City of Austin’s Climate Equity Plan

Helped establish one of Texas’s first equity-centered climate plans, a citywide initiative to embed racial equity, environmental justice, and community leadership into Austin’s climate action strategy. As part of the Office of Sustainability, played a central role in shaping the plan’s equity framework, improving how frontline communities were meaningfully centered in decision-making.

Created and led the Community Climate Ambassador Program, which built local leadership by equipping youth and frontline residents with tools for climate policy engagement, storytelling, and civic participation. Complemented planning and programming with the development of equity-centered tools, reports, and narrative infrastructure that translated community knowledge into accessible, action-oriented resources to sustain long-term climate justice work.

What I Did

• Climate Equity Plan

  • Coordinated citywide outreach and engagement to support community involvement in the Climate Equity Plan revision, including recruitment, working group meetings, and public presentations/webinars.

  • Helped shape one of the first climate plans in Texas to explicitly center racial and environmental justice.

  • Embedded community voice into long-term climate planning through structured engagement and documentation.

  • Ensured community contributions were credited, preserved, and usable beyond the planning process.

  • Translated technical climate policy into accessible language and visual storytelling for public use.

• Community Climate Ambassador Program

  • Designed, developed, and managed the Community Climate Ambassador Program, overseeing a paid cohort of 10 community members who facilitated their own climate discussions.

  • Developed curricula, scopes of work, interview guides, and learning resources.

  • Supported ambassadors in engaging with city processes, public meetings, and policy discussions.

  • Expanded civic participation among historically excluded communities through peer-led engagement.

• Equity Tool & Workshops

  • Facilitated the co-creation of an Equity Tool with city staff and community stakeholders to guide climate goals and strategies through an equity lens.

  • Planned and organized 6 climate equity workshops and 27+ engagement events centering racial equity across diverse communities and stakeholder groups.

  • Produced and curated bilingual, public-facing documentation, including reports, toolkits, and recorded panels, to strengthen transparency and accountability.

Role
Community Engagement Specialist, City of Austin’s Office of Sustainability

Year
2019–2021

Location
Austin, Texas

Primary Institutional Partners
• City of Austin — Office of Sustainability
• City of Austin — Equity Office

Community & Resident Partners
• Community Climate Ambassadors (paid cohort of frontline residents and youth)
• Frontline community leaders and residents across Austin priority neighborhoods
• Environmental justice and advocacy organizations engaged through plan development, workshops, and panels
• Neighborhood-based organizations and coalitions supporting equity-centered climate action
• Austin History Center (historical context, documentation, and narrative grounding)