CWFNC is a private non-profit membership organization serving residents across the state of North Carolina. We have a very active and diverse board and staff, dozens of volunteers and hundreds of members who work hard to make North Carolina a better place.

We have helped people in every county of North Carolina through organizing and technical assistance, and have been a key player in many statewide environmental issues.

CWFNC researches environmental problems, analyzes public policy, and educates and empowers people. Skilled, confident and knowledgeable people who remain active in their communities are among our most important achievements.

We spearhead statewide action such as our People’s Enforcement Campaign, as well as help local communities develop strategies to address threats to their community environment and health. Issues we work on are environmental justice, surface and drinking water protection, and toxics, including air quality. In 2005, we are launching our Water Justice Campaign, calling for our state's laws and regulations to recognize safe, affordable drinking water to be a human right for every North Carolinian.

Clean Water for North Carolina has been a key player in many statewide environmental issues such as hog factories, PCB landfills, groundwater policy, hazardous waste incineration, enforcement policy and radioactive waste management. We have also published well-documented reports on enforcement and water quality challenges in four river basins across North Carolina.

Staff
Hope Taylor, Executive Director, Durham and Asheville Offices
Hope joined the staff in August of 1999, after six years of teaching chemistry and biology in community colleges and universities in the Durham area, as well as providing technical assistance to communities at Superfund sites. During her 20 years of work as a basic biomedical researcher at the National Institutes of Health and Duke University, she remained active on environmental and social justice issues. Deciding to train for a career more connected to communities, she graduated with a Master of Science in Public Health in Environmental Chemistry and Biology from UNC-CH in 1993. Hope is also a dairy goat farmer and works to deepen CWFNC ties with rural communities across the state to protect our surface and ground water.

Gracia O'Neill, Assistant Director, Asheville Office, graduated from Prescott College in Environmental Sciences, having distinguished herself as a student leader, a successful fundraiser and manager. She got her first experience as an organizer at the age of 14 in her low income neighborhood in St. Paul, Minn, where she coordinated a bicycle repair team for youth development.

Belinda Joyner, Northeastern Organizer, Garysburg, grew up in Northampton County and has worked as a teacher's assistant specializing in reading skills. She has been involved in numerous local environmental struggles and has been an effective organizer against threats including a liquid fertilizer plant, a hazardous waste incinerator and a private prison, with a strong history of grassroots fundraising for diverse causes.

Monica Pena, Member/Volunteer Coordinator and Bilingual Organizer, Asheville Office, Monica Peña is Clean Water for North Carolina's Volunteer and Member Coordinator and also leads efforts in Latino communities.   Monica graduated from New College of Florida where she studied Sociology and Environmental Studies.  Her undergraduate thesis led her to rural Alabama where she met with grassroots activists and studied their successful campaign against the construction of a solid waste landfill near the "Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail."  Monica also comes to CWFNC with experience as a community event organizer and bilingual advocate.  She is grateful to be part of the critical movement for environmental justice.