On Tuesday, Oct. 26, at 1 p.m. PT/2 p.m. MT/3 p.m. CT/4 p.m. ET the Just Transition Alliance joined with Great Cities Institute at the University of Chicago to commemorate 30 years since the First National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit held in Washington, D.C. October 24-27, 1991.
This webinar highlighted and honored the work of the women leaders who ignited the Environmental Justice Movement and were among the attendees at the First People of Color Leadership Summit.
Speakers included:
- Pam Tau Lee, Co-founder of Asian Pacific Environmental Network (APEN) and the Just Transition Alliance
- Vernice Miller-Travis, Co-founder of West Harlem Environmental Action (WE ACT for Environmental Justice) and contributing author to Toxic Wastes and Race in The United States
- Gail Small, Founding member, Native Action
- Susana Almanza, Co-founder of People Organized in Defense of Earth and Her Resources (PODER)
- Dr. Mildred McClain, Co-founder and Executive Director of Harambee House/Citizens for Environmental Justice
- Mililani Trask, Founder, Na Koa Ikaika o Ka Lāhui Hawaiʻi
- Rose Augustine, Co-founder, Tucsonians for a Better Environment (Invited)
We also honored the influential women of the Summit who have passed, including:
- Dana Alston, Co-Convener, First National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit
- Jeanne Gauna, Co-founder of the SouthWest Organizing Project (SWOP) and the Southwest Environmental Justice Network (SNEEJ)
- Hazel Johnson, People for Community Recovery
- Wilma Mankiller, Principal Chief, Cherokee Nation
- Connie Tucker, Southern Organizing Committee for Economic and Social Justice (SOC)