Inaugural Trailblazer Award Recipient: Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability

We are pleased to present the inaugural Trailblazer Award to Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability for its unique and impactful legal work. Leadership Counsel was founded by two women, Veronica Garibay and Phoebe Seaton, in 2013. Since its founding in 2013, Leadership Counsel has worked alongside disadvantaged communities in the San Joaquin and East Coachella Valleys to advance and achieve pioneering legal and policy solutions to environmental injustice and to uplift and expand the movement for rural justice. In just over 11 years, the women-led organization has grown to a team of more than 30 attorneys, policy advocates, organizers, communications specialists, and administrative staff. Leadership Counsel draws strength from its diverse team, which includes staff born and raised in rural and inland environmental justice communities, and community leaders who fight every day for the well-being of their neighborhoods and their regions.  The aim of Leadership Counsel is to fundamentally “shift the dynamics that have created the stark inequality that impacts California’s low-income rural regions.” Leadership Counsel’s substantive successes speak to why they are receiving this award, spanning a range of topics in different settings including court actions, advocacy in the Legislature on budget appropriations and legislation, city council advocacy, and other forums.