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Fellow Profile
NA'TAKI OSBORNE
 Na'Taki Osborne is the sustainable communities organizer for the National Wildlife Federation in Atlanta, Georgia, and co-founder of the Center for Environmental Public Awareness, a nonprofit environmental education and leadership development training organization. Na'Taki is a Leadership Circle member of the Metropolitan Atlanta Transportation Equity Coalition and serves on the board of directors for Georgians for Clean Energy and the Keep Atlanta Beautiful Commission. She is an appointee to the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority's Neighborhood and Environment Policy Council.
As someone who works at a national nonprofit group and as a community organizer, what opportunities and challenges do you see for collaboration between different types of environmental organizations?
Many times the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) is the only national organization working on what is considered a "local" issue, bringing a policy angle and strong political advocacy experience that can be taken all the way to Capitol Hill if needed. NWF has embraced a place-based approach in the communities where it has physical offices. NWF can help link like-minded groups that didn't know that the others existed. This coalition-building and mobilization can bring momentum to an issue, help smaller organizations heighten awareness levels, and get more people involved.
There have been a few times when community people have been skeptical of working with a big "traditional" environmental organization like NWF because they have seen larger, "outside" organizations take advantage of or exploit communities for their own gain in the past. This suspicion, based on past experience, can present a particular challenge when working in a new area for the first time. As a community organizer who lives the work and does not just do it for a paycheck, I am able to inform and influence how NWF does its work and how it acts as a good neighbor in the larger community. It is important to be able to wear both hats because they allow me to bring different skills and resources to the table for the total benefit of the victories we work to achieve.
How has your scientific background informed your work for social and environmental justice?
My scientific training in chemistry and public health allows me to provide a bridge between the scientific community and the general community, which, by the way, is not devoid of scientific understanding. In the environmental justice movement, we need informed scientists who understand the social, political, economic, and cultural implications of environmental issues. I am committed to becoming such a person. It is important that as an environmental justice advocate, I have technical skills and an understanding of science because these are the tools that we use to fight the giants. In fact we can only hope to scale up our tactics and "win the war" by being able to fight on grounds that our opponents are competent in as well as those areas in which they are weak. Having these skills and understanding also enables me to share and teach others in an effort to increase our overall capacity as an environmental justice community to address the issues that affect us.
What has been the most important and satisfying part of your community organizing?
Seeing positive transformation happen is what really pushes me: to witness groups of people begin from positions of being ignored and unjustly treated to becoming confident enough with their understanding of technical issues to speak out and take direct action. I feel empowered when I help to set up the conditions that empower others. This continual cycle of empowerment allows me to make positive changes directly in my life and community, and indirectly in the lives and communities of others.
How can the environmental movement incorporate stronger environmental justice initiatives into its work over the next 20 years?
The environmental movement needs to give environmental justice the attention that it deserves instead of treating it as an add-on. Environmental justice should be woven throughout the fabric of the environmental movement. The environmental community must admit that racism, discrimination, and injustice exist, and address the fact that environmental organizations have played, and are still playing, a part in that. Environmental organizations should stop perpetuating the blatant disrespect for certain communities based on race, ethnicity, socio-economic status, or political strength that is practiced by corporations and upheld by government. In order for the environmental community as a whole to "come together," it must address problems with a collective front instead of through fragmentation. Traditional environmental organizations have to show their commitment to a wider set of issues, including environmental justice, and must also make commitments to diversify their staff and governing boards to include people from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds and experiences.
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Chip Giller, Na'Taki Osborne |
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