Meet the ECO team:

Meet Elena Hamblin – ECO's Climate Equity Engagement Project Coordinator!

She’s passionate about promoting youth voices in policymaking, sharing education about climate justice, and connecting with community groups making a difference in our region. In her role, she facilitates work with youth on the Climate Equity Community Task Force, organizes the Climate Equity Sponsorships program, and co-coordinates the monthly “Climate Justice Learning Series,” which is open to community members and County staff!

Elena grew up King County and was always passionate about the environment, but her interest in climate action as a career was sparked during her time in the King County NextGen internship program and while attending the University of Washington. Read more of her story in this Q&A:

How would you describe your climate story, and how you got into this work?
I grew up in the Pacific Northwest and spent a lot of time hiking and camping. My family was a big nature family, and that's where my love for the outdoors grew. But I never thought about it as a career until college. I was very policy and political science focused and took a lot of classes on foreign affairs, but I always gravitated towards the environmental side of politics and how governments interact.

That led me to the NextGen internship, which is a program at King County started by Michael Carter, an amazing mentor of mine, that brings underrepresented students into local government to gain hands-on experience in climate justice -- specifically in King County, because there's tons of policies and programs youth can work on. That was my first introduction into what local government looked like, and that intersection with climate change, and I loved it, and since then I kept going on that track of using politics and environment together and it's led me to where I am now.
 
You went to the University of Washington; how did that play into your story, and getting into climate work?
That was where I tried as many things I could as a college student; I took classes on policy, writing, and the environment, and always loved the environment focus of my courses. I did an internship at UW working at the Sustainability office, creating events for students- a green jobs panel, and a climate policy forum, because I really feel like it's important for students to have a voice in the climate movement. And that experience informed where I am today -- the youth-centered work I enjoyed doing started at my time at UW, and let me try as many things as I was interested in. It led to my passion for community-building and environmental justice.

A lot of people think of climate as a global issue. Why is it important that we do this local work?
When you think about climate change globally, it can feel very overwhelming for a lot of people- there's so many issues, and things accelerating every second, every day, so being able to hone into climate justice locally is really helpful because a lot of local communities are able to make a direct change on their communities.

Whether it's through advocacy, policy, organizing- and not a lot of people focus on those impacts because they aren't felt globally, but they have a really tangible impact on the communities that deal with a lot of environmental problems. And that's why local government and local action is really important to me as well -- because that's where people connect with one another and find the humane aspect of climate change.

So that's kind of what drives me- to make sure people understand the work being done, and that there's a lot of ways to get involved, whether it's coming to a Climate Justice Learning Series workshop or getting involved in your local government through a cabinet. They’re great ways to make connections with people and make a tangible difference in local action.

Tell us a little bit about your work with the Climate Equity team, in connection with the Sustainable and Resilient Frontline Communities section of the SCAP.
The Sustainable and Resilient Frontline Communities section is unique in that it puts frontline communities first in the decision-making process, and ensures the policies we're working on in terms of climate equity and climate justice are driven by the needs of those impacted first and worst by climate change.

So instead of bringing in community members at the end stage of a project, as consultants, we're really working with them on a partnership, through the Climate Equity Community Task Force, to provide feedback on county plans, whether that's related to greenhouse gases or building decarbonization, and also working with them to build capacity within their own communities. A lot of our outreach programs such as the Climate Justice Learning Series came out of community recommendations to ensure that local climate justice leaders have the skills and the power to make their voice heard.

What does your role at ECO include?
Something I'm very passionate about is youth leadership. We onboarded many youth into our Climate Equity Community Task Force and with them we've done a mentorship panel with the NextGen Intern cohort in King County, took them to Refuge Fest to run a climate storytelling workshop, and are planning an youth-led October CJLS session focused on youth empowerment in local communities. It’s incredibly important for local government to invest in young people because they are going to be the climate leaders of tomorrow.

I also coordinate our climate sponsorships; we accept applications from community organizations to get an event, translation, or projects of that nature sponsored -- which directly serves frontline communities. For example, it might be an awards event, translation project, or garden work party specifically for underserved communities in South King County. The sponsorships are a great way for us to build capacity in our own communities and help these organizations accelerate work around climate equity.

I also co-lead the Climate Justice Learning Series, which was started a couple years ago by Jamie Stroble. Jamie used to work at the County and was the pioneer of the SCAP’s SRFC section. This is a series of monthly workshops on all kinds of topics- energy justice, community-driven policy, youth-led leadership, policy and advocacy skills, in partnership with the Climate Equity Community Task Force. The frontline community leaders in the group are the ones saying- these are the topics that are most important to our communities, and we want more learning and resources. We do online or in-person sessions, giving people the toolkit to effect change but build coalitions for frontline community causes they're passionate about.

What have you enjoyed most about your work at King County so far?
I love my team - the Climate Equity team - because we're both internal and external facing, which I think is unique. All of us connect to community, but I love that we're doing a lot of internal work- tracking the SCAP, working on policies related to ECO and serving as a consultant to other teams about how to embed climate equity into their work. At the same time, we do a lot of external work- funding external community organizations through the CCR program or sponsorships, leading youth leadership opportunities, and working with the task force in monthly meetings. Having the opportunity to connect with communities 1-on-1 and bring their voices into local government is incredibly impactful and rewarding.

What are you most looking forward to moving forward?
One of the things I'm excited about for next year is deepening our relationships with the Climate Equity Community Task Force. We onboarded a new cohort of members this spring and I'm excited to deepen our relationships with them and do a lot of community-building and visioning exercises. I'm excited to scope the restructure of the group, and work with everyone to implement a vision that represents frontline community needs and priorities.

How can people stay connected with your work?
Check our Climate Equity newsletter for information about the climate sponsorships and Climate Justice Learning Series, and you can stay updated on our Climate Equity website, where we add upcoming events and opportunities such as grants and sponsorships!