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Inclusion and development of environmental allies and leaders I.D.E.A.L, Anne Marie Hertl
- 1. I N CLU S I O N , P R I V I L EG E A N D T H E E N V I RO N M E N T ( A N N E M A R I E H E RT L , C O M M U N I T Y A C T I V I S M M A N A G E R , W M E A C
- 2. A C KN O W L E D G E M E N T O F P R I V I L E G E
- 3. D E MO G R A P H I C S 2042 68%
- 4. – T HE S T A T E O F D I V E R S I T Y I N E N V I R O N M E N T A L O R G A N I Z A T I O N S , J U L Y 2 0 1 4 “As the nation continues to diversify, the environmental movement is left with one of the greatest challenges it will face this century. In order to become an influential and sustainable movement for generations to come, it needs to successfully address its diversity crisis. ”
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- 7. C L IM A T E C H A N G E A N D C O M M U N I T I E S O F C O L O R - G R E E N F O R A L L J U L Y 2 0 1 4
- 9. T H ES TAT E O F D I V E R S I T Y I N E N V I R O N M E N TA L O R G A N I Z AT I O N S “Outreach” Practices Messaging Community Partners Hiring Practices
- 10. IDEAL ( I NC L U S I O N A N D D E V E L O P M E N T O F E N V I R O N M E N T A L A L L I E S A N D L E A D E R S )
- 11. – G RA N D R A P I D S C L I M A T E R E S I L I E N C Y R E P O R T “Underserved, low-income and minority populations will be disproportionately impacted by climate change. Resiliency efforts in all aspects of community planning should recognize this”
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Editor's Notes
- #2 Thank you Read the title I am relatively new to the formal environmental sector. As I have moved around in this space it has been obvious to me that not only are most environmentalists white, but most environmentalists aren’t talking about race.
- #3 It is my hope today that you begin to think about your work a little differently. It may be uncomfortable, but these are conversations we need to have in our community because these are conversations I don’t hear often in our (environmental) community. But, first, I want to call it out. I’m white! And, as a white college educated privileged person--I need to call out that I experience privilege as a white member of this community. I want to call out that I have the opportunity to share my perspective on environmental racism coming from a space of privilege. Outline other forms of privilege—socio economic, religion, race, gender, etc. Frame global inclusivity
- #4 US Census Bureau expects by the year 2042 that our national demographics will shift from a white majority to a non-white majority. So, if we say that most environmentalists are white, then at its base level, past moral sentiment, this is a sustainability issue of the movement itself. To become more effective by becoming more relevant and accessible to more people. There was a study conducted last year by the organization Green For All called Climate Change and Communities of Color. They polled minority voters across the nation (including Michigan) and they 68% of the minority voters polled feel climate change is an issue we need to be worried about right now. So, are environmentalists really white? No, absolutely not. The environmental movement has yet to capture the interest of non-white communities.
- #5 The solutions to race equity and inclusion within the environmental movement will require intentionality from all of us. This is tough work. This isn’t a narrative to demonize our work, but rather a narrative to recognize and own how our priorities, our own practices have perpetuated racial exclusion. Because when we can take ownership and responsibility that is when we can change what’s wrong. We all have lived experiences that influence where we are today. I grew up hiking, camping, being outside constantly. I was instilled with a sense to value, appreciate, and spend time with nature. Those experiences growing up make it easy for me to advocate for environmental protection, but no one else had my experience. I can’t assume people are going to want to protect the environment for the same reasons as I do. I believe it’s time to be more flexible. It’s time to challenge and broaden our understanding of what an environment is and who an environmentalist is. Cultural diversity supports biodiversity.
- #6 Why aren’t there more people of color involved in the traditional environmental movement? Some of it comes from our history. Think about slavery—tending the land for a master, the connotations of what it means for a slave to go in the woods and never come back out [pause]—Think about the deep injustices that our food culture has caused to our Latino and Hispanic communities. Think about Native Americans being the original environmentalists, yet the mainstream environmental movement doesn’t adequately capture the Native American voice. We can’t ignore that this history and our decisions may have impacted minorities to interact with the dominant environmental movement differently.
- #7 So, how do you get people of color to advocate for your organization and share your jobs? You must spend time building trusted relationships with people and organizations outside of your expected network who can advocate with you and for you and Come to the table without an agenda. Whether it’s a person or an organization or a community representative—there are times you simply cannot come to the table with an agenda—you need to be present to listen and to support. When we are honest about the systemic connections between our work we can see more clearly how environmental topics impact a lot of stuff that is already going on! This needs to be an intersectional conversation—For example, we can connect race equity & climate change, green jobs & poverty, health & energy generation. So, connect with more organizations that are outside of the traditional environmental sector. Join the Greater-Grand Rapids Racial Equity Network or join my friends at Seeds of Promise in South East Grand Rapids to support their own self-identified community’s priorities. Find the common priorities. In an era where time may be the most valuable resource—this idea may scare a lot of you. Your leadership needs to be committed the time it takes to build relationships. It is about organizational integration, not an add on.
