Cape Cod Commission announces OneCape keynote speakers, new virtual format

Annual OneCape Summit to be held virtually on August 23-24, 2021

The Cape Cod Commission is pleased to announce speakers for the upcoming OneCape Summit, including federal and state officials.

The OneCape Summit is a regional forum for collaboration, innovation, and excellence across major policy issues and areas.  Over the course of two days, sessions will cover strategies to address marine and freshwater quality, work to mitigate and adapt to climate-related impacts in the region, local and regional strategies to support housing needs, and building resilience within our natural, built, and community systems in a post-COVID economy.

To kick off the Summit, attendees will hear from Janet McCabe, Deputy Administrator for the US Environmental Protection Agency. Other plenary speakers include Ellen Dunham-Jones, Director of the Urban Design Program at Georgia Tech, who will talk about retrofitting suburban areas, and integrating issues of climate change, sustainability, affordable housing, and others, into development and its form.

Dan Wolf (Founder and CEO, Cape Air; former MA State Senator) and Dorothy Savarese (President and CEO, Cape Cod Five) will return for what’s sure to be an exciting conversation about pandemic realities and the ability of the region to rise to address challenges. They’ll be followed by Rosalin Acosta, MA Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development, discussing economic recovery.

Jamey Tesler, newly appointed Secretary of MA Department of Transportation, will participate in a panel discussion on Building a Climate Resilient Transportation Network. And Katie Theoharides, MA Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs will provide the Summit’s closing keynote address.

Attendees will also hear from landscape architect, Pamela Conrad whose expertise lies in climate-friendly design, and Chris Gloninger, meteorologist and climate change reporter, in addition to many other local and regional speakers.

With news of increasing COVID-19 cases and the Delta variant and keeping in mind the safety and health of attendees, speakers and our community, the 2021 OneCape Summit has been shifted to a fully virtual format. We look forward to gathering again in person when it’s safe to do so.

The 2021 OneCape Summit will be held on August 23 and 24. Registration is now open. For details and to register, please visit onecape.capecodcommission.org.