Episodes
Listen to Charles Utley's inspiring experiences and insights related to Environmental Justice! Utley grew up in Hyde Park, Georgia, a predominantly Black community. Many people worked at Southern Wood Piedmont Co., a company that used creosote and dumped their chemical debris into a stream that bordered Hyde Park. Residents of Hyde Park [are] continually being exposed to contamination; many did not receive enough reimbursement funds to relocate and are still living in the community. Charles...
Published 09/27/21
Published 09/27/21
Jose Franco Garcia has over 15 years of experience with community organizing in the San Diego area. He currently focuses on environmental justice issues and working to ensure that his community is safe & healthy. After graduating from the University of California at San Diego with a B.A. in Political Science, he spent four years as the Community Building director at the Coalition of Neighborhood Councils in San Diego. In 2010, he began work with the Environmental Health Coalition (EHC),...
Published 08/11/21
Georgette Gomez is a queer, Latina woman rooted in her San Diego community where she grew up with two immigrant parents. She received her degree in Environmental and Natural Resource Geography, and has acquired over 13 years of experience as an environmental organizer at the Environmental Health Coalition. At EHC, she spearheaded a new community plan for Barrio Logan and worked on other important environmental justice campaigns. Georgette left her position as Associate Director for Policy at...
Published 08/06/21
Tune into today's episode to learn valuable lessons in leadership and organizing from formidable activist Olinka Green! To learn more, visit http://chej.org/livingroomleadership/.
Published 07/06/21
Tune into today's episode for a conversation with Gillian Graber, the cofounder and president of Protect PT, a community organization working for security, safety, and quality of life for people in Penn Township. Today, Protect PT’s most recent focus is a fight against a local Injection Well that is threatening the safety of drinking water in the area. To learn more about Graber's journey, visit http://chej.org/livingroomleadership/.
Published 06/18/21
Tune into today's episode for a conversation with Lee Ann Smith, an elementary school librarian turned environmental activist from Asheville, North Carolina! She began fighting against environmental injustice when her son Gabe was diagnosed with rare thyroid cancer at the age of 11. In addition to her son, many community members were getting sick as a result of a toxic waste site that was emitting Trichloroethylene (TCE). Lee Ann Smith looked in the mirror and decided she was the one who...
Published 06/10/21
Tune into today's episode for a conversation with Darryl Malek-Wiley, an environmental activist with over 30 years of experience! He has been fighting alongside the primarily African-American, low income communities affected by “Cancer Alley” for clean water, air, and land, and to prevent more industrial plants from being built. To learn more, visit http://chej.org/livingroomleadership/.
Published 06/04/21
Tune into today's episode for a conversation with Melissa Mays, Water You Fighting For activist, nicknamed “Champion of the Underdog”, to learn more about her fight against the Flint water crisis. Although Mays has had to deal with the trauma from the consequences of speaking up, it does not stop her, because she believes that this is what she is meant to do. To learn more about Mays' journey, visit http://chej.org/livingroomleadership/
Published 05/03/21
On April 6, 1981, 501(c)(3) paperwork was filed marking the beginning of the Center for Health, Environment & Justice (CHEJ). Lois Gibbs, Founder of CHEJ, celebrates 40 years of founding the organization, and remembers the role everyone played in making it the organization it is today. Tune into today's episode for a conversation with Gibbs about her victory in Love Canal, as well as her contributions to the Superfund bill. To learn more, visit chej.org/livingroomleadership/.
Published 04/12/21
Tune into today's episode for a conversation with Andrea Amico, the Co-founder of Testing for Pease in NH. Amico became an activist after reading about high level of PFAS contamination in a well which supplied drinking water to the Pease International Tradeport, and her family were among those who drank the contaminated water every day. To learn more, visit http://chej.org/livingroomleadership/.
Published 04/06/21
Penny Newman, Founder of Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice (CCAEJ) held victory after fighting against the Stringfellow Acid Pits in the 1980s. Tune into today's episode for a conversation with Newman about her journey as an activist and her fights against toxic pollution. Newman’s transformation from a shy young woman to a leader that has spoken to hundreds of thousands of people was all as a result of her and her family suffering from the harm of a toxic site. To learn...
