About Us

Our History

CEWG's member organizations first met in Autumn 2017 in Richmond, VA. At this first gathering, CEWG coalesced around the collective strengths of its member organizations and the desire to pursue equitable climate solutions derived from community input and expertise. In 2021, CEWG added a Coalition Manager, followed shortly by a Policy Fellow. In 2024, CEWG's member organizations and staff are actively engaging in grassroots and grasstops outreach as we pursue equitable climate solutions in Virginia.

Our Mission

CEWG's mission is to contribute to decarbonization in Virginia with special attention to ensuring a just transition in energy and fenceline communities across the Commonwealth. CEWG is dedicating to shifting Virginia's economic narrative from one that disproportionately harms Black and Brown communities. The coalition thoughtfully engages with advocacy leaders and community members across the state to ensure that CEWG is plugging into existing progress towards decarbonization, while identifying outreach and policy gaps that our member organizations are poised to fill.

Our Staff

In addition to the collective bandwidth and expertise of staff from CEWG's member organizations, the coalition is supported by two full-time staff members:

Policy Director

Melissa Thomas

Melissa Thomas is the Policy Director for the Climate Equity Working Group, where she coordinates coalition governance and statewide legislative strategy to advance equity-centered climate policy in Virginia. She works closely with member organizations to align shared priorities and ensure that communities most impacted by climate change help set policy direction.

A lifelong Richmond, Virginia resident, Melissa brings a background in community organizing that bridges grassroots leadership and policy advocacy, with a focus on building and empowering communities to drive lasting change. She is a mom to three, lives with her partner, and is a fledgling native plant caretaker. Outside of work, she enjoys hiking, camping, and kayaking and is a devoted VCU basketball fan.

Climate & Equity Policy Fellow

Benjamin Hoyne

Benjamin Hoyne joined the Climate Equity Working Group in 2024 as the Climate Equity & Policy Fellow. He has a passion for climate justice. He has more than ten years of experience in policy, community organizing, advocacy, and program management.

Benjamin holds a Master of Business Administration and a MA in Global Environmental Policy. Both are from American University in Washington, D.C. He also holds bachelor’s degrees from the University of Washington and the University of Vermont in Latin American Studies & Spanish. Benjamin is comfortable working in English, Portuguese, and Spanish.

Benjamin is based in Richmond, Virginia. He enjoys spending his free time exploring the East Coast with his family, paddling on rivers, and playing samba.

CEWG Members

Chesapeake Climate Action Network

The Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN) is the first grassroots, nonprofit organization dedicated exclusively to fighting global warming in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. Our mission is to build and mobilize a powerful grassroots movement in this unique region that surrounds our nation’s capital to call for state, national and international policies that will put us on a path to climate stability.

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Virginia Interfaith Power and Light

Virginia Interfaith Power & Light collaborates among people of faith and conscience to grow healthy communities by advancing climate and environmental justice.

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New Virginia Majority

New Virginia Majority (NVM), Virginia’s leading civic engagement organization, builds power in working-class communities of color across the Commonwealth. We organize in communities year-round for racial, economic, and environmental justice through political education, mass-scale voter outreach, mobilization, and intensive leadership development around dozens of issues. Our organization strives to create a powerful movement to transform Virginia through voter engagement and issue campaigns that develop civic leadership and build public support.

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Appalachian Voices

Founded in 1997, Appalachian Voices brings people together to protect the land, air and water of Central and Southern Appalachia and advance a just transition to a generative and equitable clean energy economy. We work in North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.

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Virginia Organizing

Virginia Organizing is a non-partisan statewide grassroots organization dedicated to challenging injustice by empowering people in local communities to address issues that affect the quality of their lives. Virginia Organizing especially encourages the participation of those who have traditionally had little or no voice in our society. By building relationships with individuals and groups throughout the state, Virginia Organizing strives to get them to work together, democratically and non-violently, for change.

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Progress Virginia

At Progress Virginia, we drive powerful, values-based narratives to uplift and amplify grassroots voices through innovative digital communications and earned media strategies. We build progressive power alongside marginalized communities to tear down systems of white supremacy, advocate for equitable policies, and ensure leaders reflect the communities they serve.

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