EJOHP

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What is the Environmental Justice Oral History Project?

Conceptualized in 2021, formalized in 2023, and incorporated in 2026, the Environmental Justice Oral History Project (EJOHP) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit storytelling hub dedicated to documenting and amplifying the lived experiences of communities shaping the environmental justice movement. Through oral history, journalism, archival preservation, and multimedia storytelling, EJOHP centers voices that have too often been overlooked in mainstream environmental and policy conversations.

Grounded in the American South and rooted in place-based storytelling, EJOHP documents both environmental harm and environmental joy, bringing a humanistic lens to environmental issues and advocating for solutions that are just, equitable, and anti-racist.

While environmental justice is often defined as the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people in environmental decision-making, this EJOHP advances a broader understanding: Environmental justice is not only about pollution exposure or regulatory equity; it encompasses land-based joy, ancestral relationships to place, and the cultural practices that sustain communities. It is both a movement and a living tradition that confronts past wrongs, addresses present inequities, and advances collective well-being.

Despite its deep ties to the Civil Rights Movement, environmental justice remains under-documented and under-recognized. The Environmental Justice Oral History Project works to close that gap by preserving movement history and elevating intergenerational leadership. In partnership with community leaders across generations, EJOHP strengthens narrative power and ensures that the stories shaping environmental justice are told by those who live them.

Community Partners

Community partnership and community-ownership represent the core of the EJ Oral History Project ethic. We are extremely grateful for the time and insights our partners have given us as well as the faith they place in us to document, archive, and showcase their stories.

The Rural Beacon Initiative

The Rural Beacon Initiative (RBI) is a BIPOC-led social enterprise that leverages deployed projects to increase community ownership in the emerging supply chains of clean energy and regenerative agriculture. RBI’s mission is to ensure that BIPOC communities—particularly BIPOC communities in the Southeast—are at the forefront of a just transition that deploys projects which not only lower emissions and electrify communities but create real economic opportunities for those that have too long been siloed from this conversation.

The EJOHP has worked with RBI founder, William Barber III, to collect oral histories and develop articles about their organizations first deployed project, the Free Union Farms Hub, and the legacy of the Piney Woods Free Union community in Jamesville, North Carolina.

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The North Carolina Black Alliance

The North Carolina Black Alliance (NCBA) is working toward state-level systemic change by strengthening the network of elected officials representing communities of color throughout the state and collaborating with progressive, grassroots networks on intersecting issues.  These issues range from voting rights, gerrymandering, criminal justice reform, health and wellness, economic development to education. The North Carolina Black Alliance is committed to advocating for environmental justice, ensuring that water and air quality in Black communities is not contaminated, and eliminating inequalities in the location of environmentally hazardous facilities and enterprises.

The EJOHP is a recipient of NCBA’s 2022 Environmental Justice mini-grant and has worked with Environmental Justice programming team leaders La’Meshia Whittington and Jovita Lee to strategize on best engagement practices for our oral history, journalism, and podcast components.

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The Warren County Environmental Action Team

The Warren County Environmental Action Team (WCEAT) is a network of organizations & individuals working together to record, celebrate, and share Warren County's environmental justice legacy, natural resources, and diverse culture.

The EAT engages with other community leaders on various initiatives, including:

  • Offering environmental justice-focused tours of Warren County
  • ​Supporting local farms and community gardens
  • Connecting Warren County with ongoing environmental justice movements
  • Building community among residents and grassroots organizers in Warren County

The EJOHP worked with WCEAT on the 40th anniversary of Environmental Justice celebrations and has connected with several network members for oral history guidance and direction.

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The Great Dismal Swamp Stakeholder Collaborative

Vision:
We aim to create a series of linked conservation and cultural preservation projects in collaboration with federal, state, and municipal leaders, reflecting both the complex ecological history of the Swamp and the rich histories of its local communities.

Mission:
We strive to strengthen the relationship between cultural, tribal, environmental, and governmental organizations to advance equitable and inclusive activities that benefit all stakeholders, while respecting the Swamp as its own stakeholder.

Approach:
We host regular facilitated stakeholder meetings to foster trusting, mutually respectful relationships between tribal, federal, state, and municipal leaders and cultural community representatives in the Dismal Swamp region.

