Brown Girl Green is closing gaps in the fight against climate change and building a powerful community through content, conversation, and a dash of radical vulnerability. Learn more in this exclusive interview with Kristy Drutman, Founder, as featured in Make The World Better Magazine.
Online communities can lead to powerful real-world connections. With the right content, tools, and a dash of radical vulnerability, creating a platform to share stories has helped close gaps and bring more people into the fight against climate change, especially those often left in the fray.
We spoke with Kristy Drutman, Founder of Brown Girl Green, about how her platform is empowering conversations, community, and careers in the climate change space.
When Typhoon Haiyan hit the Philippines, I felt devastated about the impacts the climate crisis was having and would have on the country where my family members live. I realized I had a responsibility and privilege to use my voice to raise awareness about these issues, especially in the US.
My biggest success was building an online community where people started learning about each other’s work and actually meeting each other in real life after discovering one another through the Brown Girl Green platform.
Further, creating the Green Jobs Board, a company now helping thousands of people find and secure jobs to work on the climate crisis, feels like a true, tangible impact I’ve created through digital media tools. I identified a major pain point and storytelling gap when it comes to mobilizing and bringing more people into the movement: finding spaces and opportunities for them to build long-term, lifetime careers. Multiple young people of colour are on my team, working to address accessibility gaps in the world of climate work and to begin building the standard for a sustainable and equitable future.
Having a platform creates a space for conversations that otherwise wouldn’t be prioritized or heard. It increases the surface area of opportunity for communities and campaigns that otherwise get left off the radar by the mainstream media. It provides me with the agency and autonomy to put out good work in the world without having too many strings attached to me in the process. In that way, my radical vulnerability creates a space of permission for others to strive and speak their own truth as well.
Algorithmic suppression of BIPOC creators, internet trolls/haters, and keeping the work funded through partnerships, collaborations, and my management team. All of this requires a lot of energy and brainpower to ensure the moving puzzle pieces create a sustainable platform and workflow. Also having to vet who I work with — based on ethics, sustainability of my work, etc. — takes it to the next level.
Yes! The new release of greenjobsboard.us. For any companies and organizations looking for a platform to hire amazing, diverse talent, please consider using Green Jobs Board! Also, the Brown Girl Green podcast is up and on fire these days with weekly episodes all about climate education and environmental justice. If you’re looking for an environmental podcast curated with fascinating topics and full of melanin, subscribe to wherever you listen to shows and the Brown Girl Green YouTube channel.
I am always looking for organizations and values-aligned businesses to collaborate with, whether it be speaking engagements, workshops, content, or getting green jobs up on our site! If you’re someone who feels aligned with my work and mission to bring more diversity, equity, and inclusion to the climate space via storytelling and education, please hit me up!
browngirlgreen.com/
browngirlgreen.com/greenjobs
facebook.com/browngirlgreen/
twitter.com/browngirl_green (@BrownGirl_Green)
linkedin.com/company/brown-girl-green/
instagram.com/browngirl_green/ (@browngirl_green)
youtube.com/@BrownGirlGreen/
patreon.com/browngirlgreen
communities.kajabi.com/browngirlgreen/challenges
This story was featured in the Make The World Better Magazine:
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