Our planet is at a point of environmental crisis, but that crisis isn’t affecting everyone equally. Poorer BIPOC communities end up bearing the burden of pollution and climate change far more than affluent white communities, and activists in these communities have been fighting for environmental justice for decades. Yet BIPOC voices in the environmental movement are often relegated to the sidelines, with white environmental activists historically getting a greater share of attention than their BIPOC counterparts.

One Movement is trying to fix that by supporting the work of marginalized environmentalists. The organization recently introduced One Movement Change Makers, an eco fund for BIPOC activists. “We want to celebrate and embolden the underrepresented perspectives in the environmental movement,” says Petrice Jones, founder of One Movement.

Petrice Jones and the Story Behind One Movement

You might know Petrice from his acting work in film and TV (Locke & Key, iBoy), and over the last few years, the star has been making a name for himself as an environmental activist. In fact, his time on set inspired him to get involved. “I’d be on set and I was appalled at how much plastic waste was being generated. Some sets would be going through hundreds of single-use plastic water bottles in a single season. Suddenly we’d have an exorbitant amount of waste from a small group of people, with no good system for dealing with any of it,” he says. “ And that was just one show. When you consider there are hundreds more shows and movies every year producing the same amount of waste, it’s wild. And that’s just in America in one industry,” says Jones. 

Petrice was inspired to start The One Movement, a social enterprise on a mission to educate, empower, and support eco-projects around the world. He and his team are currently running an Indiegogo campaign for the One Bottle, a stylish and versatile reusable water bottle. Proceeds from the campaign are used to help Plastics for Change remove plastic waste from the ocean and convert it into raw materials to build houses for people who work in the waste-picking communities in India. “The goal is to create a virtuous cycle in which people reduce their personal plastic waste while also finding ways to use existing materials to improve the lives of the people who do the necessary and thankless work of sorting through the world’s trash,” says Petrice.

One Movement Change Makers Eco Fund

One Movement Change Makers is the latest project for Petrice and his team in their mission to make a difference. One Movement received applications from 35 candidates from over nine separate countries. The United States, Canada, Kenya, and Uganda were the top countries for applications. Now One Movement and its partners are choosing one winner to receive $2K and three runners-up to receive $1K each. 

“We’re excited to award these funds to burgeoning leaders. There’s nothing better than finding leaders, because leaders are able to find followers,” says Petrice. “We want to lift up people who can articulate their projects and create a powerful impact. If they can make the judges believe in their ideas, then they’ll be able to get other people to believe in them too.”

To bring the program to life, One Movement is working with these partner organizations:

• Black Girl Environmentalist creates a supportive community for Black girls, womxn, and non-binary environmentalists. Its founder, Wawa Gatheru, has been instrumental to the Change Makers project and she’s using her expertise with Black and marginalized activists to help choose funding recipients.
• Lonely Whale is dedicated to keeping plastic out of oceans by building strategic, data-driven campaigns to spark global shifts in behavior and attitude. It was co-founded by fellow industry alums Adrien Grenier and Lucy Sumner
• Ocean Heroes Network is a nonprofit program that embraces and promotes the global youth movement to positively impact the ocean.
• Captain Planet Foundation was co-founded in 1991 by media mogul Ted Turner and producer Barbara Pyle as a corporate foundation of TBS. The foundation works collaboratively to engage and empower young people to be problem solvers for the planet. 
• Tandem Pictures is an eco-conscious film production company founded by Julie Christeas. It creates social impact films that adhere to stringent environmental impact standards. 

The Change Makers Short List

Check out the shortlisted candidates below:

• Amber Brown is an environmental and social justice activist working with Oak Cliff Veggie Project to restore the 10th St community in Dallas and The Bottoms. Follow Amber on social media here.
• Diamond Spratling and Millennials 4 Environmental Justice in Atlanta are working on a new project called Protect Black Mothers which will facilitate educational sessions around pregnancy and pollution. Follow Diamond on social media here.
• Heizal Nagginda from Uganda is the founder of Climate Operation and currently working on the Greener Schools Project to implement informal education sessions with school age children about the climate crisis. Follow Heizal on social media here.
• Jasmine Flores Cantrell from Guam is an environmental activist and zero waste practitioner who is working on Numa’lo Zero Waste Refillery, Guam’s first plastic- and packaging-free zero waste refillery van, sourcing local businesses as their main vendors. Follow Jasmine on social media here.
• Julieta Munoz from Pomona works with Center Street Community Garden and The Growing Roots Garden to strengthen community wellness and to increase food security by maintaining urban farms and gardens. Follow Julieta on social media here.
• Mirali Shukla is a bio-cultural conservation and environmental peace builder in California currently pursuing a new training project on human-wildlife conflict tackling endangered species being killed because they threaten the livelihoods and socio-economic welfare of local communities. Follow Mirali on social media here.
• Mulindwa Moses is a climate and environmental activist and Land Hero working on solutions for plastic waste in Kampala as well as Eco Clubs in schools. Follow Mulindwa on social media here.
• Sharona Shnayder is co-founder of Tuesdays for Trash, a grassroots initiative which encourages everyone around the world to dedicate at least one day a week for the planet. Follow Sharona on social media here.
• Sifa Ogana has partnered with WEEE Center, the main e-waste safe disposal company in Kenya, and has collected over 1.8 tons in 8 months, raising awareness of the global problem in their schools and community. Follow Sifa on social media here.
• Sumaiya Harunany co-founded Blue Earth Organisation to battle effects of climate change and plastic pollution and is aiming to plant over 10,000 mangroves in Miritini Mombasa, Kenya using local community grown seedlings. Mangroves absorb ten times more carbon than normal forests. Follow Sumaiya on social media here.
• Winnie Cheche from Kenya is an environmental blogger and activist in Kenya working with two orphanages to create vertical gardens with bucket drip irrigation to help promote successful tree planting and growth in drylands, as well as a provision of vegetables for both the orphans and local communities. Follow Winnie on social media here.

Next Steps for One Movement

Moving forward, Petrice wants One Movement Change Makers to be an ongoing source of support for BIPOC activists and a way to fund a new wave of environmental change. “We want to find genuinely good projects that are making a real difference in their communities,” Petrice explains. “And the real goal now is to give away funding again and again.”

Want to learn more about One Movement? Check out their Indiegogo campaign today.