WHO WE ARE
Board of Directors
Raquel Garcia
TREASURER AND SECRETARY
Raquel Garcia is the Executive Director of Southwest Detroit Environmental Vision (SDEV). SDEV works on improving air quality in southwest Detroit, beautification and clean-up projects, land use policy, and maintains Cadillac Urban Gardens, and the Venegas Way Orchard. She is passionate about leadership development in the youth of Southwest Detroit, working on policies and ordinances that work for residents, and connecting to the residents of Southwest Detroit. She has spent decades working for education, immigrant, voting and environmental rights.
Galen Hardy
Galen Hardy is the Michigan Environmental Council’s Detroit Program Director. Galen brings Detroiters, their needs, and their ingenious solutions to the state legislation, budgets, and administrative work that shapes Detroit and Michigan. He connects Detroit’s grassroots and civic leaders to create good policies, channeling them to the Capitol, and leveraging statewide opportunities to the benefit of Michigan’s largest city.
Saundra Little
Saundra Little is a principal with Quinn Evans Architects, Detroit. Saundra has overseen the design of renovation and adaptive projects throughout Michigan. She is a founding member of the Advisory Board of Design Core Detroit, an organization established to promote and celebrate Detroit’s architectural legacy. Her work focuses on the research and revitalization of historic districts. She believes in and supports a focus on sustainability, community engagement, inclusive design, and embodied carbon of architecture in cities.
Nicholas Schroeck
Nicholas Schroeck is Interim Dean of the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law and a sought-after environmental law expert. His research and clinic casework focuses on reducing air and water pollution, working towards environmental justice, promoting mass transportation, and advancing citizen suit enforcement of our environmental laws. He has litigated cases for prominent environmental advocacy organizations and his policy advocacy has led to strengthened local, state and federal environmental protections.
Carey Stanton
Carey Stanton is Senior Director for Education and Integrated Marketing at National Wildlife Federation (NWF) where she oversees the development of national partnerships, campaigns, media and film projects. She has 15 years of experience designing and implementing social action and award-winning curricula and training programs for NWF and state agencies. She has been engaged in Detroit-based environmental justice work as a nonprofit board member for over a decade.
Sandra Turner-Handy
BOARD CHAIR
Sandra Turner-Handy is a lifelong Detroiter who has found her niche in the sphere of community engagement and has fought relentlessly for decades to raise the quality of life of Detroit residents. Sandra currently sits on a number of boards and coalitions whose goals are to mitigate the impact of environmental damage, as well as to improve Detroiters’ health and their built environment through programs and policy changes. She enjoys reading, landscaping, writing, mentoring youth leaders and working on beautification projects in her community.
Leighton Watson
Leighton Watson is a business and tort litigation attorney advocating for the rights of indigent and disenfranchised communities. He believes in bringing accountability to groups which traditionally have evaded scrutiny. His advocacy and activisms has focused on police accountability, and racial and environmental injustice. He believes “we need to work toward long-term systemic change. We need to not only talk about the problem but to actually offer a solution as well.”
Gary Wozniak
Gary Wozniak is the lead author of the Recovery Park project in Detroit. Gary is a strategic, results-orientated, self-directed executive with experience in operations, turnarounds, capital raises, fundraising, community relations, corporate responsibility, high-profile event planning, and networking/relationship development. He has been a civil rights, human rights, and environmental rights activists for over 30 years. He has been instrumental in developing DWEJ programming focused on workforce development and programs focused on second chances for returning citizens.