Midwest Environmental Justice Network

06/23/2026

Congrats We the People of Detroit--absolutely well deserved 💚❤️🖤 🎉🎉🎉

We're grateful to receive the Wake Up Detroit Juneteenth Award this morning — honoring the legacy of our mentor, Queen Mother Rev. Dr. JoAnn Watson, and the work we carry forward in her name.

Thank you to Midtown Detroit Juneteenth Parade & Celebration for this recognition and the extra special presentation by Attorney Maya Watson(Daughter of Rev. Dr. JoAnn Watson) and her extremely generous remarks.

Happy Freedom Day! ❤️🖤💚

06/01/2026

Ujima is a St. Louis-based organization rooted in the principle of collective work and responsibility. Since 2018, they have been addressing some of the community's most pressing challenges through an interconnected approach to food justice, environmental stewardship, youth empowerment, and mutual aid. Read more about their work in our May newsletter 🔗 in bio!

05/22/2026

As we roll out our public announcements about our Advisory Circle and Leadership Team members, this is the perfect opportunity to talk about what participatory grantmaking looks like at MWEJN, and how we define it!

05/11/2026

Last week was our first in-person retreat with the Advisory Circle!

Over two days our Advisory Circle convened to give feedback on
🌷funding priorities
🌼 programming needs
🌱 resourcing environmental justice orgs in the region

We are so thankful to all the AC members who traveled to Minnesota to join us for this energizing time together. These relationships are at the heart of our participatory grant making, and at the heart of building a sustainable movement in the Midwest.

📸 Photo Credit: Jaida Grey Eagle

05/05/2026

"For much of my life, I felt unrooted. My family immigrated to rural Minnesota to work on a small dairy farm from Russia when I was only five years old. The world that I had known and loved had vanished in what felt like a moment, and left me with a profound sense of loss. Since then, I have struggled with the question: What does it mean to call a place home?

The Midwest Environmental Justice Network and University of Michigan Tishman Midwest Climate Catalyst Fellows program helped me solve a piece of this puzzle."

Sofia Ledeneva reflects on her time as a Tishman Catalyst Fellow with us in her last blogpost with us at the Midwest EJ Network--read below!

For much of my life, I felt unrooted. My family immigrated to rural Minnesota to work on a small dairy farm from Russia when I was only five years old. Since then, I have struggled with the question: What does it mean to call a place home? When I was placed with the Midwest Environmental Justice

04/30/2026

Today is Sofia Ledeneva's last day as our Tishman Fellow here at the Midwest EJ Network! We are so grateful for Sofia's creativity and passion that she has demonstrated throughout her work with us.

Sofia also holds a special place in our hearts as our first Tishman Fellow we hosted from the of Michigan Tishman Center for Social Justice and the Environment 🫶

"Sustaining environmental justice movement work means ensuring that we have a strong regional leadership pipeline. MWEJN's partnership with the University of Michigan Tishman Center's Catalyst Fellowship program is one way we are supporting emerging researchers and leaders. Sofia has been a testament to the possibility of investing in place-based leaders--we have been so grateful to have her curiosity, care, and brilliance with us at the Midwest EJ Network."" - Eartha Borer-Bell and Shalini Gupta, Co-EDs

After receiving her master's from Tishman, Sofia will be returning to the Twin Cities to work with Our Streets as a Yale Environmental Fellow! Please join us in congratulating her on her successful completion of the program--we can't wait to see this next chapter of her journey.

04/29/2026

of our Advisory Circle spotlights featuring

Monica Lewis-Patrick, We the People of Detroit
Alfredo Romo, Neighbors For Environmental Justice
Nick Speed, Ujima
Alicia Smith, The Junction Coalition

Learn more about our at the link in our bio!

04/28/2026

of our Advisory Circle spotlights featuring

Tara Houska, Giniw Collective
Cicely Allen, Wisdom Institute Detroit
Dr. Alicia Renee Farris, Tri-City Community Development Corp.
Taryn Randle, Getting Grown Collective

Our Advisory Circle helps to guide selection, eligibility criteria and priorities in our grantmaking and programming, while also serving as ambassadors of the Fund. This is what participatory grantmkaing looks like in action.

04/27/2026

Meet the newest members of our 2026 Advisory Circle!

This year, we are welcoming in twelve environmental justice leaders from across the to our Advisory Circle for our Frontline Fund grantmaking. The Advisory Circle is how we do participatory grantmaking at the Midwest EJ Network--by remaining accountable to frontline communities across the region. Our Advisory Circle helps to guide selection, eligibility criteria and priorities in our grantmaking and programming, while also serving as ambassadors of the Frontline Fund.

Over the next three days, we'll be doing bite-sized spotlights on each Advisory Circle member, please join us in giving them all a warm welcome. Today, we're excited to feature:

Ashley Williams, Just Transition NWI
Maggie Lorenz, Wakan Tipi Awanyankapi
Briana Mazzolini-Blanchard, Urban Native Collective
Rosa King, Skanikulat

04/22/2026

For us at MWEJN 🌏 looks like grounding ourselves in our partner work, the brilliance and beauty of the Midwest, and setting our sights on building a healthy and just future for all.

To celebrate, we're sharing a few terms for you to know about the work of our grantee partners

environmental justice
food justice + food sovereignty
just transition
cumulative impacts

What does Earth Day mean to you?