Congratulations to all the individuals and organizations working to build sustainable communities. The award winners were honored at the 15th Annual Leadership in Sustainability Awards Celebration on September 19, 2023.

Janet Scoll Johnson

Janet has an abiding love for the natural world and holds a deep commitment to social and environmental justice. She is a tireless and stalwart community advocate and was behind the grassroots “No Coal in Richmond” campaign. Janet models visionary activism for safer, healthier communities, and demonstrates that dedication to ground-level community activism gets positive results.  

Janet has displayed true grit over the course of a lifetime, including breaking gender barriers in the building trades and becoming the first woman electrician at the City of Berkeley. After becoming increasingly distressed by the progression of global warming, she devoted herself full-time to climate and environmental justice.   

As a Co-Coordinator for the Sunflower Alliance over the past decade, she has worked on the mitigation of toxic pollution and climate change.  State air pollution regulators tapped her to serve on the Richmond/San Pablo AB 617 Community Air Monitoring Steering Committee and Technical Advisory Group.  Her volunteer service for the design team that created a Community Emissions Reduction Program will result in cleaner air for the impacted Black and Brown communities of Richmond and San Pablo. Janet is currently Co-Chair of the Richmond Shoreline Alliance and is a dedicated birder. Somehow she also finds time to raise anise swallowtail butterflies. She understands that to heal nature is also to heal ourselves.

Food Bank of Contra Costa & Solano

Since its inception in 1975, the Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano County has been dedicated to eradicating hunger and fostering economic stability across the region. Today, this remarkable organization feeds millions of food insecure families, plus facilitates many businesses’ goals of achieving zero waste by doing the last mile distribution of healthy foods, and excess foods.

By alleviating hunger, families can channel their energies toward safety, health, employment, and education. Fulfilling these basic needs, also helps curb mental health risks, reducing crime rates, and enhancing public health, all of which contribute to a stable local economy.

Sourcing food from local and BIPOC growers, the Food Bank not only supports underserved communities but also reduces food miles, effectively minimizing carbon footprints. The introduction of the Find Food Map and their Senior Food Program exemplifies their innovative approach to enhancing access, catering to diverse needs, and minimizing food miles. The Food Bank engages in legislative efforts that seek to address food insecurity’s root causes. By collaborating with growers, elected officials, and community organizations, they champion policies that promote resilience and equal access.

Claire Boudreaux – Fairmont Elementary School Garden

Claire Boudreaux, the Garden Educator at Fairmont Elementary School, has turned an overlooked corner into a thriving garden oasis, benefiting over 525 students annually. Her innovative recess gardening program ensures daily access for every student, bridging nature and education equitably. Through guided activities and lessons, students engage in horticulture and ecological learning. Students enjoy the produce they grow, fostering healthy eating habits and sustainability practices. Amid the pandemic, virtual events and take-home activities-maintained connections with at-home learners and supported emotional well-being.

Claire’s collaborations with community partners, including the El Cerrito Public Library and the Fairmont PTA, create lasting connections. Claire’s dedication exemplifies the profound impact of an individual’s commitment to nurturing minds, fostering ecological awareness, and strengthening community bonds.

Diablo Water District

Located in the heart of the California Delta, Diablo Water District recognizes the significant role water management plays in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and has taken proactive steps to minimize its carbon and achieve carbon neutrality by 2027, 18 years ahead of the state mandate.

Diablo Water District is the first water district in the state to focus on carbon neutrality at the community level by making significant investments in local, job creating, renewable energy to offset its power requirements. By transitioning to clean solar power, DWD has reduced its reliance on fossil fuels and decreased greenhouse gas emissions associated with energy consumption. The installation of local solar facilities on DWD properties generates clean energy and leads to long-term cost savings that are passed on to customers. 

DWD optimizes the efficiency of its pumping station and distribution systems, minimizes energy waste, and reduces carbon emissions. Upgrading equipment and employing advanced technologies further enhance energy efficiency. DWD implements water conservation programs that indirectly contribute to carbon neutrality efforts. By promoting responsible water use, reducing water treatment and transportation requirements, and minimizing the need for energy-intensive water extraction, treatment, and distribution, DWD simultaneously conserves water resources and reduces associated carbon emissions.

