Baltimore Green Justice Interview

[00:00:00] Be black. Be black. Be bold. Bold. Be innovative. Show the world equitable gl. We're coming together as a collective to celebrate people of African descent, the diaspora, and talking about geospatial equity and justice. You're listening to the North Star Gaze, a podcast with intimate stories from GL luminaries.

Erica : Welcome back to another episode of the North Star Gaze. I'm really excited today to welcome Lynn Pinder and Kimberly Armstrong.

Lynn is a co-founder of Baltimore Green Justice Workers Cooperative which is a community based nonprofit working to advance green workforce development and climate resilience. Frontline communities in Baltimore. Lynn has over three decades of experience in adult [00:01:00] education, environmental justice, and nonprofit advocacy.

She's a Baltimore native and is a passionate advocate for community collaboration and cooperative economics. She's been working to connect people in organizations with the resources, partnerships, and training. To build healthier and more resilient neighborhoods. We also have Kimberly Armstrong.

Kimberly is the chief advisor for Urban Clean Energy Advisors and co-founder of Baltimore Green Justice Workers Cooperative. She has several years of experience as a sustainability advisor, author and community advocate, and she's been recognized nationally for her work on social justice and equality issues.

She currently serves on the board for the Maryland League of. Conservation voters and as a consultant to several community grassroots organizations, in a way you two could easily have been part of the quarter that we are just concluding on GIS and Environmental Justice. But it's a really nice thing to be able to have [00:02:00] this as a lead in to our segment on women in GIS and for that segment we have.

Eva Reed back again. Eva is the co-host for these segments on women in GIS. She's the program manager for Geospatial Solutions and Analytics at Dewberry, which is an a EC firm in Fairfax, Virginia. And Eva has over 30 years of experience in geospatial technology and data management. If you haven't heard her speak, you will even really a wealth.

After keynote speaker, panelist and moderator in, technical and professional development spaces. So Eva, I'm gonna ask you to kick off the conversation with Lynn and with Kimberly, if you would. 

Eva Reid: Thanks Erica. So Kimberly and Lynn, I was wondering for our listeners, can you introduce the Baltimore Green Justice Workers Cooperative and share what inspired its creation?

Lynn Pinder: I wanna thank you Erica and Eva for inviting us today [00:03:00] to be part of this amazing podcast and really appreciative of this space and the opportunity to talk about the work that inspires us. Baltimore Green Justice Workers Cooperative was launched in December of 2022, and we launched with the spirit of Kwanza, thinking about what those values mean to us and the work that we wanna do in our community.

About creating opportunities and creating assets, for people who look like us. people who have lived experiences like us, but weren't actually able to tap into resources that allow them to, jumpstart pathways into green careers or to get. Information, support and resources to help them build their climate resiliency.

And so during that time, we were coming off of a very different, [00:04:00] presidential administration in our country that was much more favorable and supportive of environmental justice work and climate. Advocacy and there were a lot more resources that were available, and I remember Kimberly and I having a conversation saying, you know what?

This is a historic moment in our nation and these funds are available, and so we need to make sure that some of these funds. Are going to communities in Baltimore that support the work. And so she and I, brainstorm some ideas and she invited me to this event. in October of 2022. And I tell you she laughs about it, but it really did set a firestorm off in me because there was some other things going on personally in my life at the time, and we just decided.

After that event that we were gonna do this, and it took us a couple of months to kind of brainstorm and decide [00:05:00] where we wanted to go, and we launched that first Kwanzaa event, which was an opportunity to invite. different people in Baltimore and across the nation who were working on environmental justice issues, but from a cooperative lens.

And so our organization has the word cooperative in its title because our long term goal is about. Building community wealth. And although Baltimore Green Justice Workers Cooperative right now is set up as a traditional nonprofit, our goal, is to eventually launch a separate co-op entity.

Kimberly, that you wanna chime in? 

