My name is Nancy Huizar and I am an environmental justice leader. In 2016, I was moving between Tacoma and Seattle, when I found out about Got Green from my friends at Hilltop Urban Gardens. I immediately jumped into Got Green’s Young Leaders Committee and was swept up into the Green Pathways campaign. Through this experience, I learned about community organizing, grassroots campaigns, green jobs, coalition building, and so much more.
With the campaign slogan “green pathways, not prison pipelines,” we waged a powerful campaign to increase young people of color’s access to living-wage, career-bound jobs that are good for our communities and the environment. And we are thrilled to be working with Rainier Valley Corps on the Green Pathways Fellowship. Through this process, I have grown into my leadership and power. This is one of the many reasons, I invite you to support the work of Got Green.
Rooted in the South End
Since I was born, my family has always lived on Beacon Hill. These last few decades we’ve seen the South-end and the city dramatically change. — with new buildings going up and families being pushed out. At Got Green, the Climate Justice Committee has lifted up displacement and housing justice in a unique way. The CJ Committee has highlighting stories of displacement, including fellow Beacon Hill resident Esther “Little Dove” John, where a housing company sought to displace Dove and her neighbors, demolish the existing building, and build high-end luxury housing (with a few environmental perks). The CJ Committee is actively challenging the greenwashing of gentrification while naming that access to permanent affordable housing is the greenest form of housing and necessary if we are to be resilient in the face of climate change.
Food for the People
Got Green’s longest standing committee, the Food Access Team has continued to wage a powerful fight for healthy foods for communities of color and working-class families. They kicked off the year by making sure the revenue from Seattle’s Sweetened Beverage Tax would primarily be used to expand access to healthy food, specifically for the Fresh Bucks — and EBT match program. This tax is estimated to bring in $20 million annually, which is deeply needed as EBT benefits are being slashed by the billions at the federal level. This has been met by an unprecedented backlash from the soda industry.
Building The Movement
Got Green spent nearly four years working with our friends in labor, health, tribes, environmental organizations, and racial justice groups to develop and fight for one of the most progressive climate policies in the nation. As Initiative 1631 didn’t pass at the ballot due to the the misleading opposition from Big Oil, who spent over $30 million to defeat us, Got Green is nonetheless deeply proud of this historic collaboration and this massive grassroots effort to bring clean air and water, expansion of clean energy and fair green jobs, as well as healthy and powerful communities to all of WA State. Moving into 2019, Got Green is well positioned to be a powerful leader in the ongoing struggle for climate justice.
Food for the People
Got Green’s longest standing committee, the Food Access Team has continued to wage a powerful fight for healthy foods for communities of color and working-class families. They kicked off the year by making sure the revenue from Seattle’s Sweetened Beverage Tax would primarily be used to expand access to healthy food, specifically for the Fresh Bucks — and EBT match program. This tax is estimated to bring in $20 million annually, which is deeply needed as EBT benefits are being slashed by the billions at the federal level. This has been met by an unprecedented backlash from the soda industry.
Building The Movement
Got Green spent nearly four years working with our friends in labor, health, tribes, environmental organizations, and racial justice groups to develop and fight for one of the most progressive climate policies in the nation. As Initiative 1631 didn’t pass at the ballot due to the the misleading opposition from Big Oil, who spent over $30 million to defeat us, Got Green is nonetheless deeply proud of this historic collaboration and this massive grassroots effort to bring clean air and water, expansion of clean energy and fair green jobs, as well as healthy and powerful communities to all of WA State. Moving into 2019, Got Green is well positioned to be a powerful leader in the ongoing struggle for climate justice.
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