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The Climate Mobilization

Climate Emergency Movement Receives $100,000 from Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Shelter Rock

The Climate Mobilization Project is pleased to announce that it has received a $100,000 grant from the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Shelter Rock to catalyze a nationwide emergency response to the climate crisis.

Grant awarded to the Climate Mobilization Project to move U.S. cities and states into emergency mode to restore a safe climate

Announcement follows win in Los Angeles, where initial funding for world’s first Climate Emergency Mobilization Department has been approved

The Climate Mobilization Project is pleased to announce that it has received a $100,000 grant from the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Shelter Rock to catalyze a nationwide emergency response to the climate crisis. The grant is the country’s single largest philanthropic investment in emergency climate action, a subset of the climate change movement that calls for a rapid mobilization of our economy and society to protect humanity from climate catastrophe.

“For decades, society has responded to the climate crisis with incremental measures to gradually reduce greenhouse gas emissions over time,” said Margaret Klein Salamon, Executive Director of the Climate Mobilization and the Climate Mobilization Project. “Despite these well-intentioned efforts, we have fallen woefully short of restoring our climate to safety. Incremental approaches alone can’t save us, but there is hope if we demand the transformative change that is needed — a WWII-scale mobilization of our economy and society — starting in U.S. cities. This mobilization will be made possible with support from organizations like UUCSR and the powerful political will of everyday Americans.”

The announcement comes on the heels of a major victory for The Climate Mobilization and the climate emergency movement in Los Angeles, where the city council has voted to explore the creation of what would be America’s first Climate Emergency Mobilization Department (CEMD) and set aside $500,000 for the proposed department. If established, the CEMD would coordinate the mobilization of the nation’s second largest city to carbon-neutrality by 2025, and act as an advocate — spreading the urgent need for mobilization to other governments, and aiming to catalyze a global mobilization to restore a safe climate. With support from UUCSR, the Climate Mobilization Project will be able to support this vital program in California and expand the City by City program into New York City.

The Climate Mobilization Project and its affiliate organization The Climate Mobilization support a growing network of people calling for a rapid, society-wide mobilization that steers our economy toward the single national purpose of restoring a safe climate. Climate Mobilization organizers around the country call for an emergency speed transition that not only seeks to prevent unimaginable suffering from climate and environmental catastrophe, but reinvents our economy to address the social inequities on which an extractive economy is based.

“Every day the climate crisis is worse than we had predicted,” said Gail Koelln, UUCSR congregation member and co-chair of its Climate Justice Task Force. “As a congregation rooted in principles of justice and respect for the interdependent web of all existence, UUCSR aims to do our part to prevent suffering and devastation from the intensifying climate crisis. The Climate Mobilization Project asks us to treat the climate crisis as an emergency, because it is one, and we are proud to partner with them on this urgent journey.”  

The UUCSR grant will provide critical support for Climate Mobilization Project and The Climate Mobilization’s joint City by City program, which empowers organizers to lead their cities into emergency mode. Cities that take on the emergency mobilization challenge declare a climate emergency, initiate programs that rapidly cut greenhouse gas emissions and begin removing carbon from the atmosphere, and become advocates for emergency mobilization. By educating the public, bringing other cities on board, and pressing for statewide emergency response, these cities can lead the way in sparking a nationwide mobilization.

The grant was awarded through UUCSR’s Large Grants Fund, which supports causes selected and proposed by members of the congregation. Organizations that receive funding through this program are voted on by a democratic voting process.

Photo credit: Peter Bowden on Flickr. #PeoplesClimate: Faith Contingent & Unitarian Universalists. CC BY-ND 2.0

About the Climate Mobilization Project

Climate Mobilization Project is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization and a sister organization of The Climate Mobilization. Climate Mobilization Project supports the work of The Climate Mobilization through education, research, coalition-building, thought leadership, and fundraising.

The Climate Mobilization is a 501(c)(4) non-profit that pursues the mission of initiating a WWII-scale mobilization to protect humanity and the natural world. We support a growing movement of people who have been transformed by the truth of the climate and ecological crisis and call for an emergency response. We work on the ground with concerned individuals and frontline communities, institutions, and policymakers to initiate a massive, economy-wide mobilization to restore a safe planet. Our approach is rooted in lessons from the mobilization in the United States during World War II and principles of environmental and social justice. We are animated by a belief that solving this crisis is necessary for our survival, is our greatest moral responsibility, and is an opportunity to co-create a compassionate and just world for everyone.

About UUCSR

UUCSR is one of more than more than 1,000 Unitarian Universalist (UU) congregations in the United States under the aegis of the Boston-based Unitarian Universalist Association. Unitarian Universalism is a liberal religion committed to deeds, not creeds. UU congregations affirm and promote Seven Principles, including the inherent dignity and worth of every person and the interdependent web of all existence.

