Center for Diversity & the Environment

 People
This section highlights inspirational people of color who, either through their position of influence or work, are making strides to diversify the environmental movement.

 

The Paths We Tread: Profiles of the Careers of Minority Environmental Professionals

A Minority Environmental Leadership Development Initiative (MELDI) publication dedicated to highlighting the careers of 80 environmental professionals of color shows that people of color have developed exemplary careers in a wide range of environmental professions. The booklet paints a vivid picture of minorities who have had a life-long interest and love for the environment. The people profiled had their environmental awakenings in many different ways and at different times in their lives. They have also arrived at their current positions by a variety of means. This booklet makes it clear that questions about minority competence and interest in the environmental field are fueled by myths and stereotypes that have little basis in reality. MELDI hopes that this booklet not only highlight the careers of environmental professionals of color but also that the stories it contains serve to provide inspiration and guidance to young people considering careers in the environmental field.

Julian Agyeman, Associate Professor & Chair, Urban & Environmental Policy & Planning Department, Tufts University

Agyeman's areas of expertise and current research interests are in three broad areas: the nexus between the concepts of environmental justice and sustainability and, specifically, the possibility of a 'just sustainability'; the extent, complexity and pervasiveness of 'rural racism' in Britain, its linkages to wider discourses of belonging, 'becoming', continuity and change in racialised spaces and ultimately to discourses of nationhood; and the potential role of 'education for sustainability' in delivering more just and sustainable futures.

Richard Anderson, Assistant Professor, Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, Duke University

Majora Carter, Founder, Sustainable South Bronx

Danielle Deane, Program Officer, Environment, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation

Carolyn Finney, Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management

Iantha Gantt-Wright, Founder & President, The Kenian Group

Michel Gelobter, President, Redefining Progress

Van Jones, Founder & President, Green For All

Jones is an advocate for social justice and shared green prosperity. His vision includes ensuring that people from low-income communities and communities of color have access to "green-collar" jobs.

Charles Jordan, Chairman, Board of Directors, The Conservation Fund

Jordan is one of the first African-Americans to chair a national conservation organization.

Vernice Miller-Travis, Executive Director, Environmental Support Center

Miller-Travis has played a key role in helping to advance the concept of environmental justice in local, regional, national and international arenas.  She has served in integral positions with Groundwork USA, Ford Foundation, and Natural Resources Defense Council and is the co-founder of West Harlem Environmental Action.

Angela Park, Founder & Director, Diversity Matters

Ritu Primlani, Founder & Executive Director, Thimmakka's Resources for Environmental Education

In Grist Magazine's Dispatches section, Ritu Primlani, writes a five-day account of her day-to-day life greening ethnic restaurants.

Jerome Ringo, President, Apollo Alliance

Jerome Ringo is one of the first African-Americans to chair a national conservation organization. 

Nina S. Roberts, Assistant Professor, Department of Recreation & Leisure Studies, San Francisco State University

Dr. Roberts has a myriad of experiences relating to the outdoors, adventure recreation, and engaging people of color and urban youth in parks and natural resources.  She is also the Project Director of the Pacific Leadership Institute at San Francisco State University.

Charles F. Sams, Director, Tribal & Native Lands Program, Trust for Public Land

Sanjayan, Lead Scientist, The Nature Conservancy

Simran Sethi, Green Journalist

Robert G. Stanton, Private Consultant & former Director, National Park Service

Rhea Suh, Program Officer, Environment, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation

Dorceta Taylor, Ph.D., Associate Professor, University of Michigan, School of Natural Resources and Environment &

Program Director, Minorities Environmental Leadership Development Initiative (MELDI)

Greg Wolley, Founder, African American Outdoor Association