The EJOHP partnered with the Great Dismal Swamp Stakeholder Collaborative to build an oral history collection, mini-documentary, and process materials in connection to the rich history of the Great Dismal Swamp.

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Friends of Buckingham

Friends of Buckingham is a group of of Buckingham County citizens united to work with county leaders to attract economic investment opportunities that benefit all residents, and that contribute to a sustainable healthy environment. They are dedicated to celebrating their county’s diverse cultural heritage, rural lifestyle, and to protecting natural resources and last, remaining, wild places.

Towards that end, they are committed to protecting the health and environment from any outside interests that seek to exploit their natural resources, such as the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP, formerly known as the Dominion Southeast Reliability Project).

The EJOHP partnered with Friends of Buckingham to collect a mini-collection of oral histories on the civil disobedience that took place in response to the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline from 2013-2020.

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The Center for Rural Enterprise and Environmental Justice

The Center for Rural Enterprise and Environmental Justice (former the Alabama Center for Rural Enterprise) was created by Catherine Coleman Flowers to reduce health and economic disparities and improve access to clean air, water, and soil in marginalized rural communities by influencing policy, inspiring innovation, catalyzing relevant research, and amplifying the voices of community leaders, all within the context of a changing climate.

CREEJ, as a part of a longstanding partnership with Duke University, was one of the original project partners and grant applicants in 2021.

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INSTITUTIONAL

PARTNERS

The EJOHP seeks to utilize institutional powers and resources to elevate the voices and narratives of historically disinvested communities. To that end, we appreciate the support of our institutional sponsors: university partners who have lent us their funding, expertise, or long-term archives.

Who We ARE

Our work would not be possible without the effort, patience, flexibility, and care of our partners and volunteer oral historians, journalists, and advocates. We are extremely proud of the epiphanies, laughter, progress, and fellowship we’ve fostered as a part of this process.

To learn more about our amazing student and volunteer team members, check out the individual oral history and collection pages.

LEADERSHIP TEAM

Cameron Oglesby

Founder, Executive Director, + Board Chair

Cameron Oglesby is an internationally award-winning environmental justice organizer, strategist, and storyteller who has spent nearly a decade advancing climate education, redistributing resources to frontline communities, reporting on environmental racism and land in the U.S., and advising cross-sector partners from strategy development to impact evaluation. She holds a Master’s in Public Policy and a Bachelor’s in Environmental Science and Policy from Duke University and currently serves as Senior Consultant for Narrative and Influence at Frontline Solutions. Her work has been featured in documentary film and on national stages, where she has spoken alongside originators of the Environmental Justice Movement and presented on community narrative as a climate solution with institutions including the EPA, the Commission for Environmental Cooperation, and NATO.
In addition to leading the Environmental Justice Oral History Project, Cameron is Board Chair of The Margin and serves on the boards of the Rural Beacon Initiative and the Warren County Environmental Action Team. She’s a developing author, having contributed to the Liberation Stories anthology and is co-authoring a forthcoming primer on the history of environmental racism in the U.S. A National Geographic Young Explorer, Aspen Institute Future Leader Climate Fellow, Young, Gifted, and Green 40 Under 40 Awardee, and NAAEE 30 Under 30 Leader, her reporting and storytelling have been recognized by the Sierra Club, Southern Environmental Law Center, Covering Climate Now, and the Society of Environmental Journalists. Her work is grounded in her family’s century-old ancestral farmland and a deep commitment to preserving movement history and building narrative power.
Cameron serves as the primary organizer for EJOHP managing everything from strategic development, fundraising, journalistic content creation, outreach, and curation of oral histories and other resources with community and academic partners.

Amanda Ostuni

Transcription Manager (2023-Present)

Amanda Ostuni has a Master of Public Policy from Duke University, and a BA in Journalism from Northeastern University. She spent nearly two years as a reporter for a daily newspaper in Massachusetts, before leaving to serve in an AmeriCorps disaster relief program. Through that service experience, she gained deep insight into myriad of environmental issues and injustices across the South. It bolstered her interest in human rights advocacy, and though after the program she spent a few more years working in various media roles, in 2020, she began transitioning toward a policy career.
Today, she’s leveraging her communications skills and policy/political knowledge to improve social justice by conducting outreach and casework for the unhoused population in NYC, and by providing transcript and journalistic support to the EJ Oral History Project.

