Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Justice at NRDC

NRDC’s first chief equity and justice officer, Melissa Lin Perrella, believes the way to strengthen advocacy work is to prioritize community partners who are closest to the problem—and often closest to the solution.

Sometimes you have to wade through a lot of data to see the big picture, but NRDC’s first chief science officer Kristi Pullen Fedinick sees beauty in the details.

Creating an environment where people can be themselves is intrinsic to changing the culture of big green groups—and a key goal for Troy Riddle, NRDC’s inaugural chief diversity, equity, and inclusion officer.

NRDC seeks to foster a more just and sustainable future for all—a future driven by social change that improves people’s lives.

NRDC’s Science Office aims to drive, shape, and support our ability to protect public health, preserve wild spaces, build a strong environmental movement, and advance social justice.

NRDC is working to ensure our internal culture reflects and embodies principles and practices of equity.

Following a landmark settlement agreement, $8.6 million will be invested back into projects that uplift the community of Peoria, Illinois, where a dirty coal plant is scheduled to close by the end of 2022.

Nearly three years after winning a $97 million legal settlement that required the city of Flint to replace its lead water service lines, NRDC is still on the ground holding officials accountable, and using similar tactics as we demand clean water for the residents of Newark.

The effort to stop a massive mine project in Bristol Bay, Alaska, has been a decades-long fight for the region’s Indigenous People. Five tribal leaders share their experiences.

Thirty years ago, the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes led the effort to save Snake River sockeye salmon from extinction. Today, they’re still fighting for the fish’s survival—along with their own.

Denials and delays from city officials have failed to keep residents safe from high levels of lead in their drinking water. These community organizers are busy picking up the slack.

WE ACT’s director of environmental health and education, Taylor Morton, who found their path to environmental justice work through a childhood spent in nature, wants to help the next generation get outside without fear.

Frontline Indigenous youth, who have been standing up against destructive oil pipelines for years, are imploring President Biden to join them in protecting their water, lands, and cultures.

Black Farmer Fund is part of a collaboration of New York–based groups working to repair a system that has long discriminated against BIPOC farmers.

By powering their pumps with solar energy instead of diesel, Indian salt farmers are investing in their own brighter futures.

Shazia Khan’s mission is to bring solar energy to people with no access to electric utilities.

Dr. Aurélie Flore Koumba Pambo works to preserve and protect the biological wealth of this central African coastal nation while also advocating for a global agreement to safeguard one-third of earth’s ecosystems by 2030.

In the midst of a pandemic, NRDC advocates are stepping up their work to prevent the risk of mass utility shutoffs, now and for the long-term.

To truly achieve an equitable, fair, and greener future, we must defend Black lives and our climate future, together.

Stephanie Gidigbi Jenkins is pushing for public policy solutions that address social equity and climate justice while strengthening access to reliable transportation, affordable housing, and open spaces.

NRDC’s Gina Ramirez is helping to bring attention to the wafts of manganese dust that plague her family and neighbors on Chicago’s Southeast Side.

NRDC senior social media manager Tejal Mankad dreams of a future with climate and gender justice.

A Korean American examines her ancestral past—steeped in colonialism as well as conservation—to explore her values as an environmentalist.

The climate crisis disproportionately impacts women—and women of color in particular. This is why women must lead on its solutions.

As NRDC’s California state lead for clean energy and equity, Alexis Cureton is working to ensure that communities of color help shape energy policy, both inside and outside of the energy sector.

Dawone Robinson, regional director of NRDC’s Energy Efficiency for All Project, works to create opportunities for low-income communities of color to save energy and money.

On the one-year anniversary of George Floyd’s murder, NRDC senior policy advisor Khalil Shahyd recalls his own harrowing encounter with law enforcement—and how it informed his community organizing.

The western city of Ahmedabad is preparing residents to cope with the longer and more intense heat waves sweeping across South Asia—and inspiring other Indian cities and states to follow suit.

Senior attorney and India program director Anjali Jaiswal leads a small team that’s accomplishing big things in one of the world’s most polluted countries.