Kimberly Armstrong: and to add to that is, when we were thinking about this, I've been in renewable energy For a while, predominantly in solar and, In certain spaces, I didn't see a lot of people of color. Right. And so, when people hear environment [00:06:00] or envi environmental justice or the injustice in environmental justice, especially in our community, it looks different.

And it sounds different. They think it's about just, you know, tree hugging. But so one of the things that we have been working on is to introduce people to different careers. Around green, you know, green careers, it's much bigger than, just like being a tree hugger because that's kind of like what people think, right?

And so you have all these other different certifications and trainees that you, can get into. And now, when I first got into this is that you didn't see a whole lot or hear a whole lot about sustainability. Or green careers. Now it is a big thing. so just educating more of us people of color, in these different spaces that give them an opportunity to broaden our horizon, to see, it's other things, other careers out there.

And another thing is that people jump straight to construction. When you hear about a lot of environmental. stuff they think [00:07:00] about, oh, we gonna be doing construction, brown fields and stuff like that, but it's a lot bigger than that. So, that's the one thing that we have been, really pride ourself on.

myself and Lynn have been in Baltimore, in the community, in several different spaces. So we would just, tapping into the people that we already know and have relationships with. 

Lynn Pinder: Baltimore Green Justice Workers' Cooperative was really born out of necessity and vision. I think we both saw, you know, we are both long-term, native Baltimoreans who still live in the city.

We see our neighbors. Other residents in the city who are eager to work, who are eager to learn, who want to contribute, but oftentimes are disconnected from opportunities. And I think even each of us in our own career journeys, we've had, experiences where we too were disconnected from opportunities in emerging green industries.

And so this organization, really [00:08:00] gives. Us and our neighbors, other residents in the communities that we live that are frontline. it gives us an opportunity to help bridge that gap, to help connect people to training, to connect people to resources, and ultimately to community wealth building and ownership.

Kimberly Armstrong: and a part of the co-op, you know, the vision is that, so we are not so dependent or reliant. On, other resources or, you know, grants, right? it's, we are looking for ways, well, how we can be self-sustaining in our own ecosystem and, you know, build upon the wealth but also help other people.

Maybe they have a vision of something that they wanna bring into the co-op. so that's kind of where it is. you know, our thinking. 

Eva Reid: I wondered too, if you could speak a little bit more to some of the specific challenges that Baltimore faces when we're talking about things like environmental justice and jobs.

[00:09:00] just for our listeners who aren't necessarily in the DC Maryland area, could you speak a little bit more about some of those challenges? 

Lynn Pinder: Absolutely. I think in Baltimore we're dealing with some layered challenges.

you have pretty much some similar challenges to Washington dc you know, we're talking vacant lots. We're talking illegal dumping. We are talking poor air quality. We are talking extreme heat. We're talking limited access to green spaces. We're talking lead poisoning. we're talking issues that.

Span, cities like Baltimore, we're talking redlining, we're talking, environmental triggers that cause asthma. We are talking, lack of tree canopy,

We're talking public health or lack, of access to, you know, insurance to create, you know, health. it's like our city and other cities like Baltimore. it's a model that didn't just serve communities, but you know, we are centered in them and the experiences that we have.

We are talking systematic [00:10:00] barriers, environmental racism where you have communities that were, you know, created, out of racism and redlining that causes. Some of the, main issues that we are still dealing with today. if you go through Baltimore, one of the biggest things that people talk about now are these vacant and abandoned buildings.

But a lot of it was because of neglect and it was systematic neglect, you know? You had, organizations, institutional anchor organizations buying blocks and just letting them sit there and decay for 10, 15, 20 years. And so there are a lot of compounded issues that play into the fact of what's happening not only in Baltimore, but I think across.

The United States and, it's not a cookie cutter approach to what happens in these communities. Each community has its own unique issue, but they're just as relevant. 

Eva Reid: [00:11:00] Absolutely. You've mentioned redlining, which is of particular interest to me. I had written an article a couple years ago about it and dove into.

