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Biden-Harris Administration Selects Blacks in Green
to Serve as New Technical Assistance Center with $10M Grant to Advance Environmental Justice
Blacks in Green and core partners make history in equitable funding and frontline leadership by and for underserved, rural, and tribal communities.
Chicago, IL – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a history-making selection of finalist Blacks in Green (BIG) with a strong community-based alliance to serve as one of 17 Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Centers (EJ TCTAC), as part of a $177M program. BIG will receive $10 million in grant funding over five years to establish technical assistance centers across EPA’s Region 5 territory, which includes 35 tribal lands, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin. The centers will provide technical assistance, training, and related support to communities and their partners with environmental justice concerns.
Partners in this innovative approach encourage frontline organizations everywhere to assume financial leadership of solutions being proposed for their communities – a simple, essential “flip the script” that properly positions them in ownership. BIG and partners worked in kinship, through a democratic process to advance this core principle of the new terms of engagement between frontline organizations and white allies, honoring our leadership as experts on the ground.
BIG will serve as lead in the Region 5 EJ TCTAC Alliance, a collaboration with the following frontline, community-based and community serving organizations, building this program together, to provide “front-door access” for people and communities across the region seeking environmental and energy justice solutions.
- Midwest Tribal Energy Resources Association (MTERA)
- Black Environmental Leaders Association (BEL)
- Environmental Health Watch (EHW)
- School of Public Health (SPH) – University of Illinois, Chicago
- Smart Energy Design Assistance Center (SEDAC) – University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Read the joint press release from BIG and our partners by clicking the button below. |
