Resources
Here you will find a list of resources about environmental equity and justice. These are meant to be informative, but we acknowledge that this is not a robust and cohesive list of all resources available. For more resources, we advise to conduct more research and connect with DEI consultants and experts.
Diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice vocabulary sheet
This vocabulary sheet is meant to be a resource and reference for the conversations as we navigate the discussion through this day. This vocabulary resource sheet was collated through a variety of resources, including: the Movement for Black Lives, National Congress of American Indians, First Nations Community Health Source, the Avarna Group, Gender Justice League, Oxfam, Layla Saad, Gender Spectrum & the Tri-College Library Research Guide for Allyship & Anti-Oppression.
Hannah Wilson, Keystone Speech
Presentation description: Identity heavily shapes our values and the work we dive ourselves into. Growing up, Hannah did not see role models or leaders in her community that looked like her or served to uplift someone like her until she found her way into environmental justice work. Her experience as a Black queer disabled woman gives her an intersectional lens and personal investment to address environmental justice issues in her communities. Becoming a leader in this movement has also meant for Hannah to address personal struggles and grow to better serve others.
Michael Chang (Cascadia Consulting Group/Makah Tribe), Scientific imperialism: tensions between Western Science and Indigenous Knowledge Systems
Presentation description: In light of multiple national and international climate change reports, there has been an emerging conflict in how some systems of science, knowledges, and understanding, specifically Indigenous and Local Knowledge systems, are excluded because they do not meet the "standards" of Western science. This presentation will explore existing tensions around how knowledge is constructed and how Western science constructs dominate scientific research agendas, who is included (or excluded) from participation or representation, and how we can begin to shift the paradigm of what we consider as valid science and knowledge.
Zoltan Grossman (Evergreen State College), Unlikely Alliances of Native Nations and their neighbors on the frontlines
Presentation description: As Native nations asserted treaty rights, they were confronted by white neighbors fearful of losing control over natural resources. Yet faced with an outside threat to the common land and water, such as coal trains or oil terminals, some communities unexpectedly joined to protect the same treaty resources. The University of Washington Press book "Unlikely Alliances: Native Nations and White Communities Join to Defend Rural Lands" explores this evolution from conflict to cooperation in the Pacific Northwest (including Quinault and Lummi) and elsewhere. These rural crosscultural populist alliances offer a hopeful alternative to working only with mainstream urban environmental groups.
Sean Watts, PhD (SM Watts Consulting), Bridging the great divide: Reconciling environmental justice and traditional environmental movements
Presentation description: Over the past two decades historically white-led (HWL) environmental organizations have begun to acknowledge their lack of diversity, however the sector has had limited success in increasing diversity and working effectively with community-based organizations (CBOs). Even with the best intentions, lack of understanding and sensitivity has resulted in missteps — deepening distrust of HWL organizations. This divide perpetuates the concentration of power, influence and money in HWL organizations and the disconnect between environmental, social and economic health and wellbeing. I present opportunities to address the “original sin” of exclusivity in ways that recognize the expertise of CBOs and facilitates authentic partnership.
Maritza Mendoza and Lisa Kenny (EarthCorps), Resource groups: a strategy to address representation of marginalized communities
Presentation summary: People of color make up only 12- 16% of people working in environmental organizations, foundations and government agencies (Dorceta, 2014). EarthCorps, an environmental non-profit, shares a similar statistic with PoC making up 17% of staff and 20% of our AmeriCorps members. Resource groups offer an opportunity for members to process what it means to perform and exist in these white-dominated spaces and start to work towards liberation and empowerment with other people who share similar lived experiences. The changes sparked from EarthCorps’ resource group have already started to increase the ability for PoC to support, mobilize and empower each other.
Luz María Cárdenas, Emma-Maria Maceda, and Bình Tran (Community Health Advocates), Equitable Partnerships and Community Empowerment: Building a Health Promotion Program to Advance Environmental Justice in the Lower Duwamish Superfund Site
Part 1 and Part 2
Presentation summary: The program established by Public Health-Seattle & King County (PHSKC) for the EPA, focuses on building capacity and creating power-sharing spaces for agencies to partner directly with us, the community members so that we can provide input on decisions that affect us. We build capacity by bringing our communities together, training our community members to become Community Health Advocates (CHA), and empowering the CHAs to work towards a solution to protect their health. Our work allows us to talk with decision makers on breaking down the barriers that affect us and give our community a voice so that we can work together to help create a change for future generations.
Maria Baron Palamar and Graise Lee Jenni (Resolve Conservation), Data as a good to leverage science, funding, and actions
Presentation summary: How can we leverage community capacity to collect and share data? How can we influence partnerships, funding and the direction of science in our community? Generally, in every community, large research institutions obtain the funding, formulate the question, design the study, analyze the data, and synthesize results while becoming gatekeepers of the data. The community, involved in data collection, has little access to the scientific process, becoming the equivalent free labor. We are exploring a shift in the way we fund, store and use data, removing the need for centralized data management so it can become a trusted community good.
Diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice vocabulary sheet
This vocabulary sheet is meant to be a resource and reference for the conversations as we navigate the discussion through this day. This vocabulary resource sheet was collated through a variety of resources, including: the Movement for Black Lives, National Congress of American Indians, First Nations Community Health Source, the Avarna Group, Gender Justice League, Oxfam, Layla Saad, Gender Spectrum & the Tri-College Library Research Guide for Allyship & Anti-Oppression.
Hannah Wilson, Keystone Speech
Presentation description: Identity heavily shapes our values and the work we dive ourselves into. Growing up, Hannah did not see role models or leaders in her community that looked like her or served to uplift someone like her until she found her way into environmental justice work. Her experience as a Black queer disabled woman gives her an intersectional lens and personal investment to address environmental justice issues in her communities. Becoming a leader in this movement has also meant for Hannah to address personal struggles and grow to better serve others.
Michael Chang (Cascadia Consulting Group/Makah Tribe), Scientific imperialism: tensions between Western Science and Indigenous Knowledge Systems
Presentation description: In light of multiple national and international climate change reports, there has been an emerging conflict in how some systems of science, knowledges, and understanding, specifically Indigenous and Local Knowledge systems, are excluded because they do not meet the "standards" of Western science. This presentation will explore existing tensions around how knowledge is constructed and how Western science constructs dominate scientific research agendas, who is included (or excluded) from participation or representation, and how we can begin to shift the paradigm of what we consider as valid science and knowledge.
Zoltan Grossman (Evergreen State College), Unlikely Alliances of Native Nations and their neighbors on the frontlines
Presentation description: As Native nations asserted treaty rights, they were confronted by white neighbors fearful of losing control over natural resources. Yet faced with an outside threat to the common land and water, such as coal trains or oil terminals, some communities unexpectedly joined to protect the same treaty resources. The University of Washington Press book "Unlikely Alliances: Native Nations and White Communities Join to Defend Rural Lands" explores this evolution from conflict to cooperation in the Pacific Northwest (including Quinault and Lummi) and elsewhere. These rural crosscultural populist alliances offer a hopeful alternative to working only with mainstream urban environmental groups.
Sean Watts, PhD (SM Watts Consulting), Bridging the great divide: Reconciling environmental justice and traditional environmental movements
Presentation description: Over the past two decades historically white-led (HWL) environmental organizations have begun to acknowledge their lack of diversity, however the sector has had limited success in increasing diversity and working effectively with community-based organizations (CBOs). Even with the best intentions, lack of understanding and sensitivity has resulted in missteps — deepening distrust of HWL organizations. This divide perpetuates the concentration of power, influence and money in HWL organizations and the disconnect between environmental, social and economic health and wellbeing. I present opportunities to address the “original sin” of exclusivity in ways that recognize the expertise of CBOs and facilitates authentic partnership.
Maritza Mendoza and Lisa Kenny (EarthCorps), Resource groups: a strategy to address representation of marginalized communities
Presentation summary: People of color make up only 12- 16% of people working in environmental organizations, foundations and government agencies (Dorceta, 2014). EarthCorps, an environmental non-profit, shares a similar statistic with PoC making up 17% of staff and 20% of our AmeriCorps members. Resource groups offer an opportunity for members to process what it means to perform and exist in these white-dominated spaces and start to work towards liberation and empowerment with other people who share similar lived experiences. The changes sparked from EarthCorps’ resource group have already started to increase the ability for PoC to support, mobilize and empower each other.
Luz María Cárdenas, Emma-Maria Maceda, and Bình Tran (Community Health Advocates), Equitable Partnerships and Community Empowerment: Building a Health Promotion Program to Advance Environmental Justice in the Lower Duwamish Superfund Site
Part 1 and Part 2
Presentation summary: The program established by Public Health-Seattle & King County (PHSKC) for the EPA, focuses on building capacity and creating power-sharing spaces for agencies to partner directly with us, the community members so that we can provide input on decisions that affect us. We build capacity by bringing our communities together, training our community members to become Community Health Advocates (CHA), and empowering the CHAs to work towards a solution to protect their health. Our work allows us to talk with decision makers on breaking down the barriers that affect us and give our community a voice so that we can work together to help create a change for future generations.
Maria Baron Palamar and Graise Lee Jenni (Resolve Conservation), Data as a good to leverage science, funding, and actions
Presentation summary: How can we leverage community capacity to collect and share data? How can we influence partnerships, funding and the direction of science in our community? Generally, in every community, large research institutions obtain the funding, formulate the question, design the study, analyze the data, and synthesize results while becoming gatekeepers of the data. The community, involved in data collection, has little access to the scientific process, becoming the equivalent free labor. We are exploring a shift in the way we fund, store and use data, removing the need for centralized data management so it can become a trusted community good.