Social Architecture for Resilient & Sustainable Communities

Jerome Shabazz

Executive Director, Overbrook Environmental Educational Center

The Overbrook Environmental Education Center (OEEC) works to demonstrate strategies that promote healthier, more resilient communities in Philadelphia’s vulnerable neighborhoods with the use of sustainable practices. The OEEC has trained thousands of students on the Clean Water Act and Toxic Substances Control Act, and other topics that reduces human exposure to toxic substances at home and school. Philadelphia is the sixth largest city in the United States, with a racially and ethnically diverse population (estimated at 1,567,442, in 2015). According to the city’s Health Department, 23.6 percent of Philadelphians rated their health as poor or fair, and those with the poorest health disparities can be tracked by race, ethnic background and zip code. Also included are details one center’s latest youth initiative, the Overbrook Youth Environmental Stewards ( OYES) program.

Jerome Shabazz is the founder and Executive Director of JASTECH (Juveniles Active in Science and Technology) Development Services, Inc., a not-for-profit organization developed in 1998, to promote environmental justice; encourage sustainable design and to promote public health in urban communities. In 2002, JASTECH applied for and received a US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) grant under the Clean Water Act to establish the Overbrook Environmental Education Center (OEEC), a community-based center dedicated to preserving our built and natural environments.  Under Mr. Shabazz’s direction, the OEEC completed a Targeted Brownfields Assessments (TBA) and remediated environmental hazards from a Brownfield site in West Philadelphia.

Jerome Shabazz is a member of the PA Department of Environmental Protection’s – Citizen Advisory Council,  Environmental Justice Advisory Council (EJAC); National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC), and holds a Master’s of Science Degree in Environmental Protection & Safety Management from St. Joseph’s University. For further information: https://www.nrs.fs.fed.us/partners/oeec