DWD offsets energy demands for pumps and buildings through solar energy and has converted its fleet to electric vehicles.  The new corporation yard opens in 2024 and will be designed to LEED silver standards to support charging vehicles and install additional solar.  DWD’s solar facilities installed under NEM 3.0 will be coupled with battery storage to increase the return on investment of these assets.  The remaining balance of emissions that cannot be offset by solar or electric vehicles will be reduced by performing local carbon mitigation restoration projects.

From policy level decisions to project implementation, Diablo Water District leads the way towards a greener and more sustainable future, inspiring others to follow suit and mitigate climate change.

Hero Arts, Inc.

Operating in the Bay Area since 1974, Hero Arts is a recognized sustainability leader in the craft industry. They inspire countless businesses and individuals, amplify economic success, nurture communities, and champion environmental stewardship.  With nearly five decades of operation, their commitment to local vendors, USA-made products, and job creation has woven a fabric of economic growth. Hero Arts has been a Certified Green Business in Alameda County since 2002 and in Contra Costa County since 2011. The company has a large solar-powered building in Oakland and worked systematically to reduce toxins in their manufacturing processes, earning them several sustainability awards.

Hero Arts’ hires local employees and interns from underserved communities, fostering a strong and successful workforce. Their community outreach includes donation programs for Richmond businesses, such as the NIAD Art Center, and tours to local businesses and schools to share what we do, that forge strong community bonds.  Their “Green Pledge” program engages vendors in sustainability efforts and sharing best practices.

Alexandra Bunik – Rising Star

Alexandra is Co-Chair of Sustainable Walnut Creek and became its first youth member in 2020. She plays an active role in all annual events, including Sustainability Week, Earth Day, Walnut Creek’s Climate March, and Eco Fest. She seeks creative ways to promote youth involvement and worked at the Arts Zone at this year’s EcoFest. She leads efforts to expand outreach to young children and families and launched a social media campaign on Instagram, featuring her own, hand-drawn art. 

During the pandemic, Alexandra presented the idea of an Eco-Art program to Walnut Creek Downtown’s board that would promote both economic prosperity for Walnut Creek businesses and environmental health by displaying youth art work focused on planet-friendly eating, banning gas powered blowers, and planting trees. 

Alexandra is on the core organizing team for the Contra Costa County Library’s Exploration Stations event at the Danville library and served on the Walnut Creek Youth Commission, successfully advocating for youth representation on the Parks, Recreation, and Open Space Commission. 

Alexandra majors in Production and Design at the Contra Costa School of Arts, where she creates immersive environments and leads collaborative teams as technical director. Alexandra seeks to integrate her interests in building, civic engagement, and sustainability into a career in environmental design. In 2022, she attended the embARC Summer Design Academy at UC Berkeley and will take environmental design courses at DVC this fall as she applies to colleges.

Tom Butt – Lifetime Achievement

Throughout years of public service, Tom has actively worked to shape policies and initiatives that promote sustainability and clean energy adoption. He pioneered energy-efficient design and renewable energy in the 1970s, incorporating active and passive solar energy into building design. In 1976, he paved the way for commercial wind power by erecting the first wind turbine. He founded the West Contra Costa Bay Shore Council and served on the Citizens Advisory Committees for Richmond Shoreline Conservation and Development Strategy. His efforts ultimately changed the course of shoreline land use from industrial to a mixed use of housing, technology, commerce and recreation. 

In 2011, Tom led efforts to enroll the City of Richmond into MCE, providing residents with affordable clean energy services of up to 100% renewable energy. Tom’s initiatives not only reduced Richmond’s carbon footprint but also served as a model for other communities to adopt clean energy solutions. In 2021, Tom traveled to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP21) to represent California’s trailblazing CCA policies. Tom’s leadership supported the development of MCE Solar One, which eliminates an estimated 3,234 metric tons of CO2 annually. The project supported over 300 jobs, with a 50% local hire requirement, and local green workforce development and training through RichmondBUILD Academy, whose participants come from low-income backgrounds.

Tom won a landmark case in the California Supreme Court that confirmed the state’s responsibility for ensuring fundamental educational rights and opportunities for all students. His efforts led to the establishment of the Richmond Promise, a $35 million college success initiative that has provided 2,000 scholarships worth $8 million to largely low-income and first-generation college students. By empowering and supporting these young leaders, Tom has fostered a new generation of advocates for change and a clean energy future. 

Tom Butt retired as Richmond mayor in January 2023 after 28 years of elected public office and continues to work as an architect in the firm he founded 50 years ago.