The variety of issues that happen as a result of redlining. Redlining continues into present day. I was thinking about some of the things that you've mentioned and how they all really do tie together, and I wondered, how does that then, influence you or spark you to do the next thing?

Lynn Pinder: For me is that growing up in Baltimore, working on environmental justice isn't something we just woke up and said, Hey, let's do this. We live this. whether or not I'm working it as a paid job or if I'm living it and dealing with the after effects, it's what we experience in our everyday lives.

And so it's really having the resources and opportunity to make the decision [00:12:00] that, Hey, I actively want to do this . That's what we did in creating Baltimore Green Justice Workers Cooperative. This is my second time around, launching a nonprofit to work on EJ issues.

When I was in my early twenties , I had the opportunity to launch a youth organization where we were organizing young people in Baltimore around environmental justice issues, and we primarily focused on lead poisoning awareness and environmental triggers. That cause asthma over time.

, If you live in a city like this, you can't help but work on these issues, in some way. And, you know, there's so many other segues we didn't even talk about food apartheid, in Baltimore, and the different issues with that. And so for me personally, I think it's important to be able to understand what's going on in my community, what's impacting me, my family, my neighbors, and being able to address [00:13:00] it in a way that, 

Helps foster solutions and resources, and that's what Baltimore Green Justice Workers Cooperative is doing for me as well as for my community, is allowing us to bring resources to touch on issues that are. Impacting where we live, while also providing resources and support to help people where we live and help ourselves be able to jumpstart career pathways into, green careers that often don't see a lot of people that look like us.

Erica : Thank you so much for that, Lynn. I've been listening to you and to Kimberly, and the funny thing is. Everything that you've said, I hear through the lens of geography. When you talk about access to healthcare, exposure to environmental risks, all of those things are things that happen in a place.

So whether you're a GIS professional [00:14:00] or not, whether you're a person living in a community, you are impacted. In a place, and this is where GISI has the power to really, help create different kinds of solutions. So I'm getting excited about, the work that you're doing and all of the geographic, implications of that, you know, you talk about, to me, justice is a geographic issue, right?

Yeah. Where do I live? Where do I play, where do I worship? how is my health in, in these areas? and I'm gonna take a moment to do something I don't think I've ever done on this show. I wanna give a shout out to the Biden administration for the work that they did to create better environmental outcomes.

The one thing they failed to do was to, ring their own bell to say, we're doing something important in this area. But you talked about the funds that they were putting into communities that you were able to tap into. Absolutely. So I'm just like here, here to the Biden administration, we appreciate what they were doing, 

Another administration will [00:15:00] give greater, importance to that type of work., I wanna ask you a question 'cause I heard Kimberly say that you were talking about creating a separate cooperative organization. You've talked a little bit about the cooperative model and it sounds like you are pooling resources, why did you choose that model.

Kimberly Armstrong: Can I, just chime in about the GIS component because , I'm just really getting familiar with GIS and, trying to understand what it is, but now that I know a little bit more about it and what it actually is and how we can use GI.

You know, in our organization to even look at things like asthma, like pinpoint like on a, map the saturation of people that have asthma, you know, we can do something, around, public health because people may have have asthma younger.

Then as you get older, it could turn into COPD. You know, where you see people having to use oxygen tanks, right? 

So I'm just now getting very familiar with it and really understanding how powerful it is.

So we have [00:16:00] cooperative and our name is because we're looking at futuristically, how we can have other business or start our own business, so we're not so reliant and dependent on other people. like funding, like grants, things of that nature, because they're iffy.

You have to write so many and you might not get awarded. If you don't get awarded. You know, what's the next move? What's the alternative? Right? So those are ones just thinking outside of the box, like what the co-op could be, and what we we're looking to do with the co-op.

