Supporting collaborative efforts to transition from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy

The Just Transition PowerForce brings together environmental and climate justice leaders from across the country to align the climate commitments of corporations toward deep investments in the sustainability and climate resilience of frontline communities, enabling self-determination, economic security, and restorative and transformative justice. We collaborate in pursuit of a just transition from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy that shifts major sectors of the economy – energy, food, water, waste, infrastructure – to be green, healthy, economically just, and democratic.

The Just Transition PowerForce was launched by Emerald Cities Collaborative and the NAACP Environmental and Climate Justice Program in relationship with Microsoft Cloud Operations & Innovation (CO+I), the team responsible for Microsoft datacenter operations. The Just Transition PowerForce includes more than a dozen organizations leading the movement for a Just Transition in frontline communities across the United States and continues to be administered by Emerald Cities Collaborative.

The Just Transition PowerForce recognizes this pivotal moment to ensure that corporate climate policies and investments do not replicate extractive and oppressive patterns and instead contribute to just transitions led by communities on the frontlines of the climate crisis.


The Just Transition PowerForce prioritizes deep relationship building, operates at the growing edges, and thrives on joy and humor. Though we do not have capacity to take on additional corporate co-conspirators at this time, we make our resources publicly available below and are building a model that we and others can replicate.

In the first half of 2022, the Just Transition PowerForce will pilot its first funding process for frontline communities and launch a training series about its framework for measurement and evaluation. All updates will be available on this page and to email subscribers.

Current Members of the PowerForce

As of May 2023

Sterling Johnson, Just Opportunity Portfolio Director,Partnership for Southern Equity

Candace Hollingsworth, Programs Director, Corps Network

Mmakgantsi “Mak” Mafojane, Co-Director, People’s Solar Energy Fund

Zainab Badi, Workforce Policy Project Manager, GRID Alternatives

Katie Del Castillo-Beltran, Project Manager, Emerald Cities Collaborative

Felicia Davis, Director, HBCU Green Fund

Jessica Guadalupe Tovar, Environmental Justice and Clean Energy Advocate

Erika Symmonds, Clean Energy Workforce Development and Equity Advocate

Lynn Benander, President, Co-op Power

Aaron Johnson, Just Opportunity Manager, Partnership for Southern Equity

Andrea Marpillero-Colomina, Sustainable Communities Program Director, GreenLatinos

Sandra Henry, CEO, Slipstream

Naomi Davis, Founder/CEO, BIG! Blacks in Green

Jamil Bey, President & CEO, UrbanKind Institute

Pamela Brown-Eyo, Environmental and Climate Justice Chairperson, NAACP South Dade Branch, Miami FL

Charles Taylor, State Political Action Chair, Mississippi State Conference NAACP

NKwanda Jah, Director, Cultural Arts Coalition

Bruce Saito, Board Member, Corps Network

Marilyn Waite, Managing Director, Climate Finance Fund

Mandy Lee, Senior Program Manager, Emerald Cities Collaborative

Donna Hope, U-Hope Consulting

Daryl Wright, Chief Strategy Officer, Emerald Cities Collaborative

Denise Fairchild, President Emeritus, Emerald Cities Collaborative & ClimateBreakthrough 2021 Awardee

Meishka Mitchell, President & CEO, Emerald Cities Collaborative

Past Members and Other Supporters

Michelle Wiseman, Director of Waste Diversion & Outreach, City of Atlanta / Office of One Atlanta

Chandra Farley, CEO, ReSolve Consulting

Sonia Kikeri, National Director of Policy and Civic Engagement, Emerald Cities Collaborative

Jacqui Patterson, Founder and Executive Director at The Chisholm Legacy Project: A Resource Hub for Black Frontline Climate Justice Leadership

Wahleah Johns, Co-founder, Native Renewables

Kyra Woods, Policy Advisor, City of Chicago

Anthony Giancatarino, Director, Just Community Energy Transitions 

Denise Abdul-Rahman, Great Lakes and Ohio Valley Special Project Manager, The Chisholm Legacy Project

Cicely Garrett, Former Interim Just Energy Director, Partnership for Southern Equity

Collaborators

Ashwini Arun, Project Director for Sustainability, Energy and Climate Change, WSP USA

Raphaelle Mboyo Engele, Consultant for Sustainability, Energy and Climate Change, WSP USA

Jenny Carney, Vice President of Sustainability, Energy and Climate Change, WSP USA
Danielle Decatur, Director of Datacenter Sustainability, Microsoft

People’s Climate Innovation Center

Bonnie Lei, Head of Environmental Justice, Employee Engagement, and Ecosystems, Microsoft

The Chisholm Legacy Project

Resources

Please use the form below to request more information or receive access to additional materials.

Equity Pledge & Implementation Guidance

Equity Pledge
Press Release

Environmental Justice Measurement & Evaluation

Funding Announcement
Press Release

FINAL Press Release - Zero Waste Westside

Zero Waste Westside Site

“Just Transition is a principle, a process and a practice.”

Just Transition Alliance

Contact

At this time, the Just Transition PowerForce does not support participation in non-renumerated opportunities from private sector organizations. We do not wish to perpetuate exploitative practices and have found this to be a recurring theme within corporate practice. Please be mindful in requesting our time, energy, and labor. Note that we operate by consensus and may be unable to respond to your inquiry.

We welcome all conversations with frontline community groups seeking to learn about our efforts. To receive email updates about funding, membership, new resources, and other opportunities, or to ask us any questions about the Just Transition PowerForce, please use the inquiry form below. We ask that you reach out to us using this form rather than contacting PowerForce staff or members individually.