BOSTON: María Belén Power, Massachusetts' first Undersecretary of Environmental Justice, headlines Clean Water Action’s just-announced 2025 environmental champions, an inspiring list of grassroots organizers and movement leaders. They will be honored at the organization’s 2025 celebration, “The Fun is in the Fight!”, happening June 12th at the Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation.
“With the constant barrage of bad news coming out of DC, we want to uplift and celebrate the local champions who do the hard work of organizing in their communities every day,” said Elizabeth Saunders, Clean Water Action Massachusetts Co-Director. “From Undersecretary Power to our youth organizers, all of our 2025 awardees come from the grassroots.”
The 2025 awardees are as follows:
- Environmental Justice Leadership Award - María Belén Power: As the Commonwealth’s first Undersecretary of Environmental Justice, María Belén Power is forging a path toward stronger protections for overburdened neighborhoods across Massachusetts, bringing all the lessons she learned as a grassroots environmental justice champion in Chelsea to her statewide work.
- 2025 John O’Connor Awards: Clean Water Action gives two awards each year in honor of John O’Connor, who founded, led, and supported many environmental health organizations and campaigns, and is remembered for his love of organizing and his deep appreciation of Clean Water Action’s canvass teams.
- John O'Connor Grassroots Leadership Award - Barbara Espinosa Barrera: Barbara Espinosa Barrera, the Environmental Justice and Health Equity Organizer at GreenRoots in Chelsea, has been an invaluable partner and leader in Clean Water’s grassroots work on lead in drinking water and clean air justice. From going door-to-door informing residents about how to check their service line, to co-organizing local events in the community, to going on a popular Spanish radio station to spread the word about lead in drinking water, Barbara does the hard work of organizing in service to her community.
- John O'Connor Award for Canvassing - Sarah Etling: Sarah Etling, now in her third year as a Clean Water Action phone organizer, is an extremely successful organizer and fundraiser in her own right, and she also trains new staff in effective grassroots organizing and communication.
- Youth Leadership Award - Noha Ahmed, Delina Yohannes, Melinna Enamorado, and Olivia Yang: These Malden High School students, all alumni of Clean Water’s Youth Action Collaborative, are being recognized for their outstanding leadership in speaking to decision-makers, mobilizing residents of Malden, and coaching their peers at Malden High School.
- Clean Water Champion - Mujeres Victoriosas & Community Economic Development Center: Mujeres Victoriosas and CEDC (Community Economic Development Center), both leading community organizations in New Bedford, are recognized for their collaborative multilingual outreach efforts to help people in underserved neighborhoods access Mass Save® programs providing energy efficiency improvements.
For more information about the event, including tickets and sponsorships, please visit cleanwater.org/ma-spring.
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Since our founding during the campaign to pass the landmark Clean Water Act in 1972, Clean Water Action has worked to win strong health and environmental protections by bringing issue expertise, solution-oriented thinking, and people power to the table. www.cleanwater.org