Diamond Spratling, an acclaimed environmental health and justice activist, author, and dynamic global public speaker who founded Girl Plus Environment, the national non-profit dedicated to educating and empowering young Black and Brown women to champion climate and environmental justice within their communities.
Growing up in Detroit, this two-time TEDx speaker is dismantling health, racial, and environmental inequities in communities of color by assisting local governments, global brands, and organizations in adopting equitable processes that prioritize community health. Diamond published her first children’s book, Sage Sails The World: A Little Girl’s Journey across The Arctic, about a little girl who sees the world as one that has suffered the consequences of climate change.
Diamond says, “Women have always been the backbone of every movement. The Civil Rights Movement, The #MeToo Movement, the Women’s Suffrage… why would the Climate Justice Movement be any different? When women are placed in leadership positions, we win.”
Becoming a nonprofit founder at 22, she hired her college friends as board members, unaware of how climate issues directly impacted their health. During her studies in environmental policy, Diamond was the only Black student in her program, highlighting a significant lack of diversity.
She says, “Climate scientists have no clue how to talk to people in a non-technical way that doesn’t scare them away. They shame people for doing things like not shopping locally or not recycling. They have pushed people away from the work. This has turned the sector into a space not representative of the communities experiencing the greatest environmental issues.”
Girl Plus Environment is a climate movement representing communities most impacted by climate change, making room for those historically pushed out to take part in climate decisions, conversations, careers, and equitable solutions. Diamond is making climate justice fun, exciting, and sexy—a movement that young women of color want to engage in.
She continues, “My grandma used to seal her windows with plastic to keep the cool air in, cover her furniture to make it last for decades and save all the plastic bags she’d get from the grocery store. I never forgot how she’d yell at me for leaving the lights on.”
Diamond has helped researchers and scientists translate technical information into fun, relatable content and helped GPE secure over half a million dollars in funding. She developed the award-winning Equity Data Tool for the city of Atlanta, used to equitably distribute funding across city communities with the greatest need. At Greenlink Analytics, she ran their clean energy tool to help city governments understand the relationship between energy burden and socio-economic issues. At the Climate Advocacy Lab, she taught medical professionals how to incorporate climate advocacy into their work.
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