This was written by Moms Clean Air Force intern, Jane Fortna:
On July 6, Moms welcomed Isabel González Whitaker to the team as Associate Vice President (AVP) for Public Engagement and Director of EcoMadres. Isabel will lead on all things public-facing, including our media initiatives and website development, and will represent Moms on Capitol Hill.
- Before joining the Moms team, Isabel was Chief Operating Officer of All in Together, a leading nonprofit dedicated to advancing women’s leadership through civic participation. Her transition to Moms is featured in POLITICO’s Playbook.
- Isabel’s activism is largely inspired by her mother, Sara J.González, who fled from Cuba in 1960 and became a leading immigrant and Latino rights advocate in the southern US. In 2018, as part of her work as a Presidential Leadership Scholar, Isabel designed and opened the Sara J. González Memorial Park in memory of her mother. President Clinton praised the park for its positive community impact in Georgia.
- Isabel says: “From an early age, I saw my mother fight for her children, for women, and for the voiceless, committing herself to equality and equity before those words became the rallying cries they are today. It’s that bold history, and my dedication to children’s health and civic engagement, that I bring to my role fighting for clean air and a stable climate at Moms Clean Air Force.”
IN OTHER NEWS:
- The Route Zero Relay of electric vehicles stopped in Detroit, Michigan, where advocates gathered to call for stronger tailpipe pollution standards. Moms Michigan field consultant Elizabeth Hauptman voices concerns about the negative health impact of emissions in Public News Service, and shares her experience having a son with asthma. Her son is one of the 253,000 Michigan children with asthma who stand to benefit from pollution cuts. This story also ran in the Detroit Metro Times.
- As wildfire smoke blanketed the northeastern US, calls for strong soot pollution standards reignited. The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports that West Virginia leaders and residents alike are concerned about air quality in the wake of the recent wildfires, quoting our West Virginia field consultant Lucia Valentine, who highlights her personal experience with climate disasters and heavy industrial pollution in West Virginia.
- Karin Stein, Moms Iowa Field Organizer, was interviewed on Univision about air pollution from Canadian wildfires and the impact on Latino communities. Karin underscores that Latino communities are disproportionately affected by air pollution due to their outsized representation in the outdoor workforce and being more likely to live near other sources of harmful pollution.
HONORABLE MENTIONS: Last week, Moms also earned a mention in Consumer Reports for participation in the delivery of over 130,000 testimonies to the EPA in support of the agency’s proposal to cut tailpipe pollution from passenger cars and trucks.