Elin Betanzo Character Analysis

Elin Betanzo is one of Mona’s oldest and closest friends. Elin and Mona served together in their high school’s Students for Environmental Awareness club, working tirelessly to bring awareness of environmental justice issues to their small Detroit-area hometown of Royal Oak. The quiet, careful Elin was the valedictorian of her and Mona’s class, and she went on to work for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in Washington, D.C. after graduating from college. But while working at the EPA, Elin became aware of the federal agency’s role in covering up serious public health crises. Elin was the person who first told Mona that there were rumors flying about a water crisis in Flint—and because of Elin’s encouragement, Mona immediately educated herself about what was happening and how it affected Flint’s residents. Elin encouraged Mona to fight for her community, and, with Elin’s unwavering support, Mona was able to gather the courage to collect data about the crisis and speak out—even as local, state, and federal agencies tried to silence her and her team. Quiet but staunch and a true, dedicated friend, Elin was in many ways the catalyst behind Mona’s decision to throw herself into an investigation of what was really happening in Flint.