Help me make 350PDX more inclusive!

Hello, 350PDX! My name is Anissa (ah-knee-sa), and I am the new Justice-Based Transition and Equity Organizer at 350PDX. I use they/them/their pronouns, and have a small office chihuahua, Roxie, who is a bundle of love and cuddles.

It is with immense gratitude and humility that I accepted this role, and I look forward to meeting everyone as we work together to build an inclusive movement to pursue climate justice and eliminate environmental racism. What does 350PDX mean by these terms?

Well, we are talking about an environmental movement that centers frontline communities, or those most directly and deeply impacted by climate change. For example, one may think of Standing Rock and other indigenous groups who are fighting pipelines pumping natural gas or oil. One also can look to the example of Beyond Toxics, in addressing air pollution in Latín and immigrant communities.

Or one can look at the example in the Portland Clean Energy Fund, where our organization has been part of a coalition led by communities of color with support from us and other environmental organizations to provide clean energy solutions and job training to low-income communities and communities of color.

Part of my role is to support the Portland Clean Energy Fund, but I am also going to support additional organizing around a Justice-Based Transition. This means that I will be discussing and centering upcoming projects that address communities most directly impacted by environmental and climate injustice. Connected to this goal, I will also build partnerships and conduct outreach to low-income communities, communities of color, young people, LGBTQ+ people, and people who have visible and invisible disabilities.

The last part of my work will be growing our (currently) very small Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Work Team to support teams at 350PDX in their work through a climate justice lens. This is where you can support me, and together we can create trainings and workshops to further the goals of equity, inclusion, and climate justice throughout our teams.

We are actively inviting folks to join us! Interested volunteers can reach me at anissa@350pdx.org or 503-281-1485. We will be meeting bi-weekly, starting in August, and we are very excited to have additional perspectives at the table.

Thank you again!