Hot on the heels of a recent Gristmill feature by Marcelo Bonta of the Center for Diversity and the Environment on this issue, an article on the environmental movement’s lack of diversity appeared in The Oregonian this weekend, which dug into the details close to home:
The 115 staff members for the Oregon League of Conservation Voters, Oregon Environmental Council, Ecotrust, Oregon Wild and the Audubon Society of Portland include two Latinos, two Asian Americans, one Native American and no African Americans, their leaders say.
So yes, green groups can do better in terms of hiring. But Bonta, who’s interviewed, makes the case again that these groups need to go beyond recruiting to engage in dialogue on the issue. They’ll be very likely to find, and surveys back this up, that people of color are just as committed to conservation as they are.
