San Francisco, CA —

Earthjustice is pleased to announce Charles Lopez as its first Vice President of Diversity & Inclusion, leading the premier nonprofit environmental law organization’s diversity and inclusion initiatives and Board-approved diversity strategic plan. 

Earthjustice’s commitment to diversity is linked inextricably to its mission and core values of justice and partnership. Earthjustice believes that ensuring that its programs, allies, staff and Board reflect the broad spectrum of clients Earthjustice represents in its high-impact litigation is essential to fully achieving its mission and sustaining its core values.

Chris Jordan-Bloch / Earthjustice
Charles ‘Chas’ Lopez, Vice President of Diversity & Inclusion.

As Vice President of Diversity & Inclusion, an executive-level position, Mr. Lopez will be part of the senior leadership team, reporting directly to Earthjustice President Trip Van Noppen. Lopez will guide Earthjustice in its commitment to better reflect the rich diversity of this nation. 

Lopez previously served as interim Chief Diversity Officer and Executive Director of Global Diversity & Inclusion for Portland State University, where he provided programmatic leadership to improve the experience of all students, faculty and staff, as well as ensuring compliance with federal and state employment laws, regulations and university policies to provide a welcoming and inclusive learning and work environment. 

Lopez earned his law degree from the University of Utah College of Law.  He brings 10 years of change-management and leadership experience in large-scale, complex organizations such as academic medical centers and higher education institutions. He will guide a comprehensive, integrated organization-wide strategy to reinforce diversity and inclusion as key organizational priorities in the work of every department. He will also lead Earthjustice in diversifying its networks and recruitment pipelines, developing internal resources for staff, and rethinking many practices to serve these Earthjustice’s core values. 

Said Earthjustice President Trip Van Noppen:

“Earthjustice is a non-profit environmental law organization with a foundational principle that every human being has a fundamental right to a clean and healthy environment. To that end, we are thrilled to welcome Chas Lopez as our new Vice President of Diversity & Inclusion. The creation of this position reflects our belief that we can only achieve our mission in a changing world if we also change from within—by attracting and learning from people with a wide range backgrounds and perspectives. 

“Building a staff and board, and serving clients and partners, with a broad range of backgrounds and perspectives is helping us to develop more creative approaches, enhance our understanding of environmental and energy issues, and improve our ability to solve complex problems. 

“As the legal arm of the environmental movement, we have robust and aggressive goals to diversify our work and cultivate an inclusive work environment that spurs even more innovative legal strategies and precedent-setting victories for communities across the nation. We’re glad to have Chas on board to guide us in this important work.”

EARTHJUSTICE’S DIVERSITY MISSION STATEMENT

As our name indicates, we are driven by a passion for justice—for people and for the environment, by a belief that we can accomplish more in genuine partnership with others, and by a commitment to excellence and strategic action.

Our pursuit of diversity and inclusion recognizes that environmental burdens and benefits are not distributed equitably and we seek to address these historic and current disparities so that each of us can realize and enjoy a healthy, rich and inspiring world.

In order to more fully accomplish our mission and live our values, we strive to make our commitment to diversity and inclusion evident in our organizational structure, policies, board of trustees, staff, donors, goals, and vision. We welcome people of all backgrounds and seek to foster a culture of respect, openness, learning, integrity, honesty—and a sense of fun.

Our passion for justice calls on us to be inclusive, transparent, and fair in all that we do. Our commitment to working in partnerships compels us to build relationships where all partners are valued, heard, respected, and empowered. Our drive for excellence leads us to learn from a broad range of perspectives and talents. Our desire for savvy and strategic approaches benefits from a multitude of cultural and life experiences and communities.

In short, we believe a commitment to enhance and steadily increase diversity and inclusion at Earthjustice flows directly from our core values and is essential to achieve our mission. 

Earthjustice fights for the right of all to a healthy environment. As the premier nonprofit environmental law organization, Earthjustice takes on the biggest, most precedent-setting cases across the country. We wield the power of law and the strength of partnership to protect people’s health; to preserve magnificent places and wildlife; to advance clean energy; and to combat climate change. We do this work by partnering with thousands of groups, supporters, individuals and communities to take on the critical environmental issues of our time, and bring about positive change. Earthjustice is headquartered in San Francisco, CA, with 11 offices around the country.

Because the earth needs a good lawyer.