While studying fish and wildlife at Michigan State University, Detroiter Aja Edwards was the only Black person in her program.
But at a recent environmental networking event in Detroit, the 24-year-old was surrounded by more than 100 people who looked like her.
Black, brown, and Indigenous professionals from environment-related fields gathered Friday on Detroit’s riverfront for “Black & Brown in Green.” The event, hosted by the nonprofit Black to the Land Coalition, was the third since the concept was developed last year to create a network for people of color working in the environmental sector. The group comes together as the nation grapples with a historically painful lack of diversity across the private sector of the environmental field, and a full-force attack from the Trump administration on diversity, equity, and inclusion, or DEI programs.
Edwards, a community engagement coordinator for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, said the gatherings, which she now helps plan, are inspiring and uplifting.
“It’s really heartwarming because you could see the excitement of everybody learning about the different careers and different paths that other people have gone down,” she said. “The point is for us to be aware of each other and see where we could collaborate and also have a support system. It can be very isolating being one of the only people that look like you in your field or on your job.”
Environmental organizations are predominantly staffed and led by white employees, despite people of color being disproportionately impacted by environmental issues, from air pollution to flooding to water contamination.
In recent years, marginal progress has been made to increase diversity in environmental fields. But last year, the number of people of color employed by environmental nonprofits and foundations dropped for the first time since the watchdog group Green 2.0 began tracking it eight years ago. In January, the situation got even bleaker with Trump’s executive order encouraging the private sector to end “illegal DEI” practices and another order encouraging all federal agencies to end diversity, equity and inclusion work.
Meanwhile, policy changes under the new federal administration have further challenged efforts in environmental justice.
Since taking office in January, Trump has laid off nearly 200 employees of environmental justice programs at the Environmental Protection Agency and froze billions of dollars for environmental justice efforts, including $46.2 million for five initiatives in Detroit to build resilience hubs, clean ports and conduct pollution monitoring.
The first Black and Brown in Green event in Detroit was held last summer, followed by a second in the fall. Organizers plan to continue the events quarterly.
Black to the Land Coalition Co-founder and board member Tepfirah Rushdan said the network formed to re-emphasize the “coalition” part of the nonprofit’s mission.
“We started talking about the need to broaden the coalition aspect and make sure that we were providing spaces for leaders in different areas to come together,” said Rushdan, who also serves as the city of Detroit’s sustainability director.
Tiffany Jones, senior community engagement manager at the National Wildlife Federation, said NWF donated money toward food for one of the events, and looks forward to exploring long-term opportunities to support the network.
“The ultimate goal is… getting more Black and brown folks in the field, retaining those Black and brown professionals, and then obviously offering opportunities and support,” said Jones.
With at least half of the 32-year-old’s work years ahead of her, Jones said the network is a benefit to her as well as Black women in the field, to know what jobs and opportunities there are.
Rushdan said the Detroit events have been “wonderful” so far.
Having worked in the environmental field for over a decade, Rushdan said she knows the significance of networking, and challenges as a person of color.
“I learned quickly that it’s in those kind of intimate moments with people where you’re just having a beer or coffee, those relationships push work forward, push resources forward, and those places are really, really important,” she said. “In those more intimate spaces, you tend to go with the folks that you’re comfortable with, and sometimes that doesn’t cross racial lines totally, so these spaces are important.”
Similar initiatives exist across the country including the Environmental Professionals of Color Network, with chapters in Portland, Seattle, San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles and the the Professionals of Color in the Environment network in Massachusetts. Since 2018, Dorceta Taylor, author of the first Green 2.0 diversity report, has hosted an annual New Horizons conference for diverse people working in the conservation field, drawing more than 200 international attendees to connect at Yale University.
In Detroit, one project has already come from the gatherings: The DNR sponsored a trip to northern Michigan for 15 people of color to learn about hunting.
The full potential of the network is still being explored, said Black to the Land Coalition Co-founder Antonio Cosme. But the goal is to bring together ideas and people from different corners of Detroit, and go beyond the recreation and representation aspects of the coalition.
“The politics of representation can often be meaningless tokenism if the people who are part of it don’t have a critical understanding of systems and the way institutions organize and operate to protect monopoly capital,” he said.
“So many of us are operating in these fields and are somewhat isolated… It’s just nice, initially, to be around people who have similar values or have similar ideas. We don’t know what could come with it,” he said. “It’s really just a fun, emergent space and place. We just know there’s a value to bringing folks together.”
The next Black and Brown in Green event is to be determined; sign up for Black to the Land Coalition’s newsletter for updates. To donate to support Black to the Land Coalition’s work, click here.