Green Careers Event Inspires Next-Gen Black Environmental Leaders
Rebeca Villegas talks environmental justice and connecting HBCU students with green careers
In order to protect nature and achieve environmental justice, we need diverse voices and leaders at the decision-making table. Yet, the staff at environmental nonprofits , government agencies, and foundations are still overwhelmingly White. According to the latest Green 2.0 Report, while people of color make up 36% of the U.S. population, employee diversity at environmental nonprofits, government agencies, and foundations is closer to 16%.
At Planet Women, we envision a world where the vibrant diversity of earth’s people collaborate on equal footing to care for the planet — a vision that overlaps with the work of our partners at the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) and their HBCU Green Careers Roundtable program, which connects Black students and students of color to green careers.
“Report after report has proven that people of color support environmental protection at a higher rate than White people and as a movement, we haven’t done the best job at both recruiting and retaining talent of color,” said Mustafa Santiago Ali, NWF’s vice president of environmental justice, climate, and community revitalization. “To win on the climate crisis, we must engage and center the voices of people that have been disproportionately impacted by environmental degradation, including Black, Indigenous, Latine, Asian, Pacific Islander, and communities of lower wealth.”
The HBCU Green Careers Roundtable program, co-sponsored by Planet Women and Re:wild, has a unique “speed dating” format, in which practitioners from across the environmental sector share brief, personal stories about their career journeys and offer candid advice to emerging professionals.
We spoke with Rebeca Villegas, NWF’s Environmental Justice Sr. Program Manager, about this exciting project. Be sure to check out the video linked below!
Planet Women: Tell us about the HBCU program and the Green Careers Roundtable that NWF recently hosted.
Rebeca Villegas: Our HBCU Green Careers Professional Development Roundtable brings together HBCU students, staff, and alumni across the nation to participate in a roundtable that highlighted Black professionals’ personal career journeys, daily work life experiences, professional trends on the horizon, tips on navigating race, and other professional development tools for students and participants to consider.
In addition to expanding the networks of participants by connecting students with professionals across the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), U.S. Forest Service, Obama Foundation, and more, our team created a toolkit to collect and share important information on tips, tools, and resources that were discussed during the roundtable.
Given all the excitement and interest surrounding the roundtable, we decided to expand our outreach and communications to engage students, faculty, and alumni across other Minority Serving Institutions (MSI), including individuals from Tribal Colleges and Universities, Hispanic Serving Institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions, and more in our NWF Green Careers Roundtable.
During this roundtable discussion, we leveraged the expertise, leadership, and insights from staff across NWF to showcase the various job sectors and green career paths that will hopefully inspire MSI students, faculty, and alumni to join the conservation movement.
What’s your favorite part about Green Careers Roundtable?
My favorite part about the roundtables were the opportunity to have honest and open conversations about the realities that panel participants, including myself, faced when entering the conservation or environmental movement. We didn’t shy away from discussions surrounding identities and adversity that others may face as they enter a white-dominated sector that hasn’t always valued the experiences and perspectives of Black, Indigenous, Latine, Asian, Pacific Islander and communities of lower wealth.
We all had unique experiences and insights to share, but we all had one thing in common — we wanted to ensure that those coming after us were equipped with the resources and knowledge to overcome the obstacles many of us have had to face alone.
By being vulnerable and sharing strategies on how we can bring our authentic selves to work every day, I believe, is very important when motivating and encouraging other people of color to join the movement. I think we accomplished just that and we were still able to create a welcoming and fun space to listen, learn, and build community.
What does environmental justice mean to you?
When I think about what environmental justice means to me, I automatically revert to Dr. Bunyan Bryant’s definition of environmental justice, which fully encompasses the way the environment is viewed and impacted:
“Environmental Justice … refers to those cultural norms and values, rules, regulations, behaviors, policies, and decisions [that] support sustainable communities where people can interact with confidence that the environment is safe, nurturing, and productive. Environmental justice is served when people can realize their highest potential … where both cultural and biological diversity are respected and highly revered and where distributive justice prevails.”
I really appreciate Dr. Bryant’s definition of environmental justice because it alludes to three forms of justice that are vital to achieve environmental justice — distributive, procedural, and restorative. Distributive justice ensures that the benefits and costs associated with clean air, water, and land are equally distributed among all communities. In other words, environmental justice can be achieved when we no longer have sacrifice zones where one person’s life or well-being is devalued for the “greater good.”
Procedural justice ensures that all people are able to fully participate in the decisions that impact them and their communities. Environmental justice can be achieved when we ensure impacted communities have the tools and resources at their disposal to make decisions for themselves and that they have equal opportunity to participate in decision-making regardless of their circumstances.
Last, but certainly not least, restorative justice refers to the need to address past harms and provide impacted people with the ability to participate in a level playing field through equitable practices and policies. In other words, it’s not just about removing harm and empowering communities. There are fundamental issues, including decades and centuries of disinvestment among marginalized communities from government agents and other key stakeholders, that require more time, attention, and resources in frontline and fence-line communities to meet people’s basic needs. Equal may not often be equitable.
Watch the 2022 Green Careers Roundtable below to enjoy insights and wisdom from environmental professionals, and share with your networks!
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