mission
Women of Color Collective in Sustainability
WOC/CS, pronounced /woke•sīs/, is a collective created to support women of color who want to connect, collaborate, identify mentorships, job opportunities and seek resources within sustainability. We love what we do and use our superpowers of subject matter expertise in sustainability and social innovation to empower women of color and improve our environment. WOC/CS strives to be a resource for opportunities across the sustainability ecosystem for women of color to build their careers, create professional success and support their well-being. We know when we actively and decisively step forward in ensuring other women’s voices are heard and valued, we are contributing to the overall success of all women.
WOC/CS was founded by Chante Harris and Jordie Vasquez
Here’s our story
One evening in the fall of 2018, Chante and Jordie crossed paths at an industry event held in NYC and instantly clicked. The two young professionals with years of experience in the sustainability field have often found themselves being the only woman of color in these spaces.
After discussing the ways they both experienced a lack of female mentorship, recurrent micro-aggressions, and an evident lack of WOC at the front and center of green and sustainable projects across NYC, the two made a promise. They promised to turn the frustration into action and work on what was lacking in the field- community, connection, resource-sharing, and clear mentorship for WOC in sustainability. Their professional expertise in green design and entrepreneurship, their love of the environment, and their enthusiasm for all things inclusive and sustainable planted the seed for these two women to conspire to create WOC/CS. Established in July 2019, WOC/CS is one of the few collectives that’s 100% women of color-based for the wide spectrum of sustainability. With an appetite for diversity at design-centered spaces, green-investment business meetings, and other decision-making tables, the co-founders decided that the approach was not to try to fit-in.
WOC/CS intends to celebrate WOC talents, create a community for them and provide them with the tools and resources needed to create their own tables at the decision-making spaces.
Since then, their mision has been to amplify the voices and presence of WOC who historically have been under-looked, underutilized, and unrecognized by the sustainability industry. Chante's passion for green tech business development and Jordie's knack for creative social-impact and sustainability proved to be a great complementary partnership. Their vision quickly proved to stir interest in New York City as many WOC approached the pair to ask about engagement and information regarding work experience and green initiatives in the city. As WOC/CS continues to grow as a collective, so have the co-founder's vision to expand services and partnerships across NYC and abroad.
We know that when we actively and decisively step forward in ensuring other WOC's voices are heard and valued, we are contributing to the overall success of all women. We continuously receive feedback from members of our collective stating how disheartening it is to walk into rooms where no one looks like you or understands your experiences despite identifying with communities that are most impacted by climate. Therefore, we know the importance of being women of color in sustainability and showing the current industry and the next generation all the endless opportunities within the field and the importance of caring for the environment.
Jordie Vasquez
Jordie Vasquez is a sustainability/energy efficiency consultant, the Co-founder of WOC/CS, and creator of Urbanonsite- a photography and content platform. Dominican Republic’s oceans and hot summers raised her and NYC’s empire state of mind molded her. Trained as an architect and sustainability consultant, she is passionate about socially-driven multidisciplinary projects that advance green, healthy, diverse and inclusive environments. She was awarded the WNBA Annual Inspiring Women Gold Standard Recognition for creating a positive impact in the community of Newark NJ. And in 2018, she was selected to be a United Nations Foundation Writer/ Blogger Fellow in NYC to bring the message of the Sustainable Development Goals to communities nationwide. She has been a published author for DREFF, a blog that exposes the Global Foundation for Democracy and Development (GFDD) environmental programs. More recently, she joined Resilient Cities Network as Manager, Climate Resilience & Equity for the North America Team! In this role, she oversees a portfolio of projects under R-Cities Climate Resilience thematic pillar, with a particular focus on community resilience and social justice in the United States.
Chante Harris
Chante Harris, the Co-founder of WOC/CS, is a New York-based champion of social innovation and scaling sustainability companies through successful growth strategies. She is an expert in driving long-term growth for startups and established companies by leading them through the complex processes of winning procurement opportunities, securing pilot projects, undertaking design challenges, and launching community impact initiatives.
Chante is a Venture Partner for Republic, an Advisor for The Kota Alliance and Vice-Chair of Diversity for Teach For America-New York’s Associate Board. Recently named by America on Tech as an Innovator and Disruptor and Women Enews as a Pioneering Woman in Sustainability, she is passionate about the intersection of urbantech, the circular economy, and impact. Her civic engagement and fierce advocacy for inclusivity and representation to advance sustainability in all communities has led her to serving as a Senior Summit Fellow and was recently selected as a Forbes Fellow. She is an alumna of the Coro Fellowship and a graduate of American University.