Lynn Pinder: And just to piggyback on that, Baltimore Green Justice Workers Cooperative, we utilize a cooperative model in everything that we do. , Kimberly and I both co-lead the organization. We, work with other community, based organizations across Baltimore City. To, identify resources and support to be able to grow our capacity as an organization, as well as to continue doing the greening projects and other climate resilience [00:17:00] projects that we already do, and to strengthen our capacity to do that.

So , that's one way that we operate cooperatively. However, there is a whole. Co-op movement, and the United Nations, has a division that supports co-op work around the world.. Baltimore is probably one of the, fastest growing cities, supporting the co-op movement where you have groups of people coming together to cooperatively.

Form, a business that's community owned. And so, it would have to be a separate entity because as a nonprofit, our goal is not to be for-profit driven, but to be solution and mission driven. And so the cooperative would operate separately as a wealth building community owned, economic, cooperative development entity. 

Erica : Okay, great. That makes sense. I [00:18:00] also heard Kimberly , she said, oh, it's not just tree hugging. Not that there's anything wrong with tree hugging. I'm a bit of a tree hugger myself. But can you give us some examples of the types of jobs or training opportunities that you are introducing people to? What is a green job that somebody in our audience might not have heard of?

Lynn Pinder: Well, we are a pre-apprenticeship, so at the end of our. Training, is really just the beginning of the training for individuals who come through our organization. So we had, a pre-apprenticeship that we did around offshore wind and related industries, and the goal of that pre-apprenticeship, once they came through the 12 weeks and they got the initial.

OSHA 10 certifications, has WAPA 40 certifications. Some other different type of skills, training certifications was to try to get our trainees into paid apprenticeship programs that will allow them to continue, that learning path that, professional [00:19:00] development and training path, our training is creating a pathway to help lead them into that journey of. Obtaining whatever green career they're interested in moving into. We also have a GED program that we do in collaboration with a local church here in Baltimore, we have been working to revamp the curriculum.

, Which is prepping adults to, gain the competencies they need to pass all four sections of the official GED exam. So , they can earn their Maryland High school diploma. We've been working over the past two years to revise the curriculum to be able to infuse climate literacy.

last year we received a grant. Through the Maryland Energy Administration to infuse offshore wind and related industry awareness into the curriculum. Last year we also received a small grant to do some solar power education and solar [00:20:00] power battery storage options, education

So our goal is to raise awareness. About the various different types of opportunities, and as Kimberly mentioned, to help people think bigger than what they're often told. A, a green career looks like construction, landscaping, and those careers are wonderful, but helping them see the broader opportunities and what.

A possible green career could look like by connecting them with different people in the industry to be able to talk to them. Right now we're doing that through the offshore wind and related industry, pre-apprenticeship, , and our GED program, the other. Way that we are realizing, and it kind of happened over time, is that we have an internship program that we do for college students and over the past, two and a half years, we've had some wonderful college students from local.

Colleges and [00:21:00] universities here in Baltimore to come in and help us in the various different areas. our climate change, we had a climate change intern. We had a, media communications intern. We, currently have a GIS intern who is amazing. His name is Krishna Mu. And he is now our GIS fellow that's really working with one of our board of directors, Dr.

David Paget. And I really have to give a. Shout out to the two of them because they have the GIS expertise and they are pulling Kimberly and myself along and, the whole organization and the communities that we work with by helping us get a better understanding of how we can fuse GIS into the work that we're doing.

Erica : I'm so excited to hear about the work that you're doing. You call this pre-apprenticeship. It really sounds like [00:22:00] people coming through your programs are coming out with an advanced set of skills. Where's the pre in that it seems like they'd be ready to hire pretty much coming out of your programs, but this seems like part of a broader solution to both climate inequity and economic inequity.

How do you see the work that you're doing leading to greater solutions? Is it, job creation or is it job readiness? What do you see as the bigger. Issue here.

