{"id":5732,"date":"2025-06-17T09:53:17","date_gmt":"2025-06-17T09:53:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rosefdn.org\/?post_type=news&p=5732"},"modified":"2025-06-17T17:19:57","modified_gmt":"2025-06-17T17:19:57","slug":"raise-every-voice-new-voices-are-rising-youth-are-fighting-for-clean-air","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/rosefdn.org\/es\/latest\/raise-every-voice-new-voices-are-rising-youth-are-fighting-for-clean-air\/","title":{"rendered":"Nuevas voces se alzan Los j\u00f3venes luchan por un aire limpio"},"content":{"rendered":"

In East Oakland, youth like Jacky Verduzco grew up breathing polluted air\u2014coping with asthma, fatigue, and missed school days caused by the constant hum of freeways, air traffic, and industrial sites built right next to their homes.<\/p>\n

Jacky and her peers know what it means to live at the intersection of environmental racism and systemic neglect\u2014and they are no longer waiting for change. They are creating it.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Jacky Verduzco, the Air Quality Community Specialist Intern for New Voices Are Rising<\/p><\/div>\n

Through our New Voices Are Rising program, young BIPOC leaders from some of the Bay Area\u2019s most environmentally burdened neighborhoods are turning lived experiences into\u00a0 community power. From shaping California\u2019s first AB 617 air quality plan in West Oakland – Owning Our Air<\/a> – to pushing for East Oakland\u2019s inclusion in the program, they are redefining what environmental leadership looks like.<\/p>\n

When they saw a critical gap in real-time, neighborhood-level air quality data\u2014the kind of information needed to hold polluters and agencies accountable\u2014they did not ask for permission.<\/p>\n

They got to work.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Watch Jacky\u2019s story<\/a> to hear firsthand how East Oakland youth are leading the fight for environmental justice. This is the first in a series of videos on Instagram<\/a> y Facebook<\/a> spotlighting youth-driven campaigns for clean air, water, and resilient communities.<\/p>\n

With support from the California Air Resources Board and community donors, New Voices youth began installing air monitors throughout East Oakland. These hyperlocal sensors are uncovering pollution hotspots and arming communities with the data they need to demand stronger protections. Even more powerfully, these youth are translating the numbers into action-oriented policy solutions grounded in community experience.<\/p>\n

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Jacky installs a Purple Air monitor in East Oakland.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cAir quality in our neighborhood has always been a concern for my family. Knowing that environmental racism places us beside pollution sources\u2014and that this directly affects our health and even our lifespan\u2014is hard. Measuring it and making those impacts visible is powerful.\u201d <\/em>– Jacky Verduzco, New Voices Youth Air Quality Specialist Intern<\/p>\n

And this is just the beginning.<\/strong><\/p>\n

We are now expanding our youth-led air monitoring and advocacy work to Richmond\/San Pablo and Pittsburg\/Antioch\u2014scaling up where it is needed most.<\/p>\n

This next phase will:<\/p>\n