About Us

Eddie Bautista | Executive Director | eddie@newsite.nyc-eja.org

Eddie Bautista is an award-winning community organizer and urban planner. In February 2010, Eddie resigned as Director of the Mayor’s Office of City Legislative Affairs to take the reins at NYC-EJA. The Mayor’s Office of City Legislative Affairs is the Mayor’s local lobbying office representing the Mayor and City agencies at the City Council, and serving as liaison between the Bloomberg Administration and the Comptroller, Public Advocate and Borough Presidents. As Director, Eddie spearheaded efforts to pass several major pieces of legislation, including: the City’s 20-year landmark Solid Waste Management Plan (which relied for the first time on principles of environmental justice and borough equity); the creation of the first municipal brownfields remediation office in the nation; the required retrofit of all diesel-powered school buses to reduce air pollution in bus cabins; and the Greater Greener Buildings Plan, the nation’s first comprehensive package of legislation aimed at improving energy efficiency for large scale buildings. Eddie also facilitated meetings for policy advocates with Administration officials on a range of legislative and regulatory initiatives such as PlaNYC 2030 (NYC’s environmental sustainability plan, which has become an international model for large cities) and Mayoral Executive Order 120 of 2008, which for the first time called for all City agencies to make services and documents available to immigrant New Yorkers in the top six languages spoken in the City.

Previously, Eddie was the Director of Community Planning for NY Lawyers for the Public Interest (NYLPI), where he served as the lobbying/communications/community organizing director for this non-profit civil rights law firm. At NYLPI, Eddie organized numerous grassroots coalitions and campaigns, including the Organization of Waterfront Neighborhoods (OWN) and Communities United for Responsible Energy (CURE), two citywide coalitions of community-based organizations which blocked the siting of mega-waste transfer stations, large power plants, incinerators and sludge plants in environmentally-burdened, low income communities of color, while changing City and State solid waste and energy policies. Eddie has written articles and been interviewed for local and national news broadcasts. Eddie has a B.A. from N.Y.U., an M.S. in City and Regional Planning from Pratt Institute and was a Revson Fellow at Columbia University. In 2003, Eddie was among 17 national winners of the Ford Foundation’s Leadership for a Changing World awards. Nine books feature or mention Eddie’s work, including Noxious New York: The Racial Politics of Urban Health and Environmental Justice, by Julie Sze (2006); We Won’t Move: Community Planning in The Real Estate Capital of the World, by Tom Angotti (2008); and The Battle for Gotham: New York in the Shadow of Robert Moses and Jane Jacobs by Roberta Brandes Gratz (2010). Eddie is also a Visiting Assistant Professor at the Pratt Institute School of Architecture’s Graduate Programs for Sustainable Planning and Development, where he teaches courses that apply basic principles and practices of city planning and urban design to specific topical projects.

Annel Hernandez | Associate Director | annel@newsite.nyc-eja.org

Annel Hernandez is the Associate Director of the New York City Environmental Justice Alliance. Annel works on city and statewide climate policy issues, focusing on local advocacy and research that further equitable investments in coastal resiliency, green infrastructure, renewable energy, and resilient energy systems. She also works on various coalition campaigns to push for more aggressive climate legislation – with equity as a central focus. Annel conducts research on the benefits of an integrated climate resiliency approach and develops pathways to implementation in frontline communities. Annel participates in energy regulatory processes, influences stormwater policies, supports solar project development, and worked to guide the priorities of Federally-funded projects in New York City. Annel also worked in the NYC Mayor’s Office of Economic Opportunity as Social Innovation Fund Advisor managing the program implementation of a multi-city initiative focused on economic opportunity programs, and was also a NYC Urban Fellow. She previously worked with the Urban Climate Change Research Network at the Earth Institute, collaborating with scholars, experts, and advocates on pushing forward new climate change resources for cities. She also worked as a Teaching Assistant at the Earth Institute and a Research Assistant at the Institute of Latin American Studies.  Annel received an MPA in Energy and Environment from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, and her BA in Political Science and Latino Studies from Fordham University.

