About This Episode
In this episode, we speak with Jacqui Patterson, Founder and Executive Director of The Chisholm Legacy Project, while in New York City for Climate Week. Our discussion starts with her reflection on how this event brings people of many different backgrounds and sectors together, in person, which allows for connection and a deeper understanding of the climate realities people are facing in a way that is unique to an event as substantive as Climate Week. We then shifted the conversation to the needs and environmental injustices facing rural communities, something that Jacqui and The Chisholm Legacy Project have been invested in. Ultimately, what it takes to win on climate justice came down to unity. Listen to this episode to hear stories of building bridges to opportunities for multiracial communities in rural America and Jacqui’s advice to our listeners. Guest: Jacqui is the Founder and Executive Director of the Chisholm Legacy Project: A Resource Hub for Black Frontline Climate Justice Leadership. The mission of the Chisholm Legacy Project is rooted in a Just Transition Framework, serving as a vehicle to connect Black communities on the frontlines of climate justice with the resources to actualize visions. Prior to the launch of the Chisholm Legacy Project, Patterson served as the Senior Director of the NAACP Environmental and Climate Justice Program for over a decade. During her tenure, she founded and implemented a robust portfolio which included serving the state and local leadership whose constituencies consisted of hundreds of communities on the frontlines of environmental injustice. Jacqui is also a board member for Just Solutions. 2026 CLIMATE WEEK IN NYC: "What It's Going to Take to Win" is a three-episode podcast mini-series highlighting communities building people- and justice-centered solutions even as they continue to face threats to their livelihoods under current political conditions. Climate Week NYC is one of the world's biggest climate events, bringing together business leaders, philanthropy, nonprofit, and grassroots groups. We’re using this opportunity to wade through the noise and hear from the people at the forefront of the environmental justice movement on what it will take to win on climate justice. Special thanks to The Solutions Project and Kataly Foundation for sponsoring our inaugural Climate Week Special. They both are critical partners in our powerful solutions-based storytelling, and their support helps us continue elevating trusted community leaders advancing environmental justice to audiences across the country and the world.
Episode categories
Organizing & Movement Building
