Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
Earthjustice is a diverse group of people who care about the environment, who care about justice, who care about each other, coming together to make a collective impact. That is the heart of who we are.
As we think about diversity, equity, and inclusion and how we enter into community with one another, we ask that: we honor our stories, be present for each other, and strive for empathic action in every moment. At our core is the idea that we demonstrate the deepest part of our humanity through interacting with each other and showing we care.
At Earthjustice, we are aligning our efforts to reflect who we are as an organization today. Our DEI team is advancing four areas of impact: community, accountability, respect, and empathy (CARE).
Our CARE model is the framework into a new way and approach of upholding our core values of Justice, Excellence, Partnership, and Inclusion as we travel along our DEI journey.
Our diverse, talented staff embody the very best of Earthjustice, and we are able to do our finest work when our staff live by our values in their everyday work.
Hosted by the DEI team, the annual Peer Recognition Awards is a part of our work towards achieving our goal of improving employee satisfaction, engagement, culture of trust, support, respect, and inclusion. The awards aim to give peer-to-peer recognition and honor our colleagues who have made immense contributions to the culture and mission of Earthjustice in the categories of Advocate, Culture Glue, Justice Warrior, Leader by Example, Leavening Spirit, Standard-bearer, Unsung Hero, and Excellence.
Below are a few of our recognized staff with comments from the Earthjustice colleagues who nominated them:
Earthjustice is committed to expanding our work and partnerships with communities disproportionately impacted by environmental pollution and climate change. Despite our country’s pledge that all people are equal under the law, communities of color, indigenous communities, and low-income communities have historically and currently shoulder the burden of environmental impacts. Representing these disproportionately impacted communities is a critical priority of our legal, advocacy, and communications efforts.
Promoting diversity both within and beyond Earthjustice, in our staff and in the clients and partners we work with, is critical to our success. Working with environmental justice partners to tackle systemic inequities is one of Earthjustice’s ongoing priorities.
The stories below illustrate how Earthjustice — in partnership with the very communities that are impacted — uses the power of the law to defend the right of all people to a healthy environment:
With Earthjustice’s help in the courts, the Blackfeet Nation is building a movement to safeguard one of our nation’s wildest and most sacred places in Montana.
When polluters need a place to do their dirtiest and most dangerous work, they tend to locate their operations in places where they believe people have less power. One predominantly African-American community in Albany, New York, is proving them wrong.
After decades of unaddressed discrimination complaints, five communities of color are standing up to the EPA to tackle historical environmental injustices.
Farmworkers and advocates journeyed to Washington to advocate for stronger protections against pesticide exposure. The new worker protections they secured are a powerful testimony to their efforts.
Each year, Earthjustice develops a comprehensive Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Plan to lay out annual internal and external organizational goals. Included in the plan are tangible objectives and metrics for accountability that will keep us committed to our vision.
A report card issued in early 2020 reviewed the progress we made in 2019 towards our goal of becoming a more inclusive and diverse organization that centers equity in all that we do.
The goals reflect the work we believe is essential to do on DEI. We will continue our work to recruit and retain multi-culturally sophisticated employees and to build a stronger culture of inclusion. And, we will work to diversify our clients, partners, donors and supporters to ensure that we are serving all communities impacted by environmental issues.
All Staff, Attorneys, and Board represent data for Jan. 1, 2020. New Hires represent data for calendar year 2019. Additional demographic data can be found in the 2019 DEI Report Card.
Earthjustice collects demographic data in accordance with the annual reporting requirements from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
The categories of data we collect with respect to gender, race / ethnicity, and job grouping are all determined by the EEOC. We recognize that this data is reflective of only certain aspects of diversity. Earthjustice also tracks and reports this data on an ongoing basis to GuideStar.
