The grants advisory committee is an external group assembled to provide input on multiple CIRCA initiatives related to environmental justice, including the statewide EJ Mapping Tool, the Mapping Tool Advisory Committee Grant, and the Climate and Equity Grant Program. The committee consists of seven members, all of whom have expertise working in environmental justice advocacy, scholarship, or policy, including representatives from state and federal agencies, universities, and community foundations. The grants advisory committee meets regularly to review the progress of CIRCA’s environmental justice work and evaluate grant applications.

Grant advisory committee members and their affiliations:

• Mark Mitchell, MD, MPH, Associate Professor of Climate Change, Energy & Environmental Health Equity at George Mason University and Co-chair of the Connecticut Equity and Environmental Justice Advisory Council (CEEJAC)
• Hermia Delaire, MS, Sandy Recovery Program Manager for the CT Department of Housing
• David Embrick, PhD, Associate Professor of Sociology and Africana Studies at UConn and Director of the CT Center for Research on Resilient Cities, Racism, and Equity
• Edith Pestana, MS, MPH, Administrator for CT DEEP’s Environmental Justice Program
• Bessie Wright, EPA Region 1 Program Coordinator for Long Island Sound Study
• Jennifer O’Brien, Program Director for Community Foundation of Eastern Connecticut
• Ellen Carter, MPA, Vice President of Program, for the Community Health Foundation