LEADERSHIP TEAM

The MWEJN is led by and accountable to environmental justice organizations and frontline communities

Kim Wasserman is a Chicago-based environmental justice advocate and community organizer with over twenty five years’ worth of grassroots leadership experience. She is also one of the proud co-founders of the Midwest Environmental Justice Network. She served as Executive Director of the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization (LVEJO) from 1998 until 2024, where she worked with organizers to reinstate a job access bus line, built a 23 acre park in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood, and led a decade-long campaign to close and remediate some of the country’s oldest and dirtiest coal power plants. She has served as the Chair of the Illinois Commission on Environmental Justice and was a 2013 Goldman Prize Winner.

Hailing from Zacatecas, Mexico, Carolina Ortiz embodies the spirit of resilience and determination. Currently pursuing studies in communications and women’s studies in Minnesota, Carolina’s passion for social justice is deeply rooted in her personal journey as a DREAMer. Her advocacy is not just a vocation but a lived experience, drawing strength and motivation from her own encounters and those of her community. Beginning as a linchpin in the communications team, her unwavering commitment and exceptional abilities have propelled her to the position of Associate Executive Director of Comunidades Organizando el Poder y la Accion Latina (COPAL).

Nicole Donaghy is a Hunkpapa Lakota from the Standing Rock Sioux Nation, she is also a descendant of the Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara Nations, and the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa. In October 2018, Nicole joined North Dakota Native Vote to boost voter education and engagement in response to the North Dakota voter identification law. Nicole is the Executive Director of North Dakota Native Vote and lives in rural Bismarck with her husband John, their three children, and their two dogs.

Gloria J Lowe is the founder and president of We Want Green Too which has served veterans and returning citizens for over 14 years. Gloria is an Executive Board Member of the Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition. Gloria has been a community activist on the frontline for well over 35 years and continues to work to move the Detroit community forward. Lowe is passionate about the veterans she works for, community solar, and retrofitting homes for energy efficiency.