“Together we are ‘Ringing the BEL’ for Environmental and Economic Justice.”
Our Model: An Association Leading Coalitions
The Black Environmental Leaders Association (BEL) helps frontline BIPOC communities on the Great Lakes build the power they need to reverse the legacy of redlining and disinvestment. We do this by:
Leading Coalitions: We unite partners for focused, strategic campaigns that achieve real-world wins.
Advocating for Justice: We fight for policies that protect both our natural and built environments.
Building Local Infrastructure: We empower communities to create the lasting institutions they need to thrive.
Our Focus: Climate Justice
The work of BEL is guided by a clear, actionable, and community-centered definition of climate justice. This principle is the foundation of our strategy and informs every initiative we undertake.
BEL defines Climate Justice as the process of dismantling systemic environmental and economic inequities by empowering frontline, BIPOC-led communities to build the independent infrastructure, wealth, and political power needed to lead their own climate solutions.
This definition moves our work from theory to practice. It directly confronts the historical injustices, such as redlining, that have created modern environmental crises and ensures that our projects are designed not just to mitigate climate impacts, but to build lasting community power and reverse cycles of disinvestment
Our Strategic Pillars
Advocate, Incubate and Inform (AI²)
Our Advocacy in Action
Our advocacy is principled, proactive, and powerful. We ground our work in foundational justice frameworks, includingThe Equity Manifesto, The Principles of Environmental Justice, The Jemez Principles for Democratic Organizing, and the community-centered values of the Blackspace Manifesto.
This solid foundation guides our three key strategies:
Shaping Policy: We develop clear, evidence-based standards to proactively inform policy at every level. Instead of just reacting, we create the frameworks that ensure environmental and economic justice are written into law.
Driving the Narrative: We maintain intentional and proactive communications to tell our own stories. By translating complex issues into clear, compelling messages, we mobilize our communities and hold decision-makers accountable.
Amplifying Our Members' Vision: We serve as a unified voice for our members, leveraging our collective strength to amplify an interconnected vision for a just and sustainable future.
Incubate: Cultivating BIPOC Leadership
We build a stronger, more resilient environmental movement by investing in its most critical asset: its people. Our incubation efforts are designed to nurture talent, foster connection, and create pathways to power for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color.
Education for Empowerment: We facilitate ongoing education on the natural and built environments, creating a space to explore the intersections of environmental science and racial justice through authentic engagement.
Building a Powerful Network: We build our members' capacity by hosting conferences, sharing resources, and creating opportunities for connection. This collaborative ecosystem allows us to learn from shared experiences and grow our collective strength.
Championing Representation: We actively work to place BIPOC leaders in positions of influence. We facilitate representation on governing boards, advisory commissions, and in consulting and employment opportunities, ensuring our communities have a voice at the tables where decisions are made.
Inform: Turning Data into Action
We believe that knowledge is power. Our role is to transform complex data into a clear, accessible tool for advocacy and change, ensuring that community voices are backed by undeniable facts.
Trusted Analysis: We interpret data through the critical intersection of equity, the environment, and economic justice. We provide this trusted analysis to our members and BIPOC communities, empowering them with the information they need to lead.
Contextualized Storytelling: We use data to tell the full story. By contextualizing information and focusing on the issues that directly impact BIPOC and underrepresented communities, we inform the larger environmental movement and shift the narrative toward meaningful action.
Our Tribes
Inspired by African principles of collective wisdom and shared responsibility, the Black Environmental Leaders Association utilizes a shared leadership model. This structure empowers every member to lead within their area of expertise, maximizing our collective impact and fostering collaborative decision-making.
To organize our work, we have established five core Solution Areas, which function as specialized working groups. These are supported by two affinity groups and a central council where all members contribute and learn. In honor of this heritage, a unique Adinkra symbol has been chosen to represent the distinct mission of each Solution Area.
Built Environment, Energy Waste Reduction, Green Building & Healthy Homes
HWE MU DUA
Equitable Clean Energy, Economic & Workforce Development
NYANSAPO
Sustainable Transportation, Electric Vehicles & E Mobility
PEMPAMSIE
Healthy Neighborhoods, Land, Air, and Water
BESE SAKA
Debt reduction, entrepreneurship & multigenerational wealth
Natural Environment, Vibrant Green Space & Recreation
AKOBEN
WOFORO DUA PA A
Council of Tribes: Leaders of the BEL Tribes
Council of Allies
AYA
BOA ME NA ME MMOA WO
Our Values
We believe that by coming together as members of the Black Environmental Leaders Association, we amplify the opportunities for collaboration and progress of environmental and economic justice exponentially.
These are our values:
+ Consistency
I choose to make decisions in harmony and solidarity with others committed to economic and environmental justice.
+ Courage
I choose to exercise my ability to speak up and speak out about injustice, sometimes getting into “good trouble”, in an effort to impact transformative change in America.
+ Dependability
I choose to be trustworthy and constant, carefully managing the thoughts and actions, shaped by my unconscious bias.
+ Efficiency
I choose to reduce my carbon footprint by consuming less energy, sooner than later.
+ Environmentalist
I choose to advocate for the protection of the air, water, animals, plants and other natural resources from pollution or its effects.
+ Fitness
I choose to practice, to the best of my ability, soundness and vigor of my body and mind.
+ Good Humor
I choose to engage others with a cheerful or amiable mood.
+ Honesty
I choose to be an upright member of the BEL community regarding where I am on my journey of racial reconciliation, striving to communicate and listen with truthfulness, sincerity and frankness.
+ Open-Minded
I choose to respect and celebrate each of our cultures, languages and beliefs about the natural world and our roles in healing ourselves by being receptive to new ideas or perspectives that may be different than my own.
+ Optimism
I choose to look on the more favorable side of who America strives to be, while expanding my understanding of where we have been.
+ Perseverance
I choose to remain steady as an Equity Broker, with the aim of creating equitable and transparent policies within the natural and built environment.
+ Reliability
I choose to be a resource for reducing the harm created by our racialized society.
+ Respect
I choose to acknowledge the rights of all people to have a say in the local, state and federal decisions that affect their lives in the policy making process.
+ Service to Others
I choose to authentically be helpful in environmental and economic justice efforts.