about us

The DEA was built on five core principles

  1. Ensure environmental justice: protect and involve vulnerable populations in decisions that impact their lives.

  2. Protect and restore Earth’s resources: land, water and aire.

  3. Engage affected residents to understand community needs and potential impacts.

  4. Leverage the connection between environmental solutions and health, safety, jobs and education.

  5. Build on successful models in Detroit and from elsewhere.

Meet the DEA

  • Alliance for the Great Lakes

    The Alliance for the Great Lakes is a nonpartisan nonprofit working across the region to protect our most precious resource: the fresh, clean, and natural waters of the Great Lakes.

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  • Community Action to Promote Healthy Environments

    Community Action to Promote Healthy Environments (CAPHE) is a community-based participatory research partnership that involves community-based organizations, the health practice community, environmental organizations, and academic researchers.

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  • Center for Urban Responses to Environmental Stressors

    CURES researchers and community partners work together to understand how human complex exposures to chemical and non-chemical stressors in the urban environment can influence the development of environmentally-linked disease.

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  • Community Development Advocates of Detroit

    CDAD advocates for public policies and resources that advance the work of Detroit organizations who are engaged in physical development, land use planning, community organizing, and other activities designed to stabilize and revitalize the quality of life in Detroit. 

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  • Detroit Food Policy Council

    The DFPC is an education, advocacy and policy organization led by Detroiters committed to creating a sustainable, local food system that promotes food security, food justice and food sovereignty in the city of Detroit.

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  • Detroit Greenways Coalition

    DGC works to promote and build a network of greenways that will connect people and places, improve the quality of life, beautify neighborhoods, and stimulate neighborhood-level economic development in Detroit.

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  • Detroit Hispanic Development Corporation

    DHDC creates life-changing opportunities for youth and their families by providing quality, innovative, and culturally appropriate services, primarily in Southwest Detroit.

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  • Detroiters Working for Environmental Justice

    Led by a team of activists, advocates, organizers, artists and storytellers, DWEJ advocates for a healthy environment through innovative community and policy action that values all people.

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  • Eastside Community Network

    The Eastside Community Network develops programs and resources that center the needs of east side residents and amplify their voices with respect to the development of their communities.

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  • EcoWorks

    From green consulting, home energy assistance, climate advocacy, and workforce development, EcoWorks enables Michigan communities to thrive by addressing the urgent challenges of climate change.

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  • Green Door Initiative

    The Green Door Initiative works to ensure that all Detroiters are environmentally literate, capable of promoting and living out a sustainable lifestyle regardless of race, income and zip code.

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  • Great Lakes Environmental Law Center

    GLEC is Michigan’s foremost environmental legal advocacy organization, with special focus on addressing environmental issues impacting people of color and low-income communities.

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  • Henry Ford Health System

    Henry Ford Health System is one of the nation’s leading academic medical centers, recognized for clinical excellence in cancer care, cardiology and cardiovascular surgery, neurology and neurosurgery, and more.

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  • Keep Growing Detroit

    Keep Growing Detroit’s mission is to promote a food sovereign city where the majority of fruits and vegetables consumed by Detroiters are grown by residents within the city’s limits.

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  • Michigan Environmental Council

    The Environmental Council champions lasting protections for Michigan’s air, water, and the places we love, driving smart, sound solutions to environmental challenges at the state capitol.

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  • Southwest Detroit Environmental Vision

    SDEV works to improve the environment and strengthen the economy of Southwest Detroit through key partnerships to combat environmental issues, including air quality, blight and incompatible land use.

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  • Southwest Detroit Community Benefits Coalition

    SDCBC works to ensure that the Delray/Southwest Detroit community receives protections and community benefits with the Gordie Howe International Bridge project.

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  • Zero Waste Detroit

    ZWD works to move the City of Detroit to a solid waste management system that prioritizes recycling and materials recovery and away from waste incineration.

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