Letter from Our CEO

9.1.20

Better World Group has long been at the forefront of California’s most important environmental fights.

When I took the reins of the firm at the end of 2018, I was eager to add a focus on environmental, economic, and racial justice to a storied history of building a greener future.

I could not have imagined that almost two years later, a national reckoning on racial justice would be at hand, while a profound failure of leadership and callous mismanagement of a deadly pandemic exacerbates efforts to fight epic wildfires amidst record-breaking temperatures in the West. All while the very survival of this nation’s representative democracy and constitutional checks and balances seem to be at stake. Crises collide. Despair gives way to determined outrage. And across the country dawns the realization that racial, climate and economic justice are inextricably interwoven.  

Thanks to the movement for Black lives, people across the nation are finally understanding the many ways structural racism stacks the odds against Black people. Non-Black folks finally comprehend that Black residents are more likely to be stopped, arrested, brutalized, and even killed by police. They are waking up to what it means when Black, Brown, and Indigenous people are more likely to live in communities with bad air quality, polluted water, and contaminated land. These same communities often lack parks, open space, and access to nature. While people of color are underrepresented in the leadership of mainstream national environmental organizations, we are over represented in cases of asthma, heart disease, and COVID-19 – diseases that are shaped by the environmental health of the places in which we live and work.

COVID-19 and the call for racial justice reinforce the urgency of working toward a cleaner, more sustainable future. The environmental justice movement has long fought to shine a light on the structures, practices, and conditions that subject low-income communities of color to greater risk of infection and death in a pandemic. The heatwaves and wildfires confronting Californians reinforce that even during a pandemic, we cannot lose our focus on the existential threat posed by climate change.

At Better World Group, we are eager and ready to be part of the solution. In this newsletter, you will hear about the remarkable efforts by our partners in Oregon and California to incorporate a racial justice lens into the policies that guide their work. Across the issues we work on, whether it’s conservation, energy, clean cars, plastics or climate change, we see a driving commitment to respond to the moment. We are heartened by the growing awareness that the success of the environmental movement depends on it being informed, animated, and led by the communities of color who have faced the greatest environmental burdens in our nation.

Better World Group often plays the role of a convener. We connect front line movement leaders fighting for change with policymakers and mainstream environmental organizations. We work to bridge communities and perspectives to help our allies realize the strength and power of coalitions, collaboration, and co-creation. In these times, this work is more important than ever.

The “Before” times are over. The year 2020, with its repeated shocks, needless tragedies, ruthless truth-telling, and irrepressible hope, is our reality.  These trying times make us feel in the core of our being the necessity of fighting for a radically inclusive and compassionate society – one that is in harmony with nature and attuned to our vital connections to each other. Racial justice is an environmental necessity. Climate justice mandates hard work and deep democracy. With our partners, we look forward to meeting the challenge and delivering a future worthy of our children.