
Fellow
Boards and Commissions Leadership Institute 2017
Originally from Nanakuli Hawaii, Roddy Jerome graduated in 1982 from W.R. Farrington H.S. in Kalihi, but has been a resident of City Heights, San Diego, for many years. Roddy Jerome has a vested interest in what goes on in his community. About 4 years ago, he started attending Environmental Health Coalition (EHC) community meetings in City Heights and began to find out more about how his neighborhood and the entire region is impacted by dirty energy, the lack of good public transportation and a variety of other environmental justice issues. Since 2013, Roddy attended and testified at state energy hearings, at San Diego’s City Council Committees about the City’s climate action plan, at SANDAG (San Diego Association of Government) hearings about the Mid-City bike corridor and in Sacramento to lobby state Legislators.
The aspect of community advocacy Roddy enjoys most is knocking on doors and informing his friends and neighbors about the common issues that affect all of us, urging them to get involved. Roddy continues his involvement with the City Heights built environment team and EHC, and looks forward to developing better tools through the Boards and Commissions Leadership Institute to advocate for underrepresented communities and communities of color.