Smiling in the office lobby, some raising hands, one with certificate

CARB All About Air Quality Bootcamp

  • by Cristian Fuentes Hernandez

During the month of August, I had the opportunity to attend the All About Air Quality Bootcamp from the California Air Resources Board where I got the opportunity to learn about the history of environmental justice in California and how air quality is measured. During the bootcamp, I had the opportunity to connect with promotoras who have advocated for environmental justice in San Ysidro, Barrio Logan and City Heights. We heard presentations from Dr. Joseph K. Lyou where he provided the basic vocabulary for air quality and allowed for the promotoras to ask questions and connect the academic terminology with their lived experiences. We also heard from Diane Takvorian, one of the founders of the Environmental Health Coalition, an non profit activist group who fought to shut down a toxic source of pollution in the Barrio Logan Community. She shared her experience in being an environmental justice advocate having to work with a government that did not prioritize the environment. 

As someone from San Ysidro, a community that has been impacted by the Tijuana River Valley and the pollution from the freeways, environmental justice was very personal and it felt nice to relate to others that shared similar lived experiences and wanted to do a change about it. The class had a very collaborative and diverse environment with fun moments like blowing bubbles to learn about the direction of the wind.
 
Here are some pictures I took:
Group photo smiling in a meeting room with landscape painting
Three smiling indoors, two holding certificates
Four smiling people holding certificates in bright office lobby