Maurissa Brown

Transportation Equity Program Manager

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Maurissa Brown

Transportation Equity Program Manager

As the Transportation Equity Program Manager, Maurissa Brown (she/her/hers) advocates for clean, safe, and affordable mobility options that benefit low-income communities of color. Maurissa works to ensure state zero-emission vehicle transportation policy, planning and investments build healthy, climate-resilient communities. Maurissa previously worked as a Roger Arliner Young (RAY) Clean Energy Diversity Fellow during which she developed a background in building science and innovation, energy codes and policy, and zero-emission technologies. Maurissa built a relationship with the Coalition of Communities of Color and joined the Building Community, Shifting Power Collective in Portland, Oregon as a researcher and organizer. She held healing space for communities of color to determine their own climate justice needs for local policy, which led to the Collective’s development of the HEART Standards–equitable and healthy building performance standards–for communities who live in existing rental housing in Multnomah County. Maurissa was born and raised on Tongva land (South Central Los Angeles). As a South Central native, Maurissa personally understands the socio-economic impacts of redlining and intentional neighborhood disinvestment. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Ecology, Behavior, & Evolution from the University of California, Los Angeles. Maurissa is an artistic and scientific mind and enjoys melding the intersections between ecology and environmental justice through painting and writing. She believes storytelling through art is essential to changing the narrative of our cultural relationship to nature and one another.

Climate Equity Policy Staff

Daimler Truck North America made record profits in 2023, nearly $6 billion, but Daimler’s CEO made it clear through press statements that any “leftover money” would go to the company’s shareholders and not their workers. These record results in part come from Daimler expanding its zero-emission, or ZE, transportation portfolio, including adding ten different ZE vehicle models. Fed up with the unfair treatment of the workforce responsible for providing the labor that yielded these massive profits, workers from six different local unions in North Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee prepared to strike.

This situation isn’t uncommon. Employees like those at Daimler have to fight so hard to see equitable outcomes for their pivotal contributions to companies, even as they are the backbone of our transportation system and a huge driver of our overall economic health. When you factor in additional pressure on the transportation sector as a whole, including the dire need to transition to zero-emission vehicles and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, ensuring equitable outcomes for all stakeholders–including the various workforces involved in the transportation sector–is essential. Labor in the clean transportation sector can include (but not limited to) workers who are involved in skilled trades, manufacturing vehicles and equipment, or operating and maintaining vehicles and equipment. 

The Greenlining Institute explores how to equitably shift to zero-emission transportation in Greenlining’s Clean Mobility Equity Playbook. Included in the report is the Making Equity Real Framework, which unpacks opportunities to embed equity through:

1. Mission, Vision and Values — How is equity described in the context of the overall mission/ goal? Is equity a core component? Is equity missing?

2. Process — How was equity embedded into the process of developing the program? How was equity embedded into program implementation? How are decisions made or influenced by communities that have less political power or voice?

3. Outcomes — How has implementation led to equity outcomes? What explicit equity outcomes are described in the program?

4. Measurement and Analysis — How is equity progress measured? How do we know that equity goals and community benefits were achieved?

Those looking to develop clean transportation equity programs, projects, and policies to transition highly polluting fossil fuel medium and heavy-duty vehicles, or MHDVs, to zero-emission alternatives must use intentional planning to avoid deepening existing systemic inequities, especially when it comes to workforce and economic development. While there are many possibilities for equitable outcomes, in the face of corporate greed and the rising living costs we see today, it is critical that this intentional planning yields meaningful, tangible economic outcomes.

In our recent blog, Communities Need Equitable Zero-Emission Solutions, we discussed building equity into The Process. In this blog we’ll focus on building equity into The Outcomes, with a focus on workforce and economic development.  

Zero-Emission Medium and Heavy-Duty Vehicle Rollout Can Drive Tangible Equity Outcomes

In our current reality: People live in redlined neighborhoods close to freight routes and corridors overwhelmed by truck traffic and poor air quality, while their community owned, small businesses compete for space near sprawling logistical freight facilities. Meanwhile, profit hungry companies exploit the very workforce who move America forward. According to the UC Berkeley Labor Center, “[m]ost of the jobs involved in building California’s low-carbon economy are blue-collar jobs that do not require a college degree, in sectors like construction, manufacturing, energy, and transportation. Across the state’s economy, the quality of these jobs varies substantially. Many blue-collar jobs are low-wage, non-union jobs, with inadequate safety and job performance training, subpar or no health and retirement benefits, and limited opportunities for career advancement.”

Manufacturers like Daimler Truck North America as well as MHDV fleet owners are an important part of the conversation. Some factors impacting zero-emission transition include costs, technology reliability, and supply chain sustainability. Smaller fleet owners face even larger issues as they tend to have less access to capital for upfront costs. But to ensure a more equitable and just future, vehicle manufacturers and fleet owners cannot simply aim to electrify our transportation system at the cost of the prosperity of workers, surrounding communities, and local economic development. 

