ImageboxSite LogoLeft ArrowPrevious ItemNext ItemRight ArrowBlog PostEventGrowIgniteLaunchLocationXMenuQuoteSearchGoogle PlusYoutube
New Sun Rising
Menu
Close
  • How We Work
    • Overview
    • Culture
    • Sustainability
    • Opportunity
    • Resources
  • Our Programs
    • Ignite
    • Launch
    • Grow
    • Fiscal Sponsorship
    • Vibrancy Funds
  • Projects We Support
  • About Us
    • We Stand Against Racism + Hate
    • What is NSR?
    • History
    • Team
    • Impact
  • Home
  • Events
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Ways To Give
New Sun Rising
  • Home
  • Events
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Search
  • Ways To Give
  • How We Work
    • Overview
    • Culture
    • Sustainability
    • Opportunity
    • Resources
  • Our Programs
    • Ignite
    • Launch
    • Grow
    • Fiscal Sponsorship
    • Vibrancy Funds
  • Projects We Support
  • About Us
    • We Stand Against Racism + Hate
    • What is NSR?
    • History
    • Team
    • Impact
The Blog of NSR

Tag: sustainable pittsburgh

Justice, Race, and Responsibility

Posted on June 24, 2020 by Alyse Horn-Pyatt

Above: Photo from the NEXTpittsburgh article, “More than 30 Pittsburgh environmental groups stand behind this statement on justice, race, and responsibility,” published on June 18, 2020.

During the COVID-19 crisis, the people of southwestern Pennsylvania have learned much about who we are, who we want to be, and the need for unity and leadership in the face of loss and uncertainty. The pandemic continues to cause great change, even as we navigate what it means to reopen. Recent events in Minneapolis and across the nation are reinforcing the critical need to intentionally address racism and develop systems that work for everyone. 

This turbulent time presents a unique opportunity to rebuild a stronger, more resilient region together. A responsible recovery from COVID-19 and from our legacy of racism begins with addressing the essential challenges before us and planning our best next steps. Now is the time to build a society that is truly founded upon justice for all, and comes from understanding and respecting the interconnectedness of all people, our health, our environment, and our prosperity. 

Tragedy has caused the nation to focus on rectifying discrimination in the criminal justice system that unfairly targets Black and Brown America. This type of discrimination is not the only evidence of structural racism in our society. We must acknowledge that racial justice is interwoven through all conversations, including those about health and the environment. For example, as we have seen from CDC data, COVID-19 is widening existing racial gaps in health equity. Similarly, vulnerable populations are disproportionately impacted by pollution. A responsible path forward, and likewise, a responsible recovery, takes information like this into account, and makes sure that workplace and governmental policies support, not hinder, our ability to be healthy and to fix our systems and communities so they are fair for everyone. Our organizations stand aligned with all who are committed to building on this moment of anguish toward a just future. 

A responsible path forward intentionally strengthens the resilience of our natural world and ensures a healthier region, including clean air, clean water, access to outdoor green spaces, and a stable climate—for all. Reductions in carbon emissions and increases in clean energy usage will help curb the increasing extreme weather impacts already being experienced in Pittsburgh, like flooding and poor air quality—also disproportionately felt. 

A responsible path forward means, too, an investment in a sustainable, equitable economic future. Responsible stimulus investments in infrastructure, transportation, food systems, energy, etc. are tools to simultaneously advance our well-being, environmental performance and economic prosperity. Clean energy jobs are an important driver of regional job growth of which we should take full advantage. However, to realize this promise, it is required that we remove barriers and be deliberate about an effort to ensure that Black and Brown residents, and others who have been excluded from full participation in the economy, are included. 

Our organizations will use the wealth of knowledge and the resources we have to make connections, listen to community voices and priorities, and help create a responsible recovery from COVID-19 and from the terror of racism. This is a critical moment for the region, one where our moral path forward and practical measures for rebuilding align. As organizations dedicated to promoting the conservation of this region’s natural assets and protecting the future of the people living in it, we urge other leaders in the region to be proactive in their planning. We have the tools to meet the challenges before us. Together, we will rebuild a more resilient, even greater Pittsburgh region, for all. 

