Isella Ramirez grew up in the City of Commerce, an industrial city in southeast Los Angeles. Commerce is home to four rail yards that operate 24 hours, 7 days a week — pumping almost 42 tons of pollution annually into the air and waterways. For Isella, growing up in Commerce meant advocating for environmental justice wasn’t an option; it was a means of survival. For her own health and that of her family and neighbors, Isella began fighting for safer, healthier communities — not just in Commerce but in communities across the country similarly impacted by freight pollution. Today, Isella is the executive director of Moving Forward Network (MFN), a national nonprofit coalition of over 50 community-based organizations that use local knowledge and expertise to protect communities from the harms of freight pollution.
Industrial pollution isn’t just big plumes of smoke ribboning out of smoke stacks. It’s also the exhaust coming from a freight truck passing by a residential neighborhood.
“Freight transportation is everywhere. It shapes our lives. It doesn’t matter what corner of the U.S. you live in.”
In fact, freight transportation is one of the largest sources of pollution in the United States, affecting almost 2 million Americans and driving poor air quality that leads to health issues. The frontline communities located near ports, rail yards, warehouses and highways, which are predominantly communities of color and low income, bear the brunt because of redlining and discriminatory zoning laws.
“MFN’s mission is about ensuring every resident of any and all communities, rural or urban, have dignity in their life choices,” she explained. “A person’s ZIP code shouldn’t be the determining factor of their life, longevity, success or upward mobility. Everyone deserves the right to have safe air to breathe, clean water to drink, and opportunities to make safe choices.” This belief drives MFN’s fight to ensure that freight and the energy systems that power freight are designed, regulated and developed by the people they most impact and in ways that don’t pass the burden from one community to another.
Its unique approach has led to meaningful wins for communities across the country. In 2024, MFN worked with the Biden administration to release the first-ever freight transportation fact sheet that would establish a federal approach to regulating the freight transportation system. Although implementation stalled, MFN continues to push local governments, utilities and businesses to address freight pollution as part of their zero-emission goals. MFN is actively engaging with the California Air Resources Board on its California Drive Forward initiative.
MFN is also educating communities about the impact of freight pollution to inspire more people to get involved in the movement. Last spring, MFN released the first episode of “The Lines We Live On” — its flagship documentary series highlighting the community leaders and the power of the communities fighting for clean air. The documentary tells the stories of leadership and resilience and provides a vision for communities fighting back against industrial pollution.
Episode 1, “Carry What We Cannot Keep,” features mark! Lopez, a resident of East Los Angeles, who grew up near some of the state’s most heavily trafficked freeways. mark! tells stories about how he and the generations before him have advocated for clean air, how he and his daughters are often forced inside due to the smell and toxicity of the air in his backyard, and how his family established community trips to Mono Lake in Northern California to deepen their connection to the land and waterways that the city’s energy demands are destroying. And like Isella, mark!’s journey shows the inspiring legacy of advocacy, resilience and community that he and his neighborhood hold. Episode 2 will premiere at Climate Week New York in September.
Windward Fund is proud to support MFN as it fights for zero emissions for freight transportation. MFN’s work shows us that while pollution is a global issue, there is power in localized action. By providing MFN with the highest-quality back-of-house services, Isella and advocates around the country have the space to focus on the work to build healthier, thriving communities.
