Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

Please review the following criteria before submitting your grant application.

The Eco Social Justice Grant is administered through a student majority board. We look forward to learning about your proposal. Please review the following criteria before submitting your application.

• The Eco Social Justice Grant is limited in funds and will give preference to projects with budgets under $5,000 or secured partial funding via other means. Other means may come from department budgets or outside sources.
• Student participation is encouraged in all projects.
• Projects shall support PCC’s Climate Action Plan efforts, particularly around greenhouse gas emissions reductions, climate education and climate justice.
• Projects must be environmentally sound, socially just, and economically equitable.
• Projects shall contain publicity, education, and outreach components.
• PCC students, staff, and faculty are encouraged to submit project proposals. Individuals and organizations outside the college are not allowed to submit project proposals.
• Eco Social Justice funding will not support projects that are already mandated by law, college policy or previously and/or currently paid for by the college.
• All projects that require a permanent installation or storage must be signed off by facilities or the site manager.
• All grantees allocated Eco Social Justice funding are required to submit an End of Project Report to be released to the PCC community.

Applications for 2024-2025 are open and will close November 22, 2024 at 12pm.

Contact sustainability@pcc.edu [opens in new window] with questions or for additional information about the Eco Social Justice Grant process.

In 2023, we were able to bring back in person programming for Eco Social Justice. We saw a new interest in students who wanted to focus on art as activism. This event focused on collaborating with local artists to give students an opportunity to participate in a hands on event.

Jacob Lebel at #EcoSocialJusticeEvent – PCC Earth Week 2019

For the 3rd Annual #Eco Social Justice event, we were stoked to have one of the 21 youth plaintiffs from the Julianna V Gov “Climate Trial of the Century”, Jacob Lebel give a great Keynote followed by a powerful talk from Our Children’s Trusts Community Engagement Manager, Coreal Riday-White. We were also fortunate to have a panel with local artists showcasing the way that art can be a potent form of activism. Asa Wright, Thea Ghar, and Ines Paulina Ramirez had a wonderful panel session and then Wright and Ghar treated everyone to an afternoon of screen printing accompanied by a great DJ set from Ramirez. You can read a more detailed account of this event and a recap of Earth Week 2019!

From left to right: Asa Wright, Thea Ghar, and Ines Paulina Ramirez

Student Life & Leadership Programs, in a partnership with the Office of Sustainability, hosted its second annual #EcoSocialJustice student in-service training, featuring Tara Houska.

Tara Houska is Ojibwe from Couchiching First Nation. She is a tribal rights attorney in Washington, D.C., and is involved in advocacy on a broad spectrum of indigenous issues. Much of her work is focused on environmental justice and institutional racism. This event is designed to incorporate student leadership teams from the various PCC IBEC Centers (Queer Resource Center, Multicultural Center, Women’s Resource Center, Veterans Resource Center) and ASPCC programs. The event included a great keynote address from Tara Houska as well as a question and answer session.

Teri Fane, Renea Perry, Tara Houska, & Joe Culhane at PCC’s 2018 #EcoSocialJustice Event

For the 2018 event, ASPCC student leaders Teri Fane, the Black Student Union Coordinator, Renea Perry, the Native Nations Coordinator, and Joe Culhane, the Environmental Justice Coordinator co-wrote the grant that helped to fund the event which allowed us to welcome Tara Houska and provide great food and additional activities to be a part of this event.

Students from the four main campuses each painted a large section of a mural and the completed piece was put together, bringing the four pieces connected as one.

The final mural and up cycled recycling bin created by PCC student leaders from across the district during the 2018 #ecosocialjustice event

#EcoSocialJustice

In #EcoSocialJustice, Dr. Chatelain explored our recent history and current events in our country as a context to better understand the interconnections of racial, social and environmental justice. Looking at the many issues we face – racism, food insecurity, environmental degradation, widening economic disparities, and climate change – how can these movements come together to strategically align for sustainable change? If we are stronger together, how have we failed to collectively mobilize in the past?

Chatelain initiated the #FergusonSyllabus after the death of Michael Brown. She has been featured prominently on CNN, MSNBC, NPR and on other national platforms. Chatelain went to all four campuses to meet and speak with students and student leaders over the course of Earth Week 2017.