Vien Truong will receive CLCV’s Environmental Leadership Award at our annual San Francisco gala on June 9th.
Truong leads Green For All, a national initiative to build an inclusive green economy strong enough to lift people out of poverty. She previously led the Greenlining Institute’s Environmental Equity team in creating solutions for poverty and pollution at the state legislature, California Public Utilities Commission, and in localities around the state. Under her leadership, her team created state programs and policies around the country to direct billions of dollars in funding and resources to the communities most vulnerable to climate change.
Truong helped pass California Senate Bill 535, which directs one quarter of California’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund to disadvantaged communities. In 2014, she co-led the Charge Ahead Initiative, California’s nationally recognized program to accelerate the transformation to electric vehicles and create clean transportation choices for low income and working families. She also led the team’s strategy and efforts to create the California Climate Credit, develop strong workforce standards for the energy efficiency sector, and create sustainable communities throughout California.
Prior to joining Greenlining, she led Green For All’s state policy and workforce development efforts. Truong was also previously an Associate Attorney for the New Business Practicum at UC Berkeley’s Boalt School of Law. She has worked with California Senator Joe Simitian, clerked with Chief Magistrate James Larson, and was the Community Economic Justice Law Fellow at UC Berkeley’s East Bay Community Law Center. Truong is a Board Member for the U.S. Climate Action Network. She holds a B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley and a J.D. from the University of California Hastings College of the Law.
Interviewed by the San Francisco Chronicle in 2013, Truong reflected:
One time I was in Texas promoting green policies that benefit low-income families. In one day, I had eight meetings in seven hours, and there were no other women in any of these meetings. I thought, “This work around environmental policies should be broader.” It shouldn’t be seen as only a green thing, but an issue that goes hand in hand with a larger social responsibility of being in stewardship of our Earth. Women need to be a part of that conversation.
Truong has received congressional, state, regional, and local awards for her work on behalf of low-income communities and communities of color. These include the San Francisco Chronicle’s “Top Women Leaders”, Urban Habitat’s “Movement Builder” and Oxfam America’s “Act Local, Think Global” Awards. She has served on the City of Oakland’s Planning Commission, helping guide the growth and development of her hometown.
CLCV is delighted to present Truong with a much-deserved Environmental Leadership Award on June 9th.
