Identity, Inclusion, and Community Engagement

The Green 2.0 Pay Equity Pledge is a campaign to increase pay equity for staff at environmental organizations. Organizations that take the pledge demonstrate a commitment to anti-discrimination and equal opportunity for all. We asked experts in the environmental and legal fields to tell us more about why pay equity is mission critical and an organizational must.

The Green 2.0 Mentorship Database was launched to close the mentoring gap in the environmental sector and provide tangible relationships and pathways for all communities in the sector. While mentoring can take on many forms, one of the key questions we had for our community is: What makes or breaks a mentoring relationship for them? They shared their responses with us.

Internships are an important entry point for anyone interested in the environmental sector, but they can be inaccessible and out of reach for many. We asked current and former environmental interns how can environmental organizations make internships more inclusive and accessible to all communities?

Since 2023, Upwell: A Wave of Ocean Justice has prioritized the experiences and voices of communities who have been historically excluded from ocean conservation discussions. Organizers, participants, and speakers reflect on their experiences this year.

Building confidence in your career can be difficult, especially when you’re bringing your own unique culture, background, and perspective to the workplace. Green 2.0 asked environmental leaders of color to tell us how they gained confidence in themselves in their environmental careers, and what advice they have for others like them.

Marilyn (Mar) Zepeda Salazar is an environmental justice leader working to ensure that communities are leading the way in protecting their land, water, and environment. In this post, she explores the complex relationship she has to networking and the many intersectional identities we face as we approach a core environmental career building skill.

Angelo Villagomez is a senior fellow at American Progress, where he focuses on Indigenous-led conservation. In his blog, he describes how mentoring creates new leaders and how mentors can learn and grow from mentoring relationships.

In part two of this two-part series, we asked environmental leaders what motivates them in 2026 to offer a source of inspiration and the reminder to have courage as we move forward together.

Reflecting on the challenges 2025 presented, finding motivation to sustain equity work and lead on inclusive practices is even more essential than ever. In part one of this two-part series, we asked environmental leaders for their 2026 new year wish to offer a source of inspiration and the reminder to center rest and joy in our work.

Dionna L. Brown is a public health scholar, sociologist, and environmental justice advocate from Flint, Michigan. In this blog, Dionna discusses the impact mentorship had on her environmental justice movement journey, and how those experiences have driven her passion to ensure she supports and advocates for others in the sector.