Every day is Earth Day for Eva Hernandez-Simmons. For decades, the climate advocate hit the pavement as an organizer to stop “bad actors” from polluting our planet, endangering our wildlife, and toxifying our oceans. Now the former foot soldier orchestrates these movements from the top as Sierra Club’s National Program Director. “We have the facts. We have the science behind us,” Eva says. “But we still have to ensure people can access the clean-energy future we're working to create.”

How does the mom of 2 protect the space rock we call home? What does racism have to do with climate justice? And what’s it like raising kids when you know we’re in the red zone? We asked her.

So Eva, what’s your job?
I am the National Program Director at Sierra Club, so I work to [make sure] all of our amazing campaigners, organizers, lawyers, and policy folks can get up and do the good work they came to Sierra Club to do.

Did you always want to work in environmental advocacy?
Um, no… I grew up in Kansas. My dad is Puerto Rican and my mom is Creole. [The environment] isn’t something we talked about, but when I think back to camping and hiking, being in solidarity with nature—in many ways, it was like having a place of refuge. I think it’s a big part of what built my own resiliency… [Then] in college, a professor told me environmental policy was a thing. I had no idea! As I started exploring, it was really drawing me in.

You lead Sierra Club’s Clean Energy for All program. Can you tell us about that work?
Yeah! Clean Energy for All is about bringing together our environmental work and getting really clear about what it means to center equity and racial justice. We’re a 128-year-old institution, so there’s a lot of learning and unlearning we have to do to create an organization where our BIPOC staff and volunteers can thrive. It’s not just about the environmental movement—it’s really about being in partnership with other movements like racial justice and immigration.

How is the environment connected to other social movements?
Well, I’ll talk about this freeze in Austin [last February]. When you have a disaster of that magnitude, it shines a light on the cracks in our system. “Who went the longest without water [or] power? Who had access to food and the resources to literally survive?” Communities of color and low-income communities see those connections every day because we live it… I have 2 little kids, and to know they experienced a disaster at such a young age, it reinvigorated this fire in me.

So you can’t tackle environmental justice without tackling social justice, too?
Yes! One of my friends, Hop Hopkins, recently wrote an article titled “Racism is Killing the Planet” that connects us in such a powerful way… In order to have environmental racism, you have to have “disposable communities.” What creates disposable communities is when the fossil fuel industry decides to build a power plant in this Black or brown or low-income neighborhood, and it’s compounded by access to resources, education, and other systems in a community. It’s our responsibility as the environmental and climate movement to hold all of that together, and ensure that any solutions we’re putting forward are informed by and driven by the folks who are closest to the problem—who see those solutions more clearly because they’re living it.

How do you combat misinformation?
When people are experiencing climate disaster, we’re connecting the dots as much as possible, because you’re going to have the fossil fuel industry and coal companies trying to tell a different story. So it’s by being very clear and unapologetic about the impacts of those [companies’] decisions. Also, when people tell their own story about why protecting the environment matters to them, people are going to hear that more than a talking head or politician.

How do you feel about more brands marketing themselves as “eco-friendly?”
It depends. If you look at a company like Peabody coal plant, there’s no amount of greenwashing that could convince me that they’re doing the right thing for the sake of doing the right thing. It’s really important we don’t fall for that. However, when I see companies owned by local people—especially women and people of color—I really do believe those companies when they say they’re contributing a certain amount of their profits.

What’s something that often gets left out of the climate conversation?
I think something we do as a movement is highlight one specific individual or someone who might be a good spokesperson. But any type of big, sustained change actually comes from many, many people coming together. Those people are sometimes doing seemingly mundane things, but those things add up.

So the little things we do for the environment actually help?
Absolutely. Even a conversation with a family member can go such a long way. It’s about people organizing within their networks, right? It’s talking to people you have a relationship with to shift their mindset. The value and the impact of those conversations just can’t be discounted. It comes down to, “Who are the people that you trust or that trust you? That you can really be in community with to build a bigger umbrella so that more people can be part of the work?”