Press contact

Juliet Barbara

(347) 974-3764

juliet.barbara@climatemobilization.org

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The Climate Mobilization is building power for a national transformation that rapidly restores a safe climate and creates a just and democratic society.

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Zakaria Kronemer

Climate Survival Farming and Food Sovereignty Coordinator

Zakaria Kronemer is a farmer from Richmond, Virginia with roots in community organizing and climate activism. In 2017, he began working with farmers and other communities in rural Virginia to develop a robust campaign against the construction of two fracked-gas pipelines. It was through this struggle —and the relationships built along the way—that connections between food, land, and climate justice were revealed to him. He teamed up with other BIPOC farmers and set out to build an alternative, regional food-system founded on sovereignty, security, ecological stewardship, and human dignity. Zakaria most recently worked as a field manager and program lead with Real Roots Food Systems—an emerging organization striving to increase participation in our food system. He envisions a food system that people can meaningfully participate in without needing to become a farmer, chef, or professional, in which nutrient-dense, healing food is not a luxury or a lifestyle, but a right.

Daisy Carter

Kentucky Movement Incubation Coordinator

Daisy Carter (she/they) is a New Orleans native, queer multi-disciplinary artist and climate justice organizer working at the intersections of mutual aid, disaster resiliency, African-American herbalism, and grassroots organizing. Daisy is inspired by the black radical movements of the so-called U.S and African diaspora, reimagining what healing + self-determination look like for frontline, BIPOC (black, brown, and people of color) communities who are most vulnerable to climate disaster. For the past few years, they have been organizing around mutual aid, environmental + climate justice, and building BIPOC and marginalized leadership throughout Kentucky. In 2021, they founded Rise and Shine, a community-led mutual aid organization building power and solidarity with low-income, BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and other marginalized communities in Bowling Green, Kentucky and beyond. She has also led numerous political campaigns, direct actions, and led outreach + communications strategy for organizations such as The Sierra Club, Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, and the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for a Moral Revival. At the Climate Mobilization, she is supporting programming, the development of the Movement Incubation Program, and the creation of climate survival outreach projects.

Alexia Leclerq

Network Coach

Alexia (she/they) is an environmental justice organizer based in Austin, TX. They graduated summa cum laude from NYU (’20), where they self-designed a major titled “The Politics and Economics of Inequality.” Their research focuses on political ecology, environmental justice, AAPI communities, inequality, postcolonialism. As an organizer and researcher they have spent the past 5 years working on various issues from preserving the Colorado River, water rights, fighting land use policy and zoning that enforces race-based discrimination, conducting ethnographic research on climate health, to organizing mutual aid, youth programming, and shaping national legislation alongside members of the Environmental Justice Leadership Forum and the Environmental Justice Health Alliance; today Alexia continues to work as an organizer with PODER, a grassroots EJ org. Alexia is also the co-founder of Start: Empowerment, a BIPOC led social and environmental justice education non-profit working with youth, educators, activists, and community members to implement justice-focused education and programming in schools and community spaces. S:E curriculum and programming has reached over 2,000 students, been recognized by the NYC Department of Education, and taught in universities. In 2021, their work was recognized by the prestigious Brower Youth Award.

Emmett Hopkins

Co-Leader and Director of Operations & Programs

Emmett manages operations and leads Climate Mobilization’s intersectional organizing around transportation justice, where he works with local community groups to build commitment, alignment and action among frontline constituents who rely on public transit and active transportation modes. He brings over a decade of experience collaborating with diverse stakeholders to activate power towards equitable, climate-friendly transportation systems, build mutual-aid-based community food systems, ensure equitable access to public lands, and mobilize resources towards a just transition. In 2021, Emmett developed an online platform for collaborative, community-scale visioning of a just, zero-carbon future. In 2022 he helped launch a transit riders union in Sonoma County, CA, which has engaged in mutual aid, storytelling, and a successful campaign to win fare-free buses and expanded frequency.

Suha Dabbouseh

National Organizer

National Organizer Suha Dabbouseh leads national strategy for The Climate Mobilization. They are originally from Chicago but have lived, organized and rebel-roused in seven states and 11 cities. Suha received their law degree from CUNY-School of Law where they focused on social justice lawyering representing detainees at Guantanamo Bay. While practicing law, Suha had worked to advocate on behalf of domestic violence survivors, transgender clients and fighting employment discrimination. Their passion is building people power and organizing to dismantle structural inequities.

Matt Renner

Executive Director of The Climate Mobilization

Matt has worked as a nonprofit executive in clean energy, climate policy, and journalism for over a decade, focusing on the near-term social and economic impacts of climate change. He leads organizational expansion and works closely with the communications and organizing teams. Matt earned a BA in political science from UC Berkeley, where he was deeply inspired by the work of Professor George Lakoff.

