Who We Are.
We are a grassroots Environmental Justice organization dedicated to ensuring the health and safety of the people living in Miami, Oklahoma, and the surrounding areas in Ottawa County.
We strive to provide a voice for those who have been silenced and to bring justice to those who have been disproportionately impacted by environmental pollution.
Our Team.
Our team are a diverse group of activists, organizers, educators, and community members who believe that by working together, we can create a cleaner, healthier, and more sustainable future for all.
Rebecca Jim
Executive Director & Tar Creekkeeper
Rebecca is dedicated to holding organizations accountable for the environmental and health impacts of unchecked industrial practices. She fights to secure environmental justice for Tar Creek, the environment, the people, and the tribes.
Paul Marquez
Community Organizaer
Paul retired from the State of Oklahoma in 2022 and joined the LEAD Agency as a Community Organizer. He helps people work together, solve their own problems, and change the world for the better. “Just because we are rural it does not mean we cannot change the world."
Bailey Stephenson
Education & Engagement
Bailey helps to facilitate L.E.A.D.’s youth programs including our summer camps. She is devoted to realizing more caring environmental relationships and more equitable environmental futures for all living beings including generations yet to come
Martin Lively
Grand Riverkeeper
Martin is committed to ensuring a safe and healthy environment for future generations by advocating for responsible industrial practices and building partnerships with local leaders to preserve and protect the natural resources of the Grand River watershed.
Kimberly Barker
Communications & PR
Kimberly, an award-winning journalist, believes in freedom of information, environmental accountability and building a healthier planet for all. Her writing and passion for justice gives a voice to the voiceless by sharing stories of those impacted by heavy industry.
Margery Berk
Office Assistant
Margie keeps our office together, ensuring we have the resources and support needed to build our connections in the community, heal the effects of industrial pollution, and protect this land so it may once again be enjoyed.
Kindel Maymi
Program Assistant
With a focus on environmental justice and social equity, Kindel's work is centered on helping LEAD Agency create and implement programs that address the unique needs of our communities that are both innovative and sustainable, and improve our future.
Naomi Andrews
Website & Advocacy
Naomi is the talent behind our website, ensuring our message calling for environmental justice reaches far and wide. She's an unwavering advocate for all that we do and reminds people daily that wanting clean water shouldn't be political.
Jessica Tran
Ph.D. Student
Jessica's purpose is to make an impact in the local community by connecting science to action. Her passion for her work stems from her identity as a first generation Asian American, and finds resilience and strength in community, oceans, and art.
“It really boils down to this: that all life is interrelated. We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied into a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly.... We aren’t going to have peace on Earth until we recognize this basic fact of the interrelated structure of all reality.”
Martin Luther King Jr.