Dear Movement Family,
I started working for NC WARN with the intent to blend my decades of experience from non-profit work with my activism at the intersections of various justice movements. I was intrigued by the opportunity to bring my organizing and anti-oppression/anti-racism training skills to help shape an organization that already had a couple of decades of history with mostly white members. The diverse board and staff and compelling mission drew me in and I began my role as Outreach Coordinator in April 2011.
Now, twelve years later, I will retire as NC WARN’s Senior Climate Justice Director on August 31, 2023. Many of you know I dance to a different drum, so instead of waxing on about events during my tenure, I want to talk about the people I became connected to and the relationships I’ve cultivated. If we met at work meetings, membership gatherings, cultural events, workshops, boards, advisory councils, coalition spaces or video conferencing during the Covid 19 crisis, thank you for sharing space and community with me. It doesn’t matter in what year we met, I have enjoyed our time together. I always kept my mind open and felt comfortable being authentic, neither playing small nor performing for your gaze. I will miss our annual meetings, community gatherings and programmatic work. I want you to know that I leave with lifelong friendships forged with many co-workers and former staff, members and volunteers and countless allies across our movement ecosystem.
I leave with gratitude for NC WARN’s combination of inside/outside strategies, legal/regulatory and media prowess and most certainly, organizing and grassroots support. I’m proud of our track record in embracing environmental and climate justice values while still watch-dogging our monopoly electric utility, challenging its fossil fuel business model and contesting its dirty dealing.
I deeply appreciate NC WARN’s dedication to Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) both within and without. Our board and staff have worked consistently for years to integrate JEDI training and enact policy changes to become an increasingly multi-racial, multicultural organization. This JEDI work has allowed me to embrace the paradox of being strong and vulnerable at the same time, and I’ve never had to participate in my own marginalization.
I’ve always felt encouraged to name ways NC WARN could contribute to moving beyond our organization to making our movement more diverse and inclusive too. When I requested that the management sponsor each of the six statewide NC Climate Justice Summits, they have not only said yes but have provided funding at the highest “Climate Champion” level. Some staff have also volunteered in-kind support during the Summits. I’ve been moved by this commitment of resources to embody the JEDI principles that many other organizations only talk about.
So, what’s next for me? I’m embracing my “baby boomer” sensibilities, including accepting that I should no longer drive at night. And I’m fully leaning into my status as a movement “elder.” I’m gonna hang out my shingle as a cultural worker and finally make the time to create some gourd art and rattles to accompany myself as I continue to dance to my own drumbeat.
In solidarity and gratitude,
Connie Leeper
NC WARN Climate Justice Director
