The Center for Health, Environment & Justice (CHEJ) helps build healthy communities nationwide. Since its founding in 1981, CHEJ has grown into the nation’s leading resource for grassroots environmental activism, a groundbreaking, progressive organization with a vision for clean, green neighborhoods built from hard-won experience in the fight for environmental justice.

Today, CHEJ continues this work as a project of the Texas Health and Environment Alliance (THEA), expanding its reach and impact while staying rooted in its core mission of supporting communities facing environmental health threats.

CHEJ was founded by Lois Gibbs after she led the historic effort to relocate more than 800 families from the toxic waste crisis in the Love Canal neighborhood of Niagara Falls, New York. For more than four decades, CHEJ has trained and supported local leaders across the country and played a key role in national campaigns to protect public health and the environment.

Like many of the grassroots leaders we work with, Lois began her journey as a concerned mother in a working-class neighborhood. She came to understand that the most effective solutions to environmental injustice come from the ground up, and that those directly impacted must have the power to speak for themselves and influence the decisions that shape their lives. CHEJ was built on this principle, to help communities organize, advocate, and win.

We train and support leaders in rural, low-wealth, and working-class communities disproportionately burdened by toxic pollution and environmental harm. Through strategy, scientific and policy guidance, and access to a national network, we help communities build the confidence and power needed to create lasting change.

CHEJ has built a broad and diverse network of environmental justice advocates, connecting grassroots leaders with allies including community organizations, public officials, labor groups, faith communities, and environmental partners. Together, these connections strengthen a powerful, inclusive movement driven by the voices of impacted communities.

Through training, coalition building, and one-on-one technical assistance, CHEJ works to level the playing field, ensuring that communities have a meaningful voice in the policies and decisions that affect their health and environment. By building power from the ground up, CHEJ and THEA are working together to create a healthier, more just future for all.

As CHEJ enters this new chapter, Lois Gibbs has passed the torch of leadership to Jackie Medcalf, founder and CEO of THEA, who now serves as Executive Director of CHEJ. This transition ensures that CHEJ’s legacy continues while positioning the organization for even greater impact in the years ahead.