Environmental Professionals of Color Seattle
Welcome to the Seattle chapter of Environmental Professionals of Color (EPOC). EPOC provides a safe space for people of color working in the environmental and conservation field to connect, share information, provide support, and discuss in depth the issues we care about. The Environmental Professionals of Color Network is a program of the Center for Diversity & the Environment.
About
The Center for Diversity & the Environment (CDE) coordinates the national Environmental Professionals of Color Network (EPOC), a growing community of leaders of color across the U.S. at work on a vast array of critical environmental issues, from habitat conservation to environmental justice to upstream public health. The mission of the network is to connect, engage, and support Indigenous, Black and People of Color who are working in the environmental movement to ensure that the groundswell of activity across the nation does not happen in isolated pockets, but contributes to a comprehensive and strategic path forward. EPOC members are the change agents who envision a diverse environmental movement where they and their peers can thrive. This network provides both formal and informal opportunities to dialogue, organize, strategize, inspire, and support one another, and to develop leadership skills critical to this work. Chapters are active in Portland, Seattle, San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles.
Since 2011, the EPOC Seattle Chapter’s vision has been to grow and strengthen representation of people of color in leadership roles across the environmental sector by: facilitating leadership training and professional development skills; building community; improving access to information about jobs and internships in the field; encouraging innovation and partnerships across projects, programs, and organizations. Employers have sought out EPOC Seattle to inform their hiring processes and community groups have supported its raising visibility on diversity and environmental issues region-wide.
EPOC is a platform for many types of activities and gatherings intended to celebrate, nurture, and strengthen our community of environmental professionals of color. These gatherings serve as important spaces where members can find allies, validate experiences, share tools and best practices to advocate for racial justice in their scope of work, and engage in constructive and restorative activities as a means for healing and growth. To stay up to date with upcoming events and resources please connect with one of our following communication channels:
Past Events
Since 2011, EPOC Seattle has been hosting a variety of events for its members with the intent to build community and strengthen representation of people of color in leadership roles across the environmental sector. Type of events that we host are intentional networking events, happy-hours, ballot parties, nature excursions, etc. If you have an idea for an event, please reach out to the current EPOC Organizers through our contact page. Note that our events are open only to BIPOC involved or interested in the environmental field. To receive updates on our latest events, make sure to connect with one of our communication channels below:
EPOC Summit
In 2019, EPOC Seattle hosted its first EPOC Summit: Breaking the Green Ceiling. The summit was a day-long event full of workshops, skill building opportunities, panels, and a keynote speaker. The purpose of the summit was to grow and strengthen representation of people of color in leadership roles across the environmental sector by providing leadership training and professional development skills and encouraging innovation and partnerships across projects, programs, and organizations.
Photo: Attendees of the Breaking the Green Ceiling Summit in 2019, hosted at Seattle's El Centro de la Raza.
Given the COVID-19 pandemic, lack of organizers and volunteer capacity, EPOC Seattle was unable to host a summit between 2020-2023. However, in 2024 EPOC Organizers were able to bring back the EPOC Summit! The 2024 EPOC Summit: Cultivating Community was focused on (re)connecting with new and returning EPOC community members through trainings, workshops, activities and discourse around topics of cross-cultural solidarity and identity. Organizers of the 2024 Summit felt it was critical to curate a space where EPOC members felt safe and confident to take up space, access creative workshops to explore their identity both in and outside of their work, connect with each other through relevant local and/or global environmental issues, and be empowered to work towards a more environmentally just future. EPOC Seattle will continue to host a Summit on an annual or bi-annual schedule depending on volunteers and funding capacity.
Photos from the 2024 EPOC Summit: Cultivating Community by Sofian Mahmoud.
The event was hosted at the Daybreak Star Indian Cultural Center.
Contact
Connect with EPOC Seattle Organizers!
