The League of Women Voters of Westport and the Library’s Common Ground Initiative are facilitating a community conversation with the Town of Westport and Westport Public Schools leadership team to share the rationale, goals and process for the town's next decades of major capital spending projects. The future of Westport relies on a thoughtful and participative planning and funding process to maintain and upgrade its infrastructure (primarily public buildings and facilities).
The First Selectwoman and the Superintendent of Schools will present their capital spending strategies and rationale and a panel of experts will discuss possible funding strategies, capital planning best practices, and the approval process for achieving the capital spending goals. There will be the opportunity for Q&A with the expectation of future community sessions.
Local Information
History of Westport Schools
The 2023 Ruth Steinkraus-Cohen Memorial Lecture has been postponed. We are currently working with our partner, the United Nations Association of Southwestern Connecticut, to identify a new date and time to hold the event.
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To honor UN Day, the United Nations Association of Southwestern Connecticut will hold its second Ruth Steinkraus-Cohen Memorial Lecture on international affairs.
The Southwestern Connecticut Chapter of the United Nations Association has been promoting the ideals and work for the United Nations for more than 60 years. Its founder, Ruth Steinkraus-Cohen, worked tirelessly to support the UN. She established June Day, when Westport welcomes the staff and delegates of the UN, in 1965. The downtown bridge is named in her honor and the member nations' flags fly each United Nations Day. The chapter plans to bring a topical and thought-provoking speaker each year to The Westport Library on United Nations Day.
In this public lecture delivered in the Library's Trefz Forum, Roosevelt Institute Director of Climate Policy Rhiana Gunn-Wright will explore the interconnections between environmental and racial justice and discuss how to cultivate regional responses to the climate crisis, recognizing that environmental impacts cross town lines.
The talk is inspired by Westport's commitment to becoming a sustainable, thriving community — economically, environmentally, and socially — and by our ongoing community-based efforts to dismantle systemic racism. It was conceived as part of a Lilly Foundation-funded initiative at Saugatuck Congregational Church to “embrace our coastal community.”
In case you missed the event, you may watch the recorded program here.
Gunn-Wright leads the Roosevelt Institute’s research at the intersection of climate policy, public investment, racial equity, and public power. Along with her colleagues, Gunn-Wright aims to create a body of work that examines the role of economic policy and large-scale economic transformation in catalyzing just and rapid responses to the climate crisis. She also supports Roosevelt’s engagement with the Green New Deal Network and other partners in the climate movement.
Prior to joining Roosevelt, Gunn-Wright was the policy director for New Consensus, charged with developing and promoting the Green New Deal, and the policy director for Abdul El-Sayed’s 2018 Michigan gubernatorial campaign. A 2013 Rhodes Scholar, she has also worked as the policy analyst for the Detroit Health Department, acted as the Mariam K. Chamberlain Fellow of Women and Public Policy at the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, and served on the policy team for former First Lady Michelle Obama.
Community Partners: Saugatuck Congregational Church, TEAM Westport, and Sustainable Westport
Sustainability
Science Reference Center
The Westport Library, community partners, and allies come together to celebrate the diverse stories of our LGBTQ+ community in recognition of Pride month!
Resistance, representation, visibility and belonging — join us for OUTspoken, an evening of true stories, told live, on the theme of Pride. Hosted by comedienne, educator, and former Westporter Mina Hartong.
Doors open 6:30 pm (mingling and bar). Stories at 7 pm.
This event is open to the public and registration is strongly encouraged.
Community Partners:
We Rise: Storytelling Collective
Food has the power to transform. From where it is grown through consumption, food transforms us along its journey from seed to plate. But what journey is your food taking? And is it reaching everybody? Do we all have access to healthy and nutritious foods?
Chef Michel Nischan has some answers! Join us for a lively discussion on food access and food choice, and how we can all play a part to create a more equitable and sustainable food system.
“Food as a single subject has more impact on human health, environmental health, societal health, and economic health than any other subject.” - Chef Michel Nischan
IF YOU MISSED THE EVENT YOU CAN WATCH HERE
Community Partners: Sustainable Westport, Westport Farmers' Market
“If we fix food, we have the ability to fix so many problems. It will take all of us – chefs, consumers, politicians, farmers, food producers of all sizes, and nonprofit leaders – to make this change.” - Chef Michel Nischan
Michel Nischan is a four-time James Beard Award-winning chef with more than 35 years of leadership advocating for a more healthful, sustainable food system. He is founder and president of Wholesome Crave, a food company selling responsibly sourced, plant-forward soups to large-scale dining facilities, and now available direct-to-consumer. A portion of the gross sales from Wholesome Crave products benefit Wholesome Wave, the nonprofit food equity organization for which Michel serves as co-founder and executive chairman. He is also co-founder of the James Beard Foundation’s Chefs Boot Camps for Policy and Change, as well as founder and partner with the late actor Paul Newman in the former Dressing Room Restaurant.
Michel is the author of three cookbooks on healthful and sustainable food, and he is an active thought leader advocating for the right of all in America to exercise their right to feed themselves and their families well, regardless of race, ethnicity, income, or economic condition.
The Dinner Disrupted series is a partnership of libraries in Fairfield County and New Haven County, Connecticut, encouraging patrons to play a more active role in their food system by engaging in collective discussions and actions focusing on food security, climate change, land use, and agriculture.
