Women's History Month Feature: Angela Fox

How do you stay hopeful and motivated in the face of the climate crisis?

That is such a loaded question. I think because of the timing of it, I really have first and foremost the mentality of ‘if not me, then who.' It has always kind of been my motto as I've been working in this field, and it isn't maybe the most healthy response, but I do firmly believe that my way to cope with sustainability is by taking action. If I am doing nothing, or even if I'm doing the bare minimum, I don't feel like I'm in control. 
And so, it's a little selfish in a sense, but I think my way of remaining hopeful is to continue working, to be that change that I want to see in my communities. I am very much willing to fall on my sword as many times as it takes to continue this. I think when it's in your blood and it's who you are, you just have to do it.


If you could go back to talk to yourself, and you were just starting in the field, what would you say?

‍I think it would be to trust myself more. I grew up in this era where you didn't have a lot of self-confidence, and I still struggle with self-confidence and trusting myself. I definitely had a few times in my career where I could have leaned in harder, but I don't have any regrets ultimately. I've made every good decision, every bad decision, and it has led me exactly to this moment. Had I done anything differently, who knows where I would be? So I wouldn't change anything, but I definitely would trust myself more. It was instilled, at least in my generation of women, that confidence wasn't necessarily a good thing, and I think that's been reworked and destigmatized and we have a culture of young women who are raised completely differently.

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Have you ever experienced a moment where being a woman in this space shaped how you were seen or heard?

I think being a woman in this space is everything. Women are known as the nurturers, they're known as the caregivers. Part of my early career, I sat on a board for the Women in Environment Symposium in Grand Rapids for five or six years. There was something really beautiful about this idea of women coming together to support sustainability, considering so many of them were the ones in the trenches doing the work. It's not to say that men don't play a role or should play a role, but I think there is something very female about this movement and to me it's a really beautiful thing to be a part of.