Throughout her public-service career, on behalf of Rohnert Park and the greater North Bay, Jackie Elward has been a leader on climate issues. She brings a strong environmental justice focus to her work, in the belief that it goes hand in hand with economic justice and progress. “Communities that have borne the greatest burden from pollution should have a meaningful voice in the decisions we make,” she says. “That means investing in disadvantaged communities, and making clean transportation and energy affordable and accessible.”

As City Councilmember and Mayor, Jackie helped incorporate climate action into the city’s General Plan, supporting the transition of municipal operations to 100 percent renewable electricity. As Vice-Chair of Sonoma Clean Power, she advocated for access to renewable energy sources, including wind, solar, and geothermal, and reducing the North Bay’s reliance on natural gas.

Looking ahead to representing District 12 in the State Assembly, Jackie has an ambitious agenda that includes, in part:

• Ensuring that the North Bay gets its fair share of the Climate Bond, which invests $10 billion in projects for wildfire prevention, coastal resilience, flood protection, drought resiliency, sustainable agriculture, and more;
• Making major polluters like fossil fuel corporations responsible for climate-related disaster cleanup costs instead of the taxpayers;

• Pushing for more local, independent power generation and storage like rooftop solar, in order to reduce energy costs and reliance on corporate utility companies; and
• Investing in electric vehicle charging infrastructure and incentivizing the transition of gas-powered vehicles to zero-emission ones.

Born and raised in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Jackie and her husband came to the United States two decades ago to start a family. Since then, she has been a lifelong educator and advocate for working families on the issues that matter most to the North Bay. In 2020, she became the first Black woman ever elected to the Rohnert Park City Council.

“Climate change is already affecting the North Bay through wildfire, drought, flooding, sea level rise, rising insurance costs, and extreme weather,” she notes. “We cannot afford to wait.”

Jackie has been endorsed by a wide range of climate and environmental groups, and we are pleased to endorse her.

Campaign website: https://www.jackie4assembly.com/

Volunteer some time: https://www.jackie4assembly.com/join

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Photo credit: Jackie Elward for Assembly, used with permission