For Munir Meghjani, sustainability work is not a side project – it’s woven into nearly every part of his life. Whether he’s rallying his religious community to phase out plastic waste, launching citywide interfaith environmental programs, or helping nonprofits and political leaders tackle climate issues, Munir’s approach is grounded in a deep sense of responsibility, connection, and urgency. “I’m often just the tip of the spear. The question is, ‘How do I get everybody to take one step?’ If you’re not already aware of the climate crisis, then how do you find out? And if you’re already aware, how do you take action? If you’re already taking action, how do you spread the word?”

Munir’s journey into sustainability and clean energy started early – not in a classroom or a campaign, but through the values he learned growing up as a Shia Ismaili Muslim. As a child, he read a fable taught in his religion about a debate between animals and humans that conveys the moral that because humans possess intellect and morality, they also carry the responsibility to care for the earth and the beings around them.

That lesson stuck. Later, as a college student at Oxford College and Emory University, Munir’s sense of environmental urgency deepened by participating in campus environmental initiatives, and by witnessing firsthand how a simple shift, like relabeling trash cans from “trash” to “landfill,” could reshape behavior and consciousness about what gets thrown away, recycled, or reused.

Munir’s faith community became one of his earliest sustainability battlegrounds. In 2006, he began pushing local Ismaili Muslim leaders to replace styrofoam cups, reduce plastic bag use, and launch sustainability programs that are now adopted at 80 Ismaili centers across the U.S. It wasn’t easy. “For several years, I was the annoying kid who called out every plastic bag, every water gallon used for daily prayer services,” Munir laughs. But eventually, his persistence paid off. The Jamatkhana is the center that serves the Ismaili Muslim community and provides religious services, social activities, and educational programs for its members. In 2018, these centers launched a comprehensive sustainability program and eliminated hundreds  of thousands of plastic bags and water gallons from their daily operations. 

With the potential of reaching tens of thousands of worshippers daily across the country, Munir’s next objective is to help more of these centers across the country, move toward solar energy, audit their energy use, and adopt climate-friendly operations. As he puts it, “I helped spark the movement, but now they’ve brought in the real experts – and that’s exactly how it should be.”

Beyond his religious community, Munir has been a powerhouse in Atlanta’s civic and nonprofit spheres, working alongside award-winning comedian and clean energy advocate, David Perdue. He’s chaired and served on numerous boards, helping launch efforts like the Day of Pluralism – a gathering that brings tgether civic leaders, elected officials, religious figures, and artists to explore environmental challenges from multiple perspectives, including race, religion, art, and politics.

For Munir, success comes from blending accessibility, understanding, and action. He partners with groups like Inclusivv Dinners (formerly Civic Dinners) to design spaces  where people can connect deeply, break down complex sustainability topics, and commit to concrete actions. At the heart of Munir’s work is – doing the most good for the most people. “If we don’t have an earth,” he says, “none of the rest of it matters.”

This post was produced by Generation180, sharing the stories of local leaders driving climate action and clean energy solutions across the country. Munir was a participant in Amplifiers: Atlanta in April 2025, a joint program between Generation180 and Rewiring America to inspire more clean energy advocates in the greater metro region.