Sometimes the bravest thing we can do while facing an existential crisis is imagine life on the other side. What If We Get It Right? is a provocative and joyous collection of clear-eyed essays, 20 vibrant interviews, data, poetry, and art that map an inspiring landscape of solutions and possibilities at the nexus of science, policy, culture, and justice. The book conjures a transformed, replenished, and loving world—and shows us that it is worth the effort, the overhaul, to get there, together.

About the Presenters

Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson is a marine biologist, policy expert, writer, and teacher working to help create the best possible climate future. She co-founded and leads Urban Ocean Lab, a think tank for the future of coastal cities, and is the Roux Distinguished Scholar at Bowdoin College. Ayana authored the forthcoming book What If We Get it Right?: Visions of Climate Futures, co-edited the bestselling climate anthology All We Can Save, co-created and co-hosted the Spotify/Gimlet podcast How to Save a Planet, and co-authored the Blue New Deal, a roadmap for including the ocean in climate policy. She earned a BA in environmental science and public policy from Harvard University, and a Ph.D. in marine biology from Scripps Institution of Oceanography. She serves on the board of directors for Patagonia and GreenWave and on the advisory board of Environmental Voter Project. Above all: Ayana is in love with climate solutions.

Jade Begay, Diné and Tesuque Pueblo, is an Indigenous rights and climate policy expert, organizer, and filmmaker. Jade has partnered with Climate and Indigenous organizations and Tribal Nations from the Arctic to the Amazon to develop strategies, create stories, and build campaigns to mobilize engagement and impact around issues like climate change, Indigenous self determination, and environmental justice.

Currently, Jade is developing an environmental justice start-up, The EJ Agency and is currently a research fellow with RISE, building data on how climate change impacts Native Americans.

Jade serves on the board of Native Conservancy, Doc Society, Amazon Watch, and Evergreen Action.

In 2021, Jade was appointed by President Biden to serve on the first ever White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council.