HOLLYWOOD – The Seminole Tribe’s fourth “Renewable Energy and Sustainability Conference” is returning this year after a pause in 2021. The last conference took place just weeks before COVID-19 was declared a pandemic March 11, 2020.

After considering an in-person conference with a virtual option this year, organizers decided Jan. 7 to host it in a virtual format only. It is scheduled to take place Feb. 22 to Feb. 24 through the Native Learning Center (NLC) in Hollywood.

“We are super honored to have the leaders of DOE’s Indian Energy Department as our keynote speakers,” NLC executive director Georgette Palmer Smith (Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma/Choctaw), said.

The keynote speakers are all in the Department of Energy’s Office of Indian Energy Policy and Programs. They are Wahleah Johns (Navajo/Dine Tribe), director; Lizana Pierce, deployment supervisor and senior engineer; and Tommy Jones (Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma), deployment specialist.

Smith and organizers from the tribe’s energy committee said the conference would focus on the newly changing landscape for tribal energy development and sustainability.

“[It] will give tribes and First Nations an opportunity to explore the range of renewable energy and sustainability opportunities that exist and how to start the process,” organizers said.

In addition to the keynote speakers, there will be presentations from members of Native American tribes and First Nations, as well as those representing tribal organizations and private industry.

The conference attracts attendees from across Indian Country – whether tribal members or those working for tribes – who share up-to-date information and best practices on a variety of sustainability, energy security and energy sovereignty issues.

There is no cost to attend. To register, click here.

The NLC is located at 6363 Taft Street. It is supported by an Indian Housing Block Grant, which is awarded by the Office of Native American Programs at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). More information is at nativelearningcenter.com.