Breaking the Green Ceiling
By Yordanos Tesfazion
The Community Voices blog documents stories of our parks and public spaces and the people behind them. At Seattle Parks Foundation, we collaborate with hundreds of partners, volunteers, organizations, and city agencies who are working towards building a region that can withstand our current climate emergency. This piece is the second in a new series dedicated to highlighting how they utilize parks and public spaces to foster inclusive communities and grow urban resilience.
The underrepresentation of women, Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC), members of the LGBTQIA+ community, people with disabilities, and individuals with lower incomes in environmental spaces has often led to policies, infrastructure, leadership, and philosophies that fail to adequately include them. An origin story identical to the formation of most social movements in the United States at the time, the environmentalism movement emerged in the 19th century, and advocates formed organizations that excluded those who are still outnumbered in the space today.
Thanks to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and the 2020 Supreme Court ruling to extend employment protections for LGBTQIA+ individuals under the Civil Rights Act, underrepresented folks have the legal right to participate in the professional fields they were once prohibited from.
The Dilemma
Although they’re a step in the right direction, legal protections can’t undo the damage that’s been inflicted on the advancement of underrepresented communities in this country. The ramifications of the United States’ history of discriminatory and exclusionary policies are on full display in Green 2.0’s 2024 Transparency Report.*
Green 2.0’s Transparency Report is an annual report on the demographic data of staff and equity practices at non-profit organizations and foundations in the environmental sector. Based on available data from non-profit organizations, the 2024 report revealed the following:
- For the first time in the eight years they’ve presented data, there was a decline in staff of color at all levels.
- Staff across all levels identified almost exclusively as cisgender, and women were the most represented in full-time positions. Trans and Gender non-conforming folks were largely underrepresented at all staff levels.
- 3% of board members, 7% of heads of organizations, 4% of senior staff, and 6.5% of full-time staff identified as LGBTQIA+.
- 2% of board of directors and 4% of all staff members identified as having a disability.
Read the full report for details about demographic data at foundations, along with other findings.
*Green 2.0’s 2025 Transparency Report doesn’t cover demographic data of staff and equity practices at non-profit organizations and foundations in the environmental sector due to current threats to funding and safety. Read the report here.
Environmental Justice Inside Seattle City Hall
Stereotypes and harmful rhetoric—legacies of colonialism—have helped rationalize the homogeneity of non-profit organizations, advocacy groups, and workforce development and college programs. At times, that intolerance also dictates who deserves access to green spaces and outdoor recreational opportunities; further exacerbating barriers perpetuated through policies, infrastructure, leadership, and education.
Understanding the implications of underrepresentation, the City of Seattle collaborates with residents through community initiatives, designated funding, and professional partnerships.
In 2015, the City launched the Equity & Environment Initiative to better integrate race and social justice in their environmental work. Key elements of the initiative include the release of the Equity & Environment Agenda in 2016 and the formation of an Environmental Justice Committee and Environmental Justice Fund in 2017. Over the years, a number of our partners have received funding from the Environmental Justice Fund, including Community Land Conservancy, Concord International Elementary School Parent Teacher Association (PTA), Duwamish Valley Sustainability Association (DVSA), and Restaurant 2 Garden.
In 2021, Ordinance 126512 created an Indigenous Advisory Council. The Council closely works with the Mayor, City Council, and City departments and provide their input on policies, budgets, programs, services, and projects directly affecting Native American, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian communities. Most recently, the City partnered with sləp̓iləbəxʷ (Rising Tides), a local Native planning group, Seattle’s Green New Deal Oversight Board, and People’s Economy Lab (PEL) to host an Indigenous-led community assembly. Over 30 participants attended the assembly and shared climate solutions that will inform Seattle’s upcoming Climate Action Plan Update, which is set to be finalized this year.
Access is Equity
Many of our partners dedicate themselves to revolutionizing the environmentalism scene and how advocates engage with the movement. Their efforts include conservation and restoration projects, making green career pathways more accessible, environmental justice advocacy, education, and creating inclusive environmental spaces for community building and networking.
Duwamish Alive! Coalition is made up of community groups, non-profits, local businesses and Federal, State, Tribal, and local government entities who work with BIPOC and lower-income communities to protect and restore the health and habitat of the Duwamish River and its watershed.
