Brenda Santoyo Gomez

Brenda Santoyo Gomez (she/her) is an organizer and policy advocate. In her current role at the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization, she advocates for access to clean water and healthy living conditions to improve the quality of life throughout Chicago's communities. Brenda also co-convenes and facilitates the Illinois Water Justice Coalition space and has served on a state-appointed board advising implementation of legislation for lead service line removal throughout the state.

Her interest in environmental justice arose through her experiences growing up near an industrial corridor and witnessing the economic hardships and onerous labor her immigrant family endured working in warehouses and factories. The intersectionality between spatial, economic, health, and environmental justice moved her to pursue this advocacy work.

Brenda is a first-generation college graduate with a double Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Public Policy from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2020.