2025 Called To Climate Action Conference
Saturday, March 29
9:00 AM – 3:00 PM
Grinnell College | Humanities & Social Studies Center (HSSC) – 1226 Park St | Room A2231
Ready to take climate action in your community? Join Iowa Faith & Climate Network for our annual Called To Climate Action Conference! This event is perfect for anyone from college students new to the environmental scene to seasoned climate activists.
All of us are actively experiencing the rippling effects of climate change. We all carry a unique worry when it comes to our ever-changing world. For many, hope leads to action – and the time is now. As we come together, we can transform hope into practical action and tackle the climate crisis with others.
At the conference, you will have the opportunity to:
- Participate in various environmental advocacy workshops
- Connect with other environmental organizations
- Enjoy conversation over lunch (included)
Download a Flyer to Share
Click the image to download a PDF flyer. Share it with a colleague who you think would be interested in attending. We truly appreciate your help in connecting us with Iowans who are called to climate action!
Conference Agenda
8:30 – 9:00 AM
Coffee & Networking (HSSC atrium)
9:00 – 9:30 AM
Welcome (HSSC A2231)
9:30 – 10:30 AM
Keynote Speaker – Rev. Melanie Mullen, Director of Reconciliation, Justice & Creation Care – Episcopal Church (HSSC A2231)
10:45 – 11:45 AM
Workshops Round #1 (Attendees will choose one out of five workshops to attend. The workshops will run concurrently. The same five workshops will run during Workshops Round #2. Please see individual workshops for room numbers.)
12:00 – 12:30 PM
Lunch (Included with registration) (HSSC A1231)
12:45 – 1:45 PM
Workshops Round #2 (Attendees will choose one out of five workshops to attend. The workshops will run concurrently. The same five workshops will run during Workshops Round #1. Please see individual workshops for room numbers.)
2:00 – 2:15 PM
Post-Workshop Discussion (HSSC A2231)
2:15 – 3:00 PM
Next Steps & Closing (HSSC A2231)
Keynote Speaker
Rev. Melanie Mullen
Rev. Melanie Mullen serves as Episcopal Church’s Director of Reconciliation, Justice & Creation Care. Prior to joining the Presiding Bishop’s staff, she was the Downtown Missioner at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Richmond, Virginia, leading a historic southern congregation’s missional, civic, and reconciliation ministries. Before receiving her Masters in Divinity from Virginia Theological Seminary, she studied history as an undergrad at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, with a Bachelors and graduate program in Africana Women’s Studies at Clark Atlanta University. Previously, Mullen worked in campaign fundraising and development and served as Development Associate for the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, with a focus on poverty advocacy.
Workshops
Community Organizing for Climate Justice
HSSC 1111
Learn about community organizing as a method of change where Lisa Whelan and Lexi McKee-Hemenway dive into the history of organizing, the key elements to be successful today, and how you can get involved locally.
Click for Bios
Lisa Whelan is the Executive Director of Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement or Iowa CCI. She works closely with CCI’s key leadership to guide the overall direction of the organization, coordinate training opportunities and ensure a unified approach to our organizing and people-power building across issue campaigns. She has worked in the community organizing field for nearly 25 years. Although she was born in Milwaukee, WI, she is proud to call Iowa home.
Lexi McKee-Hemenway joined IEC in 2024 as a Sioux City based Campaign Organizer for the Clean Up MidAm campaign. She is a recent 2024 college graduate where she was a campus and local community organizer for intersectional women’s health issues. She worked with local, state, and regional nonprofits and agencies to educate and provide resources to her community. Lexi holds a B.A. in political science from the University of South Dakota. Lexi spends her free time reading, baking, and traveling.
Lisa Whelan
Executive Director, Iowa CCI
Lexi McKee-Hemenway
Campaign Organizer, Iowa Environmental Council (Clean Up MidAm Campaign)
Congregational Projects Panel
HSSC 1116
Join Chuck Klapatauskas and Dannia Thorpe of Ideal Energy, as well as Iowa congregational leaders, as they discuss a variety of congregational energy projects.
Click for Bios
As Director of Engineering for Ideal Energy, a leading EPC firm in the Midwest, Chuck Klapatauskas specializes in designing solar, energy storage, and ammonia power systems. With extensive experience in utility-scale and commercial solar, Chuck is passionate about creating sustainable energy solutions that align with environmental stewardship and fiscal responsibility.
Dannia Thorpe is a Technical Sales Engineer and Procurement Specialist at Ideal Energy, specializing in solar and battery system design for commercial and utility-scale projects. Her expertise in technical sales, procurement, and system design supports her mission to create renewable energy systems that align with environmental and financial goals.
Jim Fritz is a retired music educator having taught instrumental music at the secondary and collegiate levels for a 33 years. He and his wife, Liz, formed Mission Green LLC to provide solar and heat pumps for their local church, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church of Decorah. Following completion of this project, it has accumulated numerous honors for its creative means of helping Good Shepherd achieve a Carbon Neutral/Net Zero future. Sustainability is a passion for both Jim and Liz and they continue to try to “move the needle” to mitigate climate change.
