Collaborating for Impact: How Community-Research Partnerships Bring Data to Life 

Date: Tuesday, April 28

Time: 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. ET

In person and online 

Conservation Law Foundation, 62 Summer St, Boston, MA 02110

We’re excited to be partnering with the Union of Concerned Scientists to host this training, specifically aimed at researchers and data-driven experts on how to effectively partner with community groups on environmental justice and public health research initiatives. Can you join us, in person or online, on April 28 at 5:30pm?

• Hear from researchers and community leaders working together on environmental justice, including the Healthy Neighborhood Study, iSuper, and GreenRoots.

• Learn best practices for wrangling data to drive real impact and foster meaningful, mutually beneficial partnerships. 

• Enjoy food, drinks, and networking opportunities

Please register now. We hope to see you there. 

Photo: Bonnie Bain, Anxhela Mile, and Tristan Thomas speaking at our 2025 training session on Community Benefit Agreements

Last month, residents group Honest Future for Lowell scored a meaningful victory in their effort to prevent a massive data center expansion nearby: the Lowell City Council passed a one year moratorium on new data center construction and expansion in the city.

The Markley data center rises up above the Sacred Heart neighborhood of Lowell. (Photo credit: Jordan Wolman/CommonWealth Beacon)

Markley Group has operated a 14-acre data center in the neighborhood since 2015. They have approval for 18 emergency backup diesel generators and seek approval for a total of 26. The generators that have been installed are as close as 100 feet from residences, a nearby school, and two public parks. EJAN matched Honest Future for Lowell with Yale Law School’s Environmental Justice and Advocacy Clinic and Conservation Law Foundation, who are pro bono co-counsel on an appeal of a Department of Environmental Protection-issued air permit to operate 26 on-site generators (their third expansion in three years!).

If approved, these generators will worsen diesel particulate pollution in Lowell’s frontline Sacred Heart neighborhood. The group is also partnered with EJAN convener Slingshot for organizing support, to push the City Council to act and get a real say in what happens next.

This is exactly the type of effort EJAN was built for, and we look forward to supporting this and other communities in the future!

Read more from Mass Live, Commonwealth Beacon, and the Yale Law Clinic.

A local residents group approached ACE and EJAN with concerns about impacts of developing Franklin Park’s White Stadium as a venue for professional soccer. The 11,000-seat capacity stadium would cost the public an estimated $135 million, and the community’s primary concerns include traffic congestion, lack of public access, loss of park land, accelerating gentrification, and worsened air quality.

On March 18th, ACE collaborated with a group of community-based organizations to file an amicus brief, contributing an environmental justice perspective to the ongoing Massachusetts Supreme Court Case Emerald Necklace Conservancy et al v. City of Boston et al.. EJAN volunteer attorneys Dennis Murphy and Dan Hill of Hill Law, and Callum LaFrance provided support with the drafting and filing of the brief.

“I am proud to represent ACE and the other groups from the Environmental Justice Assistance Network in this important equity justice case. There will be no justice without equity. I look forward to hearing how the SJC addresses these critical legal issues.” - Dennis Murphy, Hill Law

“I am honored to help community voices be heard” - Callum LaFrance

To date, the project has bypassed environmental review under the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act (MEPA), and lacks comprehensive impact studies. EJ communities have been shut out of the decision-making process. Privatization of public land has been ignored, and community displacement impacts not assessed.

Learn more from Franklin Park Defenders.

Alternatives for Community & Environment (ACE) is hiring a Staff Attorney to join their Environmental Justice Legal Services program in Boston, MA.

The Staff Attorney will work on litigation, regulatory engagement, policy analysis, and community legal support, with a focus on issues like environmental permitting, climate policy, housing, and civil rights. They'll also play a key role in the Environmental Justice Assistance Network (EJAN), a coalition connecting frontline communities with legal, scientific, and public health expertise across New England. 

Candidates should have a JD and at least 1-3 years of relevant experience in public interest, environmental, or civil rights law. The salary starts at $80,000 and comes with a comprehensive benefits package. Applications are due April 24, 2026. Interested candidates can submit a resume, cover letter, and optional writing sample. Learn more and apply at the ACE website career page.

600+ people in the EJAN network are receiving this email newsletter -- thank you for being one of them!

However, less than half of you are registered in our official database as EJAN expert volunteers. If you want to be consulted by community groups needing technical, legal, or scientific support, this is the next step! It’s a brief survey about your interests, skills, and experiences, and it will enable us to call on you when needed.

We’re still actively expanding our network of legal, technical, and scientific professionals. If you know of anyone who might be interested in joining EJAN, please share this email and/or the link below.

Complete your EJAN volunteer registration here: https://www.hear-db.org/user/register

What is EJAN?

The Environmental Justice Assistance Network (EJAN) is a pro bono capacity-building and referral network that matches legal, scientific, public health, and technical experts with communities that are addressing environmental justice challenges.

The purpose of EJAN is:

• To respond to the legal and scientific needs of communities on the front line of environmental hazards- linking experts in law, policy, science, community organizing, and other relevant fields with community, faith, and municipal leaders in environmental justice communities; and
• To build the capacity of historically underrepresented groups to hold decision-makers accountable and meaningfully participate in decisions affecting their health, safety, environment, culture and quality of life.

An earlier iteration of this network operated from 1994-2015.

In collaboration with Slingshot, Conservation Law Foundation, and the Boston University School of Public Health, ACE relaunched this program in May 2024.

EJAN is a collaborative project of ACE, BUSPH, CLF, and Slingshot.

You're receiving this email because you expressed interest in EJAN. To opt out of further EJAN emails, click here.

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Alternatives for Community & Environment

2201 Washington Street, Suite 302

Roxbury, MA 02119

http://ace-ej.org

ACE builds the power of communities of color and low-income communities in Massachusetts to eradicate environmental racism and classism, create healthy, sustainable communities, and achieve environmental justice.