Living Room Leadership
Living Room Leadership is a CHEJ webinar series aimed to continue sharing the stories of community activists and leaders during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Wednesdays at 12pm EST, CHEJ will be hosting community leaders from across the country to speak about their strategies, challenges, and wins as activists. The series is free and aimed to last about 45 minutes per event. The audience will have the chance to ask the leaders questions after they are interviewed by a CHEJ team member. This page hosts links to past Zoom recordings of the events.
Previous Episodes
Wednesday February 17, 2021: Phyllis Glazer
Join us for a Living Room Leadership conversation with Phyllis Glazer, an activist featured in People Magazine, the Houston Chronicle, CNN/Time News Magazine’s Earth Day 2000 Special, NBC Dateline, and more.
One day, as she was driving her son to school in Winona, TX, they passed a commercial hazardous waste injection well facility that was surrounded by dark reddish clouds and intense fumes caused by an explosion. In just a few days, Phyllis had developed multiple health issues. As a result, Phyllis and her group, Mothers Organized to Stop Environmental Sins (MOSES), went to war with the company.
Wednesday February 10, 2021: Nina Morgan
Join us for a Living Room Leadership conversation with Nina Morgan, a Climate and Environmental Justice Organizer with GASP in Birmingham, Alabama. Nina is fighting for communities located near heavy industry who are suffering from pollution-related illnesses like asthma and cancer. These communities have been unlawfully restricted to these unsafe areas due to a history of racially discriminatory zoning laws.
After years of community organizing and hard work, GASP has recently achieved a settlement to address ABC Coke pollution in the area. Join us to hear about this important victory!
Wednesday December 16, 2020: Charlie Powell
Join us for a Living Room Leadership conversation with Charlie Powell, an environmental justice activist from Birmingham, Alabama who has been working on getting his community relocated since 2012 from a facility that produces high grade coke for industrial furnaces.
Coke production is notoriously dirty, and the emissions produced are dangerous to inhale: it’s created by essentially baking coal. If a facility doesn’t have proper scrubbers and air purification technologies installed, exposure to emissions can result in cancer.
Wednesday December 2, 2020: Pam Kingfisher
“Everyone told us we wouldn’t win. I refuse to have that attitude and will continue to fight.”
This week, join us for a Living Room conversation with former CHEJ board member Pam Kingfisher, an experienced community organizer and advocate for Indigenous Peoples’ rights. Pam has over 30 years of experience in organizing and policy work, and has led the fight in shutting down 23% of the world’s uranium supply and fighting off unwanted poultry CAFO in her community.
Wednesday November 18, 2020: Maria Lopez-Nuñez
Join us for a conversation with Maria Lopez-Nuñez, Deputy Director, Organizing and Advocacy of Ironbound Community Corporation. We will discuss how her group, along with the help of other activists, achieved the passing of S232, the strongest environmental justice law in the United States.
Wednesday November 11, 2020: Jerry Ensminger
This Veteran’s Day, join us for a Living Room conversation with Jerry Ensminger, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who led the fight for justice at Camp Lejeune, a military base in North Carolina where severe water contamination went unaddressed and unresolved for over 30 years.
Wednesday October 21, 2020: Roxanne Groff
Join us for a Living Room conversation with Roxanne Groff, a formidable activist with 20 years of experience as an elected official in Athens County, Ohio!
“I decided to run for public office because I thought it could make a difference being on the inside of the political arena. If you stick to your own beliefs, tell the truth and don’t get caught up in the political game of being re-elected, then YES, you can truly make a difference.”
Wednesday October 21, 2020: Esther Portillo
Join us for a conversation with Esther Portillo, an experienced community organizer, leader, and the current Interim Executive Director of the Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice (CCAEJ) in Jurupa Valley, CA. Esther has over 20 years of experience in organizing and empowering communities of Color across the region, state, and nation. As Organizing Director and now Interim Executive Director, Esther has led CCAEJ’s grassroots efforts to bring lasting environmental justice to communities in the Inland Empire.
Wednesday October 7, 2020: Rebecca Jim
Join us for a conversation with Rebecca Jim, Founder and Executive Director of Local Environmental Action Demanded, Inc, to learn more about her work leading her Native American community’s fight for environmental justice and remediation of the Tar Creek area, one of the largest and most polluted Superfund sites in the United States.
Wednesday September 30, 2020: Pamela Miller and Vi Waghiyi
Join us for a conversation with Pamela Miller and Vi Waghiyi of Alaska Community Action on Toxics, to learn more about their work tackling toxics, protecting health and achieving justice for Alaska’s wildlife and people.
Wednesday September 16, 2020: Ranjana Bhandari
Join us for a conversation with Ranjana Bhandari, founder and Chair of Liveable Arlington, to learn more about her work to oppose fracking expansion in Arlington, Texas, and her group’s recent groundbreaking victory against big oil.
Wednesday August 12, 2020: Hilton Kelley
Join CHEJ for a conversation with Hilton Kelley, the Executive Director and Founder of CIDA, Community In-Power & Development Association.
Wednesday August 5, 2020: Kaniela Ing
Join CHEJ for a conversation with Kaniela Ing of People’s Action Institute to learn more about his experience in campaign organizing and bringing justice to communities nationwide.
Wednesday July 29, 2020: Tom Kilian
Join CHEJ for a conversation with Tom Kilian of Citizens for Clean Wausau to learn more about their work on monitoring polluters and bringing justice to their community.
Wednesday July 22, 2020: Jackie Young
Join CHEJ for a conversation with Jackie Young Medcalf, the founder and Executive Director of THEA, to learn more about Houston’s 5th Ward Cancer Cluster and THEA’s work to bring justice and environmental saftey to their community.
Wednesday July 15, 2020: Linda Robles
Listen to a podcast-style conversation with Linda Robles, the founder of the Environmental Justice Task Force in Tucson, AZ. This recording is an offshoot of our Living Room Leadership programming and discusses Linda’s community leadership and the progress that the EJ Task Force has made over the years.
Wednesday July 15, 2020: Lou Zeller
Join CHEJ for a conversation with Lou Zeller and key chapter leaders from BREDL to learn about their recent success in helping cancel the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and how they continue to push for environmental change during COVID-19.
Wednesday July 8, 2020: Dawn Champman & Karen Nickel
Join CHEJ for a conversation with Dawn Chapman and Karen Nickel: community activists and leaders of Just Moms STL to learn from their successes in bringing awareness and environmental change to their community.
