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Environmental organizations remain overwhelmingly white

January 13, 2021

January 13, 2021

Green 2.0 Team

Executive Director Andrés Jimenez says increasing diversity is crucial for addressing the climate crisis.

From heat waves to flooding, climate change disproportionately harms communities of color.

But Andrés Jimenez, executive director of the nonprofit Green 2.0, says that among organizations working on climate solutions, “when you look around the table at the decision makers, what we’re seeing is that these decision-makers are not coming from those communities.”

Green 2.0 is an initiative to increase diversity within the environmental movement. Every year, it releases a report card assessing diversity within leading environmental organizations and foundations.

Jimenez says that over the past few years, diversity has increased slightly. But most environmental groups remain overwhelmingly white – especially at the leadership level.

“It is not a success if organizations, for example, are hiring people of color, but leaving them in those roles where they actually don’t have a voice,” Jimenez says

So he says it’s important to prioritize diversity in hiring. It’s not only a matter of achieving greater equity. Jimenez says it’s central to effectively addressing the growing climate crisis.

“What we need to bring to the table is different backgrounds, different experiences, so that we can accelerate change,” he says.

Read full article here.