When Felicia M. Davis attended COP26, the 2021 United Nations climate conference in Scotland, she saw a glaring omission.

Felicia, the founder of the HBCU Green Fund, which promotes sustainability at Black colleges and universities, noticed that non-governmental organizations and youth from Africa were underrepresented. She became determined to change that.

In preparation for COP27 in Egypt, Felicia began holding weekly Zoom calls with climate justice leaders from 20 African countries, alongside Black college students in the US.
 
“I did my best to support African climate advocates who could not make it to COP27 without assistance,” she said. That assistance came in the form of UN credentials that had been obtained by Omega and shared with the HBCU Green Fund.

“Thanks to Omega, we were able to get there,” she said. “Omega provided the only credentials for representatives from the HBCU Green Fund, and we supported 10 young African climate advocates from 10 different countries who gathered there in Egypt. Omega has in a very real way supported the network we’ve created.”
 
Meeting at the conference’s Climate Justice Pavilion, they shared local climate impacts and solutions, and forged valuable connections that strengthened their network.
 
“We cannot advance justice if the voices of those most impacted are absent from the conversation,” Felicia said. “Acknowledgement and restoration is the only path forward if we are to have a vibrant, livable planet.”

Collaboration With Africa Continues: Micro-Projects

Since COP27, Felicia has continued to organize the weekly calls, connecting Africans across the globe—from Kenya to Tanzania, Uganda to Senegal, and more countries. She looks back on her time at the Omega Drawdown Learn conferences, nearly five years ago, as a place where ideas were born and connections were made.
 
“People should know that all of the energy that happens at Omega is a vital spark, providing respite, allowing us to meet in person, and extending credentials for us to attend COP," Felicia said. "And the credentials for COP allowed us to keep the work growing forward.” 

This was exactly why Robert “Skip” Backus, founder of the Omega Center for Sustainable Living (OCSL), sought to have Omega recognized by the UN. Obtaining UN accreditation—and with it access to the climate conferences—took more than a decade of focused effort by the OCSL team.

“Being able to distribute COP badges and access to individuals who are doing on-the-ground work, that is one of the important ways that we maintain our involvement in climate change globally,” Backus said.

Meetings Result in Action

Felicia’s weekly meetings have led to on-the-ground work of establishing and implementing small projects in African countries through micro-grants received from various organizations in the US, including Omega. She has grown the network of African workers to 20 countries, and there’s a long list of global work to do. Each project is started with a $500 micro-grant which, Felicia said, “You’d be surprised how much $500 can do.”

One of those projects, sponsored by partner Bashiru Koroma, is building a school in a rural area of Sierra Leone. Micro-grants were used to build the school’s foundation, but the building was still in need of a roof. A donation made by Omega will pay for the roof of the first school in the region, and Bashiru says they plan to start classes this September. The entire community is so excited and incredibly grateful for the support.

“Here is an example of building a network through partnership that keeps echoing out to so many people,” Backus said.

A Special Role for Black Americans

Felicia has worked as an advocate for her whole life, in many capacities, and for several years at the United Negro College Fund. She was called to create the HBCU Green Fund as a 501(c)3 to work with Black colleges and universities when she saw the pressing need for more than just talk—but real action–on climate justice.
 
“I believe in this special role for Black Americans. Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are there to educate students, but they are also anchors in their community. The moment that one Black college is the most sustainable institution, all others will follow. I believe the effect it will have to change the world is powerful.”

One of the first projects the HBCU Green Fund launched was a clean energy fellowship program at Clark Atlanta University, Spelman College, Morehouse, and Howard University. Students learned about energy auditing and connected with HBCU graduates who are clean energy entrepreneurs. This spring, Felicia took HBCU students from Atlanta University on an Eco Village Spring Break trip to help villages on the border of Senegal and Mauritania. They dug wells, built a tree shelter, and planted trees in an ongoing effort to help the vulnerable communities most impacted by the effects of climate change. 

She has ambitious goals for 2023. As part of a nationwide $400 million investment called the Greening America’s Cities initiative, the HBCU Green Fund will be taking on innovative justice work in West Atlanta to create better access to parks, trees, and community gardens.

Last year, Felicia organized a pre-conference virtual summit held seven weeks before COP27, the PreCOP27 Africa & Diaspora Virtual Summit. Since that virtual conference delivered so many educational resources that spurred African youth and climate leaders to action, the HBCU Green Fund is planning a PreCOP28 Summit once again this fall. 

The HBCU Green Fund will also host the 3rd annual BIPOC Climate Justice Dialogue during climate week in New York City. Plus, she wants to create more awareness around injustice.

“In my early years, we were told not to mention justice; that it could wait. Yet, climate change is all a function of injustice. There is no social issue, that I’m aware of, for which justice is not the issue. If we think about any problem from a justice lens; therein lies the solution. Every inch forward for justice ripples through for everyone and elevates the belief for what’s possible.”

“For the United States, we have a long way to go, and I think Black America has a powerful role to play in moving humans forward.”