The Oregon Just Transition Alliance (OJTA) was founded to address a critical gap in Oregon’s environmental movement: the absence of a statewide, BIPOC-led alliance advancing environmental justice from the leadership and lived experiences of frontline communities. From its inception, OJTA has worked to ensure that communities most impacted by environmental harm—including immigrants, farmworkers, Tribal and Indigenous peoples, rural residents, and low-income communities of color—are not only included in environmental decision-making, but are shaping it.

Over time, OJTA has grown into the only remaining statewide BIPOC environmental justice advocacy alliance in Oregon, serving as a connector, convener, and capacity-builder for more than 20 place-based, culturally responsive member organizations across the Coast, Southern Oregon, Eastern Oregon, and the Willamette Valley. OJTA’s work intentionally bridges environmental justice with immigrant rights, labor, rural organizing, and climate resilience, recognizing that these struggles are deeply interconnected.

Key milestones include the development of community-centered leadership programs such as the Energy Justice Leadership Institute and Transportation Leadership Institute, which have trained hundreds of frontline community members in policy advocacy, civic engagement, and systems change. OJTA has also played a sustained role in statewide coalitions and rapid-response networks, bringing an environmental justice lens to broader movements for equity and democracy.

Today, OJTA continues to advance a Just Transition rooted in community leadership, cultural wisdom, and care for people and land—while navigating a challenging funding and capacity landscape. Through alliance-building, leadership development, and policy advocacy, OJTA works toward durable systems change that supports healthier, more just communities across Oregon.