The road to clean air
Take a virtual road trip through California to see the stories and hometowns of members of the Allies in Reducing Emissions (AIRE) Collaborative.
At each stop, you will learn what AIRE members are doing to bring healthier air to their communities.
Environmental Justice in San Ysidro
Sarina Vega, Casa Familiar
A Better Imperial
Christian Torres, Comite Civico del Valle
Fighting for our Future
Ruben Rodriguez, The Latino Equity and Advocacy Policy (LEAP) Institute
Youth Environmental Savvy (YES) Program
Nayamin Martinez, Central California Environmental Justice Network
Town Business
Jhamere Howard, West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project
Data for Action
David Chang, Tracking California
More about the storytellers and their organizations
Sarina Vega,Casa Familiar
Sarina works as a social worker and a community air researcher working to understand air pollution that is impacting San Ysidro's health.
Not only does San Ysidro suffer from lack of green spaces, but we also suffer from some of the highest asthma rates where 1 in 4 residents are diagnosed. Monitoring air quality is a start.
Casa Familiar is the leading non-profit organization directly in San Ysidro with a 40+ year history of advocacy, service provision, community planning and development.
For more information, please visit https://www.casafamiliar.org
Christian Torres,Comite Civico del Valle
Christian Torres is Special Projects Manager at Comite Civico del Valle. Prior to this role, Christian served as Air Monitor Technician for the IVAN Air network. He works in sustaining the network in optimal conditions while also working towards providing the Imperial Valley and partners across the state with air quality data so they can make informed decisions.
I’m proud of what we’re doing as a community. I’m using what I learned to give people tools that weren’t here when I grew up. I can’t imagine leaving.
“Informed people build healthy communities”, Comite Civico del Valle (CCV) was founded on this principle and continues to incorporate this mission statement in all partnerships, research studies, and civic engagements initiated or comprised by our organization.
For more information visit https://www.ccvhealth.org
Ruben Rodriguez,Latino Equity Advocacy & Policy (LEAP) Institute
Ruben is the air monitoring technician working with the Latino Equity Advocacy & Policy (LEAP) Institute helping communities in Kings County, Western Fresno, and the pleasant valley stay informed through a community air monitoring network.
We are living in a world where profit over people and the health of our planet has become normalized. The accumulation of material goods, without the understanding of the consequences that come along with this mentality has become a pandemic in itself, affecting everyone and everything on this planet.
The LEAP Institute is an equity, advocacy and policy not for profit 501(c)3 organization that works with communities to achieve economic, environmental and climate justice through leadership development, coalition building, community organizing, participatory action research and advocacy for racial justice.
For more information, please visit https://theleapinstitute.org/
Nayamin Martinez,Central California Environmental Justice Network
Nayamin is the Executive Director at Central California Environmental Justice Network. She has conducted participatory research, launched leadership development and civic engagement programs including the Youth Environmental Savvy (YES) Program. This program aims to build leaders with youth from disadvantaged communities across the San Joaquin Valley to continue fighting for change.
If given the right tools and information, youth don't have to skip the Central Valley. They can stay, and transform it.
Central California Environmental Justice Network (CCEJN)'s mission is to empower our communities and secure our children’s future by eliminating negative environmental impacts in low-income and communites of color. CCEJN supports grassroots leadership to promote environmental health education, community organizing, collaborative dialogue, and political involvement among rural, underserved communities of color in the San Joaquin Valley.
For more information visit https://www.ccejn.org
Jhamere Howard,West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project (WOEIP)
J Howard is the Project Manager and Community Engagement Specialist at West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project. Over the past 3 years with WOEIP, J's proudest achievements include: spearheading the California Assembly Bill 617 West Oakland Community Action Plan, creating Oakland's Very Own speaker series and engaging youth in issues of climate action and environmental justice.
West Oakland is the first community in the nation to take ownership over how they deal with air pollution, via policy, taking steps to address one more reason that as a black man in America, I can't breathe.
The West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project is a resident led, community-based environmental justice organization dedicated to achieving healthy homes, healthy jobs and healthy neighborhoods for all who live, work, learn and play in West Oakland, California.
Our mission is to build grassroots capacity to provide local leadership for positive change. Our work aids residents in understanding the political, social, and natural forces that impact their lives. We give impacted residents the tools to participate in these processes and to drive change from the bottom.
For more information, please visit: www.woeip.org/
David Chang,Tracking California
David is a project coordinator at Tracking California working to support the Allies in Reducing Emissions (AIRE) partners and other community groups in setting up their community air monitoring networks. As a Tracker, David works to make real-time air pollution information readily available in communities across California.
With this data, communities can take action to reduce their exposure to harmful pollutants.
Tracking California's mission is to mobilize data to improve public health. One way we do this is by supporting community air monitoring projects across the state. We also work to make environmental health data and information publicly-available through the development of a web-based data query system, state-of-the-art data displays, and innovative web tools and services.
For more information, visit www.trackingcalifornia.org
The Allies in Reducing Emissions (AIRE) Collaborative
The AIRE Collaborative is a collaborative of community-based environmental justice (EJ) organizations. The collaborative aims to establish a common foundation for community-engaged air emissions reduction strategies and scientifically-accurate air monitoring with EJ communities in California
For more information, please visit www.airecollaborative.org
Tracking California
Tracking California is a program of the Public Health Institute in collaboration with CDPH. We partner with the AIRE Collaborative to provide technical assistance, including scientific guidance, analysis support, and training.
For more information, please visit www.trackingcalifornia.org
StoryCenter
StoryCenter creates spaces for listening to and sharing stories, to help build a just and healthy world. Our public and custom workshops provide individuals and organizations with skills and tools that support self-expression, creative practice, and community building.
For more information, please visit www.storycenter.org
