Building Healthy Communities, Changing Environmental Racism

Peggy Shepard, co-founder and executive director of WE ACT For Environmental Justice, located in West Harlem, talks about environmental racism, climate change, and food justice and how her organization empowers and organizes low-income people of color to build healthy communities for all.

Shepard has a long history of organizing and engaging Northern Manhattan residents in community-based planning and campaigns to address environmental protection and environmental health policy locally and nationally. She has been recognized for her work with many awards and honors, including the Jane Jacobs Medal from the Rockefeller Foundation for Lifetime Achievement, the 10th Annual Heinz Award For the Environment, the Dean’s Distinguished Service Award from the Columbia Mailman School of Public Health, and an Honorary Sc.D from Smith College.