The Power of Collaboration: Celebrating All We Accomplished Together in 2021
You made 2021 an exciting year of growth, advocacy, and justice for GIPL! As we begin the new year, the GIPL team reflects on some of the highlights of 2021 and their aspirations for 2022. Let’s celebrate all that we achieved together last year and look forward to continuing our collective momentum on eco-faith and environmental justice efforts throughout Georgia this year.
Codi Norred, Executive Director:
I am so proud of the work that GIPL has been able to accomplish over the last year. In spite of the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, GIPL has continued to implement climate solutions in congregations across Georgia while also equipping communities to advocate for just climate policies at the local, state, and federal levels. GIPL would not be nearly as successful as we have been without the support of our Green Teams, donors, incredibly supportive Board of Directors, and our dedicated staff! So, thank you everyone for your support thus far, and I hope you will join us as we continue our work in 2022!
Throughout 2021, GIPL recruited, supported, and coached more Green Teams than ever before. In addition to our expanded organizing capacity, we have developed a holistic model for implementing practical climate solutions at congregations in partnership with Drawdown GA, and we expanded our priority advocacy issues to include the prevention of biomass and the protections of the Okefenokee Swamp in addition to our continued work on coal ash, energy-efficiency expansion, Plant Vogtle, and energy-burden related issues. Over the last year, GIPL has doubled in staff size in order to continue to support these initiatives and to support our growing network of Green Teams, and we have every intention of continuing to grow in order to meet the climate challenges before us.
To this end, in 2022, you can expect us to add new staff, new programs, and new opportunities for communities of faith to engage the issues of climate change and environmental injustices. Over the next year, we will double down on our advocacy and policy efforts, as 2022 will be one of the most significant years for policy around clean energy, alleviating energy burden, and protecting our most sacred wild places. We enter into 2022 knowing there will be challenges, climate deniers, and leaders who continue to choose profit over people. Yet, as we note these challenges, we remain unwavering in our commitment as co-laborers with God to safeguard this good Earth. We will raise our voices even louder in both the city square and the pulpit, reminding our elected officials, our utility providers, our own faith communities, and at times ourselves, that it is a holy duty to care for the environment and our neighbors.
Joanna Kobylivker, Community Organizer:
I have so enjoyed my first 8 months as a Community Organizer with GIPL! As the dedicated Community Organizer for the Jewish community, I have gotten to know so many different congregations in the greater Atlanta area and even coastal Georgia.
We have a core group of very active Green Teams from synagogues in the metro Atlanta area, and most recently we have really broadened our engagement to 13 synagogues. Many of these congregations are new to GIPL and have very enthusiastically enrolled in GIPL’s premier climate solutions, namely the Power Wise program. Several completed energy audits in 2021, identified opportunities to improve energy efficiency, reduce utility bills, and even applied for matching funds to help pay for the improvements. It has been so rewarding to hear the sincere gratitude for GIPL to help guide these congregations towards a more sustainable path.
By engaging with GIPL, these congregations have also formed new Green Teams to further their commitment to environmental stewardship. I am so looking forward to partnering with these members in 2022 to enhance their Jewish learning and programming with the value of sustainability and Tikkun Olam.
Hannah Shultz, Program Coordinator:
As the Program Coordinator, I spent much of my time in 2021 engaging communities of faith in the stewardship of Creation through their Green Team initiatives and GIPL’s practical climate solutions. I was excited to see 24 new green teams register with GIPL in 2021. Green Teams are an integral part of our work as they educate, motivate, and mobilize their faith communities to speak out against climate injustice and integrate environmental stewardship into the life of the congregation. It has been a joy to get to know so many enthusiastic Green Team members and leaders who are dedicated to making a real impact locally and nationally.
One of the highlights of 2021 has been meeting with Green Teams monthly at our Green Team Roundtables, which launched in June. At these virtual meetings, Green Teams have an opportunity to share about the projects they are working on, the joys and challenges of this work, and resources they have found helpful. It’s been inspiring to see Green Teams from across the state collaborate in this way and I’m looking forward to continuing to host monthly virtual roundtables in 2022.
Also in 2021, GIPL started a new partnership with Chattahoochee Riverkeeper (CRK) to engage congregations in faith-based outings. I served with a group of youth in June who helped clean up tires, plastic water bottles, and other litter on the banks of a creek in a local park in Atlanta. I also had the joy of joining three congregations on CRK’s floating classroom on West Point Lake for a chance to learn about water quality and conservation and participate in prayers and meditations from their faith tradition. These offerings allow congregations to engage in hands-on activities and connect environmental stewardship with their faith tradition’s command to care for the earth.
In 2022, I’m excited to continue developing programs that help congregations take practical climate actions. I’ve been grateful for the work of Drawdown Georgia and their 20 high impact climate solutions that provide a roadmap for congregations to reduce their carbon footprint. This year, GIPL will launch a new Zero-Waste program to guide faith communities in assessing their current waste practices and considering ways to divert and reduce the waste they generate through recycling and composting programs and sustainability policies.
As we begin 2022, we encourage you to explore our Green Team Resources page. If you have a Green Team, make sure it’s registered with GIPL, and if you’re looking to start a Green Team, reach out to our Program Coordinator, Hannah Shultz, at hannah@gipl.org.
Join us in a year of continued eco-advocacy and justice!