Extended Bio

Mariyah Jahangiri

Co-Leader and Network & Movement Building Director

Mariyah is a first-generation Pakistani community organizer who is on a life-long journey of working to create alternative, anti-capitalist models of collective healing, popular education, community organizing, and mass movement. She has been inspired by studying social movements and organizing in many movement ecosystems and geographies – most recently in Cape Town, Iowa, Puerto Rico, Atlanta, and currently in Los Angeles. At Climate Mobilization, she started as a Network Organizer where she leads programming, coaching, and other resource development for a learning hub of 43+ local decarbonization and climate justice campaigns. She also recently developed strategy for youth, BIPOC-led, climate movements alongside the Network Support Team at Power Shift Network, and organized with the Asian Pacific Environmental Network to base-build in Wilmington and San Pedro alongside low-income API communities most impacted by extractive industries in Los Angeles. Mariyah has spent the past 7 years leading campaigns for Just Transition, abolition, food sovereignty, housing justice, undocumented workers’ organizing, reproductive justice, and Palestine solidarity as well as being involved in mutual aid projects, across more than 15 geographies.

 

Rebecca Harris

Co-Leader and Director of Resource Mobilization

Rebecca has been with Climate Mobilization since 2019 leading our organizing efforts. In this role, she has coached dozens of local climate groups, coordinated organizing trainings, and launched the campaign for a national Climate Emergency Declaration. In July 2021, she collaborated with Acton, MA residents to launch Housing and Climate Justice for Acton, a renters rights and climate justice group led by public housing and Section 8 renters and other low-income residents, and has already won several campaigns. Along with a history of social movement organizing, Rebecca previously worked as a journalist covering equity in Chicago public schools and as the Development and Communications Manager at Latino Union of Chicago, an immigrants’ and workers’ rights organization. She is a 2017 graduate of the Reframe Mentorship in strategic communications and a 2019 participant in the Anne Braden Organizer Training Program.

Marina Mails

Co-Leader and Director of Operations
Marina manages operations and volunteers for both The Climate Mobilization and Climate Mobilization Project. She brings broad experience working in non-profit organizations, health care settings, and running her own private counseling practice. Before joining Climate Mobilization, Marina maintained a practice focusing exclusively on climate-related emotional coping, helping people make bold choices for lifestyle and professional change in response to the Climate Emergency. She has a bachelor’s degree in political science and Spanish from Wake Forest University and a Masters in Counseling from UNC Greensboro.

Meghann Beer

Co-Leader and Director of Resource Mobilization and Strategy

Meghann brings more than 20 years of nonprofit management and fundraising experience to The Climate Mobilization and Climate Mobilization Project. For over a decade Meghann has worked as a nonprofit consultant helping organizations expand their capacity, secure revenue, develop successful strategies, and effectively evaluate their programs, enabling them to create greater positive change in the world. She has also worked as an executive director, designed and facilitated international service learning experiences, and taught university courses in fundraising and nonprofit management. Meghann earned a MPA in Nonprofit Management and Comparative and International Affairs from The School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University, in Bloomington, IN and a BA in Art History and American Studies from Tufts University in Boston, MA.

Cris Lagunas

Strategy Director

Cris is helping to grow the Climate Emergency Movement by supporting creative campaigns and extending the reach of the movement’s message. Cris is a co-founder of the National Immigrant Youth Alliance, an organization dedicated to using direct action tactics to expose, challenge and dismantle the immigration detention system.Cris got his start in organizing when he was 15 years old, getting involved in a local group of fellow undocumented youth.

Extended Bio

Zack Burley

Policy Associate

Zack provides policy support for the Climate Mobilization team, and brings a versatile set of policy skills and experiences in labor organizing, journalism, legislative politics, and legal practice to the climate emergency movement. Zack earned a JD from Denver University Sturm College of Law, is a founding organizer of the Political Workers Guild of Colorado, and formerly served as a legislative aide in the Colorado General Assembly.

AriDy Nox

Co-Leader and Director of Narrative Strategy

 AriDy Nox is a multi-disciplinary black femme storyteller and social activist with a variety of forward-thinking creative works under her/their belt. They create out of the vehement belief that creating a future in which marginalized peoples are free requires a radical imagination. Their tales are offerings intended to function as small parts of an ancient, expansive, awe-inspiring tradition of world-shaping, created by and for black femmes. They have over a decade of experience as a young social activist and organizer, within reproductive justice and racial justice frameworks with organizations like the Young Women of Color Leadership Council with Advocates for Youth, the Toni Cade Bamabara Collective at Spelman College and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated. They bring creativity, enthusiasm and a tremendous capacity for organization to her/their role and deep belief that times of apocalypse are opportunities for rebirth. We need first imagine the world we want in order to create it.