A new group in DeKalb dedicated to advocating for environmental and sustainability issues locally hosted a kickoff meeting recently to lay the groundwork for positive change in the community.

DeKalb Sustainability Alliance and the idea behind it first got its start in December 2025.

Around that time, DeKalb resident Amy Doll and others took inspiration from the City Council meetings around the now-approved Edged data center development and the community’s concerns.

“I went to the meeting and I spoke and said I’m concerned about the process of democracy,” Doll said. “In my opinion, it happened too fast, and there wasn’t a lot of transparency and opportunity for the public to know what was happening.”

In the days following, Doll said she grew frustrated by the lack of local groups to turn to.

“There are people doing boots-on-the-ground work,” Doll said. “There are people doing planning. There are people doing education. All of those are super important and really, really necessary. ... There’s not a group that is thinking about environmental issues and also advocating for them locally.”

Doll said it will take three types of groups to effect change on environmental and sustainability issues.

She said she hopes to work with another local group, the city’s DeKalb Citizens’ Environmental Commission, which is a non-policy-making body that can recommend action for the City Council.

Another local environmental advocacy group, DeCarbon DeKalb, provides education to area residents.

Doll said she believes collaboration is key.

“What we saw was missing was this specific piece about advocacy about showing up and advocating for change to governing bodies,” Doll said. “I think it takes all three to make change.”

Doll said she believes she’s up for the task of leading DeKalb Sustainability Alliance.

She is a former executive director for the DeKalb Park District.

“I have enough local government experience and knowledge that I think I can help translate or educate,” Doll said. “Sometimes it’s hard to follow, and it’s also hard to know who does have the authority over things. And also I think we frequently assume that the city has powers that they don’t actually have or that we want to make change.”

She said one concern is the quantity of data center growth, not specific only to DeKalb.

“I think one data center, or even two, like a small number of data centers, are not necessarily a threat,” Doll said. “Like if you look at the reports coming out from the Alliance for the Great Lakes, Sierra Club, National Wildlife Federation, Environmental Law and Policy Center – all these large organizations – there is concern because it is so many of them and they’re happening so quickly. Our codes and regulations don’t necessarily keep up with what it’s going to mean when you put all of these large energy-consuming facilities all at once.”

Doll said she has concerns about whether the city of DeKalb can achieve a balance between economic development and sustainability with data centers in the mix.

“I think there’s a lot of unknowns that I think people are concerned about,” Doll said. “I don’t think it necessarily means we’re doing a bad job. But then, it shouldn’t be a secret. We hope that we can find a way to have it be transparent.”

DeKalb Sustainability Alliance’s initial meeting in April saw about 25 people in attendance, which Doll said showed a good level of interest.

“There’s a group of us that care about the environment, and our network is growing from different perspectives,” Doll said.

DeKalb Sustainability Alliance has an organizing committee headed up by 10 members.

Doll said she believes there is a fair amount of synergy between existing local organizations.

“We want to make sure that we’re working collaboratively,” she said. “There’s a lot happening. We see it as a collaboration.”

DeKalb Sustainability Alliance’s next meeting is planned for 7 p.m. May 28 at the DeKalb Public Library, 309 Oak St.

Doll said the group hopes to recruit more people.