Environmental groups have drawn attention to sustainability and conservation, but insiders say movement leadership is overwhelmingly white.
This hour, we examine a lack of diversity in environmental activism and find out who’s working to change this.
We talk to New York resident Aaron Mair who became the Sierra Club’s first African American president. Mair tells us more about efforts in the green movement to become more inclusive — something he didn’t experience when his family reached out to the Sierra Club for help in the 1990s.
We also check in with environmental activists in Connecticut who are working to engage more minority communities. And we find out what a national initiative has to say about ways to tackle the diversity problem.
Do you think environmental groups on the national and local levels are doing enough to reach all Americans?
GUESTS:
- Aaron Mair - Former National President of the Sierra Club and environmental activist
- Leticia Colon de Mejias
- Windsor resident, Co-Founder of Green Eco Warriors, owner of Energy Efficiencies Solutions Maya Beasley - Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Connecticut, Co-Founder of The T10 Group, author of Green 2.0 reports Beyond Diversity: A Roadmap To Building An Inclusive Organization, and Diversity Derailed: Limited Demand, Effort And Results In Environmental C-Suite Searches
Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter.
Tim Cohn and Chion Wolf contributed to this show.