On Sunday, Lubna Ahmed participated in the Earth Day Initiative's Earth Day 50th anniversary virtual kick-off event. Earlier this morning, Taylor Morton participated in a discussion on building climate resilience in communities at the New School's Tishman Environment and Design Center. And here's what's coming up later this week:

Tuesday, April 21st
Sonal Jessel will participate in a Columbia Mailman School of Public Health town hall on environmental justice and health at 12:30 PM. Lubna Ahmed will be on an NAACP Crisis Magazine panel on environmental racism & COVID-19 at 1 PM.

Wednesday, April 22nd
Cecil Corbin-Mark will speak at a virtual Albany Advocacy Day at 1 PM. Peggy Shepard will be on a New York State Senate panel discussing the impact of climate change on the economy at 3 PM.

And you can still participate in our Earth Day 5K "virtual race” throughout the week. It's a great way to get exercise while raising funds to support our work. Learn More

Concerned about the climate crisis? Join our Climate Justice Working Group! Our monthly meeting is on Thursday evening. We will continue are planning on the Heat, Health, & Equity initiative. RSVP Here

As you know, we had to cancel our March and April Membership Meetings due to COVID-19. But we are coming back strong in May with our first "virtual" Membership Meeting. So mark you calendar for Saturday, May 9th, and get ready to Zoom!

We will focus on the role of environmental injustices in contributing to the higher COVID-19 mortality rates in our community, and ways we can protect, advocate on behalf of, and organize New York City’s most vulnerable. New York City Council Member Carlina Rivera, Chair of the Committee on Hospitals, will join us! RSVP Here

We are working to expand the Home Energy Assistance Program and would like to follow people through the enrollment process to better understand how we can improve it. If you are eligible and interested in enrolling to help pay your energy bill this summer, we can help guide you through the process. Please reach out to Sonal Jessel at [email protected]. The deadline to apply is May 1st, so please contact her soon and help us improve this program!

We have added two staff members to our DC office. A familiar face to many, former Community Organizer and Outreach Coordinator Louis Bailey (left) returns as our National Environmental Justice Coalition Manager. And Caitlin Buchanan (right) joins as our Federal Policy Associate. Prior to joining WE ACT, she worked for Chairwoman Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. During her time on Capitol Hill, Caitlin focused on issues related to environmental justice, environmental liability, toxic chemicals, and defending federal climate science.

We sent an earlier update about Peggy Shepard's profile in Marie Claire, but the rest of the staff have been quite active as well. Lubna Ahmed was interviewed by the Hill, Mother Jones, Undark, Uptown Radio, and Vox (twice) about the role environmental inequities play in the higher COVID-19 mortality rates in communities of color. Sonal Jessel also spoke with Truthout about air pollution and COVID-19 and to the Verge about the potential impacts of extreme heat if we are still sheltering in place. And Cecil Corbin-Mark was interviewed by Inside EPA about New York State's Child Safe Products Act.

New Blog Posts
In addition, Tina Johnson contributed a blog post on life in Grant Houses during COVID-19 and Taylor Morton contributed a blog post on online learning opportunities during COVID-19.

The pressure for Black, Latinx, and Asian girls and women to conform to an unreasonable standard of beauty and cleanliness has us using products with ingredients that are harmful to our health.

Watch our virtual congressional briefing on the health impacts of toxic personal care products and cosmetics on women and girls of color, and learn about the federal legislation that could address the issue. Watch the Video