Dirt Corps is a paid job training program that makes environmental jobs in our region inclusive and accessible to everyone, providing South Seattle residents from under-resourced communities with the education and hands-on experience to build employable skills needed for a career in the environmental field.
King County International Airport Community Coalition consists of over 30 organizations and seeks climate and environmental justice for airport-adjacent and Duwamish Valley neighborhoods through local advocacy work, educational outreach, and community events.
Duwamish Valley Sustainability Association is a youth-centered advocacy organization that provides BIPOC youth with science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics (STEAM) training, empowering youth to create community programs and projects that promote sustainability and better health outcomes.
Seattle Environmental People of Color (SEAPOC) provides BIPOC environmental professionals a space where they can connect, learn, and envision a diverse environmental movement where they and their peers can thrive, ensuring that the groundswell of activity across the nation contributes to a comprehensive and strategic path forward.
Exclusivity and Environmentalism Can’t Coexist
The passion, education, and expertise of underrepresented communities, gained through their lived experiences, shine a light on environmental concerns specific to their communities that would otherwise never be considered, for example:
- Racist policies, including but not limited to redlining, explain why BIPOC communities often live in the vicinity of heavy polluters such as major highways, ports, and industrial facilities. As a result, they are disproportionally exposed to high levels of air pollution.
- Structural discrimination, inadequate social services, and unsupportive families, cause LGBTQIA+ folks to experience higher rates of housing instability. Without a safe shelter, they are vulnerable to complications following climate-related events like wildfires, blizzards, and other natural disasters.
- People with disabilities are four times more likely to be seriously injured or lose their life during natural disasters due to improper evacuation plans and inaccessible infrastructure. Despite 1 in 4 people in the United States living with a disability, their concerns regarding the climate crisis and environmental advocacy spaces are often an afterthought.
- Lower-income households are less likely to own air conditioners or have access to cooling centers making excruciating hot days unbearable inside and outside. Green spaces and infrastructure help mitigate extreme heat, but the less wealth a neighborhood has, the less likely its residents will have access to safe and accessible public green spaces.
- As mentioned in our blog post about climate change and emergency preparedness, natural disasters are on the rise. The escalation of alcohol consumption and substance use elicited by the trauma of extreme weather events causes the rates of gender-based violence to skyrocket during and after they happen. Furthermore, economic instability following natural disasters elevate the risk of human trafficking.
Attributes like gender, race, sexual orientation, and class are determining factors in how environmental injustices show up in everyday life. And of course, when folks identify with multiple underrepresented communities, the risks of exposure to environmental hazards and the inability to recover following climate-related disasters increases.
Be the Change
Where do we go from here?
Diversity and inclusion advocates like Green 2.0 are helping advance the environmental movement’s progress in a direction that doesn’t leave anyone behind. We can support their efforts by requesting local organizations to be an example in the region and follow their footsteps by sharing regular demographic and equity reports with the public.
We make every effort to ensure that the people associated with Seattle Parks Foundation reflect the community of Seattle. Every year, we collect and report on demographics across our organization in our Annual Report. In our 2025 Annual Report (to be published and publicly available on April 10), we shared that 41% of our staff and 38% of our board are people of color.
In our own communities, we can volunteer our time as a mentor, educator, or organize in environmental spaces that would benefit from our access to resources, knowledge, and lived experiences. In committing to unraveling centuries of discrimination and exclusion in the space, learning from and amplifying the work of underrepresented environmentalists is also important.
A major obstacle underrepresented environmental advocates and groups face is limited funding. Seattle Parks Foundation recognizes how barriers to funding stalls projects and programs that are critical to protecting underrepresented communities amid the current climate crisis. Our fiscal sponsorship program is designed to streamline fundraising for our partners wherever possible to accelerate their impact. Learn more about our community partners and how to directly support their efforts.
Sources
2024 Transparency Report – Green 2.0
Gender and Racial Diversity in Environmental Organizations: Uneven Accomplishments and Cause for Concern – Dorceta E. Taylor
How Environmental and Climate Injustice Affects the LGBTQI+ Community – Center for American Progress
How Environmental Justice Can Be More Inclusive of People with Disabilities – Hokulani R., Disability Belongs
The Impacts of Extreme Weather Events on People with Disabilities – National Council on Disability
United States Strategy to Respond to the Effects of Climate Change on Women – U.S. Department of State