Archives

Motavvef, Athena

Athena Motavvef is a Legislative Representative on the Policy and Legislation team at Earthjustice. Based out of the Washington, D.C. office, she is a federal advocate working to electrify our transportation system to solve our air pollution problems and protect our climate. Prior to joining Earthjustice, Athena served as the Communications Coordinator for WE ACT for Environmental Justice. Athena received a Bachelor of Arts, Public Policy from the University of California, Riverside; and a Masters of Science, Public Policy and Management – DC Track from Carnegie Mellon University.

Paul, Shane

Shane Paul first became interested in environmental justice through his involvement with mobility justice. He is the Director of Technology and Research for Shared Mobility Inc., a member of Buffalo’s Bicycle Pedestrian Board, and co-founder of Buffalo’s first bicycle courier service. In his spare time, he is an avid member of the local cycling community organizing and participating in grouprides and events.

Ifebigh, Adaora

Adaora Ifebigh is Director of Impact at Sol System and leads efforts to execute Sol’s comprehensive Impact and Infrastructure strategy. Ms. Ifebigh has over 15 years of program management and leadership experience across the energy sector with specific experience in energy access and community impact work in rural cooperative territory.

As Program Director for Energy Access at the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA), she started and led the Advancing Energy Access for All initiative that spotlights cooperatives’ involvement in facilitating healthy communities, explores the innovative ways they do it, and uncovers new directions community assistance programs are taking. The initiative created a sustainable practice around supporting cooperatives as they holistically serve their members, especially low- and moderate-income households and to ensure that rural communities are not left behind in the transition to clean energy. At the Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Project Agency-Energy (ARPA-e), she led a program portfolio of more than 23 energy research and development awards worth $77M with awardees across the education, corporate and non-profit sectors.

Ms. Ifebigh holds a Master of Public Policy (MPP) from the George Mason University in Virginia and a Master of Business Administration from Florida International University in Miami, Florida.

Torres, Christian

Christian Torres is a Special Projects Manager at Comite Civico del Valle. Christian has worked extensively in environmental justice efforts across the Imperial Valley region. Recently, he has served on the leadership team for the Calexico, El Centro, and Heber AB 617 communities, is a member of the People’s Blueprint Writing Group, and provides technical assistance to Community Air Grant recipients implementing air quality monitoring at the community level.

Rosas, Ruth

Ruth Rosas works at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital at the intersection of public health and urban planning, focusing on communities whose health is adversely affected by the built environment. They are also a journalist for a daily news source called Streetsblog Chicago, writing on transportation issues in Latine communities. Ruth has an extensive background in community development, coalition building, and sustainable transportation systems. Ruth advocates inclusive, equitable, and just public engagement to inform public policies and is currently exploring climate change adaptation in the transportation sector.

Rodriguez, Bertha

Bertha Rodriguez (she/her/ella) is an Organizer at Climate Action Campaign, her focus is organizing the San Diego Green New Deal Alliance. The coalition is dedicated to achieving a zero carbon San Diego region by 2035 in a way that creates good union jobs and more just communities.

Bertha graduated from San Diego State University with a Masters in Women’s Studies and an Advanced Certificate in LGBTQ+ Studies. Prior to her work at Climate Action Campaign, she was a Lecturer at San Diego State University’s Women’s Studies Department and a Youth Coordinator at Casa Familiar in San Ysidro.

Iñigo-Anderson, Maya

Maya Iñigo-Anderson is a community organizer and Social Worker with an interest in environmental justice and air quality. Maya is a fellow at Communities for a Better Environment, working on oil drilling, lead exposure and port pollution issues. Maya has a background in labor organizing, mental health services and leadership development in low-income communities. Maya was a Lead Organizer on the LAX Corridor Living Wage campaign and provided campaign support for the Clean Trucks Campaign which resulted in the Port of Los Angeles’ Clean Trucks Program.

Breckenridge, Vivian

Vivian lives in Oakland and sees her life’s work as building a future where communities of color are healthy, green, resource-rich and overflowing with opportunity. She currently works as an Environmental Justice consultant devoting her skills and passion to supporting community organizers fighting for justice and organizations who want to center justice. Previously she has supported grassroots justice working for indigenous nonprofits, youth programs, a climate justice documentary, and GAIA – global zero waste and environmental justice alliance.

Vivian received her Master of Environmental Management from the Yale School of the Environment and her BA in International Relations and Environmental Studies from the University of Southern California.