Tarshire Battle

Dr. Espanola Jackson Energy Justice Award Selection Committee Member

Tarshire Battle is a passionate advocate for social justice, economic empowerment, and environmental resilience. She is dedicated to uplifting underserved communities across Massachusetts and Rhode Island, working to create pathways for equity, opportunity, and lasting change.

Her understanding of structural hurdles and the need for comprehensive, community-driven solutions grew as she worked with the New England Center for Homeless Veterans and the Rhode Island Department of Corrections. These experiences inspired her to establish Roots2Empower, a community-based organization that promotes systemic change through business and financial education, community gardening projects, and policy lobbying. Community members have gained the skills, tools, and confidence needed to rebuild their life as a result of this effort. This demonstrates Tarshire’s attitude that everyone should have the opportunity to flourish. 

Recognizing that no single organization can solve these injustices alone, she works with environmental and social justice organizations to pool resources and expertise, furthering climate action, food sovereignty, and community reconciliation in ways that encourage long-term structural change.

Tarshire also wrote Rooted in Resilience: A Pathway Towards Global Social Change, in which she discusses her experiences working in her home nation and around the world, notably in Africa. She is currently working on her PhD in Environmental Science. Her study examines the social and psychological consequences of climate change in post-war Liberia, with an emphasis on mental health, displacement, and community cohesion.

Tarshire Battle continues to combat injustice, build resilience, and effect change through grassroots organizing, research, and storytelling, both in her own neighborhood and throughout the world.