Daniel Chu | Energy Planner | daniel@newsite.nyc-eja.org

Daniel Chu is the Energy Planner for the NYC Environmental Justice Alliance. He is an urban designer with interests in civic involvement of built environment design and preservation. He has experience working at NYC 2030 District focusing on building efficiency and heat pump retrofits in Brooklyn, and at Urban Design Forum reporting infrastructure maintenance and global zoning practices. His multi-year involvement in community-led cooperative housing with Housing Justice Lab has been exhibited in the French National Museum of Immigration History. Daniel also held several positions across The New School in research, public programming, and advising, where he also received a Master of Science in Design and Urban Ecologies and a BA in Urban Studies. At The New School, his research focused on the intersectional justice perspective on climate activism, Pacific sovereignty, and infrastructure adaptation.

Victoria Sanders | Research Analyst | victoria@newsite.nyc-eja.org

Victoria Sanders is the Research Analyst at the NYC Environmental Justice Alliance (NYC-EJA). At NYC-EJA, her work includes research and advocacy to support NYC-EJA’s environmental health initiatives to promote equitable, resilient, and healthy communities. Her work primarily focuses on climate change induced extreme weather, pollution prevention, air quality, and promoting green infrastructure in environmental justice communities. She has previously worked at the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s Bureau of Communicable Disease focusing on epidemiological data analysis and Milestone Technologies, a technology company in which she worked in Human Resources and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Victoria has an MPH in Environmental Health Sciences from Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health with a certificate in Climate and Health. During her time at Columbia, she worked as a Lead Teaching Assistant for the Determinants of Health CORE class and served as President of the student organization, Students for Environmental Action. Victoria received her BS in Psychology from the University of California, Davis.

Shravanthi Kanekal | Resiliency Planner | shravanthi@newsite.nyc-eja.org

Shravanthi Kanekal is the Resiliency Planner for the NYC Environmental Justice Alliance.
She is an urban planner with experience in climate change adaptation and sustainability strategies. Her interests lie in collaborative civic engagement, the intersection of design and policy, and its effect on social equity within communities. She has contributed to plans addressing sea level rise, carbon emission reduction and disaster management for municipalities and a large university. She previously worked as a policy planner with a consulting firm specializing in hazard mitigation planning. She also has four years of experience as an architect working on commercial, residential, and historic preservation and restoration projects. Shravanthi received a Masters of City Planning with a concentration in Land Use and Environmental Planning from the University of Pennsylvania and holds a Bachelor of Architecture from R.V. College of Engineering.

Kevin Garcia | Transportation Planner | kevin@newsite.nyc-eja.org

Kevin Garcia is the Transportation Planner at the New York City Environmental Justice Alliance. Before joining NYC-EJA, Kevin was the Bus Campaign Manager with Tri-State Transportation Campaign where he organized bus riders to raise awareness about issues facing the majority of NJ Transit riders. He helped win a bus network redesign, a commitment from the state governor to electrify NJ Transit’s bus fleet, and established the Bus Riders’ Bill of Rights. Kevin has led outreach efforts for an economic mobility nonprofit to increase wages and earnings for low to moderate income families and public housing residents in New York City. Prior to this, he worked with the NYC Department of Sanitation’s curbside organics collection pilot program outreach team to inform New Yorkers on composting and recycling. In college, Kevin led the canvassing operations for the mayoral reelection campaign and worked with the Public Facilities department for the City of Bridgeport in drafting a Complete Streets proposal for the downtown area. He is currently pursuing a Masters in City and Regional Planning at Pratt Institute and graduated from Williams College with a B.A. in Mathematics and Philosophy.

NYC-EJA Fellowship

In partnership with Pratt Institute’s Graduate Center for Planning and the Environment (GCPE), NYC-EJA recruits Pratt graduate students for a 2-semester, paid fellowship with our member organizations. Fellows have the opportunity to work directly with grassroots organizations, supporting community outreach, research and policy analysis.

At this time, the fellowship is only open to Pratt’s GCPE graduate students who can commit to working 1 day per week for 2 semesters.

For more information, email info@NYC-EJA.org