Today we’d like to introduce you to Cindy Chang.
Cindy, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I was born and raised in a small town in Wisconsin. My parents are immigrants from Taiwan, and we were one of the few families of color in our town. I learned a lot about kindness and generosity from my small-town community that are still at the foundation of my values today. After about a decade living on the East Coast, I moved to Denver about ten years ago and never looked back.
I have been passionate about the environment since I can remember, begging my parents to get their first recycling bin when I was in elementary school. In college, I developed language around social justice and equity and began to learn about environmental justice. For me, environmental justice means that everyone has clean and safe air, water, and land, and equal access to parks and nature. It also means that people harness the power to make decisions about what happens in their own communities, whether it’s what amenities are in their neighborhood park, or if a factory is allowed to continue polluting.
I learned early on in my career that I wasn’t going to be a “subject matter expert” – someone who was an expert in a particular issue area, like climate change policy or water pollution science. Instead, I became good at supporting these experts by developing and managing organizational structures around them – handling the financials, fundraising, and administrative pieces so they can focus on their issue area. In this way, I could use my strengths to support the environmental and social justice movements.
When I moved to Denver, I was lucky enough to be within walking distance of Groundwork Denver’s office and started volunteering the next month. I joined the board a few years later and became Executive Director in 2017. I love being a part of Groundwork Denver because we are on the ground, supporting the folks who are directly impacted by policies and decisions being made on their health and well-being in their neighborhoods. We work closely with hundreds of non-profit, governmental, and business partners to coordinate activities and ensure that the community’s best interest is always front and center. I am inspired every day by the youth we work with. They are leaders and experts in their communities, and our world would be a better, cleaner place if we listened to them more.
Has it been a smooth road?
It took me a long time to find my place in the environmental movement. When I was little, I thought I would be a wildlife biologist, but I struggled with science, especially chemistry, in high school (sorry Mr. Sweney!) and college. I didn’t know there were other careers available, like a non-profit manager or fundraiser, until I got out in the working world and learned how organizations were run.
I also didn’t see a lot of other people of color in the environmental field and was frequently the only person of color in environmental clubs or volunteer clean-up days. When I learned about the environmental justice movement, which in North America, originated with indigenous communities and communities of color that have historically been left out of the mainstream environmental movement, it was a relief and a homecoming. Here was a place where my voice was valued, where I was not tokenized, and where my experience and identity are seen as a strength.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Groundwork Denver story. Tell us more about your organization.
Groundwork Denver works in partnership with communities to improve their physical environment and health and well-being. On a typical day, that means we’re helping plan tree plantings, investigating the source of air or water pollution, or training youth to build a trail or talk to their neighbors about recycling. We also provide low-income residents with home weatherization services to lower their energy bills and grow fresh produce year-round in our hydroponic greenhouse. We’re known for being able to take on this wide breadth of work while having one focus – the community – always in sight.
Partners work with us because they know we authentically bring the community’s voice to any discussion. For us, people are as integral to the environment as plants and animals, and the beauty and nature in the urban environment are just as important as the beauty and nature we find in the mountains.
I’m most proud of our staff, who have worked tirelessly and passionately for years in our communities. They continue to push me and our partners to always be working towards environmental justice and to challenge ourselves every step of the way.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
We need to solve the affordability issue in our metro area. Too many of our families can’t afford to live here anymore, and we are losing culture, history, and diversity as we speak. As the impacts of climate change become a daily reality in our lives, we need to be ready to support those most vulnerable in our communities, such as families who can’t afford to turn up the heat or air conditioning as the temperature continues to fluctuate. As an organization, we can’t authentically ask neighbors to care about parks and recycling if they can’t even pay their rent. So we are at the table in communities like Globeville and Elyria-Swansea, supporting community-led solutions to affordability and gentrification.
Contact Info:
- Address: 3280 N Downing St. Unit E
Denver, CO 80205 - Website: www.groundworkcolorado.org
- Phone: 303-455-5600
- Email: info@groundworkcolorado.org
- Instagram: @groundwork_denver
- Facebook: @GroundworkDenver
- Twitter: @GroundworkDen
Image Credit:
Groundwork Denver
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