Young, Gifted & Green

09/07/2026

Announcing the Willie Roy Adams Green Business Legacy Fund Microgrant.

Willie Roy Adams, born in Senatobia, MS and raised in South Memphis, TN in the Riverside Community. He was a devoted husband , father and skilled, self-made entrepreneur. Growing up in a frontline community, Willie Roy prioritized supporting historically marginalized community members (including returning citizens) access gainful employment. Willie Roy Adams passed away on December 17, 2022, and his legacy continues through his only daughter, Founder of the Mid-South Environmental Justice Center and Young, Gifted & Green, LaTricea D. Adams.

The Mid-South Environmental Justice Center, through the Willie Roy Adams Green Workforce Development Institute, is awarding three $1,000 grants to small businesses in historically disadvantaged communities across the Memphis region, Northeast Arkansas, and North Mississippi.

Funds support sustainability and energy efficiency upgrades to brick and mortar buildings: lighting retrofits, weatherization, HVAC controls, water conservation, waste reduction, and more. Every awardee also receives a complimentary on-site energy efficiency assessment.

Small businesses carry the weight of neighborhood economies while absorbing some of the highest energy burdens in the country. This fund puts capital directly into the buildings where that burden lands.

Applications take approximately 30 minutes and close Monday, October 5, 2026 at 11:59 PM CT.

Apply at bit.ly/willieroylegacy.

If you work with small businesses in the Mid-South, please share this with your network.

09/06/2026

Communities should not have to repeatedly sue the federal government to receive funding that Congress already approved.

Nearly $3 billion in environmental justice grants meant to reduce pollution, improve public health, lower energy costs, and strengthen underserved communities remains tied up in court.

These are not just numbers on a spreadsheet. They represent cleaner air, safer water, healthier homes, jobs, and long-overdue investments in communities that have carried the burden of pollution for generations.

Environmental justice is not political branding. Every community deserves a healthy and safe place to call home.

Read more at the link below:

https://insideclimatenews.org/news/04092026/communities-sue-again-over-termination-of-environmental-justice-grants/

Representatives for the communities filed new litigation over the termination of the $3 billion Environmental and Climate Justice Block Grant program.

09/06/2026

The lineup is 🔥 Join us in New York on September 24, 2026 9AM-11AM at the Tishman Auditorium for "Climate Desk Live: AI, Energy, and Our Fight for Democracy and A Healthy, Affordable Future" featuring our Founder CEO & President LaTricea D. Adams along with Bill McKibben, Garrison Hayes, Adam Mahoney AND MORE!

This Climate Week 2026 Keynote Event at The New School, is presented by the Tishman Environment and Design Center at The New School, in collaboration with Climate Desk Live partners Mother Jones, Capital B News, and the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.

Learn more + register at https://event.newschool.edu/climateweek2026keynote.

09/05/2026

SPEAKER ANNOUNCEMENT📢 We are SO excited to share that our Founder CEO & President LaTricea D. Adams will be speaking at the Frontline Resource Institute's Climate Justice Hub at on September 21.

Join us in New York with frontline leaders and changemakers across sectors as we exchange practical ideas, build relationships and explore how frontline leadership strengthens climate solutions.

Register: https://luma.com/igmka329

09/03/2026

On behalf of Young, Gifted & Green we mourn the passing of trailblazer Gloria Steinem. Gloria’s activism was deeply intersectional, bridging the gaps between women's rights, civil rights, and environmental justice. She knew that frontline communities and women globally suffer first and worst from ecological degradation. To honor Gloria, we must keep fighting for a world where people and the planet thrive together in equity.

09/02/2026

While Young, Gifted & Green works nationally, we can't let the day go by without celebrating one of our anchor cities and the birthplace of our founder Memphis, TN for . Today we stood on business and maintained the history and tradition of resistance and the fight for justice, civil and human rights demanding a moratorium for dirty data centers. So proud of the city, mane🥹

Thank you Action News 5 for this amazing coverage of a legacy of activism and people power in 🙏🏿

09/01/2026

Congratulations to our 2026 Tribe 7 EJ Griots, the largest cohort to date representing 3 states and the District of Columbia! This year our Griots will be working on drafting local, state and federal data center policy. Next stop is CAPITOL HILL for Young, Gifted & Green Day on the Hill during the Congressional Black Caucus ALC!

08/31/2026

OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT📣 Rep. Justin J. Pearson will be our 40 Under 40 Key Note Speaker 9/17 /26 6PM at 18th Street Lounge in Washington, DC during the Congressional Black Caucus ALC! REMINDER: Nominations closed TONIGHT at 11:59 PM ET. Learn more at younggiftedgreen40.org.

08/30/2026

Environmental justice is about more than pollution. It is also about who controls the infrastructure in our communities, who makes decisions and who bears the consequences.

Alabama Power is reportedly using its utility poles and relationships with local governments to help expand surveillance cameras and license plate readers across Alabama. Infrastructure intended to provide an essential public service is now also being used to track people’s movements—often without meaningful transparency or community input.

Communities already burdened by pollution, high utility costs and disinvestment deserve answers: Where are these cameras being placed? Who is being watched? Who controls the data? And were residents ever given a meaningful voice?

Read more: https://insideclimatenews.org/news/29082026/alabama-power-flock-surveillance-cameras/

How Alabama Power became Flock’s longest-standing middleman.