Naolo Charles
Founder and Executive Director
Naolo Charles’ journey into environmental justice began after the 2005 Probo Koala toxic waste disaster in Côte d’Ivoire, his country of origin. The tragedy sparked a deep determination to understand the political, economic, and environmental forces driving global injustice.
He later completed a Master’s degree in Environment in 2012, specializing in life-cycle thinking and examining the social and environmental impacts of consumer products. In 2013, he carried out an environmental mandate for the Quebec Ministry of International Relations in Chicago with the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative.
Upon relocating to Toronto, Naolo began working within Canada’s philanthropic and institutional funding systems. From 2015 to 2016, he served at the Ontario Trillium Foundation, contributing to the launch of the Foundation’s Collective Impact funding program. He later completed international development mandates in Rwanda and Senegal, supporting organizations mentoring Africa’s most promising young mathematicians. Returning to Canada in 2017, he served as a Knowledge Broker at York University (2017–2019), bridging academic research and policy practice with a focus on migrant integration and settlement.
In 2019, Naolo founded the Black Environmental Initiative (BEI) to center Black leadership in climate solutions. He later co-founded the Canadian Coalition for Environmental and Climate Justice (CCECJ), helping devise strategies that contributed to the passage of Canada’s first environmental justice legislation. From 2022 to 2023, he managed a granting portfolio at the RBC Foundation, where his work contributed to the creation of RBC’s first Indigenous Education Legacy Space.
From early 2023 to 2025, Naolo served as Program Director at the McConnell Foundation, where he oversaw the evolution of the Communities program strategy. During this period, he established a Community Advisory Board to ensure program refinements were shaped by lived experience and introduced a new funding pillar titled Regeneration. Under his leadership, the program expanded its support for grassroots and historically underfunded organizations, channeling multi-million dollar investments to movement builders across the country.
This work included catalytic support for organizations such as Akoma Holdings and East Coast Prison Justice in Halifax; Hogan’s Alley and the Hua Foundation in Vancouver; Little Jamaica Community Land Trust in Toronto; and the Jia Foundation and the Refugee Centre in Montreal. He also played a key role in the emergence of the African Canadian Collective, initiating a cross-foundation collaboration with the Northpine Foundation to support transitional housing for asylum seekers. Additionally, he spearheaded landmark investments in Black-led community land trusts in Nova Scotia and conducted national learning tours to deepen institutional understanding of regional grassroots realities.
Beyond his institutional roles, Naolo has advanced Black leadership in global climate spaces, including organizing the first Black Canadian youth delegation to the United Nations Climate Conference (COP).
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Through BEI, he continues to develop models of environmental action that center community ownership and systems transformation. Naolo is a recipient of the Clean50 Award, recognizing leaders advancing sustainability and climate solutions in Canada.
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