux Institute at Northeastern University to bring marine biologist and climate policy expert Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson in conversation with chef, author, and sustainable food systems advocate Barton Seaver for a powerful and deeply personal conversation about raising children in a time of climate change. Friends School of Portland's Parenting for Peace speaker events have brought a wide range of authors, activists, filmmakers, and speakers to the Portland area.
Eli Sears '23, Friends School of Portland graduate and current junior at Waynflete, introduced the evening’s speakers.
He shared:
One of the most important factors of FSP that shaped who I am today is the idea of "Inquiry/Reflection/Action," which is a core idea of the school. For me, the biggest moment in coming to understand that idea and what it means was my YEP project in eighth grade. I did mine on the opioid epidemic in Portland, and it really changed the way I thought both about the opioid epidemic specifically and global issues in general, and my place in solving them.
I volunteered at a community center for people with substance abuse issues. I remember being so nervous at first, both about going and doing this by myself, and, to be honest, about being around people with serious substance abuse issues, which, as a 13-year-old, was a completely new experience. But when I got there, the care, compassion, and kindness of the place were immediately clear. Volunteering there let me see both how this amazing work was being done, giving people with substance abuse issues a place to belong and help one another despite all the stigma, as well as the importance of listening, community, and mutual support, some of the ideas that are core parts of my values today. It was a revelation.
Everything I just described — that process of inquiry, reflection, and action — is exactly what our speakers today embody.
Drawing on the Quaker framing of “letting your life speak,” Ayana and Barton explored how our values, as expressed through the food we serve, the work we choose, the conversations we hold at the dinner table, and the communities we build, shape the world our children inherit. Together, they shared perspectives from science, food systems, ocean stewardship, and parenthood to ask: What does it mean to model courage, hope, and responsibility in uncertain times?
This evening wove together dialogue, reflection, and audience engagement, offering practical inspiration for families seeking to align daily life with planetary well-being.