At the 2024 Winter Briefing, leaders across philanthropy, government, and communities joined us to share their collaborations to advance environmental solutions at every level of government and community. We invite you to learn more about their work:
Resources from our Site Visit at Turner Station
The EGA site visit to Turner Station in Dundalk, Maryland, highlighted the environmental impacts of industrial operations on the land, water, air, and local communities. Members heard from the Turner Station Conservation Teams (TSCT) and NeighborSpace of Baltimore County, two organizations operating at the forefront of community climate resilience work affected by local urban industry. Our stops included Peach Orchard Lane Beach, Chestnut Park, Witness Tree Park, and Turner Station Park.
Left to right, top to bottom: 1. Peach Orchard Lane 2. Chestnut Park with Phyllis from NeighborSpace of Baltimore County and Gloria from the TSCT. 3. Henrietta Lacks’ House 4. Witness Tree Park
Learn more about the story of Turner Station, and how it became one of largest African American communities in Baltimore County challenging environmental injustice on the waterfront today.
- Explore Turner Station in photos, and how its residents are pushing for a brighter economic and environmental future.
- Chestnut Street Park, a model for park equity: “Turning the Tide in Turner Station” (a collaborative project between TSCT and NeighborSpace).
- How the Turner Station Community Climate Resilience Project aims to mitigate flooding and preserve housing.
Learn more about the environmental leaders advancing equitable solutions and a healthy democracy in Maryland
- Tiara Thomas is an American Indian educator, activist, and leader who currently serves as the Chair of the Maryland Commission on Indian Affairs. She is a member of the Piscataway Conoy tribe. She is the Education and Interpretation Director of the Accokeek Foundation. Tiara focuses on building “a greater Maryland” through honoring the Piscataway people and advancing Indigenous sovereignty through land recognition, traditional knowledge and tribal representation.
- Kacey Wetzel is the Vice President of Programs at the Chesapeake Bay Trust. The Chesapeake Bay Trust is a nonprofit quasi-state organization specializing in poolingstate, local, and federal resources to communities in Maryland. In 2023, the Trust established a $17M environmental justice participatory fund, the first large-scale environmental justice participatory fund in the region and aims to provide funding to communities and community-based organizations most impacted by climate injustices.
-Read about how the Trust is supporting unprecedented environmental justice funding in the Chesapeake Bay region. - Beth Harber is a Senior Community Development and Environment Program Officer with the Abell Foundation. The Abell Foundation focuses on Baltimore City and awards grants to nonprofits whose work improves Baltimore City’s health, economy, education, and disinvested communities. Their partners include:
-The Baltimore Tree Trust, a group of Baltimore residents dedicated to restoring the urban forest through tree plantings, community education, and stewardship
-Climate Partners, a group of government partners committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and creating more resilient communities in the DMV region. - Brooke Lierman is the 34th state comptroller and the first woman comptroller in Maryland's history. She has integrated climate justice as a key part of her work, establishing the first-ever climate resilience director in the comptroller's office. Brooke successfully helped pass the largest transit act in Maryland's history, the Transit Safety and Investment Act. She was also integral to supporting the state's historic Climate Solutions Now Act and is a key voice in directing pension investments to climate.
-Resource: Grant Opportunity from the Climate Solutions Now Act - Jen Brock is the Oceantic Network’s Chief of Staff. The Oceantic Network focuses on harnessing the power of offshore wind and other ocean renewable energy and equipping communities to transition to clean energy.
- Ava Richardson is the Director of the Baltimore Office of Sustainability. She and her sustainability team lead the implementation of the 2019 Baltimore Sustainability Plan, support the Commission on Sustainability, and convenes stakeholders and organizations across the city to advance sustainability initiatives with a special focus on environmental justice funding. The office works with several partners on initiatives that restore Baltimore’s communities and surrounding environment such as the Baltimore Waterfront Partnership and the Central Maryland Transportation Alliance.
- Aaron Hill is a Piano Artist, Mindfulness Practitioner, and creator of the 5 Minute Soulful Self Care practice. The 5 M’s is a five-minute self-care practice that incorporates music, movement, meditation, mindfulness, and mantras that help to increase overall peace.
