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Pittsburgh’s Black Environmental Collective is a cross-sectoral network of Black leaders, rooted in a commitment to environmental equity and social justice.
The organization bridges the gap between community experiences, resource and information sharing, regional policy advocacy, and mutual learning. It brings together people and their ideas who would not otherwise meet.
The collective believes:
Cities should be built for people with people. Cities will prosper when lived experiences of urban life are central to urban planning, design, and decision-making processes.
The voices and experiences of long-term and low-wealth residents should be a significant part—from the beginning and throughout—of any urban or community development project.
Everyone should live in a healthy home and neighborhood.
Residents who have stuck it out through tough times should be able to stay when their neighborhood changes for the better.
Lived experience and book smarts are both forms of knowledge. Each is an important part of understanding.
Young people matter. They should be respected—not feared or dismissed. Their voices should be heard, supported, and empowered to make the changes they seek.
Publicly-held land should benefit the public first.
Informed by a diverse set of experiences and a critical interdisciplinary lens, the collective focuses on community engagement and education, collaboration and partnership, movement and coalition building, and idea transformation into activities and solutions.
The group seeks to expand equitable and just outcomes, strengthen the voices of Black people within the environmental justice movement, and create additional pathways to success for youth and burgeoning leaders within the sustainability sector.
The collective’s work spans several areas, such as environment/place, food, climate change, and quality of life.
The Black Environmental Collective’s authentic space is a place where leaders of color can nimbly, empathetically, and responsibly respond to the needs of Black populations as environmental emergencies persist and arise.
The group’s success is rooted in its belief in asking critical questions. Members serve to challenge and disrupt perpetually significant environmental threats and impacts in Black communities. They are committed to acknowledging and acting on the need to address systemic root causes of environmental discrimination and creating effective solutions for progress and sustainability.
Contact the collective via email at info@urbankind.org, call 412.431.4619.