Signed by: 

Allegheny CleanWays, Myrna Newman, Executive Director 

Allegheny Land Trust, Chris Beichner, President & CEO 

Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania, Jim Bonner, Executive Director 

BikePGH, Scott Bricker, Executive Director 

Breathe Project, Matthew Mehalik, Executive Director 

Center of Life, Tim Smith, Executive Director 

Communitopia, Katie Modic, Executive Director 

Conservation Consultants, Inc., Jeaneen A. Zappa, Executive Director 

Construction Junction, Mike Gable, Executive Director 

Fair Shake Environmental Legal Services, Emily A. Collins, Executive Director and Managing Attorney 

Friends of the Riverfront, Kelsey Ripper, Executive Director 

Group Against Smog and Pollution, Rachel Filippini, Executive Director 

Green Building Alliance, Jenna Cramer, Executive Director 

Grounded Strategies, Ariam Ford-Graver, Executive Director 

Grow Pittsburgh, Jake Seltman, Executive Director 

Homewood Children’s Village, Walter Lewis, President & CEO 

Keystone Energy Efficiency Alliance, Matt Elliott, Executive Director 

Landforce, Ilyssa Manspeizer, Executive Director 

New Sun Rising, Scott Wolovich, Executive Director 

Nine Mile Run Watershed Association, Brenda Lynn Smith, Executive Director 

PennFuture, Jacquelyn Bonomo, President and CEO 

Pennsylvania Resources Council, Justin Stockdale, Managing Director 

Pennsylvania Solar Center, Sharon (Pillar) Grace, Founder and Director 

Phipps Conservatory & Botanical Gardens, Richard V. Piacentini, President and CEO 

Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, Catherine Qureshi, Acting Chief Operating Officer 

Plant Five for Life, Christine Graziano, President 

Riverlife, Matthew Galluzzo, President & CEO 

RiverWise, Daniel Rossi-Keen, Executive Director 

Student Conservation Association, Jennifer Meccariello Layman, Regional Vice President 

Sustainable Pittsburgh, Joylette Portlock, Executive Director 

The Forbes Funds, Fred Brown, President and CEO 

Tree Pittsburgh, Danielle Crumrine, Executive Director 

Triboro Ecodistrict, Brian Wolovich, Director 

UrbanKind Institute, Jamil Bey, President 

Venture Outdoors, Valerie Beichner, President & CEO 

Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, Thomas D. Saunders, President and CEO 

Women for a Healthy Environment, Michelle Naccarati- Chapkis, Executive Director 

Posted in ResourcesTagged Allegheny CleanWays, Allegheny Land Trust, Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania, BikePGH, Breathe Project, Center of Life, Communitopia, Conservation Consultants, Construction Junction, covid-19, environmental justice, equity, Fair Shake Environmental Legal Services, Friends of the Riverfront, Green Building Alliance, Grounded Strategies, Group Against Smog and Pollution, grow pittsburgh, Homewood Children’s Village, justice, Keystone Energy Efficiency Alliance, Landforce, New Sun Rising, Nine Mile Run Watershed Association, pandemic, PennFuture, Pennsylvania Resources Council, Pennsylvania Solar Center, Phipps Conservatory & Botanical Gardens, Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, Plant Five for Life, race, responsibility, Riverlife, RiverWise, Student Conservation Association, sustainable pittsburgh, The Forbes Funds, Tree Pittsburgh, Triboro ecodistrict, UrbanKind Institute, Venture Outdoors, Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, Women for a Healthy Environment

Sustainability director raises bar for environmental quality of life

Posted on September 3, 2019 by Alyse Horn-Pyatt
Above: Zaheen Hussain (left) speaks on a panel discussion during the Climate Change Town Hall event hosted by Congressman Mike Doyle at Soldiers & Sailors Hall in August.

 

It can be extremely overwhelming for an individual to sit and think about the impacts of climate change. With the hottest June and July ever recorded alongside two of the wettest years in Pennsylvania history, we see and feel it happening. (Que existential dread.)

But with these mountainous challenges come the challengers invested in inspiring others and generating positive environmental impacts, one being Zaheen Hussain, Director of Sustainability at New Sun Rising.