Chuck Klapatauskas
Director of Engineering, Ideal Energy
Jim Fritz
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
Dannia Thorpe
Technical Sales Engineer & Procurement Specialist, Ideal Energy
Deepening the Language of Faith in a Climate-Changed World
HSSC 1112
To motivate and sustain the practical, systemic changes needed to heal our planet, we must attend to our spirits and to our theological foundations. Faith leaders who preach and teach have a beautiful opportunity to draw connections between our sacred stories and our current situation of climate crisis. We have the opportunity to open conversations about climate change using the language of faith. Join Karla Stoltzfus Detweiler as we explore 4 words of faith that will help to deepen not only our language, but our action for climate justice.
Click for Bio
An ordained Mennonite minister, Karla Stoltzfus Detweiler serves as the Climate Justice coordinator for Mennonite Church USA. An avid gardener and parent of two energetic children, Karla has worked on at least a dozen small-scale, diversified farms in Iowa and several other states. She holds a Master of Divinity degree in theological studies with an emphasis in ecological theology and ethics from Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary in Elkhart, Indiana, and a bachelors degree in Biology and Agriculture from Eastern Mennonite University.
Karla Stoltzfus Detweiler
Climate Justice Coordinator, Mennonite Church USA
The Meskwaki Nation & Natural Resource Management of Tribal Lands
HSSC 1114
The Meskwaki Nation Department of Natural Resources manages the Tribal Settlement lands of the Meskwaki People, with cultural values and Tribal Sovereignty as the foundation of all they strive to achieve. As the Director, Joan is honored with the responsibility for the natural resource management and environmental health of Tribal lands for the Meskwaki Nation, The People of the Red Earth. She works in support of the initiatives and staff of the department, while always striving to ensure the protection, preservation, and restoration of the natural and environmental resources of the Sac and Fox Tribe in the Mississippi in Iowa, always in honor of the culture of the Meskwaki People.
Click for Bio
Raised in rural Iowa, Joan grew up with a strong connection to the land, for one’s sustenance, its spiritual relevance, and recreation. Joan worked as a farmhand on a local llama farm before attending Kirkwood Community College to study Parks and Natural Resources. It was there that she began working as an intern for the State Of Iowa Department of Natural Resources at Pleasant Creek State Recreation Area and Palisades-Kepler State Park. Joan continued her education at Upper Iowa University, where she earned a Bachelors of Science in Conservation Management and Public Administration. In 2001, Joan would be hired as the Park Manager of Pleasant Creek State Recreation Area, near Palo, Iowa, where she would manage one of the state’s busiest recreation areas. She would also later partner to establish and co-own a buffalo ranch, eventually maintaining a 130 head herd. Joan later sought to earn her Masters of Public Administration at Drake University in order to be able to grow as a leader in conservation in Iowa. She also served as the Director of Operations at Matthew 25, a private non-profit in Cedar Rapids that works in green construction initiatives, neighborhood revitalization, urban farming, and sustainability. After graduating with her MPA in 2021, Joan went on to serve as the Chief Operations Officer of the National Czech and Slovak Museum & Library in Cedar Rapids.
Joan Flecksing
Director, Meskwaki Nation Department of Natural Resources
Storytelling in Agriculture: How our Worldview Brings us Back to the Garden
HSSC 2111
What is the through-line between how we think about the universe to how we conduct our lives and choose what we do with our lives? Join Seth Watkins and Tommy Hexter to hear stories about how their worldview and virtues have contributed to them building a life dedicated to a better food and farm system. Then, feel free to share your own story and learn from others in a round-table format.
Click for Bios
Seth is the fourth generation of his family to care for Pinhook Farm. Located in Southwest Iowa, the farm was established by Seth’s great grandfather in 1848. Today, Pinhook Farm is home to a herd of Angus cattle, several hives of honey bees, a few chickens, and a recently acquired flock of Katahdin sheep. Seth attributes Pinhook Farm’s success to prioritizing stewardship over production by striving to build a system that works with nature. Seth is a TedX speaker, serves as a United Nations Food Systems Champion, serves on the Iowa USDA Farm Service Agency State Committee, and is a part of a National Science Foundation funded program called BlueGAP that is working to help communities address nitrogen pollution.
Tommy is a first-generation Iowan who moved here in 2017. He is the Executive Director of Grinnell Farm To Table and the Policy Director for Iowa Farmers Union. He grew up on a 2-acre vegetable and egg farm in the mountains of Central Virginia. He is experienced in food system development and policy creation. He takes great joy introducing people to Iowa and loves to explore the small towns and backroads of Iowa with friends and his 4-year old German Shepherd named Echinacea (aka Echo).
Seth Watkins
Pinhook Farm
Tommy Hexter
Policy Director, Iowa Farmers Union