Training

Communities of color were living in smoggiest cities.

Giving a Policy Voice to Communities of Color

The Challenge: Four of the nation’s 10 smoggiest cities are in California’s Central Valley. This dirty air problem disproportionately impacts communities of color – the same people whose voices are underrepresented in environmental policymaking.

Our Approach: Fenton wanted to connect Latino, African American and Asian American communities with the decision makers who had the power to improve the quality of the air and, thereby, their health. Through the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, we worked with New Constituencies for the Environment to train its members to play an active role in environmental policy. Instead of conducting communications outreach on behalf of these communities, Fenton took this capacity-building approach to ensure that people take advantage of this initial opportunity to improve dirty air, but also have the long-term skills and relationships necessary to continue to give voice to these communities.

Progress, Accelerated: This capacity building approach worked: since the initial strategy and training sessions, the alliance of community groups has been successful in getting the state legislature, California Air Resources Board and local regulators to adopt stronger air-quality rules.