Making the Environmental Movement "Green For All"

At the intersection of a thriving clean technology economy and an economy that will create the kinds of jobs that will help lift people out of poverty is Green For All. And at the core of Green For All is Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins.

Ellis-Lamkins is the Chief Executive Officer of Green For All, a national organization working to build an inclusive green economy. Under her leadership, Green For All has become one of the country’s leading advocates for a clean-energy economy, and one of its most important voices on the intersection of economics and environment.

Phaedra has led Green For All to several groundbreaking policy victories and innovative pilot projects at the federal, state, and local levels, while redefining the face of environmentalism through youth engagement and partnerships with popular hip-hop artists.

Green For All is redefining the face of environmentalism. Through partnerships with popular artists such as The Black Eyed Peas, Drake, Wiz Khalifa and Wyclef Jean, Green For All is reaching new audiences about the benefits and opportunities of going green.

Prior to joining Green For All, Phaedra was a leader in California’s labor movement, heading both the South Bay AFL-CIO Labor Council and Working Partnerships USA. This has given her a unique perspective that has enabled her to bring labor, environmental, business, grassroots, and government leaders together in common purpose. Her ability to speak to all of these groups has made Phaedra one of America’s preeminent leaders on green jobs and green pathways out of poverty.

Speaking about the "recipe" for fighting climate change and poverty, Ellis-Lamkins said recently:

The good news is that many of the tools we need to combat carbon pollution can also create jobs and opportunity for folks on the edge. Expanding clean energy will create new jobs--lots of them. A study showed that every dollar invested in clean energy creates three times as many jobs as a dollar invested in oil and coal. Clean energy jobs tend to pay well--13 percent higher than the median wage--while requiring less formal education. That's a recipe for escaping poverty.

For our children and grandchildren, we have a moral imperative to respond aggressively to the threat of climate change.

We also have a moral imperative to create a better future for kids who are growing up in poverty--the kids who watch their parents struggle to find work, the kids who are forced to breathe polluted air, the kids who will be first to suffer when a storm hits.

America's response to climate change is an unprecedented opportunity to shift the odds for these kids. By giving their families and neighbors access to good, middle class jobs, we can create true resilience. We can build a stronger, safer, healthier country--for all of us.

The scope and scale of Phaedra’s many achievements have won her wide praise and recognition. She has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, and The Huffington Post, and on ABC, BET, CNN, MSNBC, and NBC.

Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins will be honored at CLCV's Environmental Leadership Awards event in San Francisco on June 27.