Named one of NEXTpittsburgh’s “25 Essential Pittsburghers” for “his groundbreaking work building the Triboro Ecodistrict,” Hussain said his dedication for environmentalism and climate change was instilled in him at an early age.

Hussain immigrated from Bangladesh to the United States in the 1990s with his family in part due to the growing climate crisis. Even then, his father was aware of the position Bangladesh would be put in 100 years in the future: under water.

“The climate change conversation today in America is where the rest of the world was in the early 90s,” Hussain said. “The Rio [de Janeiro Earth] Summit, the Kyoto Summit… America committed to taking action on slowing down climate change and building resiliency, and then that went away.”

Bangladesh has a population of around 165 million people and as Hussain put it, is “about the size of Wisconsin,” which has a population of around 6 million. Alongside impending climate change and to increase the access to opportunity and quality of life for their family, Hussain’s parents applied for the Diversity Visa Program and began the process of emigrating to the US.

In high school and throughout college, Hussain studied environmental technology, environmental science, and natural resource economics, “but the policy and economic side really spoke” to him. After graduating college, Hussain worked as a park ranger at Harkness Memorial State Park and William A. Niering Nature Preserve in his home state of Connecticut.  It was then that he started searching the country for sustainability work around policy and economics, and applied for a number of Student Conservation Association Green Cities fellowships here in Pittsburgh.

“I didn’t get any of them, but the program manager opened my eyes to an opportunity with GTECH [now Grounded] Strategies for the Green Economies Initiative,” Hussain said. “I moved to Pittsburgh in February of 2012 thinking I’d be here for 10 months to build experience and go back east, but seven and a half years later here I am.”

Hussain said a large part of his professional journey has been the implementation of the Millvale EcoDistrict and Triboro Ecodistrict initiative in Millvale, Etna, and Sharpsburg that for him began in 2015 when he was hired as Millvale’s Sustainability Coordinator. The Millvale EcoDistrict Pivot Plan began in 2013, “which looks at Millvale’s economic development through the lens of sustainability in food, water, energy, air quality, mobility and equity,” Hussain said.

Christine Mondor, Principal at evolveEA, met Hussain after he was hired as sustainability coordinator and said literally and figuratively he was a “breath of fresh air for [Millvale’s] efforts.” Mondor said the two specifically did a lot of work together monitoring air quality, and that Hussain is “passionate and nerdy about it in the best way possible.”

“He’s curious, so he’s always trying to understand what things mean,” Mondor said. “He knows [the science] behind what’s happening and that’s important. He’s also really good at making people feel comfortable and bringing people into the conversation.”

In 2017, Hussain became Director of Sustainability for New Sun Rising while continuing his work as Millvale’s Sustainability Coordinator and “implement[ing] the Ecodistrict plan with attention towards leadership development,” Hussain said. “[Therefore], community organizations and individuals can become more empowered to be the leaders of the work and rely less on outside capacity.”

In his position with New Sun Rising, Hussain advocates for the Vibrant Communities Framework and heads Launch Sustainability cohorts that provides coaching, project development resources, and support to strengthen business plans or grant proposals. He also spends time creating partnerships with organizations like the Green Building Alliance, Allegheny County Conservation District, and Sustainable Pittsburgh. Hussain said it’s these partnerships that help grow NSRs Vibrant Communities framework, which encompasses creating a more sustainable and equitable Pittsburgh.

Rebecca Bykoski, Sustainable Pittsburgh Restaurant Program Manager, met Hussain when he was hired as Millvale’s Sustainability Coordinator and joined the Sustainable Pittsburgh Board of Directors. Bykoski said for the time that she has known Hussain, she has noticed that he has “helped create a culture change.”

“Sustainability isn’t always about being green,” Bykoski said. “He’s good at making sure equity and the needs of disadvantaged communities are part of the conversation and that the development that’s happening is equitable.”

With Pittsburgh being one of the worst cities in the country for air pollution and related deaths, Hussain said he is concerned by the continued investment in fossil fuel economies in the region and how that will negatively impact the progress made in the area involving environmental quality and quality of life.

“As a general philosophy, I think that people can’t look at human systems and infrastructure as something outside of nature,” Hussain said. “What people need to realize is that humans are part of natural systems like any other animal. The more we look at ourselves as something outside of nature, the easier it becomes for us to destroy the environment around us because we don’t see it as something impacting our lives.”

