Front and Centered

Mission: Communities of color, people with lower incomes, and indigenous people are on the frontlines of climate and environmental change. We are hit first by extraction, pollution, and climate change, which makes existing health and economic disparities worse. Yet frontline communities are often left out of or are the last to be included in the transition to a healthy, resilient and sustainable future.

“Front and Centered is a uniquely formed statewide organization in Washington State, founded by communities of color organizations and leaders who share a sense of urgency about climate change and environmental justice. The coalition’s audacious vision is matched by its ambitious work, such that Front and Centered serves as a backup center for a growing coalition of member groups, providing capacity building, community grantmaking, and policy research analysis which altogether aim to accelerate the future for a Just Transition. This year, Front and Centered’s coalition mobilized with partners and allies to pass the most sweeping environmental justice legislation in the country, the Healthy Environment for All Act, creating an environmental justice council and setting the stage for institutional systems change aimed at ensuring equity and environmental justice in the review and development of state policies and resources of seven state agencies whose missions impact environmental health issues. This milestone example was the culmination of community listening sessions, where testimonials from people whose lived experiences from the frontlines and from black and brown communities were amplified to educate the need for inclusive and equitable solutions for practical everyday impact – where disparities in rates of asthma in neighborhoods become more real and understood as air quality problems and industrial pollution, when tied to statewide environmental health mapping. Thank you so much for this generous donation for 2022!  The Climate Ride grant was so helpful in helping us with our community outreach, convenings, and our summit during such a difficult time of COVID last year. But, as we have been able to come out of the pandemic, we are seeing brighter days ahead. Many thanks for your generosity and making it possible for our coalition to face the climate challenge with determination AND joy!” – Aurora Martin, Co-Executive Director

Help connect and amplify their work through social. Social Media Handles: Twitter: @frontandcenterd (Note: This deliberately missing the e in “centered”) Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/frontandcentered Instagram @frontandcenteredwa Learn more > https://frontandcentered.org/ Jump to Louisiana Bucket Brigade, Prime Ability, Uplift Climate, Environmental Action Justice Grants.

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