Board of Directors

EJOHP is guided by a Board of Directors composed of emerging leaders in environmental justice organizing, coalition-building, journalism, and land-based oral history. Drawing on their broad and interdisciplinary expertise, our board members help ensure that our vision, strategy, and growth remain grounded in movement principles and a commitment to the authentic building of narrative power.

Iris Crawford-Maskell

Climate Editor + Environmental Journalist

Iris M. Crawford-Maskell is a strategic communicator, editor, and movement journalist focused on amplifying people-power movements and narratives. She is currently the Strategic Communications Director at Race Forward. Previously, she was a communications advisor at the US EPA, focusing on the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in Region 2. 
Her reporting has appeared in NPQ, The Guardian, Civil Eats, San Francisco Chronicle, and Colorlines, among other publications. She also recently joined the board of WEACT 4 Change, the political arm of WEACT for Environmental Justice. Iris is also the co-chair of The Uproot Project, a support network for environmental and climate journalists of color who remain underrepresented in the media industry. She has a BA from Syracuse University and an MS from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Iris currently serves as EJOHP’s Board Secretary.

Ameena Hester

Environmental Policy Researcher

Ameena is an environmental policy and data practitioner with roots in North Carolina. A double Tarheel, she earned her Master’s of Public Policy (MPP) degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Ameena previously served as Assistant Project Coordinator for EJOHP, and is passionate about engaging communities in crafting creative environmental justice strategies.
Ameena currently serves as EJOHP’s Board Treasurer.

Ambar Wortham

Land-based Oral Historian

Ambar Wortham is an oral historian, transportation planner, and creative composer who explores what moves us. She’s responsible for stewarding and increasing access to greenways, parks, and open spaces while increasing multimodal transportation options across the U.S. With 10+ years of experience, her projects have won awards from the American Society of Landscape Architects in Boston and New York City.
She is a Forefront Fellow with the Urban Design Forum, a Public Voices Fellow with The OpEd Project, and the Yale School for Climate Change Communications. Ambar holds a B.S. in History, Technology & Society from the Georgia Institute of Technology and an M.A. in Oral History from Columbia University.
As a grandchild of the Great Migration, Ambar stewards family history and traditional knowledge to the next generation through her practice, Dandelyons Studios. She credits her path to her first teachers: her grandparents and the land.

Abigail Franks

Coalition-builder for Southern Communities

Abigail Franks is a 7th-generation Appalachian and lover of people and planet. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) with a B.A in Political Science and Peace, Justice, and Ecology; she was a 2019 Rhodes Scholarship Finalist for the University of Oxford in the UK. She is currently pursuing her Master’s of Public Administration and teaching Environmental Politics at her alma mater.
She is especially passionate about transforming the South into a sustainable and resilient region through advocating for and crafting climate-adaptive and environmental policies. Her interests include southern U.S. history, environmental policy, environmental justice, community-based leadership, disaster resilience, clean energy, and grassroots climate mitigation and adaptation strategies. She is the Senior Membership and Policy Manager for the Southeast Climate and Energy Network (SCEN) as well as the co-host of SCEN’s Climate Justice Y’all Podcast. 

Jamoni Overby

Environmental + Nature Advocate for DMV Communities

Jamoni Overby is a community advocate, social impact strategist, educator, and connector committed to uplifting Black communities and advancing equity across Washington, DC and beyond. With a background spanning policy, community engagement, environmental justice, and experience curation, she works to ensure historically marginalized voices are centered in decision-making spaces. She currently serves as the DC Conservation Advocate for Nature Forward, where she champions initiatives that connect residents to resources, dismantle systemic barriers, and build community-sustaining programs.
Jamoni has organized large-scale convenings such as the Taking Nature Black Conference and Rooting DC, designed youth-focused climate justice programs, and amplified Black students’ voices in national environmental conversations. Through consulting and independent projects, she supports grassroots organizations in strengthening program design and strategy. Her recent project, Mother Nature is a Black Woman, supported by the American Bird Conservancy’s Afro Futurism Collective, explores the parallels between nature and the lived experience of Black women. A fifth-generation Washingtonian by way of Prince George’s County, Jamoni grounds her work in the intersections of housing, health, environment, and culture, and remains committed to protecting community, tradition, and collective power.

