Congratulations to our 2018 Golden Gas Mask Award Winners!
Mary Blue
Mary Blue resides in the Kensington neighborhood and has extensive ties to the Delavan Grider community. A friend introduced Ms. Blue to Clean Air in early 2017, and she has been a member of the American Axle Steering Committee ever since. Ms. Blue has been a valuable and tireless advocate for cleanup of American Axle, a site that has been leaking toxic PCBs and hazardous waste for over 20 years. Most of her family has lived near the site, including herself at one time, spurring her dedication to working with the community to find out what is going on with the site and demand action. As a member of the campaign, she has collected petition signatures, attended community meetings and steering committee meetings, made phone calls, and met with key decision makers in state government. Ms. Blue is also a member of the Masten Block Club Coalition and the University District Block Club Coalition, where she has worked with teenagers, many of whom are grown up and still visit her. She is a graduate of the University at Buffalo’s Nursing School. Ms. Blue is a proud grandmother, great-grandmother, and great-great-grandmother. In her free time, she enjoys bowling and line dancing.
Maria Tisby
Maria Tisby is a resident of the Town of Tonawanda. She was introduced to Clean Air Coalition in 2013, and has been a member ever since. Maria is a leader on Clean Air’s Tonawanda Tomorrow and Huntley Just Transition Campaign Teams. Through the opportunity to be involved in this work, she has led community actions that supported Clean Air’s various campaigns. Maria views justice as a critical element of public health and safety issues. That’s why she’s dedicated to working with Clean Air as they successfully fight for health, justice, and equity across the Western New York region.
Maria believes that one of the most important things a person can do is utilize the skills they have to be an advocate for other people. She spends much of her time educating herself about contemporaneous social justice issues that affect her neighbors, whether it’s housing, public funds, or quality of life.
Maria holds a bachelor’s degree in nursing from D’Youville College. She is a Parish Council Member and Lector at Saint Stanislaus Church in Buffalo, NY. She also serves as a Lector at Saint Amelia Church in Tonawanda. In her free time, Maria enjoys swimming as well as bicycling on the Tonawanda bike trails.
Dellla Miller
Della Miller has extensive hands on experience working with various community development projects such as, establishing food cooperatives, directing regional educational programs, and operating, consulting and managing commercial kitchens. After retiring, Ms. Della became involved in many exciting new avenues of work. She applied for and was accepted in 2014 & 2015 as a Champion of Change with One Region Forward and the UB School of Architecture and Planning. After attending their Citizen Planning School, she was inspired to find a way to share this beneficial information with others. In 2016, she was introduced to Participatory Budgeting (PB) and Clean Air Coalition, when she participated in the PB process as a community resident. The experience was so powerful, the next year she joined Clean Air’s PB Campaign Team and involved herself in all aspects of the PB planning process. Ms. Della is a dedicated and active member in PB and is committed to promoting and educating citizens. She believes PB is a positive way for community residents to improve the quality of their neighborhoods and city. Ms. Della volunteers with several projects: St. John United Credit Union and community entrepreneurship and food service operations. Ms. Della is a graduate of Empire State College.
Join us to celebrate these fierce leaders at our Annual Dinner on May 3rd! Get your tickets here.