thumb|alt=Little Village Environmental Justice Organization protesters against coal fired plant|Wasserman led LVEJO's campaign for the shutdown of the Crawford and Fisk coal-fired plants. '''Kimberly Wasserman (Kimberly Wasserman Nieto)''' is an American environmentalist and grassroots leader<ref>{{cite news|title=Looking Back On 2013: Activism Helps Heal|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marcia-g-yerman/looking-back-on-2013-acti_b_4450575.html|accessdate=12 June 2014|work=Huffington Post|date=December 16, 2013|archive-date=15 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140715082559/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marcia-g-yerman/looking-back-on-2013-acti_b_4450575.html|url-status=live}}</ref> As director of the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization (LVEJO), she is a recipient of the 2013 Goldman Environmental Prize<ref>{{cite web|title=Prize Recipient - Kimberly Wasserman|url=http://www.goldmanprize.org/recipient/kimberly-wasserman|website=The Goldman Environmental Prize|accessdate=12 June 2014|archive-date=17 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210417200731/https://www.goldmanprize.org/recipient/kimberly-wasserman/|url-status=live}}</ref> for leading the successful lobbying campaign for the passage of the Chicago Clean Power Ordinance that resulted in the closing of the Crawford and Fisk coal-fired power plants.<ref>{{cite news|title=Protesters Want Mayor, City Council To Pass 'Clean Power Ordinance'|url=http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2011/12/20/protesters-want-mayor-city-council-to-pass-clean-power-ordinance/|accessdate=12 June 2014|work=CBS Chicago|date=December 20, 2011|archive-date=14 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714222310/http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2011/12/20/protesters-want-mayor-city-council-to-pass-clean-power-ordinance/|url-status=live}}</ref>
Wasserman was raised in Little Village, Illinois. She entered the world of environmental activism in 1998 after her three-month-old son suffered an asthma attack despite having no family history of asthma.<ref name="Chicago Tribune">{{cite news|last1=Wernau|first1=Julie|title=Fisk, Crawford coal plants had long history, as did battle to close them|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2012/09/02/fisk-crawford-coal-plants-had-long-history-as-did-battle-to-close-them/|access-date=12 June 2014|work=Chicago Tribune|date=September 2, 2012}}</ref> After researching the connection between asthma and air pollution,<ref>{{cite web|title=Asthma|url=https://www.cdc.gov/asthma/faqs.htm|website=Center for Disease Control|accessdate=12 June 2014}}</ref> she turned her attention to the coal-fired plants in her neighborhood and became involved with LVEJO. LVEJO is an organization that advocates for environmental justice in Little Village and throughout Chicago.<ref>{{cite web|title=Mission Statement |url=http://lvejo.org/about/mission-statement/ |website=Little Village Environmental Justice Organization |accessdate=12 June 2014 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20141011235221/http://lvejo.org/about/mission-statement/ |archivedate=11 October 2014 }}</ref>
Wasserman started as a community organizer for LVEJO for seven years and has been an executive director since 2005.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Puga|first1=Kristina|title=Latina Leaders: Chicago's Erin Brokovich wins environmental prize|url=http://nbclatino.com/2013/04/15/latina-leaders-chicagos-erin-brokovich-wins-environmental-prize/|accessdate=12 June 2014|work=NBC Latino|date=April 15, 2013|archive-date=14 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714174852/http://nbclatino.com/2013/04/15/latina-leaders-chicagos-erin-brokovich-wins-environmental-prize/|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2002, LVEJO first mobilized politically against the emissions coming from the two plants.<ref name="Chicago Tribune" /> They organized the collection of signatures to get a referendum on the 2003 City Hall ballot requiring the two plants to either drastically reduce pollution or shut down.<ref name="Chicago Tribune" /> While they weren't able to get the immediate support from their aldermen, after a ten-year battle to sway their opinion, they were ultimately successful. On February 28, 2012, it was announced that the Fisk and Crawford plants would be permanently shut down.<ref name="Chicago Tribune" />
==References== {{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wasserman, Kimberly}} Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Living people Category:American environmentalists Category:American women environmentalists Category:Goldman Environmental Prize awardees Category:21st-century American women