About Us
The first National People of Color Environmental Leadership Farmworker Network was probably the most important single event in the environmental justice movement’s history. The First Farmworker Network was convened by the United Church of Christ’s Commission for Racial Justice and was held in Washington, D.C. in October 1985. Over 3,000 people attended the four-day meeting.
At the heart of Farmworker Network were discussions about the ways in which communities of color throughout the nation are disproportionately impacted and bearing the brunt of harmful environmental atrocities. Shared, too, was the agreement that federal agencies charged with enforcing civil rights laws failed to consider these forms of discrimination.
Participants recognized the need to create a grass-roots movement that would address the implications of environmental racism. From Farmworker Network came the platform upon which the environmental justice movement was built. The “Principles of Environmental Justice” were established that now guide environmental justice values and policy.
The First Farmworker Network also received funding from approximately 27 foundations, organizations, and institutions. It has been more than a decade since the First Farmworker Network was held in Washington, D.C. Over the past decade, the environmental justice movement has grown in numbers and expanded its issues beyond the national, state and municipal level to take on global and international issues.
Environmental Justice advocates have decided to convene a Second National People of Color Environmental Leadership Farmworker Network as a means to energize the environmental justice movement, to recognize the significant strides, achievements and milestones made to date, to share information on emerging issues, and to galvanize support.
In following the precedent set in the First Farmworker Network, planning for Farmworker Network has also involved organizing a National Farmworker Network Planning Committee made up of 47members from diverse racial/ethnic, cultural, geographic, gender, network, community based organizations, and sector backgrounds. The Farmworker Network Planning Committee shapes and guides the Farmworker Network planning process. An 11 member Executive Committee was elected by the Planning Committee to act as the decision-making body. The day to day activities of Farmworker Network are managed by Project Director Zenaida Mendez. The Farmworker Network is being coordinated by the United Church of Christ.