Environmental Justice Initiatives
In all of my work, I am committed to intersectional environmentalism and have worked on a number of specific initiatives that predominantly feature environmental justice. While this is just a start, I believe in building authentic and meaningful relationships with communities impacted by environmental injustices and using my communications to amplify their voices over my own.
Programming and Planning
In July 2020, I oversaw the development of a Draft Environmental Justice Framework for Princeton University’s Office of Sustainability that included both short-term and long-term action items for implementation. I have engaged in environmental and racial justice planning discussions in higher education networks, and invited dialogue with practitioners in the environmental justice field.
A group photo of the Environmental Justice Wintersession Workshop’s organizers and participants.
I partnered with students from the Princeton University’s Undergraduate Student Government (USG) Sustainability Committee to host an intensive five-day Wintersession Workshop: Environmental Justice: What Can I Do? open to Princeton Undergraduate students, Graduate/Doctoral students and Faculty/Staff. Held over Zoom, the event engaged 30 participants and the workshop’s multiple guest speakers, community organizers and activists in Environmental Justice communities, equipped participants with critical tools for both understanding Environmental Justice and incorporating its principles into their own lives.
Poster from the Environmental Justice Symposium.
This was followed by the Environmental Justice Symposium: Meaningful Engagement Between Communities and Institutions of Higher Education which I co-organized with the USG, and the USG Sustainability Committee and facilitated the live-stream on the Princeton University Facebook, webinar and Q&A session on Zoom. This event was open to the public and the Facebook live received 2.7K views.
Both events sought to provide a platform for the Princeton community to hear lived experiences and stories from environmental justice (EJ) residents from local urban and indigenous communities. The Symposium began with a panel discussion with Q&A on the speakers’ EJ work and perspectives regarding relationships between EJ communities, students and student groups, and institutions of higher education. The discussion was followed by small group engagement, setting up participants with panelists to continue dialogues about how they can meaningfully engage with communities towards environmental justice.
The panel and subsequent Q&A discussion aimed to break down why institutions of higher education have not always had the best relationships with surrounding EJ communities, what intentional and unintentional biases and assumptions can complicate these relationships, and how the Princeton campus and others can work towards centering intergenerational, place-based, and community-powered change for the better.
Partnering with the Princeton University’s Facilities Organization, I organized a virtual Environmental Justice training for Facilities staff which was incorporated into their annual staff Diversity and Inclusion trainings.
Communications
Scales of Environmental Justice series on @tigersgogreen Instagram.
I also provided guidance for the Office’s communications platforms to amplify BIPOC voices and stories of those impacted by environmental degradation and climate change and make clearer connections to the roots of disparity and injustice.
Images courtesy of Princeton University’s Office of Sustainability.