On April 1, 2020, CEJA’s Green Zones Committee hosted “Designing Equitable Policy: How to Advance Environmental Justice and Community Leadership in Your Work.” This webinar featured EJ community leaders and advocates who shared their stories on why it’s important to center EJ community voices in environmental and land use decision-making.
The webinar also served as the official launch party for CEJA’s newest report, “Rethinking Local Control in California: Placing Environmental Justice and Civil Rights at the Heart of Land Use Decision-Making.” The report highlights eight case studies that demonstrate how community-led decision-making can lead to better and more informed policymaking at the state, regional, and local levels. Building upon the lessons from these stories, the report also offers recommendations for advancing community-led decision-making and solutions for creating healthier, more equitable, and more common sense environmental decisions.
Webinar Video Recording
Presentation Slides
Go here to see our Webinar Q&A: Answers to Audience Questions
Learn more about CEQA, SB 1070 (Leyva), EJ land use solutions, best practices for community engagement, and how to organize during the COVID-19 crisis.
For more information about SB 1070 (Levya, 2020), please fill out this interest form.
Speakers
Adeyinka Glover works as an attorney in the Bakersfield Office of Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability, where she focuses on housing and land use work as well as advocating for budget investments in traditionally neglected communities. Adeyinka received her B.A. with a major in political science and a minor in Africana Studies from San Diego State University and her J.D. from the Thomas Jefferson School of Law.
Esther Goolsby is an Oakland native, a parent of three young adults, and a health and justice advocate who says it’s time for community-led, positive change. Esther has been a community volunteer with Communities for a Better Environment (CBE) since 2011 and was the East Oakland Organizer for three years. This primary in 2020, Esther ran for Alameda County Supervisor in District 4. She has served on boards and partnered with other local organizations because she is grounded in community and knows about the connection to the health of people and the environment.
Gabriela Ojeda is a community organizer with the Committee for a Better Arvin in the Community of Arvin, one of the most contaminated counties in the country. Gabriela is currently working with the Center on Race, Poverty, & Environment and Committee for a Better Arvin to combat the influence of the oil industry at a local and state level.
Chelsea Tu currently works as a senior attorney at the Center on Race, Poverty & the Environment, where she advocates for sustainable land use and infrastructure investments in low-income communities and communities of color. Chelsea received her law degree from the American University Washington College of Law, and completed her undergraduate work in environmental sciences at the University of California, Berkeley.