Margaret Gordon, co-founder of the nonprofit West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project, is one of 10 recipients of the highly coveted “Purpose Award.”  Her share of the prize is $100,000.

Scheduled to end in 2010, the prizes have been awarded by Civic Ventures since 2005 to honor “social entrepreneurs over 60 who, in their encore careers, are using their impact on society’s biggest challenges.”  The prizes “call attention to the wealth of experience and vision of boomers who are often overlooked in our youth-oriented culture.”  “I didn’t think I was going to win,” Gordon said. “When I won and learned more about the others who’d won and who’d been nominated, I was amazed at how much people over 60 were accomplishing. All that experience, all that knowledge is being used to help others.”

Gordon’s vision and experience have taken her from cleaning the home of an environmentalist to using science and statistical methods to clean and make healthier one of the most toxic neighborhoods in Oakland. 

“In 1992, my family moved into a home adjacent to the elevated BART tracks and less than one mile from the fifth busiest port in the country – the Port of Oakland, two of its rail yards and a continuous flow back and forth of heavy duty diesel trucks making thousands of trips,” said Gordon who has suffered from asthma all of her life. “One of my sons and three of my grandchildren developed asthma after we moved into this neighborhood. I became interested in the causes and triggers of asthma.” 

Her curiosity lead her to study environmental health and she became a volunteer with a planning grant from the Pacific Institute and trained West Oakland residents about the “power and use of indicators which track environmental conditions and industrial pollutants.”  The indicators documented how industrial pollution had caused several chronic diseases, including asthma, to skyrocket. 

The “Purpose Award” also speaks of rewarding “social innovators.” Gordon and the West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project – WOEIP – worked with innovative strategies in collaboration and community empowerment to help bring stakeholders, often from warring factions, to the table in discussion of how to best bring about the goals of “healthy homes, healthy jobs and healthy neighborhoods.”  These strategies have been so successful that Gordon shares her findings through conferences, presentations, workshops and through her memberships on numerous boards, committees and organizations.

She is considered an expert by educational institutions such as University of California, Berkeley, and Intel is in collaboration with WOEIP to design a mobile air quality monitoring device.

In 2007, Gordon was nominated by Mayor Ron Dellums and selected to serve a four-year term as commissioner to the Port of Oakland. She is the first resident of West Oakland, where the port is located, to hold this title.        

So, what will she do with the Purpose Award funds?

Gordon says she will not only buy health insurance, but plans to return to college, attending alongside her grandchildren. 

Gordon is passing her knowledge and strategies of environmental justice on to the next generation.

“We do projects at Elmhurst and other schools,” she said. “The students really get excited about measuring, statistics and research. All the students show up every session. We’re proud of that.” 

With the help of WOEIP co-founder, Bruce Beveridge; her assistant, Cassandra Martin; and volunteers, Gordon continues to work “to help train and/or educate impacted residents to become advocates and set their own political direction in bringing environmental justice to communities of color.”

TAKE ACTION

You're invited toa fundraiser for the West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project (WOEIP)  (Also, it’s Margaret’s Birthday! [No presents, please])

When:  Thursday, December 30, 7-11 PM

Where:  West Oakland Senior Center, 1724 Adeline Street, Oakland, CA  94607

Donation: $30 Advance; $40 at the door. Receive one free raffle ticket with your RSVP

Send in your donations in person or by mail to WOEIP Office, 1747 14th St., Oakland, CA 94607

About D. Jean Collins

D. Jean Collins is a freelance writer based in Oakland. She loves story telling, so she enjoys interviewing people about what they do and why they do it. Her interests include arts and artists, small businesses, spirituality and community empowerment. D. Jean Collins has worked as writer, editor and proofreader for a variety of publications and established her own company, Black Lotus Enterprises (d.b.a. Black Lotus Editorial Support Services) to provide those services to other writers and artists. She was awarded the Frances E. Williams Artists’ Grant in 2005. Her articles, interviews and essays have appeared in Accent/LA, GNOSIS, Essence, Arts in Society, Uraeus, and other publications. She was co-creator and editor of Urban Launch online newsletter and wrote the content for the premier issue of the Ethiopian/American collaborative website Anbessa Online Magazine. Her articles appear regularly in Oaklandlocal.com.