“Mayors are so accessible and it’s their job to work in partnership with the community for efforts that will improve community,” says Isabel González Whitaker, Moms’ Associate Vice President for Public Engagement.
She should know. She worked with three Atlanta mayors over the course of 20 years to create the Sara J. González Memorial Park, in honor of her mother and in partnership with Atlanta’s Department of Parks and Recreation. “They’re looking for opportunities to show investment in the community, especially things that drive and improve social determinants of health.” This includes making local municipalities more sustainable and able to adapt to climate change. The park provides tree canopy that can reduce hot weather days and provide relief from extreme heat. The ground is also fortified for flood remediation.
At a time when the federal government is dangerously downplaying the climate crisis and rolling back the hard-won protections keeping people safe, it’s notable just how much concerned residents can achieve on a smaller scale that clearly impacts daily lives by working with local governments. And there are so many different ways to get involved.
Tell Your Governor: Lead on Climate Safety
Take Moms’ Georgia field organizer, Kiya Stanford, who is also working on local issues in Atlanta. She applied for and was granted a position on Atlanta’s Climate Resilience Advisory Board through 2028. Her focus is public transportation. “I sit on the multimodal transportation working group. I’m helping to do a micro transportation demand management plan for a neighborhood in the city, the West End Atlanta University Center, which is home to three HBCUs,” she explains. This majority Black area of Atlanta has some of the “highest effects of climate and non-sustainability health outcomes,” she notes.
In contrast to her federal work for Moms, Kiya says working on issues where she lives feels “immensely important since local governments are the ones that make day-to-day decisions on how specific legislation would affect the neighborhoods within their municipalities.” Looking to state and federal governments to tackle climate resiliency, sustainability, and environmental justice locally leaves, Kiya contends, a “huge gap; they don’t have a pulse on what’s happening at a local level until amplified voices give them that information.”
Not all municipalities have a mayor who is the vice chair of Climate Mayors, like Atlanta’s current mayor, Andre Dickens. He has a plan for climate resilience with a deadline. Still, advocating where you live, no matter who is in charge, offers a unique level of accessibility. “We have the opportunity at a local level to really engage with our decision makers and let our voices be known about what’s important to us specifically in the environmental, climate, and sustainability realm,” says Kiya.
Knowing the details of what is happening where you live will help get the work done. Isabel was aware, for example, that the mayors she worked with wanted to have parks no farther than two miles from any resident to improve outcomes. She used this to her advantage when pitching her project.
“This was an area that historically had not had a nice space for children and families to gather and play that would provide relief mentally, spiritually, physically, and emotionally. Parks can provide vibrant green scape. And this could not have happened without the support of the mayor’s office,” says Isabel, who grew up two blocks from this very park.
Moms’ Moms & Mayors program aims to connect people like Isabel and Kiya with mayors and other local government officials around the country in a broad effort to protect children’s health from air pollution and global warming while building resilient communities. There’s no one-size-fits-all category of how to get this work done, as each town has their own concerns. Still, we’re seeing progress on clean air initiatives and innovative climate solutions in cities and towns, from reflective roofs and rain gardens to solar farms. Acting locally involves building relationships with leaders, supporting them, urging them to do more, and celebrating their work to improve the air we breathe and the health of our communities.
Maybe it’s prioritizing smart surfaces, saying no to “advanced recycling” facilities that just burn plastic and pollute local air, insisting on clean air regulations for planned AI data centers, or demanding cleaner energy. Maybe it’s just asking the town board for solar-powered streetlights that work even in the case of a power outage. Creativity is key. Chances are you will be met with willing legislators. But if not, says Isabel, keep pushing: “If you can’t find a door to open, there is a window to crawl through.”
Learn more about our Moms & Mayors program.