Annual Member Meeting, March 5th!

What a year it has been at Clean Air! We’ve built power, organized, and won justice throughout Western New York. In the past year, our member’s work resulted in the start of the remediation of contamination in the Delavan Grider community; supported Tesla workers to organize for job security; and held Tonawanda Coke and Battaglia Demolition accountable for their disregard for public health and the environment. Now, it’s time to celebrate another year of exciting victories and developments. Without the investment and work by members — and the belief in the power and possibility of organizing our communities — none of our work in 2019 could have been possible.

We invite you to join us at our Annual Meeting to celebrate these successes and prepare for another year of smart, grassroots organizing. Our membership from across the region will come together to learn from each other, and share their successes and challenges. We will discuss our vision for 2020; to organize to create jobs through projects that strengthen our climate resilience; reclaim and rehabilitate toxic land; and continue to grow a base of power that places communities at the forefront of decision making. We  will also vote to elect our new slate of board members who will guide our organization in the coming year.  

Our meeting is open to anyone who wishes to attend, however, only Clean Air members are able to vote on this year’s board of directors (See the slate below). If you are a member and have not received your ballot in the mail, please contact Rebecca at Rebecca@cacwny.org. If you wish to become a member today, you can do so online here.

Clean Air 2020 Slate of Board Candidates

The Board of Directors helps to support the mission of the Clean Air: Organizing for Health and Justice (Clean Air) and the work of its staff and members to make our communities healthier through grassroots organizing. Our board is comprised of individuals from all walks of life who share a commitment to making life better for communities across the region.  All board members serve 3 year terms.

Board members fulfill the following responsibilities:

• Determine how the organization will carry out its mission through long and short-term planning and evaluation 
• Adopt an annual budget and provides fiscal oversight
• Hire and evaluates the performance of the Executive Director
• Recruit members and fundraise 
• Decide what campaigns, research projects, and fiscal sponsorships Clean Air engages in
• Recruit, orient, and develop new board members

2020 Board Slate

New Board Candidate(the following board candidate is up for their first three year term)

Drew Canfield is a master of urban planning student at the University at Buffalo pursuing an advanced certificate in climate sustainability. She is a two year AmeriCorps VISTA alumna with experience in fundraising, direct action planning, and community engagement. Drew is also a Member of the Board of Directors and a regular volunteer at The Tool Library. Drew currently works as a graduate research assistant I’m the UB Community Resilience Lab and as an intern with the Great Buffalo-Niagara Regional Transportation Council.

Returning Board Candidate (the following board candidate is up for a second three year term)

Sydney Brown is a humble servant of The Most High God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. She is community driven concentrating her efforts on addressing the economic, social and environmental injustices facing the Western New York area with a special emphasis on the East Side of Buffalo. A board member of the Black Chamber of Commerce of Western New York, Sydney is a team player dedicated to improving the economic welfare of her community with a focus on Black enterprises. She is a devoted board member of the Restore Our Community Coalition (ROCC) advocating for the restoration of the Humboldt Parkway. Sydney is also a loyal member of Clean Air: Organizing for Health and Justice and is a member of the American Axle Steering Committee, the campaign leadership team dedicated to remediate the contamination in Buffalo’s Delavan Grider neighborhood.