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2024 Annual Report
NKwanda Jah Nominated for 2024 Energy Justice Award
Learn more about the award and meet all the nominees
Nkwanda Jah, Executive Director of the Cultural Arts Coalition and Chair of the Alachua County NAACP ECJC, has worked for over 40 years on energy equity and environmental justice issues. Nkwanda’s passion for the environment is grounded in her lived experience as a youth on her family’s rural farm and is focused on a broad understanding of sustainability as encompassing social needs, education, healthcare, food and an equitable transition to clean energy.
In 2017, Nkwanda established the Alachua County NAACP Environmental and Climate Justice Committee. Bringing together all the local environmental groups, the ECJC has helped to solidify a local environmental movement focused on equity and justice. The group has organized six well-attended community forums since 2018, focused on energy; food; climate change; affordable housing; and equitable transitions to clean energy. This provided information in accessible ways and promoted discussion of concrete solutions for her community.
Most recently, Nkwanda led the development of the EMPOWER Coalition team, selected in 2022 and 2024 by the US Department of Energy as a LEAP Community. The Coalition includes city and county governments, educational institutions, local nonprofits and resident associations of three underserved communities where the Coalition is working to expand energy efficiency and weatherization services, electrification, and greater access to green jobs and benefits from solar energy. The EMPOWER project is forging a leadership group of residents from underserved local communities who work together to negotiate solutions for an equitable energy transition and to address the multi-faceted problems faced by these communities of color in Alachua County.
What is a Science Club?
Find out here.
Science Bus Visits Brooker
Coming Spring 2024
2023 Annual Report
See Full 2023 Annual report Here.
Your Amazing Donations at Work
Dear Friends of Cultural Arts Coalition, As we approach this annual campaign of Amazing Give, we want to share with you some of the amazing accomplishments that your generous past giving has made possible. With your help, we can continue bringing our programs to under-served youth in our community and expand our capacity to create even more of our future community leaders. What does your donation to the Cultural Arts Coalition do? It supports the thousands of student hours spent on our after-school Science Clubs and hands-on Science Bus. Your generosity sends deserving teenagers to our summer camp as Environmental Ambassadors, where they gain the heart and skills for protecting our fragile planet. Your donation also allows us to bring our annual 5 Avenue Arts Festival, which promotes appreciation of African American culture and history of the Gainesville community. We are honored to be a part of serving to implement these programs. And, we genuinely appreciate your role in making it all possible. We know you will be proud to support all of these vital and unique offerings. Can you help by sharing this good news about amazing youth with your family and friends? We hope they will want to support, as you have, opportunities for our future leaders by making a donation through the Amazing Give link on April 20th between 8am and 8pm. With gratitude, NKwanda Jah, Executive Director |
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