Making Connections, Part 3 of 4
Long before COVID, people in the U.S. and across the world have struggled with loneliness, isolation, and lack of social connection. In 2023, Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy declared loneliness an epidemic and announced a strategy to help reverse this alarming trend. And months later, journalist Allison Gilbert reported for the New York Times about the appointment of world-renowned therapist Dr. Ruth Westheimer as New York State’s Ambassador to Loneliness, the first such position in the country. Reimagine and Allison are co-hosting a new series to learn about strategies to build deeper connections, particularly among the most vulnerable.
At this session, Allison, educator Isaias Hernandez, and sociologist Pamela Prickett discuss systems and inequities that isolate people throughout the arc of the life cycle? What role does nature, the built environment, and public infrastructure have in forming stronger connections among families and communities? Everyone is welcome. Bring your most pressing questions!
About Reimagine
Reimagine is a nonprofit organization catalyzing a uniquely powerful community–people of different backgrounds, ages, races, and faiths (and no faith) coming together in the hopes of healing ourselves and the world. We specifically support each other in facing adversity, loss, and mortality and–at our own pace– actively channeling life's biggest challenges into meaningful action and growth.
Speaker
Isaias Hernandez is an educator and creative devoted to improving environmental literacy through content creation, storytelling, and public engagements. Isaias is more commonly known by his moniker, Queer Brown Vegan: the independent media platform he started to bring intersectional environmental education to all. His journey to deconstruct complex issues, while centering diversity and authenticity, has resonated with a worldwide audience. He also collaborates with other leaders from the private and public sectors to uplift and produce stories of change for his independent web series, Sustainable Jobs and Teaching Climate Together. Isaias has been featured in several noteworthy publications, including Vogue, New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, and Yale Climate Communications. His social media advocacy earned him recognition as a top climate creator by Harvard C-CHANGE. As a public speaker, he’s presented for New York Times, Nike, Environmental Media Association, Billie Eilish’s Overheated Summit, Harvard University, Deloitte, and more. He recently co-produced the Symbiocene event series in London and New York City.
Pamela Prickett is an associate professor of sociology at the University of Amsterdam, where she teaches and conducts research on urban inequality, community-building, death/dying, religion, gender, and mental health. She has written two books about Los Angeles, including Believing in South Central: Everyday Islam in the City of Angels (Chicago 2021) and The Unclaimed: Abandonment and Hope in the City of Angels (Crown 2024), coauthored with Stefan Timmermans. Before academia, Pamela worked in television as a producer and host. She earned her PhD in sociology from UCLA.
https://www.pamelaprickett.com/
Host
Allison Gilbert is the host of Reimagine’s Passed and Present conversation series and author and co-author of numerous books, including Listen, World!: How the Intrepid Elsie Robinson Became America’s Most-Read Woman; Passed and Present: Keeping Memories of Loved Ones Alive; and Always Too Soon: Voices of Support for Those Who Have Lost Both Parents. She serves on the Advisory Board of the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors and is a past Board Member of the National Alliance for Children’s Grief.
A regular contributor to the New York Times and other publications, Allison launched Pub Day, a literary consultancy, to help writers best-position their book ideas for publication.
