City of Austin’s Climate Equity Plan
A Special Project as a Sustainability Community Engagement Specialist
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.
Impact & Outcomes
Established one of Texas’s first equity-centered climate plans
Improved transparency and accessibility of climate policy
Embedded community knowledge into city systems
Trained and supported a paid cohort of Community Climate Ambassadors
Developed replicable, bilingual tools for equity-centered climate engagement
My Role: Community Engagement Specialist, City of Austin’s Office of Sustainability
Year: 2019–2021
Location: Austin, Texas
What I Did
As part of the Office of Sustainability, I played a central role in shaping the plan’s equity framework, improving how frontline communities were meaningfully centered in decision-making.
I 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.
This 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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
Project Artifacts
Austin Climate Equity Plan
View the live storymap
Community Climate Ambassador Program Report
View the full report
Austin Climate Equity Plan
View the Full Report
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)