That kind of meaningful and cogent argument is a genuine sentiment from Hussain that encourages individuals, communities, and organizations to do better.
“He’s a very inspirational person and he makes you care more and want to do more,” Bykoski said. “The world would be better if it were full of Zaheen’s.”
Posted in ProgramsTagged Climate Change, ecodistrict, evolveEA, launch sustainability, millvale, New Sun Rising, sustainability, sustainable pittsburgh, Triboro ecodistrict, Vibrant Communities, VibrantCommunities

Categories

  • Events
  • Programs
  • Projects
  • Resources
  • Uncategorized

Archives

Tags

  • New Sun Rising
  • culture
  • millvale
  • sustainability
  • opportunity
  • Triboro ecodistrict
  • Vibrant Communities
  • Climate Change
  • Vibrancy Funds
  • Pittsburgh
  • One Northside
  • entrepreneurs
  • Sharpsburg
  • Pittsburgh Northside
  • Etna
  • VibrantCommunities
  • Ignite Northside
  • networking
  • covid-19
  • EcoDistricts
  • organizational development
  • one Northside mini-grant
  • equity
  • Training
  • evolveEA
  • Homewood
  • small business
  • nonprofit
  • professional development
  • Etna ecodistrict
  • millvale Ecodistrict
  • one Northside mini-grants
  • RiverWise
  • #Grow
  • Impact
  • heinz endowments
  • teaching artists
  • GROW residency program
  • business mentoring
  • Strong Ambitious Women
  • G.O. girls
  • protohaven
  • hillman foundation
  • ONS
  • ecodistrict
  • sustainable pittsburgh
  • un sustainable development goals
  • technology
  • the Forbes fund
  • the partnership network
  • human services
  • grow pittsburgh
  • millvale food + energy hub
  • Sharpsburg ecodistrict
  • Sharpsburg neighborhood organization
  • EcoDistricts protocol
  • Pittsburgh Northside mini-grants
  • Coraopolis Youth Creations
  • love rocks cafe
  • beaver county
  • Triboro Ecodistrict Food Relief
  • covid-19 response
  • AffordableHousing
  • LaunchWilkinsburg
  • ignite
  • awards
  • ACTION-Housing
  • My Place
  • 1stLayer
  • Emily Marko
  • LaunchStoRox
  • PittMovers
  • SVP Full Circle
  • Unity Through Creativity
  • The Grouding Lab
  • Greater Valley Community Services
  • Legacy Arts Project
  • Coraopolis Community Development Foundation
  • Associated Artists Pittsburgh
  • director of culture and operations
  • operations
  • Pittsburgh fringe festival
  • levels consulting
  • work hard Pittsburgh
  • academy pgh
  • hilltop workforce development program
  • mini-grant street team
  • northside
  • one Northside street team
  • launch sustainability
  • google
  • Wilkinsburg
  • capacity building
  • Larimer
  • data
  • collaboration
  • advocacy
  • community development
  • nonprofit capacity building
  • Triboro
  • hurricane ivan
  • food
  • water
  • energy
  • air quality
  • mobility
  • the gardens of Millvale
  • the garden of Etna
  • Sharpsburg community garden
  • garden get down pittsburgh
  • EIS Solar
  • steel city energy conservation
  • sigma luminous
  • center for energy
  • university of Pittsburgh
  • energy grid institute
  • 412 food rescue
  • spruzzatura
  • the food trust
  • fractracker alliance
  • millvale ecodisrict
  • Jamie Johnson
  • NSR
  • Manager of Performance Improvement
  • Sharpsburg borough
  • Sharpsburg community vision plan
  • Sharpsburg Sustainability & Civic Engagement Center
  • sharpsburg community library
  • smiles and tiles day
  • SNO
  • EcoDistricts summit
  • city of pittsburgh
  • Etna eco park
  • ecodistrict celebration Fugh hall
  • emergence millvale
  • emergence Sharpsburg
  • emergence etna
  • emergence a women's collective
  • christ lutheran church
  • north hills community outreach food pantry
  • bread of life food pantry
  • first English lutheran
  • collective change partners
  • digital bridges
  • Style 412