Published 03/29/21
Tune into today's episode for a conversation with Phyllis Glazer about the sufferings of her community, and her tactic of using the press to drive the facility out of business. Phyllis Glazer is an activist featured in People Magazine, the Houston Chronicle, CNN/Time News Magazine’s Earth Day 2000 Special, NBC Dateline, and more. She was the founder of Mothers Organized to Stop Environmental Sins (MOSES), and has been fighting against toxic pollution since the 1990s. To learn more, visit...
Published 02/22/21
Tune into today's episode to learn about how Nina Morgan and GASP go above and beyond to help those in Birmingham during the pandemic. Morgan is a Climate and Environmental Justice Organizer with GASP, and have recently held victory in reaching a settlement agreement to end ABC's Coke pollution. Interested in learning more? Visit chej.org/livingroomleadership/.
Published 02/15/21
Tune into today's episode to with Charlie Powell of People Against Neighborhood Industrial Contamination (PANIC) in Birmingham, AL to learn about his fight to get his community relocated from toxic facilities and his experience as a former steel mill worker!  To learn more, visit http://chej.org/livingroomleadership/
Published 01/29/21
Tune into today's episode for a chat with Pam Kingfisher, an organizer who led the fight in shutting down 23% of the world’s uranium supply and fighting off unwanted poultry CAFO in her community. Interested in learning more? Visit chej.org/livingroomleadership/ .
Published 01/27/21
Tune into today's episode with Maria Lopez-Nuñez, Deputy Director, Organizing and Advocacy of Ironbound Community Corporation (ICC), to listen to her experience as one of the leaders that helped pass S232, the strongest environmental justice law in the United States. Interested in learning more? Visit http://chej.org/livingroomleadership/ .
Published 01/20/21
Tune into today's special Veteran's Day episode with U.S. Marine Corps veteran Jerry Ensminger to learn about the contamination and fight for justice at Camp Lejeune, a military base in North Carolina. Interested in learning more? Visit https://chej.org/livingroomleadership/.
Published 01/13/21
Tune into today's episode to learn valuable lessons in leadership and organizing from formidable activist and former elected official, Roxanne Groff! To learn more, visit http://chej.org/livingroomleadership/. 
Published 01/06/21
Tune in to today's episode with Esther Portillo, Interim Executive Director of the Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice (CCAEJ), to learn about how she leads grassroots efforts to bring lasting environmental justice to communities in the Inland Empire. To learn more, visit https://www.facebook.com/CCAEJ. 
Published 12/16/20
Tune in to today's episode to learn about Rebecca Jim's work leading her Native American community’s fight for environmental justice and remediation of the Tar Creek area, one of the largest and most polluted Superfund sites in the United States. Interested in learning more? Visit https://www.facebook.com/leadagencyinc/. 
Published 12/02/20
Tune in to today's episode to learn about how Pamela Miller and Vi Waghiyi tackle military toxics, protect health, and achieve justice for Alaskan natives. Interested in learning more? Visit https://www.akaction.org/. 
Published 11/18/20
Tune in to today's episode to hear CHEJ's founder, Lois Gibbs, talk about the various connections and collaborations between labor and environmental movements. To learn more about CHEJ's history and the we work we're doing with communities, visit www.chej.org. 
Published 11/11/20
Tune in to today's episode to learn about how Ranjana Bhandari brought residents together to oppose fracking in Arlington, TX. Interested in learning more? Visit https://www.facebook.com/LiveableArlington. 
Published 11/05/20
In today's episode of Fighting to Win, CHEJ's Organizing Director, Gustavo Andrade, interviews Hilton Kelley, Executive Director and Founder of CIDA, Community In-Power & Development Association. Tune in to learn about why Hilton gave up his acting career to pursue environmental justice in his hometown of Port Arthur, TX. Interested in learning more? Visit https://www.cidainc.org. 
Published 10/28/20