As the Anacostia Community Museum closes out another incredible year, there is excitement as we reflect back on the changes of the past few months and are enlivened by what these events will mean for the future of the Anacostia community.
In April 2023, the Center for Environmental Justice was launched as decades of intersectional environmental, humanities, and social justice work was formalized into a strategic vision for engagement. In August, the CEJ welcomed its founding director, Lisa McClure, and within a few weeks Lisa had already experienced a large part of what makes the CEJ so unique, the Women’s Environmental Leadership Summit.
September saw the return of the first in-person Women’s Environmental Leadership Summit since the pandemic, and the sessions were alive with energy. This event focuses on authentic connection between women across the environmental justice field, highlighting the work of passionate, everyday women in the fight to bring awareness and equity to communities across the nation and across the globe.
The Summit was a chance for women to share and connect, discussing how the fabric of communities is woven by women, using threads of faith, leadership, action, environmentalism, and the arts. This year, the WEL Summit did even more to engage community leaders from across the world and to share community stories that united and excited all.
The Center for Environmental Justice will grow this excitement as it expands the outreach of this network. The Environmental Justice Academy will be back for its second year, looking to engage more students and build the next generation of female and non-binary leaders of color.
The WEL Summit will continue to honor the work of the past and tell the stories of the women who have cultures and communities that are tied to the land and the shaping of today’s environment, while also highlighting the stories of our contemporaries both within the United States and abroad.
The Center for Environmental Justice is excited to move forward in continuing to tell the story of communities in action for clean and safe environments.