Aymara, Bolivia

Daniela is a native Aymara woman from Bolivia. She is committed to amplifying the voices of her Indigenous community and sharing their journey of environmental stewardship locally and globally. Currently, she is leading a restoration effort at Lake Uru Uru to protect three species of flamingos in Bolivia.

Intibucá, Honduras and East Boston, MA, United States

Irma is an Indigenous Lenca woman from Honduras, currently in East Boston. She is an immigrant woman and a survivor of violence and political persecution. She is a human rights, environmental rights, and life activist, as well as a passionate early childhood educator and nature lover. Her recent children’s book, Luna, Guardiana del Bosque, is about the connection with the natural world and with our own emotions.

Quito, Ecuador

Lisa María is a mother, writer, and educator who serves as community weaver and riverkeeper for the Colectivo Rescate del Rio San Pedro, a group that creates intergenerational mingas to heal the San Pedro River in Quito, Ecuador. Lisa María the Director of the Minga Mundial Foundation which invites community members worldwide to join in global earthkeeping events.

Warsaw, Poland

Kamila (she/her) is a documentary filmmaker and a key organizer in Poland’s group Rodzice dla Klimatu (Parents for Climate). She developed a film called In the Fumes of the Black Gold that features people deeply affected by coal and the climate crisis, including former miners, youth, and families living in the shadow of the Bełchatów coal plant.

Boston, MA and Northern California, United States

Andrea grew up surrounded by redwoods, farmland, and the coast. Her appreciation for nature led her to study Environmental Systems and Ecology at UC San Diego. Her work has included bird banding, leading environmental education and public outreach efforts, and monitoring piping plovers.

East Boston, MA United States

Jess (they/them) has struggled with respiratory challenges almost their entire life before only recently as an adult being diagnosed with asthma. Since then, Jess has helped other adults learn more about asthma and chronic respiratory conditions that often go undiagnosed. Jess enjoys biking, rock climbing, and tries to stay to active outdoors with their children while managing their own health.

East Boston, MA, United States

Rebeca (she/her) supports young creatives and student-athletes. Rebeca's work and meetings through her home church, Living Stones, often take place outside. She’s seen firsthand how unclean air affects young people's capacity to safely play and create, so she wants to contribute to a cleaner and safer future for residents.

City of Cape Town, South Africa

Xoli is a Founder of Black Girls Rising and an environmentalist. She is helping empower leaders to be at the forefront of climate action, focusing on building emotional well-being and trauma-informed Afrocentric awareness around climate advocacy. Xoli is also a Board Member of the African Climate Alliance and Zero Waste Association of South Africa.

New Delhi, India

Bhavreen (she/her) is a Co-Founder of Warrior Moms, which brings mothers together across India to call for clean air for the sake of their children’s health. Bhavreen’s advocacy began after her twin daughters struggled with chronic health issues caused by toxic air.

New York City, United States

Mary (she/her) has a background in environmental engineering and has done work in reducting the organic waste misdirected into the garbage stream by encouraging neighbor participation in composting. She has a chronic respiratory condition and has seen first-hand the connection between our environment and health.

London, England

Maya is a powerful communicator with almost 20 years of experience in campaigning, strategy, policy, and coalition building for climate and social justice. A co-director of Our Kids’ Climate, Maya is focused on co-creating smart, unifying and impactful campaigns to advance a rapid and fair transition to renewable energy.

East Boston, MA and Puerto Rico, United States

Lilliana is a community leader in the public education system. She was diagnosed with asthma that worsened over the years, and at the age of 39, she was diagnosed with colon cancer. Lilliana has been a strong advocate in the community, especially among families.

Kampala, Uganda

Michael is a Road Safety Advocate and Automotive Technician. He is the founder of Autosafety Uganda, dedicated to promoting safe, clean, and sustainable transportation to enhance environmental health and road safety in Uganda.

Allston/Brighton, MA, United States

Alex (he/him) has lived in Allston/Brighton, MA in the US since 2019, including three years right next to the highway. He has had asthma since childhood and recently has felt the effects of pollution more heavily. He hopes this zine can help people understand the power they have over influencing local issues in their community.

