Meet our 2024 Board Candidates!

January 30, 2024

 

We are excited to provide our members the opportunity to make their voices heard by voting on the 2024 Slate of Candidates for the Board of Directors. Answers from the Board Candidate Application are listed below so you can get to know our candidates. Cast your vote by our Annual Meeting on February 27. In order for your vote to count you must be a current dues paying member. This means you have made a financial contribution to Clean Air in the last calendar year and reside within our membership areas. Members can vote in 3 different ways; in person at the Annual Meeting, by mailing in your paper board ballot you will receive in the mail if you are a current member, or online by clicking the link here. You can register to attend the Annual Meeting here. Food, non alcoholic drinks, and childcare will be provided.

Board Candidate Name: Bryan Shepard

Why would you like to serve as a member of Clean Air’s Board of Directors? To increase community activism regarding environmental justice issues.

What skills, knowledge (learned or lived!) or experiences can you offer to the organization as a member of our Board? As a labor activist, environmental & safety issues directly affect our labor union constituency. I’ve learned that environmental justice will only come about if we demand it.

What do you hope to learn or try on as a Clean Air Board Member? Learn & educate about toxic contaminants and how they directly impact chronic health conditions in underserved communities.
One of the ways that we ask board members to do “the work” with Clean Air is to assist us in fundraising efforts. Are you open to inviting others to join our work by becoming a member or supporter? Are you open to learning more about fundraising and trying it on? Yes
Being a member of the Clean Air Board requires a time commitment – there are monthly full board meetings and events. Are you willing and able to devote approximately 6 hours per month for Board service? Yes

It is crucial that the Clean Air Board reflect the diversity of the communities that we are rooted in. The Board should be inclusive in terms of age, race/ethnicity, sex, faith/religion, ability, gender identity/expression, sexual orientation, social economic status, and more- just as our membership is. Please tell us about how you would support Clean Air in reflecting and embracing the diversity of the community. Enlighten community members to the fact that environmental justice affects everyone. We should look to increase membership in all communities across WNY.

Bryan’s Bio: 
CWA Local 1122 Steward & Human Rights Committee member Bryan Shepard is a former M&T Bank internal auditor and Assistant Vice-President of Metroteller Banking Systems.
He is currently a 34 year Central Office Technician for Verizon, installing and maintaining long range fiber optic networks. Through many labor disputes and strikes, he became a committed labor activist, emphasizing the link between labor and environmental justice, as they both impact our workplace and communities. He served for 20 years as a youth counselor at Friendship Baptist Church and founded the Manhood Initiative Project, a mentoring program teaching at-risk boys the basics of manhood and responsibility. He is committed to increasing community activism in order to combat environmental injustice. Through education and awareness of air, land and water contamination, and their relevance to chronic health conditions, we can improve the lives of many.

Board Candidate Name: Xavier Eddy

Why would you like to serve as a member of Clean Air’s Board of Directors? I believe building grassroots power is the only way justice can be won! I’m extremely proud and impressed with the work Clean Air does, and I believe I can bring some fresh perspective and strategy to our organization.

What skills, knowledge (learned or lived!) or experiences can you offer to the organization as a member of our Board? Hopefully a lot! As a “professional” organizer, I’ve organized in geographically and culturally diverse regions across the country. I’ve been involved in Labor, Racial Justice, anti-imperialist, and Environmental Justice fights across half this country. I was heavily involved with a few Environmental Justice Organizations across the south and particularly in Cancer Alley in Louisiana. I also have an academic background in strategic corporate research and it’s role in successful campaigns, as well as experience review building permits, environmental permits, etc in construction. I also have experience as a street medic, and in organizing rallies and marches.

What do you hope to learn or try on as a Clean Air Board Member? I hope to deepen my connections with the various communities of WNY, and better my skills on the fundraising side of things.

One of the ways that we ask board members to do “the work” with Clean Air is to assist us in fundraising efforts. Are you open to inviting others to join our work by becoming a member or supporter? Are you open to learning more about fundraising and trying it on? Absolutely! I already am a member and would love to see us expand our membership to be even more dues based but am willing to assist in any form of fundraising.

Being a member of the Clean Air Board requires a time commitment – there are monthly full board meetings and events. Are you willing and able to devote approximately 6 hours per month for Board service? Yes

It is crucial that the Clean Air Board reflect the diversity of the communities that we are rooted in. The Board should be inclusive in terms of age, race/ethnicity, sex, faith/religion, ability, gender identity/expression, sexual orientation, social economic status, and more- just as our membership is. Please tell us about how you would support Clean Air in reflecting and embracing the diversity of the community. My mentor in organizing was an old Chicano UFW organizer, and the number one thing he hammered into me was LUPE, la Union del Pueblo Entero. We must strive to build a union of the entire community. To build a truly grassroots organization, we must be both reflective of and responsive to the communities we work in and with. I’m young and queer, and grew up in Rural Poverty, and want to continue to grow a board and organization of kinfolk across all spectrums of diversity.

Xavier’s Bio: 
Xavier is a passionate organizer, who’s Union Organizing has brought them across the country fighting for Economic, Environmental, and Racial Justice. They’ve been involved in campaigns from the Rural West to the Louisiana Gulf Coast to the Adirondacks and they are now proud to call Buffalo Home. Xavier is also an Organizer with 1199SEIU, the healthcare union, a hiker, backpacker, and rafter, and now lives on the west side with their dog Ginger.

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