Feel Good Friday - GreenLatinos

National Hispanic Heritage Month begins on Monday, September 15th. Let’s get prepared by learning more about today’s Feel Good Friday organization, GreenLatinos.

Founded in 2012 and headquartered in Boulder, Colorado, GreenLatinos describe themselves as “an active comunidad of Latino/a/x leaders emboldened by the power and wisdom of our culture united to demand equity and dismantle racism.” As a national non-profit, they confront both national and local environmental issues in the Latino community.

This includes advocacy around the following national issues: fighting for climate justice and clean air, preserving public land, creating sustainable communities, and ensuring water equity so that everyone has access clean, healthy, reliable, and affordable water for drinking.

In addition GreenLatinos runs several programs. The Latino Climate Justice Framework is a comprehensive framework for addressing the climate crisis and serving the needs of Latino/a/e communities across the country. It was created by 22 Latino/a/e organizations and is used as a blueprint by GreenLatinos partners. The Sustainable Cities Urban Greening Initiative is distributing $2,650,000 in grants to increase and revitalize green spaces in urban Latino/a/e communities across Los Angeles, Albuquerque, and Chicago. 

The Justicia Y Equidad Fund provides general operating support for small environmental, conservation, and climate justice organizations and programs serving frontline Latino/a/e communities. And finally, the Urban and Community Forestry program promotes tree equity in historically underserved and underrepresented communities, by focusing on tree planting, maintenance and restoration. There is also specific programming across New Mexico, Illinois, Texas, California and Colorado.

In 2024 GreenLatinos distributed over 25 million in funds through their various grant programs and continued to educate and advocate for initiatives that support the environment. You can read all the details in the 2024 Impact Report.

If you’d like to support GreenLatinos in their work, there are many ways to do so. Become an advocate or a member, make a donation and spread the word on social media. Follow GreenLatinos on Facebook, Instagram, Bluesky and LinkedIn.