- Cole Arthur Riley is a writer and poet who weaves threads of Black literature, spirituality, and Black emotion to craft collections such as Black Liturgies and This Here Flesh. Her works guide readers through introspective journeys of joy, rest, resistance, and collective liberation.
Tracking the Field Vol.8 Executive Summary Report and Resource Guide Now Available!
EGA members and partners can now access the Tracking the Field Volume 8 Executive Summary Report and the TTF Resource Guide. EGA members can access the full report and resource guide with a member log-in.
Resources from Mainstage Speakers
- Rachel Cychosz is the Community Resilience Coordination Division Director at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). She and her team apply data methodology to identify census tracts that are the most at risk of the effects of natural hazards and climate change through their Community Disaster Resilience Zones program (CDRZ). Through the program, FEMA aims to create community resilience through financial and technical assistance from public and private partners and to implement resilience projects. FEMA is currently developing methodology for Tribal & Territorial Areas.
- Adrienne Hollis, PhD, JD, is the Vice President for Environmental Justice, Public Health and Community Revitalization for the National Wildlife Federation. She leads the environmental justice team to advance environmental and climate justice policy and programs while examining the related health concerns posed. Dr. Hollis is the Co-director of the EPA Region III Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Center (EJ TCTAC) grant, in partnership with Dr. Sacoby Wilson and is an author of the 5th National Climate Assessment (NCA5) Mitigation Chapter.
-The Seventeen Principles of Environmental Justice
-[Watch] Dr. Adrienne Hollis, and Dr. Chavis discuss the health impact of the environment, climate justice and the adverse effects on a person’s health from extreme weather patterns and poor air quality.
Left to right: Adrienne Hollis, Kacey Wetzel, Ava Richardson, and Charmel Gaulden
- Charmel Gaulden is the CEO and President of the Foundation for Louisiana, which focuses on racial, economic, and climate justice. The foundation builds power in its local community through philanthropic leadership and has developed a fiscal sponsorship program allowing community initiatives access to financial and administrative resources.
-Their Lead the Coast program ignites community members to meet, learn and build power with each other towards climate change and environmental justice.
-Charmel and the Foundation partnered with the state of Louisiana to create LASAFE which addresses community resilience towards climate change. - Gabriel Jones is a Program Officer on Builders Initiative's Climate Equity team. Builders Initiative invests and supports individuals and organizations across four impact areas: food and agriculture, climate and energy, oceans, and community with a special focus on Chicago and the Midwest region. During the Grantmaking in Advocacy workshop, Gabriel shared about critical partnerships with groups in the Chicago and Midwest advancing environmental justice:
- Chicago Frontlines Funding Initiative (CFFI)
- Midwest Environment Network
- ReAmp
- Minneapolis Foundation
- NDN Collective
- We Want Green Too - Rebecca “Becca” Golden is the director of programs at the Ben & Jerry’s Foundation. The Foundation aims to advance racial equity in grantmaking through their National Grassroots Organizing program offers two-year unrestricted general operating support to small grassroots organizations across the country.
-How the Ben & Jerry’s Foundation gives in Vermont and beyond - Brooke Harper is the Program Director of Northeast Campaigns at the Energy Foundation. The Energy Foundation works to accelerate the transition to a clean energy economy by working alongside grantees and partners across the U.S. to educate policymakers and communities about the importance of a future fueled by clean energy. In Maryland, the Foundation has focused funding on advocacy efforts led by the Baltimore Transit Equity Coalition and implementing IRA funding.
Thank you for attending the 2024 Winter Briefing in Baltimore, Maryland!
Save the Date!
We look forward to seeing you at our next in-person gathering of the full membership at the 2024 Fall Retreat in Stevenson, Washington! Save the date for September 22-25, 2024!
EGA is committed to sustaining an impactful community through innovative programming and philanthropic networks acting in partnership with BIack, Indigenous, People of Color, and marginalized communities as a strategic value. As such, EGA’s programming at the 2024 Winter Briefing was guided by our desire for high-level grantmaking and organizational implementation of our Racial Equity POV.
