Announcing the 2023 Community Sentinel Awards

PublishedOctober 18, 2023|Comments Off

Let’s celebrate the Sentinels together

Join us online or in Pittsburgh at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens for the Community Sentinel Awards presentation on November 9, 2023.

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Established in 2015, the Community Sentinel Award for Environmental Stewardship is an annual award presented by FracTracker Alliance and Halt the Harm Network to honor the leadership of remarkable individuals working to protect communities from the harms of the fossil fuel industry.

She cleared a path through thick forest to lead the way, and laboriously held back the branches so that we as the next generation can step up and clear the trail in her wake.

Now in its ninth year, we are delighted to once again honor the fight for environmental and social justice with the 2023 Community Sentinel Awards for Environmental Stewardship.

Taking Action for Justice

As we come together to uplift the people working tirelessly to protect their communities, we are reminded that their actions are not only a response to ecological challenges, but also a resounding call for justice. The fight for environmental preservation is inseparable from the broader struggle against inequality and injustice, and by championing a healthier planet, we simultaneously champion the rights and dignity of those who bear the brunt of environmental degradation and systemic marginalization.

She cleared a path through thick forest to lead the way, and laboriously held back the branches so that we as the next generation can step up and clear the trail in her wake.

“She cleared a path through thick forest to lead the way,” an excerpt from one of this year’s nominations said, “and laboriously held back the branches so that we as the next generation can step up and clear the trail in her wake.”

These words — one of many heartfelt admirations we have received from people across the country recognizing the courage, love, and persistence of their friends and colleagues working for a healthier, more sustainable future — serve as an important reminder that these remarkable leaders help make a better world possible by blazing a path toward the future we envision for ourselves and for generations to come.

Each year, the Community Sentinel Awards show us that individuals truly possess the power to ignite collective action and inspire us to reflect on our own roles in this shared narrative. In the words of Chanté Davis, recipient of the 2022 Community Sentinel Youth Advocate Award, “We all have a place in this movement, and, together, we can move mountains.”

Meet Our Community Sentinels

In an outpouring of support for grassroots leaders across the country, we received over 40 distinct nominations for the 2023 Community Sentinel Award this year. Though it was a challenging decision, our distinguished panel of judges have selected five award winners, and we’re thrilled to introduce them to you.

Gillian Graber

2023 Community Sentinel Award

Gillian Graber, from Harrison City, Pennsylvania, is the executive director and co-founder of Protect Penn-Trafford (Protect PT), a grassroots community-based nonprofit established in 2014 to protect residents of Pennsylvania’s Westmoreland and Allegheny counties from the impacts of fossil fuel activity. As a mother of two, Gillian is passionate about keeping children safe from the impacts of fracking.

Debra Ramirez

2023 Community Sentinel Award

Debra Ramirez, from Lake Charles, Louisiana, is an activist and founding member of Mossville Environmental Action Now. Her environmental activism began in the 1980s after Condea Vista (SASOL) announced that ethylene dichloride (EDC), a suspected human carcinogen used in the production of PVC, leaked into the groundwater beneath the neighboring Mossville community.

Sarah Martik

2023 Community Sentinel Award

Sarah Martik, from Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, is the executive director of the Center for Coalfield Justice (CCJ), where she began working as a community organizer in 2017. Sarah’s work has spanned a variety of issues and geographies, from organizing in her hometown on a zoning ordinance fight, to helping pull together the regional People Over Petro Coalition, and advocating for a strong, legally-binding global plastics treaty with Break Free From Plastic. Sarah is motivated to stay in this work for her nieces and nephews, and her fur-baby, Lucy.

Maury Johnson

2023 Community Sentinel Award

Maury Johnson, from Greenville, West Virginia, is a member of the Board of Directors of Preserve Monroe (WV) and WV Co-Chair of the Protect Our Water & Heritage Rights (POWHR) Coalition. Maury, a southern West Virginia landowner whose organic farm has been impacted by the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP), has been fighting the MVP and other harmful projects across West Virginia, Virginia, and North Carolina for over eight years.

Anaïs Peterson

2023 Community Sentinel Youth Award

anaïs peterson (no pronouns (if you’re cis) / any (if you’re trans)), from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is currently the lead petrochemicals campaigner at Earthworks where anaïs works on fossil fuel and petrochemical infrastructure in PA, WV, and OH. Over the past year anaïs co-led rapid response, watchdogging, organizing, and communications around the Shell Plastic plant in Beaver County.

Each winner receives $1,000 and the award, and will be recognized at the 2023 Community Sentinel Awards Ceremony. This year’s event will take place on Thursday, November 9, at Phipps Conservatory in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and will be livestreamed for virtual participants. The event will feature music, art, and keynote speaker Eliza Eliza Evans, the creator of All the Way to Hell, an activist art project for disrupting fossil fuel development.

Many of this year’s nominees and winners were quick to point out that they could not do this work alone. The Community Sentinel Awards is an opportunity to celebrate the winners, but also the movement for a clean energy future as a whole. We hope you can join us to celebrate on Thursday, November 9, 2023, in person or virtually, for the 2023 Community Sentinel Awards!

Let’s celebrate the Sentinels together

Join us online or in Pittsburgh at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens for the Community Sentinel Awards presentation on November 9, 2023.

RSVP

Congratulations to all the 2023 Nominees

Ana Hoffman
Anaïs Peterson
The Peterson/Nishikawa Family:
Dianne, Bob, Anaïs, Boomba & Dorothy
Andrew Woomer
Barb Adams
Barbara Arrindell
Bernedette (BJ) Lark
Bob Schmetzer
Debra Smit
Debra Ramirez
Germaine Patterson
Gillian Graber
Hilary Flint
James Brooks
Jan Burger
Jane Cleary
Janice Blanock
Jenny Morgan
Jessica Conard
Junior Walk
Jessica Sims
Karen Feridun
Kim Fraczek
Archbishop Marcia Dinkins
Marcia Lehman
Maury Johnson
Megan McDonough
Melanie Meade
Michael McKenzie
Patricia Popple
Ramesh Bhatt
Randi Pokladnik
Roishetta Sibley Ozane
Ryan Clover
Sandy Field
Sarah Martik
Shantell Coleman
Shelley Brock
Terrie Baumgardner
Yvonka Hall
Zulene Mayfield
Zoe Cultrara

Thank You to Our 2023 Judges

Lauren C. Regan, Attorney at Law (she/her) Executive Director, Senior Attorney, The Civil Liberties Defense Center

Tom Torres, Hydrogen Campaign Coordinator, Ohio River Valley Institute (ORVI)

Ann Alexander, Senior Attorney, Natural Resources Defense Council

Jo Banner, Co-Director and Co-Founder, the Descendants Project

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