Diversity and Inclusion at CCL

What is Diversity & Inclusion?

In 2019, CCL adopted the Diversity value. It states: “We empower everyone in exercising their personal and political power regardless of race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, age, religion, ability, or political affiliation. We continue to bring awareness of important issues to all our volunteers and foster a sense of belonging to our organization.”

CCL’s focus on Diversity & Inclusion
We define diversity and inclusion as follows:

Diversity includes all the ways in which people differ, and it encompasses all the different characteristics that make one individual or group different from another. It is all-inclusive and recognizes everyone and every group as part of the diversity that should be valued. It is important to note that many activists and thinkers critique diversity alone as a strategy and often when people talk about diversity, they are thinking only of the “non-dominant” group. (For more information see UC Berkeley Center for Equity, Inclusion and Diversity’s Glossary of Terms) and Baltimore Racial Justice Action “Our Definitions” (2018)).

Inclusion has been defined as “authentically bringing traditionally excluded individuals and/or groups into processes, activities, and decision/policy making in a way that shares power.” (OpenSource Leadership Strategies).

CCL National Goals

In 2019, CCL developed its own DEI Strategic Plan. That plan involved looking at different aspects of our organization, setting certain goals it wished to accomplish and the plan helped establish how we would work on diversity and inclusion going forward. You can learn about our DEI programs here.

Diversity & Inclusion Training Programs

Diversity and inclusion work takes time. It is not an activity one can do one day and then expect immediate results. But every daily activity can create long-term relationships and that is what we want to continue to foster at CCL.

The following trainings have been put together to give you an overview of some of the topics that are often discussed in most diversity and inclusion spaces:

1. Diversity and the Climate Movement

By Clara Fang, Higher Education Director
This training is geared at reviewing the historic and cultural barriers for people of color in the environmental movement and helping your group with strategies and tools to expand your chapter’s diversity footprint and become more inclusive through representing a more complete array of your local community’s constituency.

2. Anti-Racism & Allyship Resource Guide

By Karina Ramirez, Diversity & Inclusion Director with members of the Community Ambassadors Team: Lydia Koltai, Shelley Buonaiuto, Sue Hughes-Smith and Jess Wilber
This training will educate CCL volunteers about anti-racism, highlight portions of our ongoing work regarding Diversity and Inclusion (D&I), and discuss why this is essential to our work as climate advocates.

3. Diverse and Equitable Outreach In Your Chapters

By Danielle Whyte, CCL Chapter Development Intern
This training helps provide CCL volunteers with suggestions and actions to build inclusive chapters that promote equity with diverse representation.

4. Working with Environmental Justice Communities

By members of the Environmental Justice Action Team
This training helps volunteers practice two larger approaches within environmental justice outreach: building personal relationships built on genuine interest and working toward broader community engagement through shared alliances.
 

Diversity & Inclusion Action Team

A new affinity team that brings together people from all walks of life to listen and learn about diversity and inclusion initiatives through speakers, workshops, discussions, and taking actionable steps, was created in 2023.

The team will host monthly meetings in 2025 and those meeting dates and times will be listed soon.

Spanish-Language Info Sessions

These training sessions will not be available at this time. 
 

D&I Race, Culture, & Climate Conversation 

Since the Fall of 2020, Citizens’ Climate Lobby has hosted conversations about the intersectionality of race, culture, and climate. The dates for 2025 will be decided soon.

Archive of all prior D&I Workshop videos

View the archive of the 2021-2024 Inclusion Workshops and other D&I workshops hosted at CCL. The monthly program touches on different diverse topics of interest to all volunteers. | Presented by the Inclusion Fellows, CCL Staff, Community Ambassadors, and Interns.

Affinity Action Teams

Since 2017, CCL action teams have expanded to include groups targeting BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) and diverse populations. All of these teams were started by our own volunteers who saw the need to do particular work with members of their communities. The national groups are as follows:

• Asian Pacific (2020)
• Climate and Culture (2018)
• Differently Abled (2021)
• Diversity & Inclusion (2023)
• Latinos (2017)
• Higher Education (2016)
• LGBTQIA+ and Allies OUTreach (2020)
• Listening to Indigenous Voices (2020)
• People of the Global Majority (2018) (For BIPOC only)
• Youth (2019)
• We also encourage participation in the Conservative Outreach and Climate & Environmental Justice teams.

2025 Inclusion Team

Each year a team of Inclusion Fellows & Interns, Community Ambassadors, and volunteers help advance local, state, and national DEI initiatives. This year’s team includes:

Christian Lucius (She/Her)
Community Ambassador
Olympia, WA

Daniel Opoku (He/Him)
2024 Inclusion Fellow & Volunteer
Toledo, OH


Emily Gutierrez (She/Her)
2025 Inclusion Fellow


Joy Sullivan (She/Her)
3rd Coast Community Ambassador
Dallas, TX


Karina Ramirez (She/Her/Ella)
Vice President of People & Culture
West Palm Beach, FL


Kendyl Brown
2025 Inclusion Intern

Megha Bhatt (She/Her)    
2024 Inclusion Fellow & Volunteer
Sacramento, CA


Lily Hardwick (She/Her)
2025 Inclusion Intern


Minerve Jean (She/Her)
Inclusion Conference Coordinator
Miami, FL


Phalika Oum (They/Them/Theirs)
2025 Inclusion Fellow
Dover, DE



Rachel Porter (She/Her)
Community Ambassador
Durham, NC


Zach Steward (He/Him)
2023 Inclusion Fellow & Volunteer
Belmont, MA

If you are interested in becoming a fellow or learning about other student opportunities in 2025, visit the Higher Education page for more information.       

The Role of Community Ambassadors

The Community Ambassadors (formerly Community Representatives) are volunteer positions that help support national inclusion work. As CCL continues to grow and diversify, we want to ensure that all our chapter volunteers receive the needed resources, training, and support to conduct this important work.

Community Ambassadors act as an extension of the Vice President of People & Culture and become representatives for diversity work at local chapters and states.  The volunteers meet weekly with the Vice President of People & Culture.

Please see CCL's Community Ambassador Volunteer Description to learn more about Community Ambassadors and get involved in your chapter or states' inclusion efforts. 

If you have any questions about this work, please reach out to:

Karina Ramírez

Vice President of People & Culture | karina.ramirez@citizensclimate.org | (She/Her/Ella)