“Washington University in St. Louis“ is the recipient of a 2026 AASHE Campus Sustainability Achievement Award. This webinar is part of the 2026 Awards Showcase highlighting all four winners in this category.

The Midwest Climate Collaborative (MCC) launched in 2022 with a broad vision and network of partners to address climate change. Since its launch, the network has grown from 20 to over 80 members, composed of colleges and universities, local governments, businesses, and nonprofits. The MCC provides the collaboration infrastructure to link people to one another and channel the resources they need to accelerate progress, whether they are conducting research, drafting and implementing policy, teaching and communicating, designing systems, or any other myriad of roles related to addressing climate change.

In this webinar, presenters will share how the Midwest Climate Collaborative has evolved and discuss contributions to its success in bringing together organizations across sectors for meaningful engagement. Some of those contributions include joint grant proposals, shared learning on common challenges–from project financing to food waste solutions–and leadership development for students and young professionals. Presenters will also highlight the collaborative’s annual summit, which most recently brought together over 500 people to Case Western Reserve University. Ultimately, the MCC is demonstrating how we move out of silos to facilitate authentic relationships that bring value to partners of varying sizes and scales for equitable climate solutions.

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Presenters

Heather Navarro, Director of the Midwest Climate Collaborative Heather Navarro is the inaugural director of the Midwest Climate Collaborative, starting in January 2022 with the launch of the MCC. Previously, Heather served as an Alderperson in the City of St. Louis from 2017 – 2022 where she sponsored the first building energy performance standard in the Midwest, solar-ready requirements, and an EV-ready building code. Heather previously served from 2013-2020 as the Executive Director of the Missouri Coalition for the Environment, a state-wide environmental advocacy organization. In that role, she was actively engaged with the Mississippi River Collaborative, the Missouri Clean Energy Coalition, and many other collaborative efforts. A Washington University graduate, Heather earned both a bachelor’s degree in environmental studies in Arts & Sciences in 2001 and a JD from the School of Law in 2008. Her legal practice was primarily with a public interest law firm representing clients in racial and disability discrimination matters. In addition to this experience, Heather was a fellow with the Public Leaders for Inclusion Council in 2021 and has served on the Missouri Municipal League Board as well as a variety of other local, state, and national boards.