February 2024 marked an important month in the evolution of Collectrify as we held our first Governance Assembly Candidate Forum and Election. Three Governance Assembly members were democratically elected from this process. Since its inception, Collectrify has planned to recruit more base-building organizations working in frontline communities and communities of color and provide resources to expand base-building leadership.
Three new Governance Assembly members we just democratically elected:
Juan Jhong-Chung, Executive Director,
Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition
Juan (he/they/she) is a queer immigrant, born in Peru, of Indigenous Chanka and Cantonese Chinese ancestry. He is passionate about creating ecological futures that center the lived experiences and knowledge of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color as well as other disadvantaged groups. Juan holds dual masters degrees from the School of Environment and Sustainability and the Urban and Regional Planning Program at the University of Michigan. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from Boston University. Juan brings to Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition (MEJC) a diverse skill set including policy analysis, activism and advocacy, community planning, and expertise in science and technology. He lives in Detroit, where he organizes for systems change through radical solidarity.
Queen Zakia Shabazz, Executive Director,
United Parents Against Lead
Queen Zakia Shabazz is an author, educator, lecturer, and environmental justice advocate. Her work began in 1996 when she discovered that her young son had been poisoned by lead, prompting her to establish United Parents Against Lead (UPAL). UPAL is a national networking organization for parents of children poisoned by lead that works to end the threat of lead poisoning and other environmental hazards through education and awareness, advocacy, intervention, and resource referral.
In addition to serving as executive director of UPAL, Shabazz is a local Stand for Children Organizer, a position she's held since 1996. She currently serves as Coordinator of the Virginia Environmental Justice Collaborative (VEJC) and is a member of the Lead Service Line Replacement Collaborative. Shabazz is an inaugural Community Partners in Residence Fellow at the University of Richmond and a former elementary school teacher. As an advocate for adult literacy, she has served as a READ Center Board member and on the advisory board of the Senate Joint Subcommittee Studying Lead Poisoning Prevention. Shabazz continues to provide valuable insight, time, and dedication toward eradicating lead poisoning.
Queen Shabazz holds a bachelor's in business administration and a paralegal certificate specializing in real estate and civil litigation. She is also a notary public and a 2019 graduate of the EPA's Environmental Justice Academy.
Beto Lugo-Martinez, Executive Director,
RISE4EJ
Beto is a grassroots environmental justice organizer and executive director of Rise4EJ. Beto serves to raise community voices in the fight against environmental racism and to overcome systemic exclusion of frontline communities from the decision-making process. His lived experience, growing up fence line to a petrochemical facility, continues to drive his work at the intersection of climate, environmental justice, and public health. He is a founding member of the California Environmental Justice Coalition and the Science and Community Action Network, and a member of multiple National Climate & Environmental Justice Networks.
Beto’s contributions to the movement include bottom-up organizing, research, legislation that prioritizes environmental justice, and community-led research to inform policy action, among many other community-engaged initiatives that directly inform state, local, and federal policy.
Beto has co-authored multiple academic publications on community-based participatory research, air pollution, data accessibility, and community engagement. He also serves in advisory board roles of professional associations and academic institutions, such as the American Public Health Association’s Center for Climate, Health, and Equity; the University of Southern California (USC) Center for Children’s Environmental Health Sciences Translational Research; and the Advisory Board for the Community Engagement Core of the Southern California Environmental Health Sciences Center at USC. Beto currently serves on the United States Environmental Protection Agency Clean Air Act Advisory Committee, to provide frontline grassroots perspectives and environmental justice priorities. He is committed to finding ways to improve environmental health literacy and centering fenceline community expertise and solutions in public policy.