Project Mentors

EJOHP is committed to cultivating relationships that ensure our projects and processes lean on best storytelling and community-engagement practices as well as principles of environmental justice. Our “mentors”, who have served as sounding boards, advisors, and supports at varying stages in project development, help us in maintaining our commitment to intentional, community-owned storytelling. 

Wesley hogan

Social Justice + Human Rights Oral Historian

Abigail Franks is a 7th-generation Appalachian and lover of people and planet. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) with a B.A in Political Science and Peace, Justice, and Ecology; she was a 2019 Rhodes Scholarship Finalist for the University of Oxford in the UK. She is currently pursuing her Master’s of Public Administration and teaching Environmental Politics at her alma mater.
She is especially passionate about transforming the South into a sustainable and resilient region through advocating for and crafting climate-adaptive and environmental policies. Her interests include southern U.S. history, environmental policy, environmental justice, community-based leadership, disaster resilience, clean energy, and grassroots climate mitigation and adaptation strategies. She is the Senior Membership and Policy Manager for the Southeast Climate and Energy Network (SCEN) as well as the co-host of SCEN’s Climate Justice Y’all Podcast. 

Maggie Lemere

Environmental Documentarian + Oral Historian

Jamoni Overby is a community advocate, social impact strategist, educator, and connector committed to uplifting Black communities and advancing equity across Washington, DC and beyond. With a background spanning policy, community engagement, environmental justice, and experience curation, she works to ensure historically marginalized voices are centered in decision-making spaces. She currently serves as the DC Conservation Advocate for Nature Forward, where she champions initiatives that connect residents to resources, dismantle systemic barriers, and build community-sustaining programs.
Jamoni has organized large-scale convenings such as the Taking Nature Black Conference and Rooting DC, designed youth-focused climate justice programs, and amplified Black students’ voices in national environmental conversations. Through consulting and independent projects, she supports grassroots organizations in strengthening program design and strategy. Her recent project, Mother Nature is a Black Woman, supported by the American Bird Conservancy’s Afro Futurism Collective, explores the parallels between nature and the lived experience of Black women. A fifth-generation Washingtonian by way of Prince George’s County, Jamoni grounds her work in the intersections of housing, health, environment, and culture, and remains committed to protecting community, tradition, and collective power.

Anjali Boyd

Conservationist + Marine Scientist

Abigail Franks is a 7th-generation Appalachian and lover of people and planet. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) with a B.A in Political Science and Peace, Justice, and Ecology; she was a 2019 Rhodes Scholarship Finalist for the University of Oxford in the UK. She is currently pursuing her Master’s of Public Administration and teaching Environmental Politics at her alma mater.
She is especially passionate about transforming the South into a sustainable and resilient region through advocating for and crafting climate-adaptive and environmental policies. Her interests include southern U.S. history, environmental policy, environmental justice, community-based leadership, disaster resilience, clean energy, and grassroots climate mitigation and adaptation strategies. She is the Senior Membership and Policy Manager for the Southeast Climate and Energy Network (SCEN) as well as the co-host of SCEN’s Climate Justice Y’all Podcast. 

William barber iii

Environmental Lawyer + Southern Land Steward

William J. Barber III is a renewable energy leader with over a decade of experience in environmental justice. As a bridge-builder between grassroots leaders and corporations, he crafts equitable climate solutions for BIPOC communities.
In 2019, he founded The Rural Beacon Initiative to operationalize equity in sustainable supply chains and green finance. Recognized by Governor Cooper as a STEM leader, William’s impact is featured in NextGen’s 30 under 30. Currently, he serves as Senior Director of Investments and Impact at the Coalition for Green Capital, accelerating clean energy investment to combat the climate crisis through strategic, inclusive financial frameworks.

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