Community Ambassador Program
The OpenAQ Community Ambassador Program is a leadership training program designed for emerging air quality leaders in low- and middle-income countries. The program focuses on training these air quality advocates to utilize air quality monitoring data in support of community action to fight air pollution.
The program includes a comprehensive curriculum on ambient air pollution, air quality monitoring, data transparency, data access, data analysis, participatory research and community engagement.
Through the interactive training, the Community Ambassadors become inspired and empowered to accelerate air pollution mitigation in communities throughout their region. As they engage with local governments, companies and community organizations, they are able to underscore the need for open data, holding air quality data producers accountable to data transparency, a critical component of successful collective action to reduce air and climate pollution.
OpenAQ piloted the Community Ambassador Program in 2021, providing practical skill building to five young professionals hailing from Albania, India, Kenya, Mongolia and South Africa and working in diverse sectors pertaining to air quality, including air quality management, urban development, journalism, city government, engineering, and community organizing. Their positive feedback, and what they achieved after completing the program, led us to the decision to establish a regular Community Ambassador Program, starting in 2023.
OpenAQ co-founder Christa Hasenkopf in a workshop in Accra, Ghana in May 2018.
The ultimate goal of this program is to increase data fluency among air quality advocates living in some of the most polluted regions on the planet so that they are (1) better equipped to advocate for clean air in their communities, (2) able to facilitate greater data openness and transparency from data producers in their region and country, and (3) able to train others to use data for good.
Our 2024 Community Ambassador Cohort
Our 2023 Community Ambassador Cohort
Our 2021 Community Ambassador Cohort