MILWAUKEE — Every year during Black History Month, the African American Environmental Pioneer Awards honor Black Wisconsinites doing important work in environmental conservation, sustainability and advocacy.
Tyler Moon is being recognized at this year’s award ceremony as a “rising star.” Moon is the greenhouse coordinator for Teens Grow Greens.
Teens Grow Greens is a nonprofit organization that connects teenagers in Milwaukee to paid internships in urban agriculture. Participants do community projects, learn leadership skills and practice healthy living.
Moon participated as a teenager and now works for the organization, teaching kids how to grow their own food.
“It’s extremely important that we are giving those resources to the communities that are in need because when I first started, I didn’t know that things like this existed for someone like me,” said Moon. “It’s important that people don’t assume that African Americans, and Black and brown individuals, aren’t in these spaces. I think it’s extremely important that environmentalism is interracial. It’s multicultural. Everyone deserves to be pioneers.”
Yvonne McCaskill, a former Milwaukee Public Schools teacher, is another award recipient. She will be presented with one of the 2026 “pioneer awards.”
“This is very special to me, that I am being nominated by some of my peers and some of the generations that are coming up behind me,” she said.
McCaskill leads the Century City Triangle Neighborhood Association, which has worked to expand Melvina Park from a quarter of an acre of green space to four full acres.
(Spectrum News 1/Phillip Boudreaux)
“Ensuring that there is clean air, ensuring that we advocate for clean water, ensuring that we preserve these green spaces in the middle of the city,” said McCaskill.
Seven years ago, McCaskill helped start the African American Environmental Pioneer Awards through the nonprofit Nearby Nature Milwaukee. She is passionate about making sure all people and communities have the right to live in safe, healthy environments.
The 2026 African American Environmental Pioneer Awards will be held Monday, Feb.y 16, at the Dr. Martin Luther King Community Center (1531 W Vliet Street). Doors open at 4 p.m. The program begins at 5:30 p.m.
Register here for either in-person attendance or for the link to the live streaming option, click here.
Here is the full list of the 2026 honorees:
Pioneer Awardees
- Danell Cross, Metcalf Park Community Bridges
- Cheri Fuqua, The Middle Ground MKE
- Mabel Lamb, Sherman Park Community Association
- Dee McCollum, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Center
- Lloyd Seawright, Beach Ambassadors
- Yvonne McCaskill, Century City Triangle Neighborhood
Rising Star Awardees
- Jerica Fehr, MKE FreshAir Collective
- Alana Fisher, Earth Echo
- Christina Hill, Hawthorne Elementary School
- Bryan Rogers, Walnut Way Conservation Corp.
- Ifeoluwapo Tolorunju, Sherman Park Community Association
- Tylon Moon, Teens Grow Greens
