The Just Solutions Podcast
What It's Going To Take to Win: Climate Week with Dr. Sacoby Wilson and Dr. Mustafa Santiago Ali
In our final episode of our Climate Week in NYC series, Aiko interviews two extraordinary guests, Dr. Sacoby Wilson and Dr. Mustafa Santiago Ali, who have made a significant impact on the environmental justice movement over decades of advocacy, education, and leadership. We talk about the promise of Climate Week and getting back to our roots, progress built on authenticity, and being inspired by the people all across the country winning on climate justice in their communities. Listen to this conversation and hear about how joy, connection, and engagement are vital in this moment. Guests: Dr. Mustafa Santiago Ali helped build the field of environmental justice from the inside. Over 24 years at the EPA he co-founded its Office of Environmental Justice and led a 17-agency federal working group. He left to become a top leader at the Hip Hop Caucus and now co-hosts the climate podcast "Think 100% - The Coolest Show on Climate Change." Along with being a recipient of the Frank Hatch Environmental Health Leadership Award , he has delivered more than 1,000 talks, worked with over 500 communities worldwide, lectured at Harvard, Yale, Spelman, and Howard, and appears regularly on MSNBC, CNN, VICE, and Democracy Now. Dr. Sacoby Wilson has spent more than 25 years studying how pollution, industry, and climate change harm Black, brown, and low-income communities, and helping those communities fight back with data. A professor at the University of Maryland School of Public Health , he founded CEEJH , a national center that puts research and monitoring tools directly in residents' hands. He sits on the U.S. EPA's Science Advisory Board, serves as Editor-in-Chief of the journal Environmental Justice, and in 2025 won the Heinz Award for the Environment . 2026 CLIMATE WEEK IN NYC: "What It's Going to Take to Win" is a three-episode podcast mini-series highlighting communities building people- and justice-centered solutions even as they continue to face threats to their livelihoods under current political conditions. Climate Week NYC is one of the world's biggest climate events, bringing together business leaders, philanthropy, nonprofit, and grassroots groups. We're using this opportunity to wade through the noise and hear from the people at the forefront of the environmental justice movement on what it will take to win on climate justice. Special thanks to The Solutions Project and Kataly Foundation for sponsoring our inaugural Climate Week Special. They both are critical partners in our powerful solutions-based storytelling, and their support helps us continue elevating trusted community leaders advancing environmental justice to audiences across the country and the world. RESOURCES TO LEARN MORE: Shack & Mu: On the Move - Dr. Sacoby Wilson and Dr. Mustafa Santiago Ali's podcast show The Center for Engagement, Environmental Justice and Health INpowering Communities (CEEJH INC) - Website Trauma to Transformation: A Set of Existential Opportunities to Address Environmental Justice and the Climate Crisis - Dr. Mustafa Santiago Ali's lecture STAY CONNECTED: www.justsolutionscollective.org Instagram: @thejustsolutionspodcast Bluesky: @justsolutionspod.bsky.social Facebook: /JustSolutionsPodcast LinkedIn: /just-solutions-collective If you enjoy listening to The Just Solutions Podcast, please consider leaving us a rating and sharing our show with someone who might be interested! Learn more about sponsorship opportunities on our site: podcast.justsolutionscollective.org/sponsors EPISODE CREDITS: Host: Aiko Schaefer Recording Engineer & Graphic Designer: Angel Bautista This episode was edited by professionals with Next Day Podcast Music: Paolo Pavan - Street Walk Album: The Swing of Things - Mar 14, 2019 Info about licensing and crediting can be found here
