December 2025 Letter from a Co-Executive Director
Dear members,
As we enter the holiday season, I am doing the habitual year-end review. What a year it has been. Here in the United States, we have faced the marked acceleration of existential threat and societal collapse. We have borne witness to escalating state brutality in our streets, and the daily barrage of upside-down world doublespeak in our newsfeeds. Meanwhile, climate crises continue to exponentially increase, while climate professionals and frontline populations endure greater instability and invisibility. Many of us are struggling to find footing in this rapidly devolving landscape - where do we put our energy and skills to best use? How much risk are we willing to personally take? What is expected of us in our professional roles?
There is no single correct way to navigate these times - we must each attune to our internal compass. I find myself routinely asking the same two questions: where do I remain able to take meaningful actions? How do I remain in integrity?
Our beloved ancestor Joanna Macy always reminds us to begin with gratitude. And one of the things I remain most profoundly grateful for is all of you. CPA-NA continues to be the source of community, solidarity, and external resourcing I lean into to find my own internal compass and moment by moment answers to all of the questions above. It is such a relief to know there are over 700 of us navigating this moment together. Indeed, we collectively ask the same set of questions of the organization. I have never met a group of people more committed to right action, self-reflection and healthy community than I find among the active volunteers and staff of CPA-NA.
As empowering and meaningful as this collective exploration is, it can also be quite challenging. We have been in a period of such tremendous growth and expansion as an organization, and we are forever trying to catch up with ourselves - to create the structure and find the resources that will sustain this beautiful blossoming we have collaboratively enabled. To that end, I am excited to share a few great announcements:
First, we have expanded our staffing with wonderful new hires! Tai Schroeder will support our membership and volunteers, and Jenna Welch will help our development team. Both come with a wealth of skills and experience and we are so grateful to have them aboard. At the same time, we are sorry to say goodbye to Kristen Greenwald, who has done so much to organize and elevate the Regional Coordinator program as co-chair with Cordelia Huxtable. And we are pleased to announce Cordelia will now have two new co-chairs: Chelsea Rissner and Liliane Mavidara, as we continue to grow our presence on the ground across Canada and the US.
Finally, we are thrilled to say that a generous anonymous donor has once again agreed to a matching grant of $20,000 to launch our Planting the Future Giving Tuesday campaign. If, like me, you find CPA-NA’s community and collaborative efforts to be a balm on your soul in these trying times, please consider supporting our sustainability with a gift this season, and please pass this along and encourage others in your circles to do the same.
We deeply value your support, engagement and voice, so please do not hesitate to reach out to me if you have questions or thoughts to share about your experience in CPA-NA.
With warmth and gratitude,
Jenni Silverstein, LCSW
CPA-NA Co-Executive Director