{"id":4122,"date":"2025-11-27T06:42:01","date_gmt":"2025-11-27T06:42:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beinitiative.com\/?page_id=4122"},"modified":"2026-01-13T20:34:39","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T20:34:39","slug":"our-results","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/beinitiative.com\/fr\/our-results\/","title":{"rendered":"Nos r\u00e9sultats"},"content":{"rendered":"
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What Have We Done?<\/span><\/span><\/h2><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The Black Environmental Initiative (BEI) is a multi-program organization that empowers community-driven and youth-led initiatives to mobilize Black communities in environmental action. Below is a snapshot of our work:<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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- 2025 -<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Establishment of our organization as a non-profit<\/h3>

Our founder<\/a>\u00a0focused on building the infrastructure needed to establish BEI as a standalone non-profit, which later made us eligible to receive funding from the Foundation for Black Communities. Our first General Circle (board) meeting was held in February 2025. Soon after, we recruited a former\u00a0Roots for Resilience<\/em>\u00a0volunteer as Program Assistant and welcomed a videography artist as Visual Documenter, following a model emulating the civil rights groups of the 1970s, where grassroots activism was powerfully illustrated by daily and weekly artistic documentation.<\/p>

2nd Year of\u00a0Roots for Resilience<\/em><\/h3>

In the summer of 2025, we launched the second edition of the\u00a0Roots for Resilience Initiative<\/span>. With the support of a grant from the Foundation for Black Communities, BEI was able to bring back the urban agriculture program at Maloca Community Garden.<\/p>

This year also marked an important step in strengthening our team. We welcomed\u00a0Mahalia<\/span>\u00a0as Program Assistant and\u00a0Abdu<\/span>\u00a0as Visual Documenter, while continuing with\u00a0Muzamil<\/span>\u00a0as the lead staff anchor for the program.\u00a0<\/p>

This initiative was thoroughly documented by our visual documenter, Abdu, and all recordings of the\u00a0Roots for Resilience<\/em> sessions are available on the BEI Instagram page:\u00a0https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/blackenvironmentalinitiative\/<\/a><\/p>

The full report for the second year will be published here soon.<\/p>

In the meantime, you can watch a short documentary about this program on our\u00a0YouTube channel<\/a><\/p>

Screenings in the Garden<\/h3>

In 2025, we hosted our first film screenings at the garden, featuring two educational documentaries. This pilot activity has the potential to grow into a powerful way of engaging youth in meaningful conversations about complex social and environmental issues.<\/p>

Food Security Community Event<\/h3>

Also in 2025, \u00a0we organized our first community event bringing together youth and elders to discuss food security in Black communities. This intergenerational dialogue opened space for learning, sharing experiences, and building connections across generations.<\/p>

Key Conferences and Training Sessions<\/h3>

In 2025, our founder offered a two hour training session on environmental racism to 800 government officials of the Ontario Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services. He also joined a panel on food and environmental justice at the\u00a011th Annual Environmental and Health Disparities Symposium.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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- 2024 -<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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1st year of Roots for Resilience<\/h3>

In 2024, we launched the first year of the Roots for Resilience<\/em>\u00a0Urban Agriculture program at Maloca Community Garden.<\/p>

The program successfully engaged\u00a0over 80 youth<\/span>\u00a0in nature-based activities, fostering both environmental awareness and a sense of community.<\/p>

You can find a report on Year 1 here.<\/p>

City of Toronto Community Consultations<\/h3>

In 2024, we partnered with the City of Toronto to host community consultation sessions, gathering feedback from Black Torontonians to help shape the City\u2019s Parks and Recreation Facilities Strategy. The report is available here.<\/p>

Adventure Canada Partnership<\/h3>

In 2024, we partnered with Adventure Canada to launch an initiative that sent six Black environmentalists on a two-week journey to the Arctic. Fully funded by BEI, this experience was created to open access to spaces where Black professionals are often excluded, challenge stereotypes, and encourage greater diversity and inclusion within exclusive environmental fields. As part of this partnership, Adventure Canada also received an anti-racism training session facilitated by Naolo, Muzamil, and Cheyenne Sundance, who was part of our team at the time.<\/p>

Afro-holistic education with ACHA<\/h3>

In 2024, we partnered with the African Canadian Heritage Association to deliver Afro-inspired environmental education workshops, bringing culturally rooted learning to their communities.<\/p>