Lynn Pinder: I don't think it's one over the other. I think it's both. I think as a organization we are creating history daily because we have created this space and we don't know the answers. We are still learning as we go, and I think that's the beauty in it is that there's no limitations for us because this is something that we were blessed to be able to create.

And launch and grow over time. And so it's definitely [00:23:00] through the pre-apprenticeship and the GED program, an opportunity to help people become job ready. But it's also a space where we can groom if we have the resources to be able to create, jobs and create a space where a person can grow with our organization into a long-term career.

Kimberly Armstrong: some of the things that also people, Look at or may not know, is that these different kind of certifications, like there's a certification for sustainability. There's a certification for a LEED leadership and environmental engineering and design, right?

And these are the kind of skills, that people can, I call it the C-suite. So a lot of times when you get into these different fields is that having somebody who's quote unquote other letters behind your name, you know, I know we said a lot of acronyms and things of that nature, right?

But it, the green space is just so broad. So even when you think about solar, there's nsat, you have to get certified to, look [00:24:00] at how you do the measuring, for the solar panels that go on the roof , that's a job right there. Sometimes that's the only thing that people do, you have solar developers, you have installers. So there's a whole list of things, or different kind of careers that people could get into. 

Eva Reid: I wanted to jump in 'cause we started to talk about GIS really quickly and then we moved on to some other things that were very important.

I wanted to get back to the GIS though, so it sounds like. Your organization is new to GIS, and I'm so excited because. Organizations like yours are my favorite. You're just learning about it. You're really excited about it. And so it's our opportunity as professionals to tell you all the things without overwhelming you.

And, apparently, Dr. Paget is showing up again in another episode. So my first question was if you could tell us a little bit more about how you're looking to incorporate GIS into your organization. Is it [00:25:00] primarily going to be using GIS within the organization to help support the organization?

Or do you see a possibility at some point in the future where GIS could become one of the things that you are actually sharing with people and teaching people and connecting people as a career. 

Lynn Pinder: So that's the beauty of launching an organization, you really have the freedom to just bloom, right?

And so, we were very fortunate. early on, in our development as an organization to bring Dr. David Paget on as, one of our board of directors. And in connecting with him, we also connected with Dr. Linda Leber at, Morgan State University. And, through that connection, I met a young lady by the name of Kari Harris and I had no idea that she was connected to Dr.

at that time I did not know Dr. Linda, but that young lady just [00:26:00] contacted me out of the blue on LinkedIn and said, Hey, I have some. Tickets to this GIS conference that's happening in Washington DC and it's free for nonprofits. And if you would like to go, I'll give you one of my nonprofit tickets.

And so at the time I was like, okay. And I knew about GIS because I knew Dr. David. Back from the days when I did the youth organization in my early twenties and even back then, he was trying to get us to do something around GIS. And so I said, okay, I'm gonna go to this conference. And it was the Esri, federal conference that happens every year in Washington DC And I went and I met.

Kari and I met Dr. Linda for the first time and I reconnected with David and it was just an awesome opportunity and a reminder that this resource tool is available for organizations. And so for us, it really was how can. Our organization, Baltimore Green Justice Workers Cooperative, [00:27:00] B-G-J-W-C.

Use this internally with the work that we're doing, but how can we, using this cooperative model that we have where we are connecting with other community-based organizations, we are part of a. Coalition called the Clean Green, beautiful Baltimore Community Change Collaborative.

And through that collaborative, we're connected with like 12 other community-based organizations. And so how could we share this resource, this technology, to help them be able to strengthen the work that they're doing? And we are able to do that through this. Awesome opportunity that we have with our GIS fellow Krishna and Dr.

Paget and some other wonderful GIS experts through a resource that we, , were selected to be part of through the, AGU Thriving Earth,, exchange. And so we are really excited about this [00:28:00] opportunity where we're, , working with Krishna and Dr. Paget to create GIS story maps for our organization.

