DEAR ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE PROGRAM MANAGERS:
8 Strategies for a Moment of Crisis

by Malcolm Wyer

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© 2025 Malcolm Wyer. All rights reserved.

April 10, 2025

This open letter is for program managers in environmental justice, offering eight practical strategies for navigating the current crisis caused by executive and judicial actions dismantling EJ programs. The strategies emphasize staying prepared, flexible, and ethical, communicating clearly, protecting vulnerable communities, and leveraging legal precedents to defend programs while building long-term resilience.

Explores environmental justice challenges amid funding cuts, highlighting the divide between establishment practitioners and activists and the need for coalition-building.
Amid funding cuts and political attacks, environmental justice project managers must bridge divides between establishment practitioners and activist networks to sustain climate justice.
In a climate of fear, environmental justice managers navigate political pressures, balancing service to frontline communities with ethical and organizational challenges.
Examines legal challenges to race-conscious policies, highlighting Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard and the implications of Section 1981 for nonprofit DEI programs.
Explores the tension between government funding restrictions, First Amendment protections, and DEI programs, highlighting Saadeh v. NJ Bar Association and nonprofit strategy.
Guides nonprofit managers in reframing environmental justice programs using data-driven, identity-neutral criteria and social-ecological resilience frameworks.
Examines government outsourcing, nonprofit-business alliances, and trust-based philanthropy, highlighting risks of corporate overreach and strategies for public accountability.
Guides crisis-focused project managers on balancing rapid service delivery with accountability, transparency, and adaptive governance in community programs.