Stay Updated
Recent Posts
Staff
Erin Heaney
Director
erin@cacwny.org
Phone: (716) 852-3813
Erin Heaney has been the Coalition’s director since 2009. She has grown the Coalition from a mostly-volunteer run organization with one staff person and a budget of $25,000 to a 501c3 not-for-profit with a budget of $200,000 and 4 staff members working in several neighborhoods. Erin has brokered good neighbor agreements between residents and industry and has worked closely with the town of Tonawanda, USEPA and NYSDEC to develop the E3 Tonawanda program. In 2010, Erin was awarded EPA Region 2’s Environmental Quality Award for her work in Tonawanda. Erin serves on the Steering Committee of the Western New York Environmental Alliance and is the founding co-chair of the organization’s Environmental Justice Working Group.
Erin has worked with a diverse group of students and communities to hold government and other institutions accountable to the people and ideals they serve. She was a founding member of STAND, the student-led division of the Genocide Intervention Network. In this capacity, Erin managed a 40-person national student field team, provided strategic consulting on national advocacy campaigns and held over 20 grassroots trainings. Erin most recently worked at the Special Projects Coordinator at the Public Accountability Initiative. There, she coordinated their health care research initiative that engaged citizen journalists and contributed to the organization’s blog.
Erin has a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and sociology with a concentration in democratic participation and public policy from Swarthmore College.
Rebecca Newberry
Program Coordinator
rebecca@cacwny.org
A proud native of Buffalo, New York. Rebecca served as administrative organizer with the Rochester Genesee Valley American Labor Federation, AFL-CIO, where she was crucial in the in the formation of Next Generation United, a leadership coalition of younger Labor who mobilize for social and economic justice.
In 2007, she founded the Gay Alliance of the Genesee Valley’s CampusOUT program, an organizing and advocacy program for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) and ally students. In the three years that Rebecca served as coordinator, mobilized the highest number of students in New York State history to advocate for LGBT equality in Albany.
Rebecca has an B.S. in Health Science Education from the State University College at Brockport and an M.S. in Nonprofit Management from Canisius College.
Natasha Soto
Community Organizer
natasha@cacwny.org
Natasha is a graduate from the University at Buffalo with a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Studies. Originally from New York City, she has made a home here in Buffalo because she loves the pride and love residents have for their city. Interested in public health, she also works with a group of local public high school students in an adolescent sexual health program called, Leaving Our Legacy, whose goals are to motivate and educate their community on teen pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS to promote change. Natasha is a 2011 Green For All Fellow.
Danielle Freeland
Community Organizer
danielle@cacwny.org
Originally from West Virginia, Danielle came to Buffalo by way of Salem, Oregon. She is a recent graduate of SUNY Buffalo with a BA in anthropology. Inspired by her lifelong passion for social justice and a family tradition of organizing, her studies had a strong focus on diversity and justice issues. Danielle’s work with the Clean Air Collation began as a canvasser on the Tonawanda campaign as well as the Local Emergency Response campaign. She is pleased to continue and expand on this work as a community organizer.
Graphic Designer
Rachel Gottorff
rachelgottorff.com