Boston, MA, United States

Djoulissa is an environmental justice advocate whose work centers on studying the impacts of climate change and the built environment on human health. Djoulissa’s goal is to bridge the disciplines of public health and urban planning to support the facilitation of healthy and resilient communities.

East Boston, MA and Santiago, Chile United States

Vicente is interested in environmental justice, climate adaptation, and energy. He enjoys working directly with communities impacted by climate change and social disparities. He is a native from Santiago, Chile and currently works at Neighborhood of Affordable Housing.

East Boston, MA, United States

Farah (she/her) is an Algerian Muslim born and raised in East Boston. She is a Youth Team Lead at Maverick Landing Community Services. She is majoring in health sciences and studying nursing at Boston College. A long-term resident in a community deemed to bear a disproportionate burden of pollution, environmental hazards, and climate impacts, Farah has been involved in many community efforts, including health and education.

São Paulo, Brazil

Clarissa (she/her) is a mother and the leader of Mães pelo Clima (Mothers for Climate), which brings together Brazilian mothers concerned about the climate crisis. She is the author of the children’s book, The Air We Breathe, about air pollution and climate change.

Needham, MA, United States

Francesca is a Research Program Manager at Air Partners, working with local communities to improve their health through the betterment of their air quality. She has traveled around the country studying air quality, wildfires and petroleum refineries, as well as collaborating with research institutes and universities on breakthrough technology.

East Boston, MA, United States

Ilaf (she/her) is a Youth Leader, a Programs Assistant at Maverick Landing Community Services, and a Ophthalmic Technician. She studies health sciences at Northeastern University, and has been involved in many community efforts from youth development to environmental justice to the arts. Ilaf grew up in a community that suffers higher health disparities and lack equal access to environmental benefits.

Dorchester, MA, United States

Ayomide a.k.a. MinD OvR MatR is a community activist and artist. Ayo grew up asthmatic and through both his education and personal life experiences, he has always been distinctly aware of how much the environment ties into someone's health. Ayo has organized climate-related protests, and has been published twice.

East Boston, MA, United States

Jordan (he/him) is a teacher based in East Boston, MA. He is passionate about environmental justice for his community – especially for young people – through clean air, urban forestry, and biking and public transit. He has been part of community efforts, including building his own air purifier to reduce the health and academic impacts of air pollution in his classroom.

Boston, MA, United States

Brenda (she/her) is a Colombian American healing artist and creative facilitator. She has worked with community organizations such as Fairmount Indigo CDC Collaborative and the Urban Farming Institute to develop and facilitate programming focused on environmental justice, mental health, and the arts.

México City, México

Areli Carreón is a mother of two, and a core organizer at Mamás y Papás por el Clima from Mexico, which brings together moms and dads in action against climate change. She is also a founding member of Bicitekas A.C. that promotes bicycle use as a clean air transportation solution in Mexico City, since 1998. She coordinated the National campaign Hazla de Tos por Aire Limpio in 2011, mobilizing cycling groups to achieve more stringent national regulation for air pollutants.

Boston, MA, United States

Bee is an elementary school student who loves to read, play soccer, and dig for crystals. He has always been curious about the stories held in rocks, plants, and the land around him. Because his mother has a chronic respiratory condition, Bee has seen how the health of people and the health of the earth are deeply connected. These experiences have inspired him to ask big questions about how people can better care for the earth and one another.

Warsaw, Poland

ElżbietaJestem (she/her) is a mother of a 7-year-old girl. She is a co-founder of the Parents for Climate Movement Foundation and a member of the Wrocław Climate Protection Coalition. She focuses on the links between environmental quality and public health. She is actively involved in promoting healthy, safe, and climate-resilient schools.

Somerville, MA, United States

Eben (he/him) is on a mission to prove that distributed, real-time air quality information can dramatically improve the resilience, health, and economic power of communities. Eben co-founded QuantAQ, Inc. to build and manage air quality and environmental sensor networks.

Boston, MA and New York City, United States

Valinda is a public artist and community organizer. Drawing on her lived experience, she practices creative facilitation, storytelling, art, and mutual aid to challenge systems of harm and build power in immigrant, refugee, and diaspora communities. Living with a chronic respiratory condition and facing barriers to care led to her work around clean air and other inequities disproportionately affecting immigrant communities, communities of color, and the global majority.