Rachel Jefferson Selected to Premier EJ Fellowship Position

ANNOUNCING AN EJ FELLOWSHIP AWARDED TO RACHEL JEFFERSON, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, GROUNDWORK NORTHEAST REVITALIZATION GROUP (GROUNDWORK NRG)

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE LEADERS RIPE TO DISRUPT FALSE CLIMATE SOLUTIONS & BUILD CLIMATE JUSTICE

NEW YORK,  February 3, 2022 – The Tishman Environment and Design Center is proud to announce the inaugural cohort of fellows in the Ripe for Creative Disruption: An Environmental Justice Movement Fellowship (EJM Fellowship). Twenty groundbreaking leaders representing 18 frontline community organizations have been selected to design and test solutions at scale for just transition, climate justice, environmental health, and energy democracy. During the two-year program, fellows will participate in a combination of virtual and in-person retreats, group coaching sessions, and ideation to scaling project phases.

The fellowship was designed to focus on collective leadership models making it distinct from other fellowship opportunities that focus on individual growth and development. During the fellowship, participants will work collaboratively in six groups of 2 to 4 leaders to innovate, test, and deploy contentious, creative, and scalable solutions to address the complexity of the climate crisis. The selected fellows include architects, urban planners, Indigenous leaders, artists, policy makers, green building/sustainability designers, advocates, and organizers, and are multicultural, intergenerational, primarily Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC), women, and gender non-conforming. Their work spans eight states and five territories, including Indigenous territories, the Mariana Islands of Micronesia, and Puerto Rico.

The following is a quote from Ms. Jefferson about her selection:

“I deeply appreciate the thoughtfulness and intentionality that the Fellowship designers have brought to the formation of this cohort. The intense focus on setting and following through on process goals as opposed to a singular focus on outcomes is evident through the deliberate ways in which members of the cohort are being engaged. I am energized to learn, unlearn, practice with my fellow cohort members over the next two years.”

- Rachel Jefferson, Groundwork Northeast Revitalization Group, Kansas City, Kansas, United States

We congratulate Ms. Jefferson on her selection!