Latia Leonard (MS ’24) graduated from the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS) with a focus on environmental justice. Leonard attended SEAS after getting her BA in communication from Michigan State University in 2016 and embarking on a “whirlwind career journey” where she primarily worked in Detroit, Flint and Benton Harbor, Michigan, on projects related to youth advocacy and clean water access. In her early career, Leonard gained experience as a community organizer, but as she began to get more involved with environmental projects, she was motivated to attend SEAS and develop skills to help her work more effectively in the environmental justice field. 

At SEAS, Leonard was in the first cohort of Climate Justice Catalyst Fellows at the Tishman Center for Social Justice and the Environment. In this role, Leonard focused on the intersection between environmental justice and climate policy, serving as a Climate Justice Policy Fellow at the Green New Deal Network. “I have a lot of gratitude towards the SEAS Environmental Justice program because even though I had a lot of experience coming in, I was challenged to broaden my perspective on environmental justice issues while I was there.” Leonard returned to SEAS as a presenter in the Alumni Master Chat series, part of the Alumni Relations Office’s lifelong learning series for current students and alumni.

Now, Leonard serves as the Justice40 program manager for the Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition (MEJC), a coalition of organizations that do environmental justice work across the state of Michigan. The coalition focuses specifically on the intersection between health and climate. In her role, she supports the Justice40 Accelerator, a statewide technical assistance program. She works with grassroots environmental justice organizations with the goal of providing resources to assist in applying to federal, state and philanthropy funding sources. The Justice40 Accelerator works with underserved community organizations, helping them to secure funding that has been historically difficult to access primarily in low-income and communities of color.     

Leonard’s role as the Justice40 program manager is exciting because it “provides a new dimension to all of the work that the MEJC already does,” she said. “Climate change is a pressing issue and we need to be able to build out our communities in a way that is resilient to a changing climate but also make changes in a way that is not continuing to harm our environment.”

Leonard noted the importance of the Justice40 initiative in Michigan in particular because of the systemic environmental justice issues across the state. She cites the Flint water crisis and the water shutoffs in and around Detroit as two specific examples of environmental injustices, but speaks hopefully about the future of environmental action across the state. 

“It’s important to highlight the positives and the way that things are changing in light of all of the negative environmental issues in the state,” Leonard explains. “Environmental justice groups have been fighting for EJ for a long time, and one of the things that I have learned is that historically there has been a lack of accountability on the state level for taking initiative for including environmental justice in how we do day-to-day business in Michigan, and there are a lot of ways the state is moving in a more positive direction with that right now.” 

Some examples that Leonard cites are the creation of the Michigan Advisory Council on Environmental Justice (MACEJ) and the MI Healthy Climate Plan. MACEJ in particular was instrumental in the development of the Justice40 Accelerator program that Leonard is helping to implement. “These actions all are critical,” said Leonard, “not only because they are oriented to focus on environmental justice, but because they shift the way that our state government is tackling issues of pollution by driving community-led solutions and creating structures where people can interact with state agencies in a way they couldn’t before.”

Some of the projects supported in this program focus on electricity, emissions, transit and infrastructure, and land and water conservation. These are goals outlined in the MI Healthy Climate Plan and many of them overlap with those of the federal Justice40 initiative. “We've been able to spread the messaging down to the public through the accelerator and help people see that this isn’t just a one-off program but is helping the state to become healthier and more resilient,” said Leonard. “I feel really lucky to bring my EJ knowledge and relationships into this space.”