For more than a year, Richmondside has been publishing in-depth reports about local sources of air pollution and its impact on community health, highlighting some of the people and organizations working to improve Richmond’s natural environment.
Along the way, we also recruited and paid a team of local residents to help us survey more than 150 people in the city, including people living and working in Richmond neighborhoods that are most impacted by environmental pollution, to learn how they’re personally experiencing their physical environment and what types of local reporting and information would be most helpful.
On Thur., Sept. 11, we’ll be exploring some takeaways from those community surveys and delving even deeper into our newsroom’s recent reporting during an evening of live panel discussions and audience Q&As with local health experts, community advocates and city and county leaders, many of whom have been featured in our stories.
Our first panel will be moderated by longtime Bay Area journalist and lead reporter on Richmondside’s air pollution series, Brian Krans. He’ll be in conversation with some of the Richmond residents he’s interviewed for his stories, people who’ve directly experienced the effects of pollution and are now working in unique ways to combat the problem. Those panelists are:
Dr. Emily Hunter-Adamson
Emily Hunter-Adamson is a family medicine physician who loves being able to care for everyone in a family, from newborns to great grandparents. She has served Richmond and San Pablo residents at Lifelong Medical Center for the last four years. Seeing her patients disproportionately affected by the poor air quality in the area has motivated Hunter-Adamson to get involved in environmental justice advocacy. Outside of her medical and community work, she enjoys hiking with her wife, toddler and puppy and teaching her daughter about the incredible natural world.
Rafael Castro-Chavez
Rafael Castro-Chavez is a first generation North Richmond resident. At age 13 he experienced the explosion at the Richmond Chevron Refinery that resulted in 15,000 Richmond residents seeking medical attention. This experience made him question actions being taken to hold Chevron accountable and take notice of the lack of accountability for climate issues worldwide. Today, Castro-Chavez works as a just transition organizer at the nonprofit Urban Tilth, where he is focused on North Richmond. He envisions a future where people in Richmond have more decision-making power in their communities and where regenerative practices exist for a less extractive economy.
Destiny Ndeke
Destiny Ndeke is the community and outreach coordinator and co–youth program lead at Groundwork Richmond, where she promotes environmental justice and youth empowerment. At 21, she played a key role in expanding Richmond’s urban tree canopy and led the Air Rangers program, equipping underserved neighborhoods with air monitors to track and improve air quality. Originally from Nigeria, Destiny is deeply committed to giving back and building meaningful connections. She believes in a hands-on approach to outreach, meeting people where they are and ensuring that every voice in the community is heard. Her dedication to service extends beyond environmental work as she also pursues a career in nursing, driven by the same passion for improving lives and uplifting her community.
The second panel will be moderated by Jacob Simas, community journalism director at Cityside and the editor of Richmondside’s air pollution series. He’ll be talking with city and county officials about what our local government is doing to address Richmond’s longstanding environmental issues, and what the future may hold for the fossil-fuel industry in Richmond and Contra Costa County. The panelists are:
John Gioia
John Gioia has served on the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors since 1998. He represents District 1, which includes 220,000 residents in the western and most urban and diverse area of the county, including Richmond. Gioia has led initiatives to improve air quality, address climate change, and other environmental and community health issues. He served as Gov. Jerry Brown’s appointee to the California Air Resources Board from 2013 to 2020 and has been on the Bay Area Air Quality Management District Board since 2006, serving as Chair in 2012.
Jamelia Brown
Jamelia Brown is in her first year representing District 1 on the Richmond City Council. She is a first-time elected official and a fourth-generation Richmond resident, who now represents the Iron Triangle and Belding Woods area where she grew up. Residents of these neighborhoods have been among the most impacted in Richmond by local air pollution and other environmental hazards, according to health data. Brown has pledged to focus her time on the council to bridging the gap between city officials and District 1 residents who have long felt disenfranchised from local government.
B.K. White
B.K. White is the policy director for Richmond Mayor Eduardo Martinez. Before joining the city of Richmond, White spent 29 years as a member of United Steel Workers Local 5 at the Chevron Richmond refinery, where he served as both the president and vice president of the union. He also served as a chair person and committee member on the USW bargaining committee at Chevron refinery. He began working with environmentalists and community leaders in the early 2000s in an attempt to bring labor and community groups together.
We invite you to be part of the conversation!
Working Toward a Cleaner Richmond
An evening of community conversation digging deeper into Richmondside’s reporting on environmental pollution.
Thur., Sept. 11, RYSE Center, 3939 Bissell Ave. Doors open and refreshments served at 5:30 p.m.; program runs from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
This is a FREE event. Register here.
Thanks for hosting.
BTW, will there be discussion on the litter / overgrown weeds and neglected landscaping that is visible on our key streets that represent poor 1st impressions? I’m interested is seeing if there are groups that are focused on these areas of a “cleaner Richmond”
Hi Rich, While the panel discussions likely will focus on air pollution, you’ll see in the community surveys that we mentioned in this article that the type of pollution you mention was commonly raised by residents we spoke to. There will be a Q&A/public comment portion of the event, and everyone would be welcome to raise whatever environmental issue might be most important to them. Hope you’ll join us.