Celebrate the UP! 2020
UPEC’s annual celebration of everything that makes the U.P. great is coming March 27–28, 2020, to the Houghton–Hancock area.
Keynote Speaker:
Monica Lewis-Patrick, President,
We the People of Detroit
Friday, March 27, 7:00p
Finnish-American Heritage Center, Hancock •
Saturday, March 28, 9:30a
Great Lakes Research Center, MTU, Houghton
We are pleased to welcome Monica Lewis-Patrick (aka The Water Warrior), President and CEO of We the People of Detroit (WPD), as our keynote speaker for the 2020 Celebrate the UP! Ms. Lewis-Patrick co-founded WPD in 2008 in response to the state of Michigan’s emergency management declaration regarding the city of Detroit and its public schools.
Six years later, WPD began leading a grassroots response when the Detroit water department started a massive shutoff campaign against city residents who have unpaid water bills. Under the leadership of Lewis-Patrick and her management team, WPD has worked tenaciously with its network of volunteers to directly provide water to Detroit residents in need, promote equitable water payment plans, and advocate for a sustainable water future in which access to clean, safe water is considered a fundamental human right.
Ms. Lewis-Patrick will speak twice: on Friday evening, March 27, at 7:00p in the Finnish-American Heritage Center on the campus of Finlandia University in Hancock, and again on Saturday, March 28, at 9:30a in the Great Lakes Research Center on the campus of Michigan Tech in Houghton.
Check back here soon for a complete program of events.