Plans to get zero-emission MHDVs on the streets must let community and labor lead, prioritize their concerns and solutions, and provide clear, meaningful, and tangible equity outcomes. 

Workforce and Community Considerations

To get a sense of equitable considerations, we can again look at the recent case involving the Daimler Truck North America, and apply Greenlining’s Making Equity Real Framework.

To ensure equitable outcomes for workers in the shift to zero-emission MHDVs, Daimler, and other companies should:

• Be clear about equity for workers in their Mission, Vision and Values, 
• Move beyond statement goals and develop worker-led or influenced processes to address equity concerns at the company, 
• Let this process result in benefits and outcomes that directly and meaningfully address concerns in a tangible way; and,
• Continue to measure and monitor to improve upon these outcomes.

Thanks to the efforts of union organizing, in April 2024 United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain delivered a tentative Daimler Truck bargaining agreement with clear outcomes for improvement of pay for workers who make trucks and buses at facilities in North Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee. It was the bravery, solidarity, and commitment to fairness of these workers that led to the bargaining agreement.

“UAW Family, our determination and solidarity has delivered. We said it shouldn’t matter if you build a heavy truck or a bus for Daimler, you should get paid the same for the same work, and we want equal pay for equal work, ending wage tiers at Daimler.”

Shawn Fain, United Auto Workers President

However, despite this win, big obstacles still remain for securing an equitable future for all the transportation workforce responsible for providing the clean economy labor, as not every worker has the opportunity to participate in a union. 

The Moving Forward Network highlights key concerns from workers about the zero-emission transition which include: fear of automation and job loss as a result of electrification, and a need for protections and high-road pathways for folks to move into the clean energy economy.

Regenerate California, a joint initiative of CEJA and Sierra Club, have made it clear through their Just Transition Framework and Strategy, that“workers impacted by climate policies must receive financial assistance, education or training, and a job that provides a family-sustaining wage, healthcare, retirement plans, and a voice on the job.” This Just Transition Framework makes it clear what type of workforce development outcomes should result from zero-emission MHDV programs, projects, and policies. There are a variety of actions and avenues available to make these outcomes a reality, ranging from policy changes to coordination with community-based organizations. Some diverse examples of efforts to protect labor, community, and local economic development as well as deliver equitable outcomes include:

• Assembly Bill 5 – In 2019, The Greenlining Institute supported the passage of Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez’s AB 5 that codifies the “ABC test” which helps ensure truck drivers or others working in the “gig economy” are not misclassified as independent contractors without access to due wages and employee benefits. 
• A project by The Harambee House/Citizens for Environmental Justice, a community based organization in Savannah, Georgia, offers a Worker Education and Job Training Program that provides training classes to help their community members gain access to green technology  jobs.
• Lastly, with freight warehouses popping up and little to no effective statewide legislation to protect small businesses from being pushed out, The People’s Collective For Environmental Justice held their First Annual Eco-Tianguis, a thoughtfully crafted community centered event to raise awareness, provide resources for the community, and support local small businesses in the Inland Empire where so many sprawling logistics facilities and warehouses–built to support freight fleets and large companies–are taking up space and disrupting the local economy. 

How fleet owners can get started:

• Develop a resource list of electric truck and equipment vendors and contractors
  • The Greater Washington Region Clean Cities Coalition (GWRCCC) has developed a local electrification resource list that helps fleets in the area access and increase supplier/vendor diversity. 
• Consult an equity professional and begin to align internally around measurable equity goals, processes, and outcomes
  • GWRCCC also hosted a Fleet Equity Forum that walks fleet leads through best practices to prioritize equity in their company operations and zero-emission projects. Recommendations included:
    • Fleet organization’s leadership and department leads– from leadership and finance to operations and legal–need to have internal alignment around commitments to equity outcomes. 
    • Ensure that fleet companies research what communities are impacted by their fleets, whether that be along truck routes or depot locations, and make sure that partnership with those communities is included in decision-making. 

The rollout of zero-emission MHDVs presents an opportunity to build in a more just and sustainable way. Equitable outcomes must be prioritized to ensure that the benefits of this transition are shared widely and fairly, especially for the labor that drives this green economy and for the disadvantaged communities whose local economies are being decimated by freight expansion. Workforce development and support for small businesses are crucial components in this process, requiring targeted initiatives and community partnerships. Manufacturers and fleet owners must adopt equitable practices to navigate the challenges of this transition and create inclusive solutions. As we move towards a zero-emission future, our commitment to equity will determine the success of our efforts to create a cleaner, fairer world.

Maurissa Brown

Transportation Equity Program Manager

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