Dear Friends, Colleagues, and Partners:
Please join me in congratulating our Environmental Justice Manager, Maggie Tallmadge, on her next adventure! Maggie will be leaving the Coalition of Communities of Color (CCC) to attend the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies to pursue a Master’s Degree in Environmental Management. She will study utility and energy policy, power market finance, blockchain and distributed technologies, social enterprise, and, specifically, how may these tools be used to build political power and wealth in communities of color and tribes.
Maggie has been an integral part of CCC’s work since March 2015, laying an incredible groundwork for CCC’s environmental justice program and establishing communities of color as leading environmental constituencies. Her work to center environmental equity and justice has helped transform the environmental and climate action movement in Oregon. Maggie, a Citizen of the Cherokee Nation, lives by a traditional Cherokee concept Ga Du Gi, meaning “to come together to solve a problem for the betterment of the entire community.”
Maggie’s leadership, policy expertise, and dedication to racial equity have contributed to shaping the environmental justice movement in Oregon by:
- Building capacity in communities of color to advance climate solutions through education, engagement, leadership development, and funding, with ten more active organizations of color working on climate initiatives.
- Supporting state, local and regulatory climate policies, leading to a shift in public discourse in Oregon on equitable climate policy that elevates voices of color in state/local policy.
- Helping raise and manage significant dollars and grants for the CCC and its member organizations’ efforts to advance environmental and climate justice.
- Helping shape and launch, along with CCC member organizations and other policy staff, the historic Portland Clean Energy Fund Initiative, which is the first organization-of-color-led environmental ballot measure in Oregon and is on track to raise $30 million dollars annually to weatherize homes, build rooftop solar, provide job training, grow local food production, and fund green infrastructure. Low-income households and people of color will be first to receive benefits from the Portland Clean Energy Fund since they are first and worst impacted by climate change.
- Successfully advancing equity commitments to protect low-income utility ratepayers, supporting workforce diversity and target businesses, and incentivizing the community-based development of renewable energy infrastructure through the City of Portland and Multnomah County 100% Renewable Energy Resolutions. She participated in organizing a critical Community Energy Justice Summit that will build a collective understanding of the fundamentals of energy development and energy democracy. The Summit is also slated to launch a long-term CCC Research Justice Center’s community-based participatory action research project for community energy planning to implement policies based on these resolutions.
While we will greatly miss Maggie’s policy expertise, leadership, and dedication, we know that her graduate program will make her an even stronger leader for environmental and racial justice, and we’re excited to see what she’ll do next.
Maggie's last official day at CCC is July 6th. However, I urge you to stop by Tamale Boy (1764 NE Dekum St.) anytime after 5 pm on Thursday, July 5th to send her off and, as she ardently propounds, celebrates the qualification of the Portland Clean Energy Fund Initiative https://www.portlandcleanenergyfund.com!! (A portion of drink special proceeds will go toward supporting the historical campaign!)
In the interim, if you have any questions or need assistance with REDEFINE activities at CCC, or any other issues Maggie was leading or involved in, please contact me directly.
Marcus C. Mundy
Executive Director
Coalition of Communities of Color
Marcus@CoalitionCommunitiesColor.org