Who We Are
Meet the Team & Board of Directors
The Team
Mandi McAlister
(she/her/hers)
Co-Executive Director, Founder
Mandi McAlister is an organizer, consultant, and environmental justice activist. She works to engage the community in action that will build a sustainable Milwaukee, where all people can thrive and live in dignity.
Through her social enterprise, Hummingbird, and Fair Future Movement, she fights racism and oppression, builds community around action and our shared values, advocates for policy that ensures all people and the planet can thrive, and shares information to inspire and enable folks to take action.
Mandi is committed to this work because everyone has the right to enjoy all that our world and community has to offer. She believes that even our smallest of actions have power, and together we can make sure this right is a reality for everyone.
Jasmine Roberson
(she/her/hers)
Co-Executive Director
Jasmine Roberson is an organizer and nonprofit professional who is passionate about racial and environmental justice, and educating people on how all these things intersect and impact our community.
Jasmine is committed to this work because she believes in the collective power of the people and in building a sustainable place to live, work, and thrive.
Kyla Smith
(she/they)
Facilitator
Kyla Smith describes herself as an Earth lover, an organizer, and a cat enthusiast. This is their second year facilitating the Community Learning Series. She is currently an Environment and Resources graduate student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, where she focuses her research on community created residential energy policies and programming.
They have previously worked in climate justice organizing, outreach and communications for environmental justice research and education, and is an environmental justice consultant. In her free time, Kyla enjoys hiking, birding, binge watching TV shows, hanging out with her partner and cats, and reading.
Board of Directors
Nora Godoy-González
(she/her/ella)
Co-Chair
Nora Godoy-González is the Placemaking Director at Milwaukee Harbor District. Nora manages community input and outreach activities to increase the visibility of the organization within the community to meet the organizational vision and goals. She builds and reinforces relationships with resident, neighboring southside communities and Latino business connections to ensure community input is at the center of decision making. She also strategizes and implements communication for the organization on communication platforms.
Prior to working at the Milwaukee Harbor District, Nora was a Community School Coordinator through the Milwaukee Community School Partnership where she worked closely with the stakeholders at a local Southside K-8 school to create and sustain systems within the school to ensure the success of students, parents/guardians, and the school.
Nora is a proud Milwaukeean with roots in Zacatecas, Mexico, where her family is from. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Public Relations and Spanish for the Business Professions from Marquette University. Nora is passionate about community work and approaches her work through the lens of equity, inclusion, and authenticity. She believes the best way to approach community work is through an open mind and meeting people where they are at to ensure people feel valued and part of the team. Outside of work, Nora is a huge foodie and frequents locally owned restaurants with her loved ones, enjoys baking and cooking, reading, running and walking in nature, traveling the world, and cuddling with her cat.
Amber West
(she/her/hers)
Co-Chair
Amber West was born and raised on the Northside of Milwaukee, WI. She’s been organizing for 10+ years around racial, gender, education, youth justice. She’s an organizing manager at another non-profit in Milwaukee. Her goal is to create a safe Milwaukee for youth, and that includes climate, civic, and social justice work year-round.
Adriana Vázquez
(she/her/hers)
Secretary
Born and raised on the Southside of Milwaukee, a graduate of MPS, and a K-12 classroom teacher by training, Adriana Vázquez is now doing her best to serve Milwaukee as the Director of Education & Public Programs at the Milwaukee Public Museum.
Adriana is a teacher at heart, but believes to be the best teacher she can be, she should always see herself as a student first. She loves to learn, especially about the perspectives of people with different lived experiences as her own. She tries her best to avoid assumptions, listen to understand, humbly learn from others, and seek opportunities to be helpful. That said, she can get passionately indignant when she perceives injustice, hidden agendas, and inauthenticity. This is what drew her into learning about environmental justice and into many wonderful discussions with folks at Fair Future Movement!
Adriana loves talking about and participating in effective community involvement and engagement – particularly in multigenerational contexts – and to find ways to support people of any age who want to reinforce their formal and informal education. She feels it is an honor to serve on the interim board!
Leah Holloway
(she/her/hers)
Board Member
Leah Holloway is the Program Manager for Milwaukee Riverkeeper and one of the lead organizers for the Plastic-Free MKE movement. Leah grew up on a small lake in northern Minnesota and has always been drawn to the water. After a 14-year career in environmental education in Minnesota and Illinois, Leah moved to Milwaukee in 2017 to refocus her career around water, starting with a degree from UWM’s School of Freshwater Sciences.
Leah is passionate about building community, social and environmental justice, and unlearning white supremacy culture. She and her two cats live in Sherman Park, where she enjoys converting her lawn to a native plant and pollinator oasis, reading, and spending time with her friends, family, and neighbors. Leah is also on the Sherman Park Community Association board and plays underwater hockey for the Milwaukee Manatees.