Kim Wasserman has observed that environmental changes heavily impact low-income communities. In 1998, Wasserman learned that her three-month-old child was suffering from asthma due to environmental pollution. As the Community Organizer for the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization (LVEJO), she rallied her neighbors and local organizations against the local coal plant. After years of hard work, they convinced the city to insist on cleaner regulations, forcing the local coal plant to close.

Wasserman now works as the Executive Director for the LVEJO. Wasserman won the North America Goldman Environmental Prize in 2013.