Dear John,

As 2023 comes to an end we want to thank you for your continued support. This year, we celebrated 10 years as an alliance, organized in frontline communities and in the halls of power, and held our first in person member convening since the pandemic; all in an effort to reconnect, rebuild, and resist, as we forge Just Transitions locally and through influencing legislation.

We’re also excited to share that we were selected to receive a $50 million grant from the EPA! CJA led and submitted the UNITE-EJ proposal with skilled and highly-respected partners: The Chisholm Legacy Project, NDN Collective, Fund for Frontline Power, JustFund, Amalgamated Foundation, Tishman Environment and Design Center at The New School, and the Center for the Urban Environment at Kean University. 

“This is a key milestone for Chisholm Legacy Project and Climate Justice Alliance in our respective journeys to ensure the arc bends toward justice and systems change, particularly around the vast resources at the disposal of the government. We look forward to ensuring that thousands of $150,000 to $350,000 EPA grants move to marginalized, environmental justice communities to address historic harms.” -Jacqueline Patterson, Founder and Executive Director, The Chisholm Legacy Project.  Read our full announcement here.

Here’s a few other highlights from 2023  we’re excited about, including a short video on the special times we had at our Member Convening, hosted by the Kheprw Institute in Indianapolis, Indiana. 

As we head into the new year, we’re also undergoing a leadership transition. This means moving away from our current triad model to a structure that can nimbly respond to increasing urgencies, challenges and opportunities. We want to thank Monica Atkins, Bineshi Albert, and Marion Gee for their leadership over the last two years; our wins would not have been possible without them. 

From all of us at CJA, we wish you a happy new year! Join us in celebrating frontline power while also standing in solidarity with those at home and abroad fighting back against environmental injustice, occupation, and extraction, whether that be in Palestine or Oakland. We thank you for your continued organizing, solidarity and support for climate and environmental justice.

Sincerely,

Your friends at the Climate Justice Alliance