Equity
At the heart of our work for clean water is our commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice (DEIJ). This includes growing and mobilizing a more inclusive movement of clean water champions, advancing clean water policies with an eye towards equity, and addressing cases of environmental injustice. From our work to reduce stormwater pollution and runoff from agricultural lands, we have the ability to ensure we are protecting everyone's well-being.
Ultimately, if clean water isn't accessible and safe to all without fear of harm or discrimination, we have failed in our mission. Through the Coalition's Equity Workgroup and our collective focus on integrating DEIJ into all our work for clean water, we are dedicated to protecting and restoring the Bay's rivers and streams for all communities.
Equity Workgroup
Promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, and incorporate these issues into the structures, analysis, policy development, decision-making, and advocacy process of the Coalition.
Monthly Call:
The Equity Workgroup’s monthly calls are held on the fourth Wednesday of every month at 11:00 a.m.
Workgroup Lead:
Wuillam Urvina
urvinaw@nwf.org
443-842-7551
Environmental Justice in the Chesapeake Bay
Word cloud with top 50 most common words in Chesapeake Bay jurisdictions’ definitions of environmental justice.
Environmental justice policies, data, and resources vary significantly across the Chesapeake Bay watershed, making it challenging to understand and compare how different jurisdictions identify and address environmental justice concerns. To help bridge these gaps, the Choose Clean Water Coalition with the help of two Yale interns (Emma Kubitz and Flannery Streiff) developed a set of resources examining environmental justice efforts across the seven Chesapeake Bay jurisdictions.
The Environmental Justice Policy Tracker compiles and organizes EJ-related laws, policies, programs, and initiatives across the watershed, providing Coalition members and partners with a centralized resource for understanding jurisdictional approaches to environmental justice. The accompanying Environmental Justice in the Chesapeake Bay: A Policy and Screening Tool Analysis report goes more in-depth regarding policy differences in the seven Chesapeake jurisdictions.
The Environmental Justice Screening and Mapping Tool Analysis examines the tools used across the region to identify communities experiencing environmental and socioeconomic burdens. The analysis compares their indicators, data sources, methodologies, similarities, and differences while identifying opportunities for greater coordination and data sharing across jurisdictions.
Together, these resources are designed to help Coalition members better understand the environmental justice landscape across the Chesapeake Bay watershed, identify opportunities for cross-jurisdictional learning and collaboration, and support more coordinated efforts to advance environmental justice throughout the region.
During the late 18th century through the middle of the 19th century, a network of land routes helped enslaved people escape to their freedom. What the history books often leave out, however, is that waterways were a major part of these routes, none more so than the Chesapeake Bay.