Celebrating Black History Month: Naomi Davis

For our final post in celebration of Black History Month, we’re not going so far back in time or away from the midwest. 

Founder, Naomi Davis

In 2007, Naomi Davis founded Blacks In Green (BIG), an environmental justice and economic development organization in the West Woodlawn community in Chicago. 

Granddaughter to Mississippi sharecroppers, Davis is an urban theorist, attorney, and activist. Davis works as a bridge among communities and their stakeholders with the design and development of green, mixed-income, self-sustaining, walkable communities within black neighborhoods. The purpose of creating a walkable community ensures neighborhood dollars circulate locally and limit greenhouse gasses normally associated with transportation. 

Blacks In Green have created the signature sustainable square mile™ with the goal of narrowing America’s racial disparities and ushering in an “age of the neighbor investor.” Davis teaches activists and community members to lead where they live to establish walkable villages in which people can walk to work, walk to recreation, and walk to shop. 

The 2024 Midwest Regional Sustainability Summit will feature Naomi Davis on the plenary panel, From Vision to Reality: Mobilizing a Culture of Collaborative Climate Action. The summit will be held on May 2nd. Interested in attending? Find more information here.