About Us
Our Mission
The Racial & Environmental Justice Committee (REJC) transforms the collective priorities of BIPOC, low wealth, and frontline communities in Providence and throughout Rhode Island into policy solutions to cultivate a world where everyone lives well without living better at the expense of others. The REJC facilitates co-governance so that decision-making is shared between communities at the frontlines of environmental and racial injustices and the institutions that formally hold decision-making power.
Our Team
April Brown
Organizational Steward
Pilar McCloud
Committee Member
Monica Huertas
Committee Member
Joel "Tapia" Rosario
Committee Member
Jesus Holguin
Program Steward
Jazandra Barros
Program Steward
Terri Wright
Committee Member
Ariana Brown
Organizational Steward
Our Goals
Developing intersectional leaders based on our Just Providence Framework
Identify key concerns, issues and needs for frontline communities related to environmental justice and resiliency in Providence and throughout Rhode Island
Create a long-term process and structure for collaboration between communities of color and the institutions that formerly hold decision-making power
Utilize the spectrum of community engagement to defer power from the dominant cultures to impacted communities
Our Vision
Our Vision is to create a Just Providence and better Rhode Island where Indigenous, Black, Latin(x), Southeast Asian and all frontline communities of color* can freely heal, thrive, and self-determine their realities in balance and with collective stewardship and essential life resources.
*Frontline Communities of Color: Communities of color most impacted by the crises of ecology, economy and democracy, including the Indigenous, African-American, Black, Latino and Southeast Asian communities. There is particular emphasis on people of color who are refugees, immigrants, people with records, speakers of languages other than English, LGBTQ+, have disabilities and are living with class and inter-generational complexities.
Our History
REJC's start is the result of a partnership between the Environmental Justice League of Rhode Island, Groundwork Rhode Island, and the City of Providence’s Office of Sustainability (now its Department of Sustainability). This project team established REJC, and it is made up of Black, Indigenous, and people of color representing communities living at the frontlines of environmental racism in Providence and throughout Rhode Island.
The work began with the idea of eco-municipalities and anti-racism trainings, which presented a racial equity analysis for Providence and its community members. REJC then assessed the needs and priorities of community members and researched best practices for equitable and sustainable community development. The result was the creation of Recommendations for a Just and Racially Equitable Providence, which was adopted by the Office of Sustainability in September 2017 and is now known as the “Just Providence Framework.”
The process of creating this Framework was designed to shift decision-making power over environmental justice and sustainability issues to Providence’s frontline communities of color. It rejected the typical “input” model of community engagement and created space for frontline communities to be the decision-makers. This approach acknowledges that the experts of racial equity in Providence and more broadly across Rhode Island are those who have been most affected by it --communities of color. There was also significant attention given to removing barriers to participation and an explicit focus on trust-building between community members and the institutions that formally hold decision-making power.
REJC is organized as a Worker Self-Directed Nonprofit (501c3)