Self-Sustainable with Leah Thomas @GreenGirlLeah

05/09/25 • 38 min

The Unfolding: Presented by The Loveland Foundation

If you’re looking for a podcast episode that moves beyond surface-level talk and gets into the heart of why environmental justice matters, this episode of The Unfolding: Presented by The Loveland Foundation Podcast is worth your time.

Host Rachel Keener sits down with Leah Thomas — known to many as Green Girl — an environmental activist and the voice behind the term intersectional environmentalist. Leah opens up about her path from growing up in Missouri to becoming a leading voice in the sustainability space, tracing how something as personal as her natural hair journey first got her thinking about what sustainability really means.

But this isn’t just about recycling or climate stats. Leah draws powerful connections between environmental issues and social and racial justice, explaining why true sustainability has to include communities that have long been left out of the conversation — especially Black communities. She shares how she builds spaces of care and creativity, like her Crafting Club, where people can come together, learn to make everyday items, and support one another.

This episode doesn’t fall into the trap of focusing only on crisis and catastrophe. Instead, Leah talks about the joy and healing that can come from reconnecting with the earth, caring for our mental health, and building community-based solutions. It’s a conversation that offers hope without ignoring hard truths — and a reminder that the future can look different if we all understand and honor our connection to the planet.

If you want to feel inspired and grounded at the same time, give this episode a listen.

More about Leah Thomas @GreenGirlLeah:

Leah is a celebrated environmentalist based in Los Angeles, CA. Coining the term ‘eco-communicator’ to describe her style of environmental activism. Leah uses her passion for writing and creativity to explore and advocate for the critical yet often overlooked relationship between social justice and environmentalism. Her work includes consulting with brands like Apple and TAZO, projects with Meta, KEEN, TEVA, Indie Best Selling Book The Intersectional Environmentalist, and working on the Communications team at Patagonia HQ. Learn more about Leah Thomas HERE.

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The Unfolding: Presented by The Loveland Foundation podcast is an additional resource not only to the public but also to our therapy fund cohort members. The Loveland Foundation therapy fund and resources are only made possible through support from our community.

At The Loveland Foundation, we are committed to showing up for communities of color in unique and powerful ways, with a particular focus on Black women and girls. Our resources and initiatives are collaborative and they prioritize opportunity, access, validation, and healing. Since our founding, the Therapy Fund has provided financial support for therapy to over 13,000 Black women, girls, and non-binary individuals across the country.

Links:

Donate to Camp Loveland: https://thelovelandfoundation.org/donate
Support the show: https://give.thelovelandfoundation.org/give/436656/#!/donation/checkout
Follow Leah on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greengirlleah/
Follow The Loveland Foundation on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelovelandfoundation/
Visit the website: https://thelovelandfoundation.org/

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If you want to feel inspired and grounded at the same time, give this episode a listen.

More about Leah Thomas @GreenGirlLeah:

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Links:

Donate to Camp Loveland: https://thelovelandfoundation.org/donate
Support the show: https://give.thelovelandfoundation.org/give/436656/#!/donation/checkout
Follow Leah on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greengirlleah/
Follow The Loveland Foundation on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelovelandfoundation/
Visit the website: https://thelovelandfoundation.org/

Support the show

Previous Episode

Healing Your Relationship with Money with Dasha Kennedy @thebrokeblackgirl

In this must-listen episode of The Unfolding: Presented by The Loveland Foundation Podcast, host Rachel Keener sits down with financial educator and author Dasha Kennedy to discuss what it truly means to move beyond broke. Known for her platform The Broke Black Girl, Dasha shares her personal journey from teen motherhood to financial empowerment, offering a refreshing, judgment-free approach to money.

She unpacks the emotional side of finances—why money is more than numbers, but a relationship built on honesty, accountability, and self-compassion. Dasha challenges traditional ideas of generational wealth, emphasizing that true financial legacy isn’t just about passing down money but creating systems of support, knowledge, and community upliftment.

This episode is a deep dive into breaking financial barriers, redefining wealth on your own terms, and making financial wellness accessible to Black women. From embracing flexibility in money management to celebrating small wins and releasing financial shame, Dasha delivers powerful insights on how to heal your relationship with money and find joy in the process.

No matter where you are in your financial journey, this conversation will inspire you to take control, let go of guilt, and build a financial future that works for you.

Listen now and start redefining wealth—your way.

More about Dasha Kennedy @thebrokeblackgirl:

Dasha Kennedy was born to two teenage parents and raised in a household where finances were not discussed. By fifteen, she had already developed money habits that would follow her into adulthood. By nineteen, she realized that the Fortune 500 executives who promote financial literacy did not look or sound anything like her. And she knew she couldn’t be the only person who felt as lost and overlooked as she did when it came to money management.

Her financial journey would be shaped by real-life struggles, experiencing single motherhood, raising two children, navigating divorce, and losing her father, all before the age of 29. She learned firsthand the weight of financial instability, the emotional toll of carrying financial burdens alone, and the lack of resources tailored to the realities of Black women. Instead of accepting that personal finance wasn’t designed with her in mind, she set out to change the narrative.

She launched The Broke Black Girl as an online space to share financial wins and struggles. Still, it quickly became a movement, one that challenged outdated money advice and created space for real conversations about the economic challenges that women, primarily Black women and marginalized communities, face every day.

Through The Broke Black Girl, Kennedy built a platform that speaks directly to the financial realities traditional money experts often ignore: wage gaps, the burden of being the family’s financial backbone, debt inherited from generations of economic exclusion, and the emotional weight of money trauma. With an approach that is both radically honest and deeply empowering, she has guided hundreds of thousands toward financial independence, not by preaching unrealistic frugality or pushing one-size-fits-all solutions, but by providing tangible strategies that honor each person’s lived experience.

Now, Kennedy delivers the ultimate user-friendly resource, featuring engaging and relatable stories from her own personal finance journey. With actionable advice and an engaging voice, she helps us take control, move past shame and anxiety, build family wealth in a single generation, and become financially independent forever. Her work proves that financial freedom isn’t just about budgeting—it’s about reclaiming power, breaking generational cycles, and redefining success on our own terms.

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The Unfolding: Pres

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