Environmental & Climate
Justice Storytellers Internship
What is the Environmental and Climate Justice Storyteller (ECJS) Internship program?
ECJS is a program funded by the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM). The $1.25 million, five-year grant awarded to the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice (DSCEJ) is dedicated to equipping the next generation of environmental and climate justice leaders with the technical skills to chronicle the stories of marginalized communities along the Gulf Coast Region in LA, FL, MS, AL, and TX.
The 2022-2023 Storytellers Project
ACTS
CBO: Achieving Community Tasks Successfully (ACTS)
Pleasantville community; Houston, TX
Leader: Bridgette Murray
ACTS is a non-profit organization focused on community based social and environmental justice.
Latest Win: Reaching an agreement with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to install a regulatory air monitor in the Pleasantville community.
ACTS Interns
Malachi Martin
ACTS
Isis Ringer
ACTS
Dillon Surratt
ACTS
Animi Williams
ACTS
C.H.E.S.S.
CBO: Clean, Healthy, Educated, Safe and Sustainable (C.H.E.S.S.)
Africatown community; Mobile, AL
Leader: Maj. Joe Womack
C.H.E.S.S. implements strategies and best practices to improve the quality of life in their region’s most underserved areas.
Latest Win: This community won the approval of the Mobile zoning board to establish a safe zone for the Africatown community that protects residents from the encroachment of industrial development
C.H.E.S.S. Interns
DSCEJ/Sankofa
Deep South Center for Environmental Justice (DSCEJ) Through a partnership with DSCEJ, student interns were connected to local CBOs including:
Sankofa CDC
Lower Ninth Ward; New Orleans, LA
Leader: Rashida Ferdinand
The Sankofa Community Development Corporation is a partner in our Gulf Water Justice Project. The project supports the Sankofa development of the Sankofa Wetland Park and Nature Trail, a long-term recovery project to improve protection from hurricanes and flooding in the Lower Ninth Ward while creating a community asset that provides space for health, wellness and climate resilience as a green infrastructure.
Latest Win: Sankofa has worked to transform the region from an area of blight and illegal dumping to a vast ecological wonder with Louisiana native wildlife, flora and fauna returning in droves. Currently they’re partnering with the City of New Orleans to develop the remaining 32 acres, providing a space for outdoor recreation and education programs with fishing, canoeing, biking, walking, and other physical activities.
DSCEJ/Sankofa Interns
EEECHO
Economics, Education, Environmental, Climate and Health Organization (EEECHO)
North Gulfport communities; Gulfport, MS
Leader: Katherine Egland
EEECHO focuses on racial equity in flood protection and wetland preservation.
Latest Win: EEECHO is working to stop a proposed project that would risk contaminating waterways that flow through Black neighborhoods with arsenic and lead. EEECHO’s legal action continues to protect residents from harmful industrial developments.
EEECHO Interns
Unity in the Family
Unity in the Family Ministry
Wedgewood, Olive Heights and Rolling Hills communities; Pensacola, FL
Leader: Dr. Calvin Avant
Unity in the Family joined the DSCEJ family in order to become more empowered to address the toxicity harming the well-being of the people it serves.
Latest Win: The organization won the approval of the Escambia County Board of Commissioners to develop new permit requirements for borrow pits and construction and debris landfills to address flooding and other adverse impacts on communities after applying the principles, training and practices.
