As we close out Women’s History and connect to April preparations for Earth Day month, Front and Centered looks to the future as we are led by an incredible and growing number of BIPOC leaders who march on for Mother Earth: Yolanda Matthews, Rosalinda Guillen, Paulina Lopez, Jill Mangaliman, Susan Balbas, Ophelia Noble, Lilliane Ballesteros, and Rich Stolz.
They are people who serve on our statewide coalition Community Council. They are Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian and Pacific Islander. They are leaders whose lives have been defined by their experience of having lived in the fenceline communities where equity and environmental and climate justice issues intersect. They have worked amidst the rural landscapes of farm work, canvased inner cities and organized urban grassroots advocacy, stood their ground and formed a sense of community where none was offered them in a small town of America. Their life’s work is each a culmination of personal and professional intersectionality, and together they share the audacity to imagine that another world is indeed possible.
They have lived through and lead on the frontlines of their communities, marching for a Just Transition, fearless in their fight for the dignity and well-being of their communities, and wise in their leadership to serve and touch the lives of hundreds of thousands of people.
We lift their collective vision of
Mother Earth and their life mission statements
Yolanda Matthews
“Mother Earth is all powerful, and we should honor her with love and respect.”
Ophelia Noble
‘Mother earth is the epitome of endless love, care, and giver of life. We must work to keep her sacred for generations to come.”
Paulina Lopez
“We and Mother Earth are one, but the Earth is our Mother.”
Jill Mangaliman
“Mother Earth is our Home, we must protect our home.”
Susan Balbas
“Mother Earth gives us everything we need to sustain life.”
Rosalinda Guillen
Personal mission is… “I am a worker of the land. It is my culture, it is my tradition. It is my focus for my people and my focus for C2C.”
Lilliane Ballesteros
Personal mission is… “COMMUNITY.”
Rich Stolz
“Mother Earth is the source of who we are. What we do to the earth, we do to ourselves.”
