During a ceremony Saturday at Kennesaw State University, representatives from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) honored 21 graduates from five Southeastern states in the inaugural class of the Environmental Justice Academy. The EJ Academy is a rigorous, in depth leadership development program. EPA provided the nine-month environmental justice training program to cultivate skills participants can use to identify and address environmental challenges in their communities.

The graduates, in Georgia, include:

• John H. Miller II of Decatur, Ga., representing the Dekalb Watershed CIP Citizens Advisory Group;
• Sheryl A. Brown of Atlanta, Ga., representing the Neighborhood Planning Unit – R, APCAFEST, Adams Park;
• Vernell Cutter of Savannah, Ga. representing the Georgia Research Environmental Economic Network (GREEN);
• Deborah Ortiz of Decatur, Ga., representing the Environmental Justice Alliance;
• Charlotte K. Cartagena of Lithonia, Ga., a Georgia State University student;
• Gwendylon P. Smith Watson of Atlanta, Ga., representing the Collier Heights Community Association;
• Garry A. Harris of Atlanta, Ga., representing the Sustainability Solutions Group, Center for Sustainable Communities; and
• Donna Stephens of Atlanta, Ga., representing the Proctor Creek Stewardship Council.

The EJ Academy launched in September 2015 and participants met monthly from Friday afternoon through Saturday. The EJ Academy is primarily based on EPA’s Collaborative Problem-Solving (CPS) Model, which is a seven-step process for bringing about positive change and community revitalization by having community leaders, community members, and their stakeholders working together. Each module focuses on one element of the CPS Model and includes a combination of lectures by subject-matter experts, in-class exercises, and homework assignments.

The EJ Academy taught participants:

• How to leverage human, social, intellectual, technical, legal, and financial resources to make long-term progress in a community;
• How to use consensus-building processes and skills to help ensure successful collaboration and negotiations;
• How to increase capacity to address communities’ environmental and/or public health issues; and
• A basic understanding of environmental justice and environmental regulations

As a result of participating in the EJ Academy, graduates received the following benefits:

• Completed a community portfolio, which may assist in securing funding, describing community resources and challenges and establishing credibility amongst stakeholders;
• Completed an action plan to guide organizational activities;
• Identified and secured potential partners to assist communities with addressing their challenges;
• Interacted directly with technical experts from EPA and other organizations;
• Networked with regional community leaders to establish mutually beneficial relationships;
• Matched with nearby academic institutions in EPA’s College Underserved Community Partnership Program (CUPP) to provide ongoing technical assistance; and
• Received individualized feedback, guidance, and assistance from experts.

The next EJ Academy will be announced later in May. For more information, contact: R4_EJAcademy@epa.gov

Atlanta Real Estate Forum would like to congratulate these recent graduates and we hope to see you all go on to do great things!