Empowering Community Driven and Environmentally Focused Solutions with TransitMatters
Empowering Community Driven and Environmentally Focused Solutions with TransitMatters

During my final semester, I worked with TransitMatters as a Clean Transit Associate, engaging with projects that evaluated and reimagined public transportation. TransitMatters is a non-profit advocacy group based in Boston which strives to advance solutions for public transit across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. A main tenet of their work is using data to drive conversations about reliability, efficiency, and access. Over my 10 weeks with TransitMatters, I saw the value of blending data with personal experiences to create a holistic picture about how good public transportation can change communities – and benefit our planet.

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Climate Policy Labpublic transportation, environmental justice, Author - Alison Lashendock, 2025Comment
Trans Lives at the Crossroads of Water Insecurity and Climate Change
Trans Lives at the Crossroads of Water Insecurity and Climate Change

In the growing climate crisis, one truth is becoming increasingly clear: those already at the margins of society are the first to feel its impacts and the last to receive relief. Over the past few years, we have seen rising recognition of how climate change disproportionately affects vulnerable populations—such as women, children, low-income households, and people with disabilities.  However, there are still many communities whose vulnerabilities remain both under-researched and under-acknowledged.

Among these are transgender individuals, who face some of the most insidious challenges—particularly in accessing basic services like water and sanitation.

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Climate Policy LabPride Month, Author-Surabhi Malhotra
Climate, Code, and Justice: Why Inclusive Governance Matters for Emerging Climate Technologies
Climate, Code, and Justice: Why Inclusive Governance Matters for Emerging Climate Technologies

Emerging climate technologies, from AI-based early warning systems to blockchain-enabled carbon markets, are reshaping how societies mitigate and adapt to the climate crisis. But as these innovations scale, so do the risks of exclusion, bias, and inequity, especially for frontline communities often left out of digital and policy infrastructures.

During AAPI Heritage Month, it’s important not only to celebrate cultural contributions, but also to interrogate how diverse perspectives, like those of the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities, shape global systems of governance, law, and innovation. In the context of climate technology, AAPI experiences offer unique insight into what inclusive, just, and globally connected policy frameworks can look like.

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Climate Policy LabCommunity Voices, AAPI, AAPI Heritage Month, AAPIHM
Generational Wisdom: How Traditional Wisdom of AAPI Communities Can Teach Us Solutions to Modern Issues of Climate Change
Generational Wisdom: How Traditional Wisdom of AAPI Communities Can Teach Us Solutions to Modern Issues of Climate Change

Across Asia, Africa and the Pacific, communities have lived in harmony with their environment for generations. Their knowledge of the ocean, local ecosystem, crop cycles and ecological balance isn’t written in textbooks rather it’s carried through stories, passed down through generations, shared in community gatherings and practiced in everyday life.

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Climate Policy Lab