Watch the video on these sessions<\/a><\/p>

Collaboration with McGill University and Stanford University<\/h3>
Our founder was invited to contribute to an essay collection on Climate Justice & Technology<\/strong>, a collaboration between\u00a0McGill University<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Stanford University<\/strong>. His piece explored how climate and environmental justice movements provide models of resistance against the \u201ctechnology of cultural monoculture,\u201d offering alternative pathways rooted in equity, resilience, and community.<\/div>
You can read it here:\u00a0Climate&Tech_NaoloCharles \u2014 Centre for Media, Technology and Democracy<\/a><\/div>
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\"\"31st\u00a0Regular Session of the CEC Council: Strengthening Environmental Justice through Community Empowerment.<\/h3>

In 2024, our founder was invited by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation\u00a0to participate in an environmental justice event in North Carolina, where he contributed as a featured speaker.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p><\/div>

Transition out of the Makeway Shared Platform and out of CCECJ<\/h3>

In 2024, after carefully assessing BEI\u2019s challenges, opportunities, and available human resources, our founder initiated a transition out of the MakeWay platform to focus fully on building BEI as an independent organization. That same year, Bill C-226<\/span>\u2014Canada\u2019s first national environmental justice law\u2014was successfully passed in June, marking a historic milestone<\/a>. With this momentum, our founder also stepped down from leadership at CCECJ to dedicate their full attention to advancing BEI\u2019s vision. This transition was successful, enabling us to retain our staff, strengthen our organizational foundation, and continue moving our mission forward.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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- 2023 -<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Participation in an Environmental Justice gathering, Mexico<\/h3>

Our Founder was invited to participate to an environmental justice gathering in\u00a0Mexico<\/span>\u00a0in the Oaxaca area. The workshop involved a small group of EJ leaders from communities and organizations in Canada,\u00a0Mexico<\/span>\u00a0and the United States recommended by the CEJN Steering Committee (based on their practical experience carrying out innovative environmental justice and climate resilience projects in their communities).<\/p>

Partnership with CMOS and CRWA<\/h3>

In 2023, BEI has worked with\u00a0CMOS<\/span>\u00a0and the Canadian Water Resources Association (CWRA) to understand some of the barriers keeping underrepresented youth (especially Black and Indigenous) from considering career options and studying weather, water, and climate science.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

The research was done thanks to the support of Environment Canada.\u00a0<\/p>

Report available here<\/a><\/p>

BEI Produced Documentary: Stand like a tree<\/a><\/p>

Contribution to a book on environmental justice<\/h3>

Our founder contributed a chapter in French to the book La Nature de l\u2019Injustice<\/em>, adding a vital perspective on environmental and social justice to this important collective work.<\/p>

La nature de l\u2019injustice | \u00c9cosoci\u00e9t\u00e9<\/a><\/p><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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- 2022 -<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Collaboration with David Suzuki Foundation<\/h3>

In 2022, BEI was invited by Sabaa Khan, to collaborate on a variety of initiatives. Together, we launched a social media campaign to raise awareness on realities of environmental racism.<\/p>

This Black History Month, help end environmental racism \u2013 David Suzuki Foundation<\/a><\/p>

Raising Awareness in Communities<\/h3>

In 2022, BE Initiative was focused on building in-person face-to-face connections to set the stage for the\u00a0launch of our direct services programs in communities.<\/p>

Thanks to a grant from Chamandy Foundation, we were able to hire our first paid staff, Fatoumata Kane, who was able to help us develop our community connections. One highlight was the BEI stands at the CNE, where we were the only non-profit group that year. With support from our volunteers, we also started being more active on YouTube, where you can view updates from our most recent events.<\/p>

Watch the recordings of the most recent events<\/a>.<\/p>

Partnership with the Toronto Community Benefits Network (TCBN)<\/h3>

In 2022, BEI collaborated with the Next Gen Builders program of TCBN to deliver green construction training for their students. Our model connects issues of environmental racism with the realities in students\u2019 communities, while also motivating them to pursue careers in the sector by highlighting existing opportunities. We have delivered this training in partnership with subject-matter experts in solar energy and passive house construction, including Solar Alberta and 4th Pig Worker Co-op.<\/p>

Powering a strong volunteer network of Environmental Justice Champions<\/h3>

S<\/span>ince its inception, BEI has been dedicated to empowering Black youth to develop their own leadership and initiatives in environmental justice. Our Founder worked with more than seven volunteers across Toronto, Montreal, and Ottawa to coordinate several projects. Together, we launched the\u00a0I Can Breathe<\/em>\u00a0program, a citizen research initiative where community members used air-monitoring devices to track pollution levels in their neighborhoods.
<\/span>The volunteers who formed BEI\u2019s first team have since gone on to become emerging leaders in their fields, ranging from environmental law to government roles and sustainability consulting.<\/p><\/div>