During this virtual fireside chat, Capita Co-Founder + CEO Joe Waters will join U.S. Early Years Climate Action Task Force member Congresswoman Jennifer McClellan (D-Virginia) to discuss how the United States can help young children, zero to 8, flourish in the face of climate change.
Speakers:
Jennifer McClellan entered the U.S. Congress in 2023 after winning a special election to replace the late Congressman A. Donald McEachin. A lifelong Virginia native, McClellan was born in Petersburg to parents who served the community: her father worked as a professor at Virginia State University and her mother worked as a counselor at VSU. McClellan attended Matoaca High School in Chesterfield County, where she was valedictorian. She earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Richmond, where she served as a Charter member of the Rho Rho Chapter of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. She then obtained her Juris Doctorate from the University of Virginia School of Law. McClellan has served the greater Richmond area in elected office for nearly twenty years. She was first elected to the Virginia House of Delegates in 2005 and served in that post until she was elected to the Virginia State Senate in 2017, where she succeeded A. Donald McEachin after his election to the U.S. House of Representatives.
In Congress, she sits on the House Armed Services Committee and the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee. A principled and progressive legislator, McClellan has always worked to ensure Virginians’ voices are heard in government. Throughout her eighteen sessions in the Virginia General Assembly, McClellan passed over 370 pieces of legislation, including landmark bills to protect and expand voting rights, combat climate change, preserve reproductive health care, and enhance workers’ protections and labor rights. McClellan lives in Richmond with her husband, David Mills, and their two children, Jackson and Samantha.
Joe Waters is a social entrepreneur and co-founder + CEO of Capita. Joe spends his days thinking about how we can build a future in which children and families can realize their full potential in a just, peaceful, prosperous society on a healthier, cleaner, and safer planet. Joe also serves as a Senior Advisor at Openfields, a Greenville, South Carolina-based consulting firm. Prior to starting Capita, Joe was the Executive Vice President of the Institute for Child Success.
A 2021 Aspen Institute Ascend Fellow, his commentary on issues facing America’s families has been published by Investor’s Business Daily, The Hill, Newsweek, Stanford Social Innovation Review , The Charlotte Observer , The Atlanta Journal-Constitution , Nonprofit Quarterly, Early Learning Nation, and other outlets. He has moderated public dialogues with diverse figures including National Book Award finalist Jason Reynolds, former president of the American Enterprise Institute Arthur Brooks, and architect Itai Palti. Joe has been an invited speaker at the White House’s first forum on social impact finance, the Aspen Forum on Children and Families, the Lego Idea Conference, Think Future, and the World Forum on Early Care and Education.
He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Felician Center, which helps those who struggle to meet their basic needs in rural Williamsburg County, South Carolina and Book Harvest. He graduated from Furman University (BA, history) and earned a master’s degree in divinity from Duke University..