Garry Allan Harris

Founded in 2015, the Center for Sustainable Communities (CSC) has a mission to make communities greener, healthier, safer, and more climate resilient through activities that promote equity and environmental justice. CSC has a special focus on local projects in Virginia, but a strong national network has led to projects in several states across the country. In 2021 alone, CSC executed nearly 70 projects that directly advanced the objectives of partnering communities. Recent projects include:

● Partnering with higher education and public entities to develop computer-based technologies that assess environmental hazards in vulnerable communities
● Developing a workforce app to assist with recruitment for sustainable living-wage jobs
● Developing a community benefits agreement to provide sustainable wage jobs and career pathways
● Advancing both the rate and total number of COVID vaccinations through an effective grassroots campaign
● Improving transit and transportation on a regional scale
● Planning and implementing several sustainable development and community-building programs for the city of Portsmouth.

In 2022, CSC received a grant of nearly $500,000 from the EPA for a “JUST Science” project that will deploy air sensors in 11 minority communities, located in the region of South Atlanta, Georgia. The project aims to address potential health impacts due to the proximity of these neighborhoods to heavily traveled transportation corridors.