- #8 So, what about the other side of the story? Something I hear all the time, “but, minorities don’t care about the environment” Maybe that’s too harsh to hear. I think that is just a silly argument. How do you build capacity? We found a willing group that hasn’t been properly tapped yet. Grow numbers.—base of the pyramid. Van Jones’ Green for All conducted a national survey last year, including Michigan, and they polled minority voters to gain some insight into environmental policy. There were five key findings and all of them show why I said it is a silly argument. Climate change is a high-profile issue for minority voters These voters agree that climate change is a problem for the future and feel the country is not doing enough Minority voters are pragmatic about environmental issues and are most concerned about the immediate ways in which their communities are affected (economically) MV are optimistic about the economic benefits of addressing environmental issues. A Green Economy will create new industries and good-paying jobs MV make sense of these issues through the prism of their values and believe that we have a moral obligation to address climate change There was a study conducted last year by the organization Green For All called Climate Change and Communities of Color. They polled minority voters across the nation (including Michigan) and they 68% of the minority voters polled feel climate change is an issue we need to be worried about right now. So, are environmentalists really white? No, absolutely not. The environmental movement has yet to capture the interest of non-white communities.
- #9 But, our story continues to evolve! Another report was released in 2014 and the timing couldn’t have been more perfect to confirm what we were thinking at WMEAC and to give us an academic framework to start reacting to what we were learning about race and environment. The State of Diversity in Environmental Organizations was a national survey conducted by Dr. Dorceta Taylor from the University of Michigan. The survey of over 200 environmental organizations from across the country shared startlingly low rates of employment, leadership, and members from communities of color in environmental organizations. And, at that, a fair number of the positions that were hires from communities of color were hired into the organizations “Diversity Manager” position! The highest percentage at 25% was among the intern population, but it was clear the upwards mobility and retention was difficult. ***You can see this rather upsetting and obvious dynamic developing here--We know climate change will negatively impact our communities of color, minority voters support climate change policy, but there are few racial minorities working at environmental organizations, members or volunteers of environmental organizations. Why?? But, one reason we know environmentalists are white is that there are few non-white employees, members, and leadership of environmental organization. A report was released in 2014 and it gives us an academic framework to stop ignoring these glaring disparities. The State of Diversity in Environmental Organizations was a national survey of over 200 organizations conducted by Dr. Dorceta Taylor from the University of Michigan. Figure 3.2 shows how these positions are disproportionately distributed amongst Whites and minorities. Not only are there relatively few minorities in leadership positions, minorities are very unlikely to be the “face” of the conservation and preservation organizations. The numbers showed that people of color were hired into “back of office” positions like accounting or administration and “out of office” positions such as community organizer or outreach director. And, at that, a fair number of the positions that were hires from communities of color were the organizations “Diversity Manager” and even then out 200 organizations there are less than 10 Diversity Managers! Hiring Practices: Using WMEAC as an example. We have been around a long time in the community and while we have always tried to facilitate diversity among staff and board leadership but it wasn’t enough. As a part of our own inclusion and diversity initiative called IDEAL, the first thing we did was update our policies to post more. But, we learned organizations depend heavily on word of mouth for job dissemination. So, even if we posted it in 50 locations around town we still needed advocates (who are from our marginalized communities) who would share our jobs through their own networks. Please don’t just rely on me and our experience. Invest in your organization—check out the report The State of Diversity in Environmental Organizations, go through the Partners for a Racism Free Community assessment, hire a consultant who specializes in diversity and inclusion! The excuse of, “people of color just don’t apply” isn’t a viable excuse anymore. We’re smarter than that.