Also for the other 12 organizations that are part of this coalition and working with them to be able to use GIS story maps as a baseline introduction to GIS and to offer that as an opportunity to get people's feet wet and to understanding how that tool could be used to, , enhance the impact of our work.

Erica : You just blew my mind. I've never heard of AGU before. I'm going to include a link to AGU and the Thriving Earth, exchange Project when we promote this episode, but this is new information for me. Eva, are you familiar with this? 

Eva Reid: Yeah, I, I have known about it for a long time.

I didn't realize the relationship until about two years ago with sort of GIS and [00:29:00] Geography. But a number of my geography friends are involved in AGU. and the other reason I'm familiar with it is they were recently, the conference was recently in DC and completely.

Took over all of downtown dc There was not a restaurant to be had. It's insane. It's a really, really big conference. yeah, it's, it's pretty amazing. And they do some amazing work. So I'm, I'm glad to hear that there's a, there's a connection back around. 

Lynn Pinder: Yes. Yes. 

Eva Reid: I wanted to, you've already spoken a little bit to this, but I'm gonna ask this a little bit differently.

What can geographers and geospatial professionals, GIS folks, and maybe data scientists, do as professionals in the field? What should we be doing to help support organizations like yours? Is it, volunteering? Is it [00:30:00] sharing knowledge? What is the best way for folks who are interested and want to help support an organization like yours , in the geospatial field?

What does that look like? 

Kimberly Armstrong: Well, we always love volunteers. And also resources, monetary resources, if you have connections or you know, how to support the work that we're doing, but also including GIS in it. And I would say too is that, Maybe bringing somebody along that has no clue.

Like myself, I have no clue about what GIS was. And it's, I tell this funny story when I used to see, you know, those, cars riding around with the big tower, cameras on them, you know, for Google or whatever. I didn't know that was GIS and I've seen them. Right. And so when you have your, your, your little map right?

Now I know what GIS, I know a little bit about it, but I would like to know more about it, right? And how we act, you know, so people in our community can be educated about us as well. But also [00:31:00] be aware when you see these things, how these things interact and connect in your life.

Lynn Pinder: Yeah, absolutely. I, agree a hundred percent. I believe there's really a real opportunity to co-create, bringing the technical, professional experience of the GIS professionals that you mentioned, and then our own lived experiences, community residents, Creating more opportunities for residents to be trained, to be able to use the tools themself, because that's where the real power really starts to shift.

And when we talk about why we started Baltimore Green Justice Workers Cooperative, one of the. Key things in our mission is about shifting power dynamics, and the way you shift power dynamics is through education, access and action, and really making sure that when, you come into the communities that you're sharing the information, but you're helping to create that [00:32:00] transition of understanding and that transition of assets, and expertise as well.

Eva Reid: One of the things I find really important and something that I really love about the geospatial community is that citizen science is a big deal. 

Lynn Pinder: Mm-hmm. 

Eva Reid: And I see as soon as you were seeing that, about getting residents connected with the technology, just you, the idea of how can we. Inform citizens and how can we help citizens become citizen scientists and how do we develop the community in such a way?

Your organization is, is particularly ripe to be doing this. How can we help people get connected, not just with the technology, but also the knowledge. And also several things that both of you have said. Make me think about mentorship in Geospatial and GIS. It's not just mentorship [00:33:00] of people, you know, within the community, professional to professional.

It's also mentorship of folks outside of our community to organizations like yours to people like both of you who have this connection to the community . We have the technology, you have the, the know-how of how to get this to the community.

Lynn Pinder: I get you. I think what we need is more sustained investment over time. 

Eva Reid: Yes. 

Lynn Pinder: We need, commitments for stronger partnerships. And we need policy support. Oftentimes, you know, even with this project that we're doing with AGU, it's 18 months, but 18 months go by really quickly when you're working with 13 organizations, 

Kimberly Armstrong: right?

