Climate Justice in Black and Brown Communities

Jo Ann A. Hardesty is an American Democratic politician in the U.S. state of Oregon who is currently a Portland City Commissioner, having taken office on the Portland City Council in January 2019. She previously served in the Oregon House of Representatives from 1995 until 2001.

Angela Mahecha Adrar serves as the Executive Director of the Climate Justice Alliance. She has committed her life to advancing the role of the grassroots sector and provides agile leadership and structure to address and adapt to the changing and complex priorities of local communities while influencing national and international political agendas on climate justice, Just Transition, food sovereignty and other sectoral shifts toward a Regenerative Economy. She has worked substantially building alignment between philanthropy and the Grassroots sector to move multi-million investments to the grassroots sector serving on multiple boards, advisory committees and leadership teams of funds, family foundations, and multi-sector strategy groups.

Philanthropist. Activist. Entrepreneur. Author. Public speaker. Civil leader. Musician, and Portland’s NAACP, President (as of 3/5/18) … Elbert Mondainé’s multifaceted career encompasses a host of talents and ministries. But the passion that fuels every expression burns from a single fire: Mondainé has dedicated his life to restoring the church as a community resource and reviving communities from the inside out.

Mondainé’s life of service is a testament to the passion that drives him and the work that gives him joy. A pastor, a prophet, and a proud father and grandfather, Elbert Mondainé holds the office of Apostle within the Christian faith. He serves as Senior Pastor at both Celebration Grace Center in St. Louis, Missouri, and Portland, Oregon’s Celebration Tabernacle Church — a nondenominational organization founded by Mondainé in 1988. Since its inception, Celebration Tabernacle has been a social and spiritual force within both the Christian and secular communities. More than that, it’s become a model for church-based community involvement, with programs that emphasize both leadership and entrepreneurship.

Apostle Mondainé draws from a rich professional background that spans music, social work, and corporate management. As a member of the U.S. Armed Forces, Mondainé directed the USAAF (United States Army/Air Force) Gospel Choirs across much of Europe. After completing his military service, Mondainé returned to America to become one of the first African American managers for a major subsidy of the Tandy Corporation.

In his early life, Mondainé grew up in the church. His vibrant home-community filled him with meaningful lessons, experiences, and perspectives that guided and shaped his adult life. After serving as Minister of Music at several churches in Missouri and Oregon, Mondainé was appointed to the executive board for the Billy Graham Crusade to Portland, Oregon in 1992. His experience, faith, vision, and dedicated congregation allowed him to create The True Believers Assembly — an organization that re-established the church as a resource for the people and a pillar of community support. The work he began then continues to enrich the communities he supports today.

A true renaissance man, Apostle Mondainé has recorded three albums to date, with his latest CD, JUST AS I AM, slated for release in early 2018. He is also the author of The 5AM Chronicles. A loyal friend and culinary enthusiast, Elbert Mondainé’s infectious energy and open-hearted generosity are hallmarks of the blessings he bestows to all in his care.

Darryl Molina Sarmiento is the Executive Director for Communities for a Better Environment, a 40-year-old environmental justice organization that builds local power through community organizing, research, and legal support in Wilmington, South East Los Angeles, East Oakland, and Richmond, California. Darryl embodies CBE’s leadership ladder, having first encountered CBE at the age of 18, when she took a CBE Toxic Tour. In 2005, she formally joined CBE as the Youth Program Coordinator where she organized youth to defeat the Vernon Power Plant. In 2011, Darryl transitioned into the role of CBE’s Southern California Program Director and was at the helm of successful community-based campaigns against the fossil fuel industry and toxic polluters. Darryl was instrumental in leading the passage of Clean Up Green Up, a City of Los Angeles ordinance that is one of the first Environmental Justice Green Zone Policies in the nation. She has worked on the passage of statewide energy and climate policy and has worked to advance local clean energy and transportation goals. Darryl graduated from UCLA and has done labor organizing with AFSCME Local 3299 and community organizing with the Pilipino Workers Center of Los Angeles. She previously served on the boards of Southern Californians for Youth, The California Fund for Youth Organizing and the Southwest Network for Environmental and Economic Justice.

Khanh is Vietnamese-American, and that identity shapes a lot of how she sees the world. “It has shaped how I understand US imperialism, and also driven me to want to understand the systemic causes of inequality, both globally and locally. I have beloved family and friends in Vietnam, and so when folks talk about the Global South being the most impacted by climate change, they’re not just an abstraction to me, but people who I love and am willing to fight for.”

“I just turned 40 this past year,” Khanh says, “which means that I’ve been organizing for about two decades. I haven’t always done it as a paid organizer, and for most of my twenties, I worked as a fundraiser for various international / media non-profits, and did my grassroots organizing at night and on weekends.” Although that was hard for her, and led to burnout, Khanh appreciated that it taught her what to organize outside the non-profit industrial complex. “I’m very glad to be paid to organize, but I am committed to building a movement where you don’t have to be a paid staffer to be able to organize in your community and develop as a leader.”

Khanh describes this moment as one “of transformation: economically, socially, ecologically, and politically. There are tremendous ruptures happening, which are dangerous but are also opportunities to unite people around a vision around a different world.” Khanh says she feels called to do everything possible to bring about the real transformations we need in our economy and society. She says this work is necessary, “if we want to preserve a habitable planet for our children and frankly, ourselves.”

Khanh is excited to join OPAL because she wants to be part of an organization that “is not just about building itself up as an organization, but is part of a larger environmental and climate justice movement. OPAL is not just fighting for our members, we’re standing in solidarity with other struggles and communities in the U.S., and around the world. At a time in which the urgency of the climate crisis is leading some people to feel desperate and turn to false solutions, I appreciate that OPAL has a clear analysis and strategic framework to be able to guide our work.”

Khanh hopes to unite and expand OPAL’s membership base, and create more opportunities for people to enter into our work. She also looks forward to supporting the Oregon Just Transition Alliance to develop a collective vision and plan for an Oregon Green New Deal that stops the expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure, while creating the jobs that build “the next renewable, just, and caring economy,” she says. “I want OPAL to be a political home for people as they seek a place where they can contribute their skills and time, be nourished by food and community, and develop as leaders.”