For Immediate Release
April 13, 2023
(New Orleans, LA) The Deep South Center for Environmental Justice (DSCEJ) is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a $2.3 million dollar grant from the Waverley Foundation. This grant will help support DSCEJ’s core mission including our research, policy, and advocacy initiatives.
As part of their commitment to invest in Black, brown, and Indigenous organizations and support local solutions, the Waverley Foundation selected DSCEJ as a Climate Hubs partner. Climate Hubs partners were selected to strategically foster place-based partnerships, primarily between minority-serving institutions like historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), Hispanic serving institutions (HSIs) and tribal colleges and universities (TCUs), and community-based organizations that advance equitable climate strategies.
As a Climate Hub partner, DSCEJ will help facilitate collaboration between higher education institutions that specialize in scientific research, policy experimentation, and the education of future leaders and local grassroots partners. This collaboration will not only help DSCEJ continue to be a leader in the U.S. Environmental Justice movement, but also allow the Center to develop the next diverse generation of climate change activists.
“We are thrilled to receive this grant and to be chosen as a Climate Hubs Partner by the Waverley Street Foundation,” said Dr. Beverly Wright, Executive Director of DSCEJ. “This funding will help The Center continue to identify and meet the needs of our local community through research, outreach, and training. With the support of the Waverley Street Foundation, along with our HBCU Climate Change Consortium, we can continue to shape the next generation of environmental leaders who will seek environmental, climate, and economic justice for Black and Brown communities in the Mississippi River Chemical Corridor and Gulf Coast region.”
“Institutions led by and designed to serve people of color, like historically black colleges and universities and tribal colleges, have long supported communities while preparing future generations with an intersectional lens to advance societal change,” said Alexandria McBride, Strategy Director for Waverley Street Foundation. “The time is now and this is the expertise we must support as we invest in our climate future.”
Other Climate Hubs Partners include:
- Bullard Center for Environmental and Climate Justice at Texas Southern University
- Center for Diverse Leadership in Science at UCLA
- CUNY
- Ecotrust
- The Environmental Collaboratory at Drexel University
- Florida A&M University
- New York City Environmental Justice Alliance
- Salish Kootenai College
- Second Nature
- Tishman Environment and Design Center
- United Negro College Fund
- University of Maryland – College Park’s Center for Community Engagement, Environmental Justice and Health
About the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice
Families in the Gulf Coast deserve to live in communities that are free from deadly air and are more resilient to climate change and extreme weather. The Deep South Center for Environmental Justice (DSCEJ) works to empower and engage communities to put environmental justice and equity at the center of all climate action. Led by environmental justice scholar and advocate, author, civic leader and professor of Sociology Dr. Beverly L. Wright, the DSCEJ uses research, education, and community and student engagement to advocate for policy change, lead health and safety training for environmental careers, develop social and emotional community wellness programs, and create new and environmentally healthy opportunities for the residents of communities disproportionately impacted by historic environmental injustice.
About Waverley Street Foundation
The voices, experiences, and innovations of communities around the world have a central place in protecting people, nature, health, and our planet. Waverley Street Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, supports farmers, students, Indigenous peoples, advocates, and many others working in the places they call home. Waverley Street has committed to spend the entirety of its endowment — more than $3 billion as of 2022 — by 2035 to support organizations working on solutions at the intersection of climate change and community priorities. https://www.waverleystreet.
