Session 11: Activating the Individual – Overcoming apathy and overwhelming feelings of inefficacy to inspire action and purpose within individuals

Afternoon Session

Chair: Shawn Mercer, singer/songwriter, activist, public speaker

This session will explore a variety of perspectives all focused on combating inaction. Session speakers will look to inspire individuals through science, philosophy, psychology, art, and spirituality. We recognize the ability of individuals to create powerful change, as well as the power of numbers in establishing movements that overcome the status quo.

Session Panelists

  • Rev. Sara Hayman, Unitarian Universalist Church of Ellsworth
  • Alejandro Strong, Philosophy, University of Maine

Sara HaymanRev. Sara Hayman
Unitarian Universalist Church of Ellsworth

Rev. Hayman is a Unitarian Universalist minister who grew up in Maine. Since August 2011, she’s been serving as minister at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Ellsworth, a small liberal religious congregation of approximately 140 members that’s passionate about environmental justice and finding faithful ways to address the climate crisis. Sara has studied some with Joanna Macy and is committed to supporting her congregation in learning about decolonization and building relationships of trust and accountability with Maine’s Wabanaki people.

Sara has her Master’s degree in social work from the University of Chicago and is a graduate of Meadville Lombard Theological School, a Unitarian Universalist seminary. Prior to becoming a parish minister, she worked as a hospice chaplain with a rural home health agency in Hancock County. Sara lives in Bucksport, ME with her partner.

Alejandro StrongAlejandro Strong
Philosophy, University of Maine

Alejandro is a professor of philosophy and canoe guide. He has spent the last two decades leading canoe trips on Maine’s rivers with Hurricane Island Outward Bound School and more recently with his company Apeiron Expeditions. His interests in philosophy include, U.S Transcendentalism, Latin American Philosophy, Feminism, and the connection of questions of culture, identity, and environmental context.