  • sprezzatura Pittsburgh
  • sprezzaturapgh
  • tupelo honey teas
  • mckees rocks
  • crisis mitigation relief fund
  • Barrels to Beethoven
  • Hello Neighbor
  • Hill District Consensus Group
  • Kitchen of Grace
  • Inside Our Minds
  • Latino Community Center
  • Revival Relief
  • Zellous Hope Project
  • vibrancy awards
  • nsr vibrancy awards
  • brown mamas
  • south hilltop men's group
  • hilltop rising llc
  • earth day 2020
  • earth day
  • earth week
  • earth day 50th anniversary
  • earth week pittsburgh
  • earth day Pittsburgh
  • COVID19
  • Environmentalism
  • Humanism
  • etna community organization
  • bread of life food pantry etna
  • boys & girls club millvale
  • second harvest
  • roots of faith
  • Christ Lutheran Church in Millvale
  • North Hill Community Outreach
  • dinners for friends
  • dinners for neighbors
  • milldam community library
  • millvale development corporation
  • Borough of Millvale
  • Climate Protection
  • Resilience
  • EcoDistricts Certified
  • second EcoDistrict
  • world
  • pandemic
  • justice
  • race
  • responsibility
  • environmental justice
  • Allegheny CleanWays
  • Allegheny Land Trust
  • Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania
  • BikePGH
  • Breathe Project
  • Center of Life
  • Communitopia
  • Conservation Consultants
  • Construction Junction
  • Fair Shake Environmental Legal Services
  • Friends of the Riverfront
  • Group Against Smog and Pollution
  • Green Building Alliance
  • Grounded Strategies
  • Homewood Children’s Village
  • Keystone Energy Efficiency Alliance
  • Landforce
  • Nine Mile Run Watershed Association
  • PennFuture
  • Pennsylvania Resources Council
  • Pennsylvania Solar Center
  • Phipps Conservatory & Botanical Gardens
  • Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy
  • Plant Five for Life
  • Riverlife
  • Student Conservation Association
  • The Forbes Funds
  • Tree Pittsburgh
  • UrbanKind Institute
  • Venture Outdoors
  • Western Pennsylvania Conservancy
  • Women for a Healthy Environment
  • The Pittsburgh Foundation
  • Exploring COVID Impacts Through Visual Art
  • funding
  • financial support
  • Triboro ecodistrict essential workers
  • essential workers
  • first responders
  • front line workers
  • one Northside mini-grant showcase
  • one Northside celebration
  • double L bar
  • double L
  • kiya tomlin
  • 2 sisters 2 sons
  • coronavirus
  • Allegheny County
  • Exploring COVID-19 Impacts Through Visual Art
  • Allegheny County artists
  • beaver county artists
  • arts
  • neighborhood allies
  • The Staunton Farm Foundation
  • Nonprofit Resilience Program
  • pittsburgh nonprofits
  • pittsburgh organizations
  • Healthy Leaders
  • Stronger Connectivity
  • Building Capacity
  • ignote vibrancy: collective impact
  • ignite workshop
  • open field
  • northview heights
  • crafton heights
  • Coraopolis Alliance for Excellence
  • SURGE Braddock
  • Change Agents Mentoring Peers in Sport
  • Bhutanese Community Association of Pittsburgh
  • Youth Places
  • ARYSE
  • Somali Bantu Community Association of Pittsburgh
  • JFCS Pittsburgh
  • one Northside pittsburgh
  • pittsburgh manchester
  • buhl foundation
  • nsr ignite
  • new sun rising ignite project
  • ignite Northside pittsburgh
  • farmer girl eb
  • growing with farmer girl eb
  • his place
  • his place pittsburgh
  • Spring Hill pittsburgh
  • Believe & Achieve Community Learning Hub
  • pittsburgh gardeners
  • Triboro Solar Co-op
  • Solar United Neighbors
  • Henry L. Hillman Foundation

Keep up with New Sun Rising

New Sun Rising PO Box 58005
Pittsburgh, PA 15209
 USA

Email:

info@newsunrising.org

New Sun Rising is a GuideStar
Gold Participant

Connect with Us

© 2021 New Sun Rising. All rights reserved.

Website by Imagebox