Indeed, indeed. Trying to do 

Lynn Pinder: story maps. And so it's really, you know, understanding that sometimes,, the work with communities don't happen. On a nice timeline that sometimes. It might [00:34:00] take, 24 to 36 months or even longer because there's some real, , interactions.

There's trust, there's relationship building, you know, that all go into play. And I think sometimes when we are working with, people who, are more on the technology side. Mm-hmm. It's about data and it's straightforward and it's timelines. And then we have to remind them sometimes, you know, you gotta take a step back.

We need to just have a conversation. you kind of gotta go visit. I know you can see it on the GIS map, but you need to go and show up in this community. And all of that takes time. patience, thinking outside the box and those are values that we call the Nguzo Saba when we talk about creativity, showing up the best way that you can 

In, a way that makes sense. Thinking outside the box is collective work and responsibility. It's also faith. It's, recognizing that sometimes this work is, gonna be difficult and you're gonna have to [00:35:00] deal with people that you don't always get along with.

But at the end of the day, there's a goal and you have to be committed to that goal and, have faith not only in the community, but the people that you work with, that they may not be where you want them to be now, but you have faith that the God that brought you to where you are is gonna bring them too.

And so it's a whole different mindset. just encouraging people who come into the space of community to be open to that. 

Eva Reid: You've given me and, and probably other GIS professionals a reminder that we, when we do walk into a space where we are wanting to help, that we need to listen and we need to work on.

Everyone else's time, not just ours. 'cause we get super excited and it's a good problem to have, right? It's a good problem to have people that are excited, but we need to remember going in and, and wanting to help, that we have to stand [00:36:00] back and, and a wait to be invited in, you know? But then Listen. 

Lynn Pinder: Yeah.

Be willing 

Erica : So I'm gonna ask, Kimberly to answer this question, then I'll come back and get your answer for it.

So, as women leading in environmental and community based work, what has your leadership journey been like? 

Kimberly Armstrong: it's been interesting.

I've been in spaces. I was the program director for, another nonprofit and we mainly deal around solar, helping people to go solar, understanding what solar is, the process and things of that nature. So I've just found it to be really interesting, and I think I mentioned this earlier, is that there's a lot of people of color period, more or less women of color.

So, that's one of the reasons why Lynn talked about this a little bit, you know, you have to be passionate about this, but also be passionate about your community because I'm in a space. Whereas though I have information that I can take back to my community to help them to understand and be educated.

like we talked [00:37:00] about mentorship, right? How do you mentor, you know, how do you show them these different kind of careers? we just worked with some students in Johns Hopkins with Dr. Jasmine, and they were fascinated. They had no clue about some of these different kind of careers, you know, even with solar.

So I would say that it's been interesting, but it's also has been a learning process. I actually came into this space by going through baltimore City Community college and what I took up was construction and business management. And so when I got into that is how I started to learn about green buildings and from green buildings to, , LEED and all these other different kind of certifications.

And then I was tying into public health. Because air quality, right? So indoor air quality, outdoor air quality, I have asthma. So that's what triggered me, right? So I had, and I acquired asthma. I didn't have asthma as a child. I was, diagnosed with asthma like in my thirties, right? And so I [00:38:00] just started tying all these different things together and it was like, the more I.

knew is the more I wanted to know. So I was always in the room where they were talking about green buildings environment. A lot of this stuff, , was new to me, so I just kept going. I just kept going and, you know, so here I am. 

Erica : Thank you so much for that. Lynn, I'm gonna ask you to take the next question.

What's next for the Baltimore Green Justice Workers Cooperative and what gives you hope right now? 

Lynn Pinder: Well, we're continuing to do the work. I have to keep reminding Kimberly and myself that we're not even three years old yet. we are, turning three, in May of this year, and so we've done a lot in a little bit of time.

And so I think for us is to continue, deepening, the root of the work that we do, building our capacity by strengthening our board involvement, by [00:39:00] strengthening our connections, with the community, partners that we have here in Baltimore and throughout the region and even across the country and, now internationally as well.

