CAMILA RIVERA-TINSLEY
Making organization more inviting for women and girls of color a top priority
The Women and Girls Foundation has taken a big step in its commitment to tackling the issues that affect not just women, but women of color.
Camila Rivera-Tinsley officially began her tenure as CEO on Aug. 15, but it wasn’t made public until Sept. 26. She told the New Pittsburgh Courier she identifies herself as a “woman of color,” and she believes being a woman of color played a role in her selection as CEO.
And the organization’s current director of its youth advocacy arm, “Girl Gov,” is also a woman of color, Alexis Walker.
The Women and Girls Foundation, based in Pittsburgh, has a mission to achieve equality for women and girls, “now and for generations to come.”
Rivera-Tinsley told the Courier she’s excited to bring her environmental education background to WGF. She’s the former director of education for the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, and before that, worked at the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education, in Philadelphia. Rivera-Tinsley also helped start two small environmental-based nonprofits focused on advocacy for people of color in the outdoors, and served on numerous boards and committees that were dedicated to improving environmental outcomes for underserved audiences.
“The issues of our time— reproductive rights, paid family leave, pay equity, equitable access to quality healthcare and health outcomes—none of these issues can be solved or addressed without considering their intersection with the climate crisis, and conversely, the climate crisis cannot be addressed or solved without addressing the needs and the voices of women, femmes and gender-expansive individuals,” Rivera-Tinsley said in a statement. “I feel a strong sense of urgency to empower the women and girls of Pittsburgh and across the state, to tell their stories and advocate for the issues important to them. I want to continue the work of creating leaders that can implement the needed changes in our communities.”
Rivera-Tinsley told the Courier she feels Girl Gov can be even bigger. Right now it serves about 100 girls, teens and femmes per year and teaches them about civic engagement. The participants are given an opportunity to create their own advocacy campaign and champion it, sometimes all the way to Harrisburg. Oftentimes, the participants can meet with different state legislators. Having Walker as the director of the program gives Black participants a chance to “see themselves represented in our program,” Rivera-Tinsley said.
Rivera-Tinsley said WGF works closely with the Black Women’s Policy Center, in Pittsburgh, and played a role in the eye-opening “Pittsburgh’s Inequality Across Race and Gender” report, which was released by the University of Pittsburgh in 2019. Rivera-Tinsley also told the Courier that WGF gives out grants to organizations “that are doing grassroots work to uplift the issues of women, girls and femmes in the region,” and is looking to expand that initiative.
“Camila is a natural choice to take WGF into the next 20 years with a focus on intersectional justice,” said Suzan Lami, Women and Girls Foundation board president, in a statement provided to the Courier. “Her leadership work in the space of environmental education and environmental justice, along with her lived experience and understanding of how intersecting identities impact social change, will greatly benefit the important work that WGF does in our communities. Camila’s leadership will have a direct impact on improving the lives of women, girls and gender-expansive individuals in our region.” the work of creating leaders that can implement the needed change