Citizens’ Climate Lobby (CCL) is a grassroots nonprofit organization working to solve climate change. CCL has over 220,000 supporters nationwide, organized into more than 380 local chapters. Staff trains and supports those volunteers to educate their communities and their members of Congress about climate solutions. Together, we’re building the political will to stop the carbon pollution that’s overheating the planet.
Right off the bat, it’s important to know that CCL is nonpartisan. We believe that collaboration is the key to creating meaningful, lasting change, so we work hard to find common ground and build consensus. In our volunteer ranks, you’ll find people from a wide variety of backgrounds who identify all along the political spectrum, and those volunteers meet with Republican and Democratic members of Congress alike.
Diversity and Inclusion Director, CCL
In 2020, CCL named Karina Ramírez (She/Her/Ella) as their Diversity and Inclusion Director. With input from staff and volunteers, she has expanded the diversity and inclusion work by assisting in training and education, the launch of different affinity teams, tracking of data, and other needed diversity and inclusion initiatives. She also created the National Inclusion Team (comprising volunteers and D&I fellows) to help support programs across the organization.
Inclusion Conferences
In 2022, CCL launched a virtual Inclusion Conference. This conference has featured different themes each year and was created to build community, establish trust, and highlight issues of importance to CCL volunteers from different affinity groups. The Inclusion Conference has been designed and led by 12-15 BIPOC volunteers from the People of the Global Majority, Peace Corps, Environmental Justice, and other national action teams.
Diversity & Inclusion Fellows
In 2021, CCL began its D&I fellowship specifically for individuals interested in learning about diversity and inclusion topics. Throughout the paid one-year fellowship, participants help create and promote internal and external workshops, help with D&I data collection, and get introduced to different aspects of the work conducted at the organization. So far, nine fellows have graduated from the program.
For 2024, we have two fellows:
Diversity & Inclusion Programs
Introduced by the first class of diversity and inclusion fellows, CCL launched a series of workshops highlighting different topics like environmental justice, climate migration, ableism, implicit bias, political diversity, and the purpose of land acknowledgments. The topics featured are based on volunteer suggestions and/or suggestions from the National Inclusion Team. Additionally, since the Fall of 2020, CCL also presents a quarterly Race, Climate, and Culture Conversation — a two-hour program that encourages dialogue and understanding of a social issue and its impact on climate advocacy.
Tips for organizations integrating DEIJ into their work
Track your efforts! It may feel as if D&I work is “slow-moving,” but when you pay attention to each step forward, you see how far you’ve come. At CCL, we do this through a specific D&I End-of-the-Year Report, created by the Diversity and Inclusion Director. The report helps track diversity and inclusion programs and any changes that take place as we continue to embed diversity and inclusion work in different departments throughout the organization.
Visit citizensclimatelobby.org to learn more about CCL’s work.