- #10 My last three years of working on our IDEAL initiative have brought me to these four points of opportunity for genuine growth of both individual environmental organizations and of the environmental movement. You know…I am only 26 years old so I still get to pretend I know all the answers… Outreach Practices and White Knighting practices. Using a white-dominant perspective to identify environmental degradation, riding in a white horse to save the day and save this community from these environmental things. There is an implicit power-dynamic that may perpetuate the “savior and those need saving.” Although, well-intended, it is projecting traditional environmental issues onto a non-traditional environmental community. Messaging: Historical environmentalism promotes land conservation and land protection. Modern environmentalism talks of global climate change like melting ice caps and polar bears. While all of those are important, an individual that does not relate to those issues will likely not prioritize those issues. The environmental movement has a challenge to become more relevant to more people. This expands past race towards proving relevance from anyone who does not identify as a traditional environmentalist—for example, focusing more on urban environmentalism over land conservation. Community Partners: traditional non-profit siloing. However, everyone lives in an environment of some kind. Neighborhoods, homes, regions, etc. I would challenge non-environmental organizations to invite environmental organizations to your table—see where the connections can be made and where the support can begin. Environmentalism as a social justice tenant is complimentary of and connect to all other social justice tenants. Hiring Practices: Using WMEAC as an example. We have been around a long time in the community and while we have always been a small organization facilitating diversity among staff and board leadership has been a goal. We have tried to find candidates, we would post job applications around town, we would spend money and time getting the job openings out there—but, it would rarely yield a hire of a minority community member. The applicant pool was always lacking racial and class diversity. As a part of our IDEAL initiative, we were able to spend significant time updating our policies and we learned from The State of Diversity report from U of M, WMEAC and other environmental organizations depend heavily on word of mouth for job dissemination. Although we were intentional to post the job opening, it simply wasn’t enough. With support of our IDEAL Advisors we created a list of over 30 posting locations, networks, groups, websites, and newspapers to share job opportunities—particularly sharing it with our racial equity partners in the community to expand our reach and network. Then, we had to review our hiring procedure—getting as many people involved up front we created a resume review committee made up of leadership, staff, member of our IDEAL Advisory board, and community stakeholders to score applicants and cumulative scores will move applicants through next stages—combatting the unconscious bias of an individual. Has anyone heard of the term White Knighting? Riding in valiantly on your white horse to save the princess? Ask yourself—is our outreach harming or helping? Outreach practices like white knighting, although, well-intended, it may perpetuate an implicit power-dynamic of the savior and those need saving. And, without community buy-in you will be less effective and those changes likely won’t last. Instead of working in a community, we want to work with a community. Find the common priorities you share with communities. But, guess what? You can’t learn about those common priorities until you are present and open. When you come to the table without an agenda and build genuine relationships the opportunities for productive, non-harmful partnerships will show themselves—I can’t understate this—working in this space for the last three years there are countless examples of complimentary work with non-environmental organizations. People will want to work with you—people want to be better stewards, but we need to be sure it is complimentary to the communities own priorities.
- #11 This is WMEAC’s intentional, comprehensive approach to addressing our racial equity crisis. What did we accomplish— We developed and built trusting relationships, we have a committed committee of Advisors who check us, they guide us, they advise us. We respond to their recommendations. We have grown a scholar program to bring non-traditional environmental students into the organization. They have supported our policy and procedure updates, created communication pieces, conducted outreach, even event planning and public speaking. We also spent a lot of time listening ourselves—we hosted 25 deep-listening sessions, focus groups, and perception surveys to listen and learn about environmental topics from non-traditional partners like neighborhood associations and faith-based organizations located south of Wealthy St! What is next—still need to bring to hire a person of color! Still need placement among leadership positions in the organization. There is always more to do.
- #12 Climate Resiliency Report--- Our racial minority communities will be disproportionately impacted by climate change. City of Grand Rapids recognizing and calling this out in an official capacity—and have plans to address and work towards these recommendations. Resilient framework. ***You can see this rather upsetting and obvious dynamic developing here--We know climate change will negatively impact our communities of color, but there are few racial minorities working at environmental organizations, members or volunteers of environmental organizations, even though minority voters will likely support climate change policy. ***We must include the full community. Always challenge yourself to apply a race equity lens on your work. There are positive opportunities here to elevate traditionally marginalized voices. If we hear that a community wants good jobs and their housing stock is subpar—let’s create an opportunity for workforce development, update insulation in homes and improve air quality while decreasing energy usage.
- #13 What does this look like in practice? We have been apart of a collaborative since 2013 with a whole bunch of partners like the Health Department, Healthy Homes Coalition, U of M, Head Start, to map asthma within the city of GR. Why asthma? Asthma is the most prevalent chronic disease among children today. Asthma is a symptom of environmental injustices in Kent County. (Poor housing and indoor air quality, outdoor air particulate matter, highways/traffic, combustion of fossil fuels even) All of these are environmental variables and asthma triggers. This is a disease where managing exposure to triggers can save a child from an emergency room visit, or can help them play outside! If we use a race equity lens on climate change impacts over our most impacted and vulnerable communities we know where we can focus on preventative and mitigation measures. For example, more cooling centers, better alerts for ozone action days, better IAQ. How can I apply the race equity lens on my work?
- #14 We need to start meeting communities where they are. Historical environmentalism promotes land conservation and land protection. Modern environmentalism talks of global climate change like melting ice caps and polar bears. While all of those are important, an individual that does not relate to those issues will likely not prioritize those issues. The environmental movement has a challenge to become more relevant to more people. This expands past race to anyone who does not identify as a traditional environmentalist. It is time to stop pushing people where we want them to go and time to start meeting people where they are. Only then, can we move forward together. Thank you.