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ABOUT US

Community Members for Environmental Justice (CMEJ) is a coalition of caring community members, mothers, and youth who are committed to addressing the environmental injustices occurring disproportionately in pollution-burdened neighborhoods in the City of Minneapolis. 

 

CMEJ is based in North Minneapolis, an environmental justice (EJ) community - a low-income community of color with multiple sources of industrial pollution generating a legacy of environmental health issues. Many of our concerned residents and families live or work in areas of the Twin Cities heavily impacted by the legacy of fossil fuel pollution in the state. CMEJ is focused on organizing to push for government policies and decisions that reduce the levels of toxics and other issues identified by the community affecting community health.

 

While environmental justice work by members has been occurring since 2012, the work got organized under the name of Community Members for Environmental Justice by founder Roxxanne O’Brien in 2018, with guidance from co-founder Shalini Gupta. There are over a hundred informally active members, working across community residents, government, and the private sector, that organically participate as they can - with a joined passion and commitment to achieving environmental justice.

WHO WE ARE

Due to the multiple affiliations or the feeling of

being targeted, not all of those involved in CMEJ

feel comfortable being named on a website.

Most are volunteers.

Some of the core participants include

Roxxanne O’Brien 

Shalini Gupta - policy advisor

Rose Youngmark - communications

Diamond Reynolds - Police accountability lead

Evan Mulholland - legal advisor

Louis Alemayehu - EJ elder in community

Lea Foushee - former MPCA EJ Advisory Board

Member, EJ elder in community

Taisia, Preston, Justice - youth organizers

 

PARTNERS & SUPPORTERS

JXTA - Juxtaposition Arts, fiscal sponsor 

COPAL

MCEA - Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy

Minneapolis Foundation

People’s Action Institute -
Center for Health, Environment, and Justice

Midwest Environmental Justice Network

City of Minneapolis Staff - Health Department,
Promise Zone, and Sustainability Offices

Council Member Jeremiah Ellison's Office

PYC Arts & Technology High School

...and the many members, individual donors,
and supporters across the Twin Cities
   - many who are part of powerful organizations
     but come as themselves so as not to
     create issues with their larger institutions

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