MORE ABOUT US

CLEANAIRNOW COLLITION

The CleanAirNow Coalition is dedicated to improving air quality in Kansas City and the surrounding region, particularly in communities suffering the greatest health burden, and to preventing and mitigating disease caused by air pollution.

NONPROFIT PURPOSES

The organization is organized exclusively for charitable, religious, educational, and scientific purposes under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, or corresponding section of any future federal tax code. Upon dissolution, remaining assets will be used exclusively for section 501(c)(3) exempt purposes.

 

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GUIDING

PRINCIPLES

WHAT WE ARE

CleanAirNow is a nonprofit, community-based and community-driven equitable coalition and partnership of community groups, academia, researchers, environmental advocates and experts, health-service organizations, institutions, local government representatives, and individual members.

FOCUS

Ours is to work with and uplift communities most threatened by air pollution; particularly those with vulnerable populations affected by multiple, disproportionate environmental health burdens. CleanAirNow aims to support and amplify the voice of these communities to increase their organizational capacity for effective participation in local, state, and federal policy in order to improve health and the quality of life in their communities.

DIRECTORS

The Board of Directors of CleanAirNow is structured and weighted such that representatives of front-line community organizations will drive the key decisions.

FACTILITIES

CleanAirNow facilitates opportunities for cross-disciplinary and community-based participatory research (CBPR), bridging organizational and geographic boundaries to improve the health and lives of citizens across our service area.. We will maximize opportunities for Community Based Participatory Research, Citizen Science, and crowd-sourced data collection and analysis.

GOALS

CLEANAIRNOW HAS FIVE GOALS

CleanAirNow will work to enable and empower youth and adults in the region’s most vulnerable communities to organize, lead, and advocate for their communities.

CleanAirNow will continue and expand the air pollution monitoring activities of the Diesel Health Project, with a focus on monitoring in overburdened communities near major polluting sites and transportation corridors.

We will educate community members, youth, college students, and professionals as follows:

3.1. CleanAirNow will develop and deliver community-focused education on the health and climate change impacts of air pollution, and how communities can work together to mitigate them and protect themselves and their families from adverse health impacts.

3.2. We will educate youth in order to improve their skills and to provide environmental leadership in their communities and the region.

3.3. We will educate local and state government and private sector engineers, planners, and public administrators who make recommendations and decisions which affect air quality do not have the knowledge of air pollution health impacts, or of mitigation policies, tools, and techniques needed to protect public health.

3.4. We will provide internship opportunities for college students and others to learn, contribute, achieve, and further their careers.

CleanAirNow will be the Kansas City regional governance organization of the Moving Forward Network, and work with the Moving Forward Network to develop policies for the national network and will lead their implementation in the KC region. CleanAirNow will also develop and advocate regional and local policies, legislation and regulations to reduce and mitigate the health impacts of air pollution.

CleanAirNow will develop opportunities for cross-disciplinary and community-based participatory research (CBPR) opportunities that bridge organizational and geographic boundaries to improve the health and lives of citizens. Among the disciplines which can be involved are public health, policy research, epidemiology, atmospheric modeling, climatology, public health research, STEM education, remote sensing, urban planning, transportation engineering, and public administration. We will maximize opportunities for Community Based Participatory Research, Citizen Science, and crowdsourced data.

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THE GEOGRAPHIC

SCOPE & SERVICE AREA

The geographic scope and service area of CleanAirNow is the 22 county Kansas City-Overland Park-Kansas City, MO-KS Combined Statistical Area , the 5 county Topeka Metropolitan Statistical Area, and Brown County. Inclusion of Brown County ensures we include the reservations of all Indigenous tribes within the boundaries of Kansas. A complete list of counties and Indigenous reservations served by CleanAirNow follows:

  • Atchison
  • Brown
  •  Doniphan
  •  Douglas
  • Franklin
  • Jackson
  • Jefferson
  • Johnson
  • Leavenworth
  • Linn
  • Miami
  • Osage
  • Shawnee
  • Wabaunsee
  • Wyandotte
  • Cass
  • Clay
  • Clinton
  • DeKalb
  • Jackson
  • Johnson
  • Lafayette
  • Platte
  • RayAndrew
  • Bates
  • Buchanan
  • Caldwell
  • Kickapoo Tribe of Kansas
  • Sac and Fox Nation
  • Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation
  • Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska

OUR STAFF

MEET OUR TEAM

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BETO LUGO

Co-Executive Director
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ATENAS MENA

Environmental Health Director
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JAYLA ATKINSON

Environmental Justice educator
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ANA RAMOS

Community organizer at CleanAirNow
BetoLugo

BETO LUGO

Co-Executive Director
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ATENAS MENA

Environmental Health Director
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JAYLA ATKINSON

Environmental Justice educator
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ANA RAMOS

Community organizer at CleanAirNow
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CLEANAIRNOW HAS FOUR

CATEGORIES OF MEMBERSHIPS

COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZATIONAL

Community-based organizational membership – front-line grassroots organizations representing and accountable to members located in communities most directly impacted air pollution.

ALLY / RESOURCE

Ally/Resource membership – institutions that provide technical expertise/resources to support the work of the community-based members of CleanAirNow. These members work in partnership with community based organizations by providing technical assistance that supports and builds their capacity and advances the mission and goals of the Network. Ally members include universities, scientists, doctors, researches, labor unions, student groups, and environmental groups.

INDIVIDUAL

Individual membership – individuals working on air pollution and/or related issues who want to assist CleanAirNow and its members, and do not have actual or potential conflicts of interest.

SPONSORS

Sponsors – organizations which wish to provide financial support. Sponsors do not have voting rights.

CLEANAIRNOW

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

CleanAirNow will be governed by a board comprised of seven (7) individuals. The board will be responsible for determining the mission and purposes of the organization, selecting and evaluating the performance of the executive director, strategic and organizational planning, ensuring strong fiduciary oversight and financial management, fundraising and resource development, enhancing CleanAirNow’s public image, and assessing its own performance as the governing body of the organization. As needed, the board may form committees to assist in performing the board’s duties.

Of the 7 board members at least 4 must be representatives of front-line community organizations. The remaining 3 board positions may be filled by Resource/ally members or Individual members. Each member has one vote. Board members serve for two-year alternating terms. The structure of the board is as follows:

a. The President will chair the board, and until and unless an executive director position is created and staffed, will also fulfill that function. The president will support and sustain the work of CleanAirNow, provide leadership, governance, oversight, and strategic fundraising support.

b. The Treasurer is responsible for overseeing the management and reporting of the organization’s finances. Duties include developing and monitoring the budget, financial management, reporting, and oversight, and facilitating and encouraging the board’s strategic thinking about the short and long term financial vitality of the organization.

c. The Secretary is responsible for membership on-boarding, scheduling, annual meetings, meeting minutes, communications with members, and is the custodian of organizational and membership records.

BOARD

LETS JOIN

CLEANAIRNOW MEMBERSHIPS

Anyone that wishes to contribute to the mission of CleanAirNow is welcome to become a member of our organization. CleanAirNow strives to be a member-led organization. By becoming an Air Protector of the Kansas City metro area, you can play an active role in helping your community achieve environmental justice. CAN aims to build a relationship with the community members that inspires the ability within each of us to fight for justice. Through collective action, we strive to build a movement that embodies climate justice and achieves racial justice.

BECOME A MEMBER