I think also. really taking the time to create a safe space in our organization where we could bring in, people to, develop. B-G-J-W-C at the next level. So, you know, Kimberly and I started this, but you know, we don't plan on leading it forever. So wanting to make sure that we have a structure in place where, 

Other people can come in and take leadership and just run with it. I think the work that we do, and I always laugh and say it's enough work for everybody, you know, it's enough work for everybody. And so I think the uniqueness about. Our organization is [00:40:00] that we're coming at it in a way that is more cooperative.

We're coming at it in a way that is from our own lived experience and we're coming at it in a way that's, has our own flavor to it. And, that's what makes it unique.

What gives me hope right now is, just the interactions that we're having with the different community groups that we're working with, with the young people that we're working with through the internship program, the Baltimore Green Jobs Academy, which is doing the GED program and the pre-apprenticeship, and just knowing that, people are hungry, you know, they are hungry for this. And just making sure that we are connected with, organizations and individuals. That are willing to invest in the work. And that gives me hope because as of this year, we're able to exist because of investment and we are so grateful [00:41:00] for that and just wanting to make sure that we are good stewards of that and that we are, doing our best to be able to create a space that will, create.

Even more access and opportunity and just that in and of itself gives me hope. 

Erica : you have made me hopeful. I'm so excited to hear about what you are doing, how you're exposing people to careers that they might not have known existed, giving them training so that they've got skill sets that enable them to enter into the workforce from a position of strength.

I'm so impressed with the work that you're doing. Thank you. When we follow up, and, get This episode live. I'm gonna make sure we link to your website. Is there anything else besides the Baltimore Green, justice Workers Cooperative that we should be linking to so that people can get more information about you?

I'm going to also promote AGU Thriving Earth Exchange. Is there anything else that we need to be doing to let people know about your [00:42:00] work? 

Lynn Pinder: I think that's it. I'll also put in the link, we have a separate link for the GED program. Okay. But I'll put that in. Send it to, send it 

Erica : to us 

Lynn Pinder: adult literacy rocks.org.

Erica : Okay. 

Lynn Pinder: and I'm glad you gave that shout out to the Biden Harris administration. but you also have to give a shout out to people like, Vernice Miller Travis and, Peggy Shepherd and Dr. McClain. 

Erica : yes, 

Lynn Pinder: the late Cecil Corbin mark and the late Donald Smith and Dr.

Bob Bullard and, all of these amazing, people that I haven't even begun to even name in addition to them, who, have really been fighting this fight for a long time and really put the gas. Under, people like, president Biden and vice President, Harris to be able to create those sorts of opportunities.

Erica : I'm gonna say 

Lynn Pinder: two more that gives us, spoke to 

Erica : my co-host for the first quarter was Dr. Adrian Hollis. And the person Who, closed out the environmental justice, episodes was, Dr. Mustafa Santiago [00:43:00] Ali, but there's so many Yeah. 

Lynn Pinder: Yes, Dr. Beverly Wright. 

Erica : goodness, 

there's so many really extraordinary people, people doing this work.

Lynn Pinder: Tom, who runs, indigenous Environmental Network, the late Connie Tucker, who used to be down in Atlanta, the late Dana? 

Erica : my goodness. 

Lynn Pinder: You know, I mean, just, it's just so many people that, that, that, 

Erica : lemme say thank you.

Thank you for the work that you are doing. Absolutely. Thank you. Thank you, Kimberly. Thank you Eva again for doing an awesome job and helping you. Thank you guys to bring together some really outstanding speakers for these episodes on women in GIS. If you all have not. Been listening yet tune into these episodes, you're going to hear some outstanding women speaking about the work that they are doing, leveraging GIS, whether they are GIS users, or whether they're using the output of GIS.

They're doing some extraordinary work. So thank you again, Lynn. Thank you, Kimberly. Thank you, Eva. I truly appreciate you. 

Lynn Pinder: Thank you.