Girl Plus Environment

Founded in 2019, Girl Plus Environment is a national non-profit organization created to educate, engage, and empower Black and Brown girls, women, and non-binary individuals to stand up for environmental justice in their own neighborhoods by equipping them with the tools, resources, and confidence to demand safe, healthy environments that allow them to thrive. Girl Plus Environment’s vision is to see Black and Brown girls, women, and non-binary individuals at the forefront of environmental justice decisions and leadership in order to successfully mitigate environmental barriers and improve the overall quality of life for Black and Brown communities across the U.S. Girl Plus Environment works to create and share tools, resources, and information about environmental justice to its members that is both educational and exciting to learn about and urges our communities to feel empowered to join the movement. 

The organization is led explicitly by Black and Brown women and non-binary individuals who have all experienced some form of environmental racism and still currently carry the burden of environmental disparities in their communities. GPE is supported by a board that is 100% women and 75% Black. It is led by Diamond Spratling, MPH, environmental justice and health equity activist, and heavily supported by a volunteer workgroup made up of Black women across the U.S. Being made up of predominantly Black and Brown women from different frontline communities across the country, who all grew up experiencing similar environmental burdens, has significantly driven our environmental justice work. Our work comes from the heart, it comes from our lived experiences and not wanting our children to endure what we had to endure. This fuels our work because we understand that the work we do isn’t just about us, and if done correctly, it can impact generations of Black and Brown families. 

Though based in Atlanta, GA, Girl Plus Environment supports Black and Brown girls, women, and non-binary individuals across the entire U.S. who reside in neighborhoods that are disproportionately exposed to environmental burdens. Since its inception, Girl Plus Environment has reached over 20,000 individuals and accumulated a national community of over 1,300 Black and Brown girls, women, and non-binary individuals. 

Our objectives are to:

1. Educate Black and Brown girls, women, and non-binary individuals about different environmental justice issues, how those issues impact their everyday lives, and how they are connected to other socio-economic, racial, and health issues they disproportionately experience
2. Engage Black and Brown girls, women, and non-binary individuals in the environmental justice movement by providing opportunites and resources that help to get them more involved
3. Empower Black and Brown girls, women, and non-binary individuals to take effective action to address environmental justice issues locally in their own neighborhoods and on a national level

Programmatic Areas:

1. Digital Campaign (education)
   1. GPE creates monthly digital campaigns in order to educate our community about different environmental justice issues, how these issues intersect with other socioeconomic burdens, and what our community can do to stand up against these issues. Digital campaigns are hosted on our social media platforms. Each digital campaign is carefully curated by building out a full digital campaign strategy.
2. National Membership (engagement)
   1. The GPE National Community (GPENC) is our free membership created by and for Black and Brown women and non-binary individuals between the ages of 18 and 29 who are interested in learning more about environmental justice, effective advocacy strategies, and how to empower their local communities to stand up for enviornmental justice. GPENC was created in order to engage Black and Brown girls, women, and non-binary individuals across the country who have traditionally been left out of environmental justice work to stand up for environmental justice in their own neighborhoods and across the nation.
3. Community Trainings (empowerment)
   1. GPE offers various learning opportunities for our community. We do this by hosting free training programs for individuals interested in learning about best practices for how to take action on environmental justice in their local communities. GPE is currently focusing on building out our training program, The Advocacy Club. This is a 10-month cohort created by and for Black and Brown women and non-binary individuals between the ages of 18 and 29 who are ready to learn more about environmental justice, effective advocacy strategies, and how to empower their local communities to stand up for enviornmental justice.