The Sustainable Environment Institute advances the principles of sustainability through teaching, applied practice, and community participation.

Sustainability is essential to social equity and long-term resilience, SEI works to ensure that environmental equity, sustainability and climate literacy are meaningfully integrated into education, institutional decision-making, and community life.

SEI coordinates and strengthens environmental and sustainability efforts across the district’s nine colleges, ensuring that students, faculty, administrators, and staff have access to programs, courses, activities, and shared resources that increase environmental awareness and action. By fostering collaboration across campuses, SEI helps reduce silos and builds a cohesive districtwide approach to sustainability education.

We promote and support Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD) student capacity to understand, advocate for, and advance environmental justice within their communities. SEI centers student learning and lived experience, recognizing community colleges as critical spaces for cultivating environmental leadership that reflects the diversity of Los Angeles.

As the district’s in-house organizer and host for professional development in environmental and sustainability education, SEI supports faculty in integrating environmental equity into curriculum and pedagogy. Through workshops, institutes, communities of practice, and technical assistance, SEI helps educators connect disciplinary content to real-world environmental challenges facing students and their communities.

SEI also serves as a bridge between faculty, administration, facilities, and operations—transforming campuses into living laboratories for sustainability. By aligning instructional goals with facilities planning, maintenance, and new construction, SEI helps ensure that infrastructure investments become opportunities for teaching, learning, and applied research.

At the policy level, SEI advances statewide leadership through strategic collaborations with legislators, advocacy organizations, and initiatives such as Vision 2030. These partnerships connect local innovation to broader systemic change and amplify the role of community colleges in shaping California’s environmental future. SEI works alongside partners including The Climate Center, district facilities teams, the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges (ASCCC), local government agencies, UCLA, the Center for Developing Leadership in Science, and Indigenous communities—reflecting a commitment to shared learning, mutual respect, and inclusive environmental stewardship.

By representing faculty and district initiatives at conferences and statewide forums, SEI elevates campus achievements and positions LACCD as a leader in sustainability and environmental justice education. All of this work is grounded in shared governance, community engagement, and the belief that clearly telling this collective story is essential to sustaining impact and advancing a more just and resilient future.