The Equity Subcommittee of the Maine Climate Council supports ongoing planning and implementation of the state’s climate strategies to ensure shared benefits across diverse populations in Maine.

The Equity Subcommittee is comprised of a leadership team (below), and of representatives to each working group. 

The subcommittee built upon a groundbreaking equity analysis of the Maine Climate Council’s climate strategies that took place during the summer of 2020. That analysis, by the Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions at the University of Maine, placed an equity lens on the four-year climate action plan, but also identified the need for further focus on ensuring climate equity in Maine as the state seeks to implement climate mitigation and adaptation programs. Following two years of deliberations (2021-2023), the Equity Subcommittee adopted its final recommendations for submission to the Maine Climate Council (PDF) in March, 2023. These recommendations help ensure that all Maine people can benefit from climate action. 

 

Subcommittee Leadership

Equity Subcommittee Leadership
Maulian Bryant, Executive Director of the Wabanaki Alliance
Noël Bonam, AARP Maine, Maine Climate Council
Amara Ifeji, Maine Environmental Education Association, Maine Climate Council
Dr. Puthiery Va, Maine CDC, Community Resilience Working Group
Jason Parent, Aroostook Community Action Program, Energy Working Group
 
Members

Darren Ranco, University of Maine, Natural and Working Lands Working Group
Bethany Humphrey, The Climate Initiative, Natural and Working Lands Working Group

Rebecca Boulos, Maine Public Health Association, Resilience Working Group 
Eileen Johnson, Bowdoin College, Resilience Working Group

Gabe McPhail, Resilient Communities, L3C, Coastal and Marine Working Group
Marissa McMahan, Manomet, Coastal and Marine Working Group

Moise Mulamba, Ready Seafood, Energy Working Group
Jason Parent, Aroostook County Action Program, Energy Working Group

Dale Basher, Downeast Community Partners, Buildings Working Group
Safiya Khalid, Community Organizing Alliance, Buildings Working Group

Sandy Buchanan, Western